Mt. Minsi, 4/11/10

I just found this in my drafts section--apparently the last effort before my two-year unintentional hiatus!

Although we had Bushkill Falls on the menu for today, Eric decided at the last minute to try to avoid the crowds and find something else. The Delaware Water Gap has been on our list, so we found a couple of maps and identified a short loop on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, which runs as the border between PA and NJ. The Delaware Water Gap is home to a great variety of trails, and the Appalachian Trail cuts through here as well. A trailhead to climb Mt. Minsi looked easy to find, so we loaded up the CamelBacks, made a couple of sandwiches and headed out.

We parked on Rt. 611, just past Mountain Rd. in the (adorable) village of Delaware Water Gap, at the Resort Point Parking Area and a short spur trail took us to the AT. We went left on the AT to head south toward the top of Mt. Minsi. The first mile or so was easy going and there was a steady amount of traffic. There are a handful of spur trails--all unblazed--that lead to different views, areas and loops maintained (or not) by the Delaware Water Gap. One overlook mid-way to the Mt. Minsi overlook checks out a little beach on the river at Kittatinny Point in NJ. We caught some great views of hawks at this point. From here, the climb to the top of the ridge intensifies and certainly had me panting. We didn't have a great map, so at the next clearing we thought maybe we had reached the summit.

We knew we wanted to take the unmarked Mt. Minsi Fire Rd. back down the ridge, but knowing that you're looking for something that isn't marked can have you envisioning paths through the smallest of clearings. But it looked like the trail was still gaining elevation, so we kept going--and panting--up the AT. The AT and the Mt. Minsi Fire Road cross awkwardly and form a figure 8 just before the peak overlook, but despite our earlier confusion, when we finally got to the trail we were looking for, it was clear. We stuck to the AT for another couple of hundred yards to get to the peak, which was a fantastic treat.

The peak of Mt. Minsi, at 1,463 feet, stares directly across to the slightly-higher Mt. Tammany (1,527') in NJ. There was only one other couple there when we got there, and they were looking skyward at the hawks circling above. I took in some of the incredible vistas--we could see for miles and miles into New Jersey. I pulled out my camera to check out the hawks and was thrilled to see that one of those "hawks" was an EAGLE! It's the first "in the wild" sighting I can recall, so I was excited. I was even more excited that Eric had his binoculars so we could really get a great view of its white head and tail. It curved around the mountain before long, but I was so glad to see it. What a great reward for at the top of the mountain!
We ate at the summit and headed back out to take the Mt. Minsi Fire Road north, back down the mountain. The road is wide and clear and is a gentle descent, compared to the sudden rise that is the last half-mile of the AT. The loop we did--including a couple of spurs we wandered off to looking for vistas--was about five miles, and we took about two-and-a-half hours, including a leisurely lunch. The only thing that really detracted from the enjoyment of the trail was the traffic noise rising up from I-80 while moving south up the mountain on the AT. The Delaware River and the AT cut through the Delaware Water Gap, with peaks on both sides, so the noise from the interstate really carried. However, the more gentle Mt. Minsi Fire Road was blocked from much of that noise.

Distance: 5 miles
Wildlife: Hawks, bald eagle
All-in-all: A great hike when it comes to time and effort versus the payoff of the views. The vistas at the very top of Mt. Minsi really were stunning--of course, the bald eagle at the top was the real payoff--but this is certainly a hike I'd recommend to anyone near the Delaware Water Gap.

Horse-Shoe Trail, Part III

Two weeks ago we did a nice 12 mile stretch of the trail, picking up at Brightside Farm and emerging at Welkinweir Nature Preserve. It was a gorgeous day and a really nice stretch. We were on the edge of several horse pastures to start, which was nice--who doesn't enjoy looking at grazing horses? Right at the start, we stumbled upon a scattered skeleton, including the jawbone pictured. I have no idea what kind of animal it was, but it was kind of neat to see the skull, jawbone and all of the bones scattered--they were dry bones that had been there for a while.

We startled (and in turn were startled by) three white-tail deer, and there was no shortage of chatter from birds. Flowers are blooming all over and the trees are getting greener and fuller by the day.

As we're learning is the normal on this trail, there were quite a few miles on roads--and at some points, on windy, narrow roads with car flying past. Yikes. But there were certainly some great woodsy sections, too, and one section even included some nice elevation to get the blood flowing. When we emerged at Welkinweir--tired after walking 12 miles--we were unsure how to find where we'd left the car. We walked around the lake where we emerged (there's definitely an active beaver population there!)  and had to wander around a bit to figure out where we were going, but it's a gorgeous area, so despite achy feet, it was nice to see. Add it to the list of things to explore further in the future!

