Get Outdoors - Hays Woods (Southern Section) - May 17, 2025

On May 17, 2025, 2 members of Bower Hill hiked in Hays Woods. Since we had hiked the northern section in March, we did the southern section this trip. We started out hiking on the same dirt road as before. After a few minutes, we took a left turn following a power line down a steep trail. Toward the bottom, the trail was enveloped with large knotweed plants to the point you could barely see the person in front. As we began to hike up the hill, the trail became easier to follow. At the top, we came to several large electrical power towers and got a nice view of the Monongahela River, Hazelwood and Oakland. We tried a trial leading down into a valley but found the going difficult with a sharp drop off at the bottom. An alternative trail into the valley gave us the same result. But we were rewarded with seeing a turtle on the way back up. At the top, we took a dirt road that followed the ridgeline which got us to the hill on the other side of the valley. Our reward was another great view of Hazelwood and Oakland. We retraced our steps then followed a level path back to the car. It was perfect weather for a hike with a nice breeze to cool things off.

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