Laurel Summit and Global Warming

When I was a kid and a teenager, the area around Laurel Summit was known for winter sports. Even though my dad owned a lot below the summit and took us up there in the summer for picnics, for rides, to get spring water, etc., most people viewed the area as a place to ski. I had relatives who owned cabins up there so they could go away on weekends in the winter. I have relatives my age who were still going up there cross-country skiing after I left the area and lived in other places.

I moved back to this area in 1992. At that time, people were still skiing, going to their cabins, and snowmobiling up there. When I first moved back here, rails-to-trails were taking off big time. This was far below the elevations of the summit. The trails were hailed as places to hike, jog, and bike, even camp, in the spring, summer, and fall, but excellent places to cross-country ski in the winter. That lasted a few years. Cross-country skiing on the rails-to-trails was the first thing to go. There was a horrendous winter here in 1994. The next couple winters were pretty bad too. After that, there was never enough snow to even think of cross-country skiing on the rails-to-trails.

It was about that time I started frequenting the Laurel Highlands again. I would stop at park offices for pamphlets. Lots of pamphlets dealt with the winter sports. They showed which trails could be used both for hiking and cross-country skiing, which ones could also be used for snowmobiles. When I would go hiking, I'd see trails marked for snowmobiling. Some of the trails weren't even appropriate for hiking. They were not maintained for summer, since they were primarily used for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. There were maps for cross-country skiing in the winter and directions to ski slopes and warming huts.

A couple times I did go up to Linn Run State Park in the winter. There is an area of rustic cabins. Their primary purpose was for people to stay in the winter and snowmobile up the roads to the summit. The roads were purposely not maintained so the people in the cabins could ride their snowmobiles. On the couple occasions I went up in the winter, the roads were indeed covered with a layer of snow. I had snow tires put on my car so I could get up and down the roads. But there were ominous signs of what was to come. I never saw a snow mobile. However, in the middle of the winter, I saw people on bicycles climbing the summit.

I remember a time in the late 1990's, early 2000's, when I got into a conversation with my veterinarian. She owns horses and takes her horses up to the summit to do the trails. She warned me, don't go up there in the middle of the winter. There are several feet of snow. You can't hike those trails in the middle of the winter.

For several years, I was busy with other things and didn't go up to the summit very much. Then I gained too much weight, and the spring, summer, and fall of 2007, I started going to the summit weekly to hike to lose the weight. I was in for a shock and a rude awakening. The summit was in bad shape and had deteriorated markedly. The warming hut was closed. The ski area was closed. The bathrooms weren't maintained. The road was in very bad condition. However, as the spring and summer went on, I realized the summit was attracting more and more people. Hikers and mountain bikers flocked more and more to the summit.

During the winter of 2007, I had naturally steered clear of the summit. However, I noticed something as winter of 2008 approached. It just never got too cold to hike or bike at the summit. In the past, I had sometimes gone up in October to hike in the snow. Now, I was going up just to hike in October, and November, and December. A new kind of person was enjoying the fall and early winter up there--hunters, as opposed to skiiers and snowmobilers. I kept waiting for it to get too cold to hike. It never did. I was hiking at the summit in January, February, and March. In fact, the summit became somewhat infamous because a young man and woman were killed falling off of Beam Rocks. The summit had become so popular for hiking that now people were actually getting killed up there. There is a brand new sign warning of the danger at Beam Rocks. All winter, I hiked and ran across many mountain bikers up there.

It hasn't taken long for the powers that be to realize the impact of the climate change. This year, they are fixing the roads on the summit. A lot of money is being poured into revitalizing the summit for a warmer climate to appeal to hikers, mountain bikers, and hunters. Brand new picnic tables and grills are also starting to appear. It just is amazing to me how fast this has happened. I have been back here 16 years and the climate has totally changed just in that amount of time. In fact, the climate at the summit, which is a little less than 3000 feet above sea level, has just totally changed in the matter of a few years.

