Mid-Atlantic trip in late July: Laurel Highlands?

I think that some of your questions should be directed to DCNR, like the permit shifting.

DCNR handles all the reservations. So, its great that you’ll have a reserved shelter, but I’m not sure if you can bump a permit ahead if you’re making good time. All the shelters are guaranteed, so you shouldn’t have to carry much more than a bug/mouse shelter (I even heard to bring some mouse traps). I believe that the water sources – though reliable – are possibly contaminated or sketchy.

Ohiopyle Trading Post might be able to give you the shuttle service.

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Chris Shive here on BPL just did a nice trip through the Sods, and saw the TR – it was great. What about the West Rim Trail or Loggers Path?

Oh, I have not done this trail yet, but have done a lot of the research.

Having done both Dolly Sods and the Laurel Highlands Trail recently, hopefully I can give some insight.

LHT is a great hike, but I would plan on either being flexible with your distance or planning on the shelters, but not both. I've camped at a different camp than I was registered for without a problem, but it becomes an availability issue with the shelters. If you want to leave a tent at home (the shelters are adequate for this) then you'd probably want to stick to your reserved area so you're sure to have one. The other thing I'll say is that while the trail is easy for the middle 50 miles of its length, the first and last ten are rocky and can get steep as you rise onto the ridge.

Dolly Sods and the adjacent Roaring Plains are spectacular, but you really have to try to squeeze more than about 40 miles out of them combined. After that, you just end up taking pretty circuitous routes.

Thanks, all! I've decided on the LHHT, 5 nights, north to south. It sounds like I'll see someone at each shelter site, but none will be full; hopefully that will allow some flexibility if I need it. Devin, I've got a tarp just in case I change my schedule and run into a full campsite.