hiking

Assateague Island

danaelizabethx Hiking, Interesting Places , , , , , , , ,

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!  🙂

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St Peter’s Village

danaelizabethx Hiking , ,

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!

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Ridley Creek State Park

danaelizabethx Hiking , ,

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!

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Just beautiful!

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Backpacking Blunders (part 3)

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When you are taking someone backpacking for the first time, you want their experience to be pleasant so that they will want to go again.  When I took my friend Laura on her first backpacking trip, it was ANYTHING but pleasant….

I used my Backpacking Pennsylvania book to pick out an easy trail – I decided on the Pinchot Trail in Lackawana State Forest.  In the book it was listed as a 24 mile loop hike that is typically done in 2 days.  The loop also has a section of trail that goes through the middle in case you need/want to cut your trip short.

We set out in September of 2010 with my trusty side kick at the time Kira.  Kira was an adorable dog I adopted from the pound in 2001, she had a few emotional issues as she was abused before I got her, but as long as you played by her rules, she was perfectly fine – more about this later.

signing the trail register

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Backpacking Blunders (part 2)

danaelizabethx Backpacking , , , , , ,

Back in 2008, after I saved up and bough some decent gear, I talked my best friend Jen into coming on a backpacking trip with me.

The pack I eventually ended up buying was an Osprey Ariel 75 – since my previous pack seemed to small to carry everything I would need, I was unsure about what size to get so naturally I bought the absolute biggest bag I could find – I figured it would be good to have the extra room and it had a ton of compression straps so that if I didn’t fill it up it wouldn’t be a big deal.  Unfortunately what they say is true about packs – if you have the space, you will find something to fill it up with – and boy did I ever.  Since this was my 1st backpacking trip I wasn’t sure what I would need – so I brought EVERYTHING, literally!  We planned on making it a 3 day/ 2 night trip so I brought a change of clothes for each day plus an extra pair and clothes to sleep in- all were cotton as I didn’t have any moisture wicking clothes.  I brought tons of extra batteries as that is what I read online, even though all my gear was new, my pocket rocket backpacking stove to cook food with and 2 fuel canisters as again I read you should bring a spare in case you ran out.  I hate to admit I even brought makeup, a razor, 2 books, a deck of cards, a mug, headlamp, flashlight, AND lantern, a pillow, plus the tent, food, and my sleeping bag – my pack easily weighed 55lbs – if not more.  It was packed to the BRIM with things – more than I would need for a WEEK on the trail, but again we had no idea and wanted to be prepared.  Jen ended up using the LL BEAN pack that I bought as that was the only spare I had.

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If you look really closely I think you can see the kitchen sink I packed peaking out – HOW DID I CARRY THIS???

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Backpacking Blunders (part 1)

danaelizabethx Backpacking , , , , ,

So since there is going to be a tropical storm this weekend and our plans were cancelled, I decided I am going to write a short series about some backpacking trips that didn’t go as expected.  There has been some VERY interesting mishaps I felt I’d share!

I guess I should start with when I 1st tried to get into backpacking.  I’m not sure where I first got the idea to go, but I remember becoming obsessed with it about 10 years ago around about the time I got into hiking – the idea that you could CARRY everything you need to survive a night in the woods was fascinating to me.

I went from a kid who HATED hiking (I would complain and cry the ENTIRE TIME – why can’t I go home and read my book??) to an adult who couldn’t get enough of being outside.  I have no idea what happened, but I took every chance I could to go exploring.  I CLEARLY remember being a kid and my parents would take me out in my sweatpants with the elastic cuff at the bottom that were about 5″ too short, Keds canvas sneakers, and turtleneck – I would be sweltering to DEATH and they want me to hike up some dumb hill? For what?  Hiking to me when I was a kid equaled guaranteed sunburn, bug bites, and poison ivy – and heaven forbid if you got all of these things at the same time – TORTURE!!!  The ONLY thing I liked then about being outside was being able to see frogs.  I remember standing by a tiny stream of water and seeing a few hopping around and my dad telling me that it’s rare to see frogs because of pollution and stuff – and this was in the 80s!

I spent about an hour and a half searching for this picture – I vividly remember this day:

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looking for frogs and wanting to go home to read my book – my sisters and I (I am the in the white shirt)

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French Creek State Park

danaelizabethx Hiking ,

Another nice day calls for another hike!  Jo and I headed out To French Creek State Park today – I had been on these trails a few times before – the map for the park is pretty much useless as the actual trails do not match up in any way to the trails on the map – the only thing in common are some of the trail names.  It seems like they are working to correct this and I saw several trail markers and newer painted blazes on the trees that I hadn’t seen the last time I was here.

You can rent kayaks, canoes and even paddleboards seasonally here – this was where I tried paddle boarding for the 1st time – it was perfect because the lake isn’t so huge that you feel lost and it isn’t so small that you get bored – also no motorized boats are aloud so you don’t have to worry about the wake tipping you over – just nice flat water filled with beautiful lily pads that look so out of place here!  It seriously makes you feel like you are in an exotic country, not south eastern PA!  🙂

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Pulpit Rock, PA

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Yesterday I was feeling better so JoJo and I headed out to Hamburg, PA to hike to Pulpit Rock which is along the Appalachian Trail – it was an absolutely perfect day for a hike too!  I didn’t want to waste it as the entire week was beautiful and I was sick the whole time!  :/

We pulled into the Hamburg Reservoir – I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was so packed with cars because this is a very popular hike, but it was Friday so I wasn’t expecting it to be as busy as it was.  We found a spot and headed down the trail – it is a road walk for a little while until you see signs for the Windsor Furnace – there are several trails to take at this point, but I chose to turn right, cross over a small bridge and stay to the right along the Appalachian Trail up to Pulpit Rock.  The other trails bypass Pulpit Rock, but I honestly like the view from there better than the Pinnacle which is almost completely covered in graffiti.  There are also a few telescope towers right next to Pulpit Rock that is on the property of the Berks County Amateur Astronomical Society – there are signs stating it is private property, but as far as I know they are ok with people walking through – I even have friends that were invited to join them when they were having a meeting and got to see planets and solar flares during a day hike!  How awesome!

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Trail Yoga

danaelizabethx Hiking ,

Trail Yoga was something I have heard about and always thought sounded cool.  My previous yoga experiences have been a little strange though so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up for this trip.

The first time I ever did yoga was at the gym I belonged to at the time – the class was fine until the end.  We were laying on our backs with our eyes closed, focusing on our breathing.  I suddenly feel a presence standing over me – I open one eye to peak out and see what was going on and it was the yoga instructor standing over me.  He steps over me which puts him in a position I can only describe as straddling me.  ‘WTF IS GOING ON???’ I am thinking as he bends towards me – he then takes his thumb and presses REALLY hard on my forehead with a completely greasy hand – probably from the sweat of the other people in the class – who knows.  I am thinking, ‘This dude just poked me in my “third eye” – what the HECK is happening?!?  How is this relaxing??’

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