June 25

Yesterday was so nice I went up to Ligonier. I first went to the town of Ligonier. I went to the gift shop at Fort Ligonier. They have a lot of Native American stuff. They even have a whole section of one wall devoted to books on Native Americans. You can even buy books on Native American crafts and skills for doing things. I got a post card of a Delaware chief for Kimberly. I also got a post card of how Pittsburgh looked in 1763. There was nothing but Fort Pitt on the Point. The post card was a painting of some Indians climbing Mt. Washington and looking down at the Point. I also got Kimberly a beaded Indian necklace. Then I walked around Ligonier. There is an Indian store with all kinds of Indian crafts and artifacts, but it was closed. There are dozens of dream catchers hanging from the ceiling.

I then drove up to the summit. I had the best hike. I started on the first part of Beam Run Road. I really like that section of Beam Run Road. I then turned onto the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail at a big rock formation. I hiked a very rugged section of the LHHT with huge rhodedendrons and big rock formations. This small section of the trail, around mile 42, had everything. It had the huge rock formations, the thick vegetation, flowers from the mountain laurel bushes, fields of ferns, a view down into the valley, evergreen groves that were dark and shady, and then just the usual summit terrain toward the top, where there are rocks and some vegetation and the trees aren't as tall.

After that I went down to my lot. It was a beautiful evening down there and I did some work. I saw two deer by the road in Rector, PA on my way home.

Summer Solstice

Well, we have had the longest days of the year. I went to a couple thrift shops on Friday, and the lines weren't as long. Maybe people have stopped panicking over the prices. Ethanol went down 4 cents a gallon. I got a brand-new, high-quality, thick Penguins t-shirt for $1.79. I will continue to look to see if people unload any of the playoff/Stanley Cup t-shirts. I was unwilling to spend $12 and up for one. If they had won the Stanley Cup, I was willing to fork over some money for the regular price of a Stanley Cup champs t-shirt, however. I also got a bathing suit for $2.69. So I'm prepared this time if it goes above 90 for several days.

Saturday, I spent the day at Ligonier. I took an hour and a half hike on the summit. It was just beautiful! I did part of the Spruce Run Trail, part of the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail, and part of the Burma and Summit Trails. The only people I saw were two young men backpacking. They were in a hurry, probably because the shelter area was several miles away over very rough terrain and they wanted to get there before the thunderstorms.

I then descended into Linn Run State Park. The feral cat at the cabin areas seemed to be well fed by the visitors. He was happy to see me but not that hungry. The spring was busy so I slipped into the Grove Run picnic area to get my six bottles of water. When I got to my lot in Rector, a mother deer and a fawn greeted me but then ran. The fawn was so cute. I also met two local cats and petted them. I spent a couple hours marking barberry bushes with flags. I cleared out around one barberry bush and made some mulch. I mulched it and made some cypress mulch to take home. Barberry bushes are shrubs that people actually pay for. They are from Japan, I believe. I have wild ones all over the lot. They are considered an invasive exotic species up in the Ligonier area. This means they take over and wild animals eat them and they actually aren't good for the animals or that environment. They displace the native plants. I like them, however, and my goal is to clean out around all the ones on the lot. I will dig some up and bring them home to plant them for hedges. But my first chore for cleaning up the lot is to clean up around all the barberries.

Kimberly talked a local produce merchant into a deal for a flat of impatiens and a flat of geraniums for $9 total. So now we have beautiful geraniums and impatiens all around the porch. I planted some portulaca and they are coming up. Portulaca are beautiful and easy to care for. You can plant them from seed for cheap and have a ton of them. I found seeds for them at Wal-Mart.

Sunday we had a guest minister at church. Her role in the Presbyterian Church is to establish liaisons with scientists. She was very interesting. I saw my Russian friend and a couple other people. The church was marching in the Gay Pride Parade later that day, but I couldn't go because I just have too much to do. Mayor Ravenstahl apparently was there to introduce a registry in Pittsburgh for unmarried couples. After church I had to quickly stop at the Redd Up Campaign to do my recycling. I also stopped at Trader Joe's. It was kind of a strange place but I had to check it out.

