Over the weekend I FINALLY was able to test out my new snowshoes. The snow was PERFECT – I was able to float right on top of about 2 feet of snow while Kevin, who doesn’t have any, sunk in – up to his knees at some spots! We were visiting his parents so Joey and I went for a walk in their woods. It was so beautiful – the only tracks were those of wildlife so it was very easy to walk around on the mostly undisturbed snow. I have to say it was sort of fun to take my snowshoes off and see how far I sunk in without them! 🙂
Hiking
Conestoga Trail – Section A: part 2
The Conestoga Trail is a little known trail in PA that is 63 miles long, starting in Furnace Hills, PA where it meets the Horseshoe Trail and goes to York, PA where it meets the Mason-Dixon Trail. It is considered an endangered trail because big sections of the northern part of the trail have been rerouted onto roads due to landowners revoking trail access. I can’t say that I blame them – on the one hand I want people to get outside and explore, but on the other I’m not so sure I would want people trampling through my private property either. I can see both sides.
While the southern most section of the trail is considered the most scenic, I decided I was going to do the whole thing in sections- why not? 🙂
I began with the on road section of the trail (Which is near the end of section A of the trail guide) as it is hunting season and a big portion of the start of the trail is closed until hunting is over – this way I could get the “boring” on road section of the trail out of the way first while the days are still nice. I found out this section is ANYTHING but boring. While some of the roads are fairly busy (which is why I decided to bike it instead of walk), the views of farmlands, animals and covered bridges were amazing – good old Lancaster County! This section of the trail is a little hilly with one section I had to get off and push my bike up – it was steep even to walk it! The only other thing besides cars you need to watch out for on the trail were the road apples which if you are from PA you will know this is a nice way to say horse poop from the Amish horse and buggies. 🙂
#optoutside
I’m sure you have heard about the #optoutside movement that REI started this year – instead of spending your day inside, fighting crowds during Black Friday, REI urged people to spend their day outside enjoying nature instead. Here in PA I couldn’t have asked for a better day – it was actually in the 60’s with zero chance of rain – who WOULDN’T want to be outside on a day like that?? PERFECT hiking weather!!
I asked my sister if I could take my nephew on a hike and my Mom decided to join me as well! We decided to check out some trails that we haven’t done in a long time – the first was on Pumping Station Rd. We parked and walked about a mile round trip along the road, but could never find where the trail went into the woods – it was strange! We did see a crazy looking boulder that looked like a giant whale which was hard to get a picture of because of the brush in front of it. It seemed like everything had private property signs posted so we went back to the car to try to find some other nearby trails.
Why I LOVE REI
So you may know that REI has an incredible return policy – they will basically take ANYTHING back as long as you have proof of purchase, the item is in fairly decent condition and it’s within a year since you bought it.
In July I bought a new pair of Merrell hiking boots online because my Keens were pretty worn out. I wore them on a few day hikes and the 30 mile backpacking trip on the Old Loggers Path. The shoes seemed a bit narrow (I do not have wide feet so this seemed strange) but I figured they would stretch out after I broke them in a bit. Well they didn’t – after my trip on the Old Loggers Path, I NEVER had so many blisters on my feet in my life. It was awful – the entire inner sides of BOTH of my feet had massive blisters on them – from the tips of my big toes to my heel. It was nuts – and painful — and coincidentally how I decided on the name of my blog – I said to my family when I was done with the hike “I have never had so many blisters and bug bites in my life!” Then I thought – ‘Hmmm…that’s kinda catchy….sorta gross, but catchy!’ and TA DA! My blog was born!
Thank You and What’s Next
Just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been reading my blog – it has been really awesome to chat with so many people who are into the same interests as I am. 🙂
Assateague Island
Chances are when you were younger you had to read Misty of Chincoteague in school. This is the story about a wild pony from Assateague Island that was bought on Pony Penning day – a yearly roundup of the horses on Assateague by the Saltwater Cowboys where the horses swim across the bay onto Chincoteague Island and sold at auction. When I found out Assateague and Chincoteague were real places, the childhood girl inside me would not be happy until I visited! 🙂
It wasn’t until a few years ago I actually got to go to Assateague Island, which is split up into sections. Assateague is one long skinny island – Assateague State Park and Assateague National Seashore are on the Maryland side and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is on the southern Virginia part of the island. There is no road that goes the length of the entire island, but you can access both sides by bridges. I have only ever been to the Maryland side which offers various forms of camping, kayak and canoe rentals, hiking and biking trails, beaches, bays and WILD PONIES!! What’s not to love? Well if you go in the summer, be prepared for a TON of bugs – all of the biting variety for one. I’m not kidding, the first time I was there I hiked the “Life of the Forest Trail” and literally RAN through it because if I would stop I was immediately swarmed by mosquitos and horse flies – it was unreal! But NOTHING was gonna stop me from seeing those wild ponies! 🙂
Maize Quest Corn Maze
Friday night we decided to check out Maize Quest Corn Maze (cute play on words, don’t you think?) which is in New Park, PA. I had never done a corn maze before – by the time we got out there, it was dark. We brought flashlights because Friday and Saturday they have Flashlight Night so you can do the maze in the dark. The maze is 10 acres and the theme changes every year – this year the theme was Amazon Adventure. You can download an app that tracks where you are so you don’t get completely lost – and yes we did refer to it several times! 🙂 They give you a flag when you start so if you are really lost and need help getting out you just wave it overhead and they will come and get you.
St Peter’s Village
JoJo and I decided to check out St Peter’s Village today. Every time I think of St Peter’s Village I think of the time my best friend, Jen, took me there YEARS ago (it was actually the only other time I had been there). We were hiking around and I kept feeling like there was something on my head. I had the front part of my hair pulled back in a clip and I just kept feeling a lump where the clip was. I kept asking Jen if she saw anything and every time she would say no. When we were done hiking and got back in the car I looked in the rearview mirror and I see these tiny arms and legs frantically moving around and peaking out from my hair – tiny little buggy legs. LOL! It was like it was saying, “HELP ME!!!” Of course I did the only rational thing I could think of – jump out of the car and start screaming. haha. I may like nature, but NO ONE said I have to like bugs! So Jen comes running over and helps me get the bug, which turned out to be some kind of beetle, untangled from my hair. Poor little guy! I will NEVER forget seeing those little legs waving for help!
ANYWAY, we drove over and I couldn’t remember where you park – I saw a lot of parking areas but I didn’t see any trails so we kept driving around. Finally, I decided to check out the lot that had big boulders sort of framing it. I got out and saw a trail next to a sign that said the lot closes at dark. Jo and I set off for some exploring!
Ridley Creek State Park
It was a beautiful day so I decide to go hiking – JoJo and I headed over to Ridley Creek State Park in south eastern PA. I have only hiked there one other time YEARS ago. There is a beautiful mansion that has been converted into the park office. I figured today was a perfect day to check out the mansion and the trails again.
We got there a lot later than expected due to a TON of construction on some of the roads to the park. I was trying to listen to my audiobook (The Martian) but couldn’t really hear it because the GPS would cut it off to tell me directions – so sadly I couldn’t finish my book – oh well!
We stopped to check out the mansion/park office first. It was as lovely as I remembered it! The stone walls around the yard which contained formal gardens and fountains were amazing to look at! I can’t even imagine that people used to live in such a lovely place!
Hiking During Hunting Season
Hikers can still enjoy the great outdoors during hunting season, you just have to be a little more cautious and know a few rules before you go!
blisters and bug bites 