Jan 16, 2017

We got up and made our way to Cornell University for sunrise. It's a gorgeous campus with historic buildings and great views of the town. We wandered around for the better part of an hour checking out the architecture and admiring the light as it appeared on the brick facade of the tower. Another nice start to a day and a good walk on the hilly grounds.

We had about two hours of driving down to Ricketts Glen State Park in PA. The trail was immediately icy, but this time there was a lot of snow to go along with it. The gorge trail was marked to stay off unless we had proper gear like crampons and axes, but we felt like we would be fine and could make the decision to turn back if it seemed dangerous.

The waterfalls were insanely beautiful covered in snow and ice. I can't believe I've never come here in winter before. This is another example of a place I didn't think could get any more beautiful, but here I am proved wrong again. We spent a lot of time at each set of falls admiring and photographing them from different angles.

The trail did end up getting a little precarious at times, but we both made it without incident. I am impressed even more with the Yaktrax after this. We decided to do the whole loop, which probably made it about 6 miles total, but it definitely didn't feel that long with so much to see.

Toward the end we were able to get behind this waterfall that was almost totally frozen over. The view from behind the ice looking down on the glen was so amazingly unique. We couldn't have been happier to get to see all of this.

Sadly we had to leave eventually, but some cake batter/chocolate twist from Vegan Treats cheered us up. We sat there eating the ice cream that the guy "poured too high" which we both agreed wasn't possible and no one would ever care. It was delicious and we each picked up another little treat for later. The drive home seemed super long in traffic and we stopped at Trader Joe's in Philly for groceries before heading back home. Just grocery shopping on the weekend like average people.

Nov 22, 2013

This is a day in photos. I didn't sleep great, which is actually pretty unusual in my car. My phone died, so we woke up later than planned to rain falling on the car and gray skies all around. It was slightly discouraging, not to mention it made it harder to want to get up. Once we got up, we packed things up, changed, and headed into Wal*Mart to get delicious apple sauce squeezy packet things, other snacks, and to use the bathrooms to get ready for the day. Then we headed off under the menacing sky, hoping for the best. We got to Kelly's Run/Conestoga Trail trailhead and began our long trek.

I have done this trail a couple times before in one way or another so I recognized a lot of the first part. I was glad I didn't bring my hoodie since I was warm after a mile or so. For the first part of the trail we barely felt any rain so that was nice. The slippery rocks under fallen, wet leaves was not a lot of fun.

We got to the Pinnacle overlook after a few steep climbs up treacherous rocks covered in dry leaves. They were actually worse than the wet ones and covered everything so you had to take a chance every time you stepped. The view was nice and we took a break to eat a Clif bar and rest. We also looked up directions and maps to no avail. There really is no good resource for trails and hiking. Many websites claim to be the source, but none of them are. Lies. The map on the bulletin board there was of no use either. So we decided to just go for it.

The next part of the trail was somewhat familiar to me. We traveled along the railroad tracks and then along another rushing glen. I recognized most of this area, but after a while we were in a place that looked completely unfamiliar to me. We came to a really pretty area with cascading water and still-yellow leaves on the trees. Despite the nice scenery we soon ended up walking in a circle because the blue blazes branched off in two separate paths that led back to where we started. This made no sense, but we soon found the path again.

We continued off along a trail I didn't know at all in the hopes that the blue blazes were the same ones that we started off on. We crossed a log bridge with ropes in one direction before getting to the end of the path that dropped us off on a road and leading nowhere so we turned around and crossed back over the same bridge, discouraged and heading back the way we came. We seemed to be heading away from where we needed to go so we decided to break off the trail and cut down a steep embankment to get to a nearby campground.

When we got there we wandered until we found a camp store with a couple of employees inside. We spoke to Renny, who advised us where we needed to go to get back to our car and, just as we were leaving, she offered us a ride back. We gladly accepted her generous offer. It was only a couple of miles, but the rain had picked up, and we both had wet shoes and no desire to walk three miles down a narrow road with no shoulder. She sympathized with our woes, as she knows all too well that the trails can be poorly marked and easy to get lost on. We thanked her profusely and happily changed into dry clothes.