I watched the Indycar race because it was sponsored by ethanol. Since I am a major consumer of ethanol, I thought I should watch it. Kimberly used to be a drag race driver, so we were very shocked by the violent death of Scott Kalitta at the drag race. I also watched the Red Sox and saw Youk's game winning home run in the bottom of the 13th. We watched part of the NASCAR race, but Kimberly hates Kyle Busch, so I don't think she was too excited with it.

June 18

Sunday I went to church. My best friend there was back. She has had two strokes and two heart attacks. I was very glad to see her and gave her a ride home. Now that she is back, everyone in the first membership class since our new minister started is still attending the church. Two of the men who became members at the same time as me are now serving as elders. We had a guest minister. He is an African American minister who does community work on the North Side. He was very good. After I took my friend home, I went to the Redd Up campaign to do my recycling. Monday I had a psych exam. I got a 78 out of 80. Tuesday night I attended a walk to bring attention to the obesity epidemic. It was at the Waterfront. Probably the majority of people who attended were from late 50's to early 60's and up. Some of them were still overweight but everyone showed remarkable endurance. I had a wonderful time and got a good workout since I jogged about half of the way. I was very impressed with how far everyone was able to walk. This shows that if you commit to losing weight, eating healthy, and exercising, you can do great things. One of the elderly women said she had no idea she would be able to walk so far and still feel fine and energetic after doing so.

High Prices

All the prices have gone up so fast, everyone has to make radical adjustments fast! I saw that yesterday. I decided to stop by the thrift shop. There were five times as many cars as I have ever seen there. The lot was full of nice-looking, gas-guzzling cars and SUVs. A completely different crowd was frequenting the thrift shop. There were many well-dressed, affluent-looking customers who looked like they wanted to look well-dressed! The lines were so long, I left. Instead of grabbing one or two items, I'll have to make a list and go when I have time to stand in line.

I started to make serious adjustments yesterday to my diet in order to deal with the high food prices. The big decision I made was to go back to relying on staple foods from cultures I have had contact with where people don't have much money. So I'm going back to eating a lot of Algerian couscous and Nicaraguan gallo pinto. I will also eat a lot of soup. I cooked up a big supply of beans yesterday. I cooked up a supply of garbanzos, cannellini beans, and small red beans. I also cooked up a supply of whole wheat couscous. I used my frozen tomatoes from last year and made Algerian couscous for dinner, which turned out pretty good.

Fuel Prices

It was very hot here for several days. I went to Ligonier in the Laurel Mountains both Saturday and Monday to cool down. It was definitely easier to deal with the heat with all the trees in the mountains--i.e., lots of shade. I did do quite a bit of work, however, hauling logs around. I couldn't have done that in the heat at home.

I am facing for the first time in my life something that never entered my head. Because I live in the country where the nearest public transportation is a 3-mile walk away, and because of fuel prices, I may have to get a motorcycle. I'm scared to death. My dad had a motorcycle when I was a kid, and as a kid, I enjoyed him taking me for rides. However, I never thought I'd have to ride one. But I'm not going to get stuck out here in the country and not be able to get anywhere except on occasion. I also want to keep some options open about where I can look for jobs. In addition, I plan to get a masters degree, hopefully at Pitt, and I don't think I can do it online.

I've been searching for trikes and still haven't learned that much about them. However, if their mileage isn't that much better, I may just have to get a regular motorcycle, face my fears, and deal with it.

Right now I have two vehicles which run on E85 ethanol. It's cheaper but the mileage isn't as good. Also, these two vehicles don't get good mileage. There is talk ethanol could be made cheaply with garbage instead of corn, and there are plans for some plants in Pennsylvania. I also heard you can get a license for your own still. Believe me, all options are open!