Distance: 11.7 miles
All-in-all: A few awful section on a road with speeding cars, but plenty of nice walks through woods and around pastures to balance it out.
Links: www.hstrail.org

Horse-Shoe Trail, Part II

The mild winter seems to be seamlessly blending into spring--I don't want to jinx anything because March blizzards are not unheard of, but it's in the 70s all week and things are starting to bloom. HOORAY!

We had a productive weekend between me catching up on graduate work and Husband working on his pottery before the spring/summer selling season, but we took a break on Sunday to knock off another few miles on the Horse-Shoe Trail. We picked up where we left off at the Rees Road access point and did six miles to where we left the second car at Brightside Farm. It was an easy walk, again on a good deal of paved roads (with fast moving traffic, yikes).

It's neat on these walks to see how these routes that I drive so often connect through the woods. I have a TERRIBLE sense of direction so it's hard for me to make sense of how places connect sometimes. We passed an alpaca farm, saw some massive hawks and definitely heard a little more chatter from the birds than the last time. We also passed the Great Valley Nature Preserve, which has been on my list to check out for a while.

We may end up going last-minute backpacking this weekend--looks like it's supposed to be nice. If not, I think we'll try to do a nice long portion of trail.

Distance: 6 miles (Rees Road to Brightside Farm)

All-in-all: Another pleasant and easy (relatively unexciting) portion of the HST.

Links: www.hstrail.org

Horse-Shoe Trail, Pt. I

Oh! That's right! I started a blog two years ago! I do wish I had kept up with this, because we’ve explored some pretty great trails over the past two years: Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, a gorgeous loop on the Tongue Mountain Range on our honeymoon, Mt. Mansfield/The Chin—Vermont’s highest point (although in the interest of full disclosure, we did not climb that one—we drove up the mountain and hiked across the ridge due to time constraints and an injury), plenty of great spots close to us in Pennsylvania, plus, our first overnighter after getting fully outfitted with backpacking gear thanks to our wedding registry.

Here’s to hoping I stay a little more dedicated to the blog this time around. I need an outlet for writing that isn’t technical/scientific (as at my day job) or formulaic and research-based (as for grad school).

What prompted my return to the blog? We’ve started our first long-term hiking project! We’re going to complete the Horse-Shoe Trail in 2012. It’s a 140ish-mile connector trail that goes from the Appalachian Trail on Stony Mountain (Dauphin County, PA) east to Valley Forge National Historical Park, which happens to be in our backyard. We got the complete map set for Christmas (two, actually—Eric bought it for me, and my mom bought it for Eric) and started with the first five (okay, 4.9) miles on Saturday, February 4.

The map set is really complete, with detailed descriptions and directions to parking areas at various access points. We parked at Washington’s Headquarters in Valley Forge NHP and started there. It really is a sin that we haven’t explored Valley Forge and our nearby walking trails more in the nearly two years we’ve been in Phoenixville.

The first bit of the HST is in Valley Forge NHP and we passed forks in the trail that would lead to the Upper and Lower Forges and a historic covered bridge, which was the original starting point of the HST. We have to get back and check out those spur trails. There are some neat ruins of an old bottling plant early on (see photo of my husband as Sasquatch) before just enough of an incline to get the blood pumping.

The thing about the HST—at least this first leg of it—is that much of it cuts literally through people’s backyards, sometimes it’s on a street, and it certainly doesn’t always feel like “real hiking.” Nonetheless, it was nice to spend a couple of hours outside, and we had fun picking out houses where we’d love to live.

I think this project/goal will be great to have as a go-to hike when we don’t have time to plan something out or go too far, and since it cuts through Chester, Lancaster and Lebanon counties, where we have friends scattered all throughout, hopefully some of the day-hikes will include friends. Our next two weekends are pretty busy, so it’ll probably be a while before we get out again, but I’m glad we started.

Distance: 4.9 miles (Valley Forge to Rees Rd. access point)

All-in-all: In itself, not a great stretch, but the HST is pretty impressive and we’re looking forward to completing it this year.

Links: www.hstrail.org

www.nps.gov/vafo/

Nescopeck State Park, 3/28/10

After spending the weekend relaxing at our friends' cabin at the Eagle Rock Resort near Hazleton, PA, in the Poconos, we made a stop at Nescopeck State Park to get some walking in, although it was a cold, dreary day with a chance of rain--at the beginning of the season, we're just desperate to be outside!

Nescopeck isn't particularly hilly or mountainous, so we grabbed some trail maps at the closed Education Center and started for the only trail that was marked as "Difficult"--the three-mile Mountain Loop that nears the top of Nescopeck Mountain. This was a pretty easy walk for most of the time, except for the 100 yards or so leading to the trail's summit. There's no spectacular view at the top, just a few sudden sharp turns and then a sudden descent. Maybe it was because it was the last weekend in March and the weather was chilly and drab, but this was a sad, lifeless hike! There wasn't a leaf, shrub, weed, squirrel or bird to be seen (or heard) and we didn't see anyone else on this section of the trail. There were, however, plenty of misguided brooks and streams--after an incredibly snowy winter, the spring melt was still carving out the trails, and we did a lot of rock scrambling over brooks (always fun, as far as we're concerned).