On the way home we both wanted food badly. We found a Whole Food, but we had been snacking on Chex Mix on the way there so we couldn't finish our plates. The samosa was so good though. Spicy. Mmm.

I dropped Joanna at her car and then headed home myself. We hit a bunch of traffic before that Wawa, but after that it opened up pretty quickly for me to get home. I spent the night organizing some wedding photos for a meeting, and catching up on last night's shows.

Aug 10, 2013

We had a good sleep on the futon-ish thing in Harry's living room so when I got up I felt ready to go for a run with him. We ran along the river a bit and through the town. We caught up on a bunch of things and talked about his ascent to full-fledged pilot. I'd like to go fly with him one day. Having a conversation while running really does test your ability. I definitely felt challenged, but I liked that. Once we finished our good run I got a shower, and then we bid Harry and Terry adieu and got back on the road for our final drive home.

We had a long drive ahead of us through the rest of Ohio and then Pennsylvania. When things start looking familiar, that's when it starts to feel like it's taking a long time. The traffic started getting heavier when we got back to NJ as the sun dropped behind us on our final drive eastward. It was dark when we got back to Joanna's house and unpacked the car. I, of course, had to repack my car for the rest of my drive home. After saying goodbye for a while I headed home, glad to be sleeping in my own bed again for a while.

Apr 6, 2012

I got up at 2:30am and grabbed my pack to head out. I met Ashley in Philly and we made the drive up the PA Turnpike to the trail head for Mt. Minsi. The hike up was nice in the dim pre-dawn light. We didn't need our flashlights or headlamps at all. We made good time up to the overlook where we arrived just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

We took a nice rest on the rocks and watched the sun come up as Ashley unpacked a slew of surprising brunch items out of her pack. Strawberries, a baguette, curry chicken salad, and prosciutto to start with a homemade whoopie pie for after!

We ate well and took plenty of photos of the sunrise over New Jersey and Mt. Tammany. It was an amazing and peaceful way to begin the day.

We continued on along the trail and hiked the rest of the way out to the top before turning around and taking the same route back. The trail was rocky, but it was a nice walk.

There were a few overlook spots along the way that graced us with views in the opposite direction. Nice things to see all around. Hiking in the morning is the absolute best.

We headed back into the city in traffic, making jokes about signs along the way until we got to The Abbaye for lunch. She had me pick out her food and beer for her, and she was not disappointed with either. I had to get going after lunch and she had a meeting anyway. I came home and packed up all my stuff for the trip and laid down early once again in hopes of getting a lot of sleep.

Mar 20, 2012

I left in the morning and took a few hours to get to Lancaster County to find the trail head for Kelly's Run and the Conestoga Trail. I had been on part of this one before, but today I was taking the longer looped route. I got my pack together and set off down the trail.

It was mainly wooded at first, but I soon descended on Kelly's Run, a flowing stream that gave my hike a pleasant, babbling soundtrack. There were a few places where I had to cross over small rock hops. The rocks were still a bit wet all over from early morning rains, so I had to take it easy and step carefully.

When I got to Pinnacle overlook I remembered the view quite well from the last time I was here. It's a nice view down the Susquehanna River. After this came the steep descent that I would curse on the way back.

Another mile or so down the trail I stopped and grabbed a seat on some rocks to have my lunch. I had picked up some trail mix at an Amish market on the way in and was enjoying that along the way, but my sandwich was delicious.

The rest of the hike took me along more streams and small waterfalls with crossings over several wider parts of the water that took a bit more planning to keep my feet dry. I managed to go back and forth with nothing more than some mud on my soles. The scenery was beautiful and I only saw a handful of people along the way. Nice and secluded.

The trail wrapped around and followed the same path back past Pinnacle overlook, taking me back up a very steep, very long section that left me huffing and puffing and leaning on trees. The payoff is always nice, but when you're halfway up and you can't see the top it feels endless. I took a different trail back to the car and munched on the rest of my trail mix as I headed back to Jersey.

To break up the drive I stopped at the disc golf course in Pennsville just over the bridge to play a round. There was another guy playing by himself so I joined him and played the nine holes. It was a fun round and I shot well. I went and took some shots over the water as the sun was setting then finished the drive back home. The rest of the night I spent lounging.

Jul 13, 2011

We got up early after a few hours of sleep and got back on the road. I slept much better in the car this time than the last. It seemed like I-70 as a whole is just under construction. We saw these signs way too often and were slowed down considerably because of it. Should have taken 80 probably.

The drive through Indiana seemed longer than I would have expected, however Ohio went quickly. Pennsylvania, of course, seemed longest of all. I hate 76. It's long, boring, and I've driven it so many times that it drags on forever. And then we hit Philly traffic at rush hour.

Somehow we got back just before it was time to leave for Quizzo so I was able to join the group. We didn't win, but I think we did alright on the final round thanks to Matt.

A long day of driving and then back to the home routine right away. I should have been much more tired.

Jun 24, 2011

We got a very early start around 5am and headed west for a long time. The highways were mostly clear once we got outside of Philly. It was a straight drive through Pennsylvania and Ohio, only stopping for gas.

We found a disc golf course in Indiana that seemed like a nice stop so we got off the highway after about twelve straight hours driving and played. It was a really nicely designed, open course at a church.

It was a fun course, but the hills got old toward the end. I played quite well also so that was nice.

We were really hungry after playing so we went down the street to Carmel Burgers and got some overpriced veggie burgers and fries before getting back on the road.

We continue along I-70, straight and mostly empty for another few hundred miles and reached the edge of Missouri.

We stopped downtown in St. Louis to check out the Gateway Arch lit up. There were military helicopters and Hummers in the park for some kind of celebration they had been having during the day.

As we headed back to the car fireworks started going off over the city. We were not in the best spot to watch them, but we watched from behind the building as they seemingly went on forever. We're still not sure what the celebration was for.

At this point we were ready to get off the road and sleep a bit. We had to search a bit and then we found a campsite (sort of) that cost too much for what it was. The signs were wrong and we actually just camped on a site next to an RV instead of the tent sites. Oops. It worked.

May 2, 2011

After a good sleep we gathered things and headed out of the hotel, looking for a place to get food. We found an IHOP in the closest shopping area and had a tasty omelet and pancakes.

I realized that I could use my iPhone for geocaching so I figured this would be a good time to try it out. We looked for a few before settling on one and then found the trailhead and began our hunt.

It's really easy to navigate using the GPS pinpoint on the app. It shows the cache and flags any possible areas where there might be an alternate route. The trail was somewhat steep but it was a nice day for hiking.

We got a nice view down from a clearing and then continued on, only to come back out to the same open area where the power lines stood farther up the hill. We began our search when we got to ground zero and looked all around, not sure what we were searching for.

Finally, we came upon the cache: an ammo box tucked under a bush and covered with leaves so you would never see it unless you were looking for it.

We pulled it out and opened it up to see what was inside. There were playing cards, a flying disc, and a bunch of other things. We signed the log book and then decided what to take for our prize.

I really liked this duck carabiner clip so I switched it out for a poker chip PBR bottle cap. It was really all I had. The first cache was a lot of fun and a great hike to boot.

There was another on the way down.. sort of. We went down and had to hike back up another steep trail to get to it as dark clouds gathered overhead, threatening to harm my camera. After a bit of searching, we came upon the next one. The bird in the tree marked the spot where the cache should be, but it was not there. We headed out, slightly disappointed.

The real disappointment was yet to come when we went to another location and stood atop the pinpoint at ground zero, looking high and low through these rocks, unable to find anything. We even looked at the clue which told us to look really low. We did that everywhere we could think of and never turned up anything. We spent a lot of time searching with no luck. Then my car battery was dead when we got back to it because I left the lights on. Again. We had to wait on the rarely-traveled road until a guy in a truck stopped and jumped it for us. Thanks, guy!

Once we were back on the road and turned around after going the wrong direction on the highway for a bit, we stopped to get food at Sheetz (yeahh!) and hopped back on the PA Turnpike for a nice long drive home. I listened to a bunch of Stuff You Should Know podcasts while Joanna fell asleep.

The ride home seemed much faster than the way there. I was happy for that. It was a good two days and not a bad drive. Back to real life.