Church Service in the Park

Yesterday was our annual church service in Schenley Park. They did a very good job of protecting us from the unusually hot weather. They picked a grove of trees for the service. There was a ridge around it so some of us sat up on the ridge. It was a great view. There was shade and a good breeze. The service was very nice. Most of the usual people I've known there for the past 3 1/4 years were present, though not all. At the service, I sat next to one of the young ladies going to Nicaragua this month. The food was delicious. I brought rainbow carrots, rainbow tomatoes, and broccoli. There were lots of veggies and fruits, and I pigged out on the many vegan dishes consisting of various bean, lentil, and orzo salads. Also, they had the delicious French lentil and feta cheese salad again this year, which isn't vegan but is vegetarian. I sat with Mikki and Checkers. Mikki was babysitting Checkers' dog Honey Bee while Checkers got her food. I didn't stay long but enjoyed sitting with them for a few minutes and seeing some familiar faces. This service honors the Sunday school teachers, because they don't have Sunday school for the kids during the summer. During the summer, they have a vacation Bible school, then have child care for very young children. But there is only one Sunday school class for adults during the summer months. The service starts at 10 instead of 11, which is fine with me, since I often like to go hiking on the summit on Sunday, so I can get there earlier. Also, the choir does not perform during the summer. The minister is taking two weeks off for study and will travel during that time. Therefore, we will have two guest ministers the next two weeks. I'm looking forward to attending every week this summer. I'm especially interested to follow the progress of the mission trip to Nicaragua.

June 7

Yesterday was a busy day. It's been very hot here. I had so much recycling, I had to take the truck to the Redd Up Campaign. On the way, I ethanoled it up. After dropping off my recycling at the Redd Up Campaign, I did my tofu run at the food coop and just got some of my usual products I get there. However, I had promised Kimberly a Cherokee Purple tomato plant. The place was stocked to the rafters with heirloom tomatoes, but I was determined to sift through them until I was sure there were no Cherokee tomatoes. Well, finally, I did find a row of Cherokee Purple tomatoes under black tomatoes. Kimberly was thrilled with it and has planted it. I'm excited because all my gourmet potatoes have sprouted up into plants. I invested eight dollars on two bags of baby purple, yellow fingerling, and red fingerling gourmet potatoes, and I will save a lot of money on the number of potatoes I will get out of this from my garden. I will start planting Yukon Gold, but this will go on for some time because they are winter potatoes.

I picked up several free publications at the food coop. There is a group called Venture Outdoors. They arrange all kinds of outdoor events. They have a huge assortment of hikes. I've already done some of these hikes. You can pay regular price for a hike or you can join the group and get a reduced price. I saw one thing I am very interested in. Every year, they have the opportunity to hike the entire 70 miles of the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail with a group. You have to be available for 7 total days (spread out over a few months) to do the whole trail. The shortest hike is about 6 miles and the longest about 13. This is something I would be interested in doing some year when I have a lot of extra time and energy during the spring and summer. I have already hiked many portions of the trail between Route 30 and over past Route 31 toward Seven Springs. I have been to the second highest point on the trail a number of times, which is over 2900 feet. The highest point is 2950 at Seven Springs. The highest up I've been over in that area is 2930 at Bald Knob which is not on the trail but is very close to it.

Penguins, etc.

Well, it's over and Detroit won the Stanley Cup. The Penguins did all they could do. Ray Shero got Hossa for them and they got to the finals. They duked it out in game 5 in Detroit by scoring a goal with 30 seconds left and winning it in triple overtime. They fought to the end in game 6, lost only by one goal and came very close to tying that game. Really this is all we can ask of such a young team. We have the oldest arena in the league, the team went bankrupt and was awful for years, and almost left town. Now we're getting a new arena and they took us to game 6 of the finals with an awesome, experienced, talented, tough team like Detroit. The future is bright and they really did more than we could possibly expect and hope for.

I'm getting ready for our church's annual service in Schenley Park, which is this Sunday. The service takes place out in the park and then there is a big picnic at a pavilion. Although, of course, some people dutifully staff a grill and provide hot dogs and hamburgers, almost all the food people bring is vegetarian, and lots of the food is very healthy. There are always plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and salads. People bring an abundance of other food with beans, lentils, and whole grains. The picnic often confirms to me why I feel at home in this church. There is another Presbyterian church that is probably closest to our church. But when I've gone to things at that church, I don't feel as at home, because people seem to be eating nothing but hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and many of the people smoke and drink beer. There are always little side groups socializing over a cigarette, and the rest of us who don't want to breathe it in feel left out of those groups. I know those people need god like the rest of us. But you know, us health food vegetarians are a minority group in this society, a big minority group. We are the outsiders in this society, and we need god too. That's why I'm glad I found a church where I don't feel like an outsider, as I do in most places. It's tough to be ostracized and an outsider when you're the one who's right! Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans are better for you. Smoking is bad for you. Saturated fat and cholesterol and fattening desserts are bad for you. But those of us who do what's healthy for us have to apologize for it and be considered weirdoes and outsiders. So I'm glad I've found a church where I don't feel like an outsider for living a healthy lifestyle. If God wanted us to eat hot dogs, hamburgers, and fattening desserts, then why didn't He or She make it good for our bodies? Why, instead, did God make vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains good for us? Why didn't God make tobacco good for us? Why did God make exercise good for us? Why are those who do for our bodies what God made good for them always the outcasts? This is why I like this picnic, because I feel at home. I feel I can eat something at this picnic and it is what God made good for my body and what God wants me to eat.

Church Youth Group's Mission Trip to Nicaragua

I attended a prayer service last night for Sixth Presbyterian Church's youth group's mission trip to Nicaragua. I got to meet the youth coordinator who will be in charge of the trip. The group will travel for a week and will also spend a week working at a coffee coop. The people in the coop make all decisions collectively by vote. The youth group will pick coffee and also help them build an addition to one of their buildings. The group raised money for the mission through a series of fundraisers and also by selling Nicaraguan coffee to the congregation. They also raised some money which will be donated to the coop. The coop will vote on how to use the funds. The funds will probably be used to buy some type of motor vehicle and to hire a teacher for a school year. The people of Nicaraguan in general, and the members of the coop, are suffering greatly because of a recent transportation strike which severely impacted the food supply. The youth on the mission trip are being asked to bring flour and sugar with them, since the coop is out of these supplies. They are also strained by the tremendous increase in prices of food and fuel of late. I admire these young people for their dedication to this mission and their desire to help these people. I'm very anxious to hear how the trip turned out.

June 3

I started back to Sixth Presbyterian on Sunday. It has really grown! The place was packed! They're probably going to have to do something if any more people join. I was very glad to be back. I am very emotional about the youth group's mission trip to Nicaragua. I visited Nicaragua twice and also lived for 9 years in a Nicaraguan neighborhood of San Francisco. I shared with the congregation what a positive impact this has had in my life.

Yesterday, I got a 79 out of 80 on my first psychology test. I am still debating how much psychology I will have to learn given that my career direction involves working with people who will have to make drastic lifestyle changes due to their health problems.

I am wrung out emotionally over the Stanley Cup finals. Last night, they were about to roll out the Cup, the champagne, and the t-shirts when Maxime Talbot scored a goal with 30 seconds left in the game! The Penguins won it in the third overtime period and now trail Detroit 3 games to 2. The series returns to the Burgh Wednesday night. I'm done for! This is really some series. I don't know what they'd do without Marc-Andre Fleury, who is really the main reason they are still in it. I have been to his hometown of Sorel, Quebec at least three times. They must be proud of him there. One time my mother and I stopped at a restaurant in Sorel on Halloween and my poor mother went nuts with the restaurant personnel trying to get her to pay the bill in French. I don't think they speak much English in Sorel. Luckily, I speak French and the bill got paid. Marc-Andre's English is pretty good considering he gave an interview in English last night after single-handedly keeping the Pens in the series after 5 1/2 periods of superhuman effort.