I’m walking the Allegheny Trail

Hi, I’m Sara or Hootie on the way. My partner Nick, aka Snacks, and I completed a SOBO hike on the Appalachian Trail in October 2025. When we finished our hike, I was excited to be lazy for a while. But that desire quickly ended. Especially when I returned to the workforce and academic space. So, in order not to completely turn my life upside down and say, put my career on hold again and spend almost half the year unemployed and walking, I have decided to take advantage of the time between semesters and ask my boss for some time off. Not that I wouldn’t prefer to do the former, but I’m excited to finally graduate and plan another big hike as a graduation gift for myself.

Pushing a few hundred miles

I usually always try to have at least one short-term personal trip planned, so when I found out I had about three weeks between the spring and summer semesters at school, I started doing some research. I currently live near the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and am fairly centrally located near quite a few smaller and longer distance trails. At first, I was dead set on taking on the Tuscarora Trail. This is a 250 mile trail that was essentially built as an alternative to the AT as uncertainty began to grow around access to private lands along the trail in the southern sections of PA, MD, WV, and northern VA. Its northern terminus is near Carlisle, PA and its southern terminus is along Shenandoah National Park. From what I’ve gathered online, it’s not a very frequently used trail for hiking, but I’ve definitely hiked sections of it and the maintenance between the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) and REI support has made the infrastructure along the trail quite nice. Kunjungi QuyJs. With very well done signs, good trail maintenance, and fairly new shelters, it’s clear that there is a lot of love and care for the Tuscarora Trail.

But, there is another trail that has been at the top of my hiking list for years, the Allegheny Trail (ALT). This 311-mile trail spans the entire state of West Virginia through the Allegheny Mountains from its northern end at the PA line near Bruceton Mills, WV (population 63), to its southern end near Pearisburg, VA at Peters Mountain. It takes you through the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests. If you know anything about the Appalachian Trail and its West Virginia section, you know that it is a very, very small part of the trail. It’s less than five miles of continuous trail followed by about twenty miles meandering along the Virginia/West Virginia line. The ALT takes you near some of West Virginia’s highlights, including Blackwater Falls State Park, Green Bank Observatory, Cass Scenic Railroad, as well as through some of my favorite small towns. I have family and friends along the way who would be willing to meet me for food and it really seems like an amazing way to see the state.

Are you going alone????

Nick will not be accompanying me on this trip. He recently started working on a farm and these months of warmer weather offer little flexibility for such an extended time away. I am also about to start a new job in the field of mental health and social work just before I start walking, but part of my conditions for accepting this position came with an immediate three-week long personal leave. It really felt like a bold question, but the worst they could say was no and… did it work?

I haven’t done much in the way of long-distance solo hiking, about thirty miles at a time, and I’m very excited to spend a few weeks mostly alone in the woods. My backpacking confidence and proficiency has certainly increased after last year’s hike and I just retaken my wilderness lifeguard certification, so for any worried family members or friends, I’ve got this! I think I’ve mentioned this before, but my two biggest fears in the countryside are cars at road junctions and irresponsible dog owners.

Nature is full of terrifying unknowns if you don’t spend a lot of face-to-face time with it, but the more you come to know and understand that it’s not intentionally out to get you, these fears begin to dissipate. I used to be really afraid of the bugs, snakes, and bears that lurk in the woods, but they’re all out there trying to eat, sleep, and mate, just like us. Bad things can happen anywhere, and I’d rather spend my life pursuing what brings me the most enrichment and joy than sitting at home wondering what could have been.

Management, planning, team and more

For a while I was undecided which direction I wanted to take this. The southern part seems more rugged and undeveloped, so I was tempted to move it out of the way first. But starting in the north would make a little more logistical sense, since I live near this terminal and it seems like the elevation profile is more gradual in the north, so I can reacclimate to long days of hiking on easy terrain. For now, I’ll consider this another hike to the south.

As far as planning goes, I purchased the Allegheny Trail map on FarOut a few months ago. I have been using the ALT website for information, as well as referencing blogs from former hikers. Since I have a pretty good idea of ​​what I like to eat in the backcountry, I’ll put together boxes that I can leave with people who will be meeting me, mail them, or drop them off at businesses along the way.

I have created an Excel spreadsheet with the expected mileage, points of interest, positive and negative slope and access to water. When I’m done walking, I’ll post that itinerary here, as well as what I actually did, since things don’t usually go as planned.

Most of my Appalachian Trail gear will be coming with me. Foolishly, I left my water filter stored outside all winter. It likely remained frozen for most of the winter months, making it unreliable. After my fight with giardia, I’m not taking any chances! So I bought a new Sawyer Squeeze. I’ll probably bring a stove this time since this hike will be during the shoulder season and any weather is possible. I also bought a couple of those reusable water bottles from Mazama and M!go.

Since I’m going alone, I’ll bring a smaller, lighter tent with trekking poles. I have a fairly old version of the hexamid zpacks single tent that I love, but it has seen some use. I think I’ve patched most of the holes, but I should try it before committing. I also have a second hand zpacks duplexer that I originally bought for AT, but it was too short for Nick. So if the hexamide is too leaky, I’ll take the double width. Other than that, I think my gear list pretty much reflects what I’ll be bringing with me.

Throughout the winter I have stayed quite active. I’ve been doing yoga, weight training, and using the incline function on a treadmill for regular exercise and getting out on local hiking trails a few times a month. I’m about a month away from hiking and plan to spend longer days on local trails to condition myself and help curb major, preventable musculoskeletal issues. This hike shouldn’t take me more than three weeks, so I feel like training is especially important!

Other than that, I generally feel excited and ready to get back to walking every day.

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