When we hit Honey Hole Road, we decided to continue on to the Creekside trail and head towards Nescopeck Creek and see what sights we could find. We came upon the creek, which was slightly more lively than the rest of the hike. However, we quickly lost track of the Creekside Trail and thought maybe it had been grown over or drowned out during an incredibly wet winter, so we cut up the Fern Trail towards the Nescopeck Trail, a wide, well-defined road that slowly headed back towards Lake Francis and the Education Center where we were parked.

The area around Lake Frances was poorly marked and we missed a turn at some point, so we ended up walking half a mile on Honey Hole Road to get back to where we were parked. It started to rain just before we got to the car. We ended up doing around five miles; there wasn't much elevation so we it only took two hours (and with the dreary weather, we didn't even stop to eat).

Distance: 5 miles
All-in-all: Nescopeck didn't have much to offer, but with the informal goal of exploring as many state (and national, of course) parks and forests as we can, I'm still glad we made the stop.
Links: Nescopeck State Park

Pulpit Rock/Pinnacle Loop, 3/21/10

After a frigid winter with record-setting snowfall in Philadelphia, we were chomping at the bit to get out for a nice, long hike that didn't involve me sliding down hills on my butt (we haven't really advanced to winter hiking yet--maybe next year). We found the perfect loop, part of the Appalachian Trail and with a trail head just 45 minutes from Eric's apartment. The Pulpit Rock/Pinnacle Loop in Hamburg, PA, is an 8.7 mile circuit with some incredible views. We couldn't have picked a better spot for the first springtime adventure.

We parked at a water treatment plant and walked about half a mile up a gravel road to the trail. After crossing a small bridge over Furnace Creek, we stayed to the right to stay on the AT. The first mile or so was easy going with little elevation gain. There are a few spur trails and there were quite a few people on the trail. The woods were positively alive, though, with chipmunks scattering in every direction and the wildly loud song of the wood frogs ringing out, much to my delight. For the last quarter-mile or so before the Pulpit Rock overlook, the trail quickly gained elevation and required a great deal of rock scrambling.We sat at the rocky overlook to take in the views of the Lehigh Valley and its many ridges and tried to identify the other mountains. Hawks were enjoying the gorgeous day just as much; we saw dozens circling between the ridges. It's always in situations like these that I wish I had a better camera. I tried to get some good photos of the hawks, but my camera just doesn't do them justice.
After leaving Pulpit Rock, we came upon an observatory with a sign for the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society, which excited me--I've always been fascinated with the night sky and I can't imagine a better weekend than an evening hike followed by stargazing with real equipment and people who know what they're talking about. Add it to my never-ending list of things to check out.
The next mile or so of the trail was more rock hopping and often stopping at every blaze to seek the next. There were far fewer people on this section of the trail and we enjoyed the slightly more challenging terrain to reach the short spur trail off of the AT to reach the Pinnacle. You certainly can't miss the Pinnacle with the enormous rock cairn marking your arrival, and at the overlook, the rocks jut out to allow panoramic views of the valley--absolutely gorgeous. I was shocked and disappointed at the amount of trash left behind by previous hikers, and we packed what I could to carry out after taking in the views.
The Loop continues on the AT for another 1.82 miles on an old woods road before meeting up with a blue-blazed trail that would lead back to the trailhead where we started. We came across a few swampy bogs where dozens of wood frogs sang loudly and incessantly--I loved it! Much of the remainder of the loop follows along Furnace Creek and is all easy terrain. The trail passes by the Hamburg Reservoir before leading back to the road that takes you to the parking area.

Distance: 8.7 miles
All-in-all: Enjoyable loop with some fantastic vistas; mostly easy terrain with a few areas of more moderate climbing.
Links: Map

On Hiking and Loving

Thanks for checking out our blog! We are Kelly and Eric, two amateur outdoor enthusiasts from the greater Philadelphia area. I wanted an easy way to keep track of our hikes and maybe even connect with some other hikers in the area, thus, a blog was born. We're about to move out of our respective apartments in Philadelphia (Kelly) and the Lehigh Valley (Eric) to Phoenixville and most of our hikes are pretty local, but we've got backpacking gear on our wishlist and are hoping to start expanding our hiking horizons.

As a bit of a backgrounder, we met in June of 2008 when we both joined a mutual friend on a trip to the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, TN, and have been together ever since. We love hiking, camping, live music and cooking. We tried our first container garden with moderate success last summer, and are excited to have a legitimate vegetable patch at our new apartment. Most of our discretionary spending goes to concerts and music festivals.

If you're here, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and say hello, tell us about your favorite trail and leave a link to your blog.

Blue skies!