Fayette County Coroner Dr Bob Baker identified 79-year-old Gail Luck of Wisconsin as the woman killed in a landslide on the Great Allegheny Passage near Connellsville. The trail section south of town remained closed Monday while the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources investigated the slide.
Luck was riding with her husband about 1 p.m. Saturday when the hillside gave way and pushed rocks, dirt and debris onto the trail along the Youghiogheny River. Her husband was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Connellsville trail closure
The closed stretch sits on a state-owned portion of the route under Ohiopyle State Park jurisdiction. The Great Allegheny Passage runs 150 miles between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., and the corridor typically draws about a million visitors annually.
By Monday afternoon, a Department of Conservation and Natural Resources worker stationed near the site said rocks could still be heard shifting on the hillside. That left the slide area active even after the Saturday death, with unstable ground still moving beside the trail.
DCNR and trail users
Trail users were being shuttled between Connellsville and Dunbar so they could get on the Sheepskin Trail. Greg Stocksdale, owner of 2 Wheel Escapes, said the company was offering shuttles through Wednesday at $20 per person.
A 2 Wheel Escapes employee said she had shuttled about 40 cyclists around the closure on Sunday and another 20 or so by noon Monday. Mark Sholtis, a Connellsville trail user, and Lauren Bubart, a Dunbar resident and trail user, were among the people adjusting to the detour as the state examined what caused the slide and how long the closed section will stay off limits.
Great Allegheny Passage use
October is usually the third-busiest month on the trail after September and May, and the closure landed during one of the route's heaviest stretches. For riders heading through Fayette County, the practical option is the shuttle around the closed segment until the state opens the trail again.
