Adventure: Blue Hole Division

Everyone and their mom think they know where Blue Hole is. By definition, a "blue hole" is simply a generic term for any oddly deep spot in a moving body of water, creating a slow current that appears blue and typically makes a great place to swim. I've heard the term often thrown onto Starlight Falls, Jacob's Creek, the Big Sandy Bridge, and a slew of others as if it were its proper name... and that's just in the Laurel Highlands. But one popular swimming locale in that very region does take claim to the title as its given title, so prominently that not only does it appear as such on maps, but an entire section of Forbes State Forest was named for it. While this Blue Hole is a small swimming area on Gary Run, this seldom visited parcel of public land is most noted for a feature on an adjacent stream: Cole Run Falls. The undeveloped nature of Blue Hole Division makes it perfect for backpacking, and so one spring afternoon Gunz and I drove out from Pittsburgh to do just that, before proceeding to Dunbar Mountain to explore old mine shafts the following day.
Beware: these pictures are old as balls.

As we made our way up beyond the Chestnut Ridge and well onto Laurel Ridge, we took a moment to admire the massive windmills of Cranberry Glade.

Another stop brought us to the old Barronvale Covered Bridge, which is getting darn close to being two centuries old. I remembered stopping here with Forest Ranger Paul Leasure years ago and figured a return visit would be worth it.

On our way to the trailhead we decided to load up some fresh water at the old Pearson Spring. Nice and cold wooooo

Finally, we parked at a trailhead to beat nightfall and began hiking in. The Jeep was packed heavy on the roof because we had caving gear in tow for another adventure the next day. Look how puny the ZJ looked back then. Jesus. No stars or anything either.

When we passed Cole Run Falls we were already at twilight, so we didn't have much time for pictures... not to mention there just weren't a whole lot of good angles to take pictures from. Low quality pics for sure but at least I got em.

We hiked in a bit further before setting up camp for the night. I swear every trail here went right across a slope and the few flat-ish spots were covered in rocks. After some searching that felt endless we managed to squeeze Gunz's tent onto a perch not much bigger than it's footprint. We actually had to make the fire quite a ways away, but hey some fresh cooked kielbasa sure did taste great.

The following morning we hiked along Cole Run to Gary Run, passing small cascades and such until we made our way to Blue Hole. It was certainly a cold morning, but we still hopped in for a dip.

Gunz insisted on taking this picture while we were driving back.

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It was a pleasant little backpacking trip but we put in low miles on foot and let's face it, without anything high to jump off of Gunz and I can't be kept occupied for very long at all. So we still got a pretty early start on our next adventure and moved onward to Dunbar Mountain.

Tally-ho!
-Crash