hootless hike. take two

On January 12 I signed up for a poop-load of walks on the Wildlands Conservancy website. The first non-Get Out Lehigh Valley Walk was last Sunday. An owl hike. Supposedly they know where the owls nest. Kind of like we did with the Whip-Poor-Will hikes two summers ago. It began at Allentown's Canal Park at 5:15.

Earlier in the day, I got two smaller walks in. The first was walking the dog to pick Sharon up at the bus stop. The second walking to the supermarket and CVS. With two bags of groceries that was a bit of weight training also.

I went, and nobody was there. I waited. Nobody came. I checked the internet on my phone. It was the wrong day.

I typed the post and never posted it. And it was a beautiful day. At 5 PM it was 50 and overcast.   

Today was the correct day for the hoot hike.

I picked up Lydia at work (the twin thing was a total accident!), and we headed to the park. We were the first ones there. About 20 people total arrived. 

It was 40 minutes of owl education (I wish I had know we'd be still, I would have wore my coat) and about 20 minutes of walking. Maybe a half-mile. That was it. We heard nothing other than the calls on his phone that we were using as a lure. That park, even at night, is very loud and light because of the railroad hub. We needed to go much further to get away from it.  In addition, the woods there are deciduous. He told us in the talk that the owls love conifer forests. They can hide better.  this location was wrong location on many levels.

We might have had more success if we walked further. I know I was disappointed that we didn't go further. In fact, I figured we'd probably walk about a mile or so and come back. I didn't exercise today because of it. Tonight was supposed to be my exercise. Oops.

Probably won't do another hoot hike.

52 week hike challenge:  n/a
Miles/Steps:   1/2 mile 
Weather:        48°, overcast
Bathroom:      Locked. What a surprise. (sarcasm)
Wildlife:         A half-dozen mallards flying overhead
Extra:             The tail on the Trail Winter Challenge begins on the first. There is no Idita-Walk this year. I'm not surprised.

winterfest (3/52)

The snow in our area has melted. The temperature has risen to the 50s. It was an awful weekend for the Winterfest. But we went anyway. Thank goodness the ski resort makes snow.

I picked up my Pakastani student at noon. (The Indian one went to graduation.) Thirty-five minutes letter we were in the land of snow. I was wearing a sweatshirt. And sneakers.

I parked an we followed the masses to the lodge. Next to it, on a training slope was the festival. My student realized the time and we went searching in the lodge for a place for her to do her prayers. We ended up in the locker room. She has a compass map on her phone.

The first stop was the ice carver. The guy had his work cut out for him. It was close to 50 degrees, even on top of the mountain. And the sun was bright.

We watched the sled dogs and my student Facebook lived everything. Switching between English and Urdu. I got the lay of the land while she filmed.

First stop was snowshoes. You could use them a half hour before you brought them back. I'm counting this portion as this weeks hike, though the rules said you need to hike for an hour. I snowshoed a half hour and walked for three. I think it counts.

We found the ice chair at the edge of the ski slopes. We watched the people zoom down the hill and the chair lifts go up. It was funny, you could see the summer roaps course in the trees because it was so bare.

After turning in our shoes, we went and visited the guy carving trees. He had just finished the bear.

The USA Luge was represented and the ski resort built a mini luge run. Not as steep or as dangerous as the Olympic ones. The sleds were plastic.  We briefly stood in line and it was clear the line was going nowhere fast. Unlike the snowshoe people, they did not set limits for how long one could use the sleds. We bailed.

Then we hopped on a shuttle bus and went to the base of the mountain and bought tubing tickets. I said I'd go once. There was a line at the bottom. I was fine.

You had to hop on a conveyor belt to get to the top. I can't do a treadmill. What makes you think I can do a conveyor belt going up. I got on and started flying around like a dead fish. I tried to get my baring and hold on to the rail, but to no avail. I finally ended up walking up the sides.

I had to get on the belt to get off and I crashed into the employee at the top getting off.

What I didn't expect was the lines at the top. By the time it was my turn I didn't want to go. My student was in the adjoining lane and went down two before me. My heart was beating out of my chest. I was terrified. The top was horrific. The rest wasn't bad. At some point I turned backwards.

 This is me landing. See I did it!

This is my student coming down. You can see her clearly at the end. Third lane from the right.

It was really, really busy and the cycle took at least a half hour. Our tickets were good for three. We gave up. This is a better activity for mid-week.

We took the shuttle back to the top, and check the luge line one more time. Still long. Maybe longer. It was time to head home.

52 week hike challenge:  3/52
Miles/Steps:   2.5 miles. 
Weather:        mid-50s°, sunny

whitehall parkway thaw (2/52)

Yesterday I had an 1:30 appointment at the Apple store at the mall. Since I was in the 'hood, I decided to leave at 11:30 and do my walk close by at the Whitehall Parkway and save some gas.

It worked well. After parking the first thing I noticed was that the corn crib across the street is ready to