Hiking Dead Man's Hollow

Dear Husband and I took advantage of me getting off 2 weeks of "service" (supervising a team of trainees in the hospital) to take a hike with my colleague A.M., her husband J., and adorable little N., who is almost 1 year old. Appropriate for the month of Halloween, we carpooled out to Dead Man's Hollow, 450 acres of conserved forest just south of McKeesport that used to host a quarry and a pip factory until a fire in the 1920s. Since then, nature has reclaimed the land. There are multiple stories about how it got its name, some of them probably true.

The easiest to reach trail head was Cool Spirit, and that is tucked into a residential neighborhood. Once we found the lot there was plenty of space, so we changed the baby, buckled her into a hiking backpack, and set off.

The trail begins near a catfish pond. No fish were sighted. However, we did see 1 deer while hiking, and 1 while driving home. There were a handful of other hikers out as well, one with a dog on a leash. Bikes are forbidden on these trails.

The trail is billed as "moderate," which I think is fair. It's a narrow path, sometimes overgrown, with some up/down elevation. The biggest obstacle was a very large tree downed across the path, which required clambering over.

We needed just 50 minutes to complete the loop under blue skies with puffy white clouds. It was just chilly enough to feel it on your cheeks without being uncomfortable. At 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back, it was a delightful interlude in a day I otherwise spent doing laundry, cooking minestrone soup, and catching up on the rest of my life that doesn't revolve around the hospital.