Day 8, June 29, 2011

Connellsville, PA to Pittsburgh, PA (82 miles)

A Section of the Trail in Pittsburgh

I was on the trail very early this morning, looking forward to getting to Pittsburgh. It was a little disappointing. Once one is about 8 miles or so from Pittsburgh he has to take some detours to reconnect to the trail since it is not entirely completed. It would not have been so bad had the detours been marked clearly. I stumbled around Pittsburgh trying to find my way back to the trail. At one point, I was riding along a busy inner city freeway during rush hour and could actually see cyclist on the trail where I should be only a 50 yards or so away from me. The trail was fenced, and I had to ride a good four miles or so along a road I did not want to be riding. I finally gave up on getting on the trail and just found an avenue with slower moving traffic. Since I ultimately had to leave Pittsburgh, it didn’t really make too much of a difference in any event.

Pittsburgh shows the signs of an industrial city that once was and no longer is. While I could see plenty of industry (smokes stacks bellowing smoke, barges in the river filled with coal, etc.), I noticed many abandoned factories and plants that at one time, I’m sure, were exceedingly active. I decided that the prospects of finding a place to camp in the city limits was probably not a good idea. Every decent spot I considered showed signs of people having been there (cigarette butts, empty beer cans, assorted trash, etc.), and I did not want to be bothered in the middle of the night.

Three rivers converge in Pittsburgh, the Ohio, Allegheny, and the Monongahela, so there are many bridges, and it is easy to lose one’s bearings. I used my GPS and finally navigated my way out of town using Route 51 North. It was hilly and there were many steep climbs leaving the city. I ended my day a few miles outside Coraopolis, a town part of the larger metro area. At around 8:30, I found a suitable place off the road and pitched my camp. It was noisy from all the traffic and trains, but I didn’t have much of a choice. It was the worst camping experience thus far.

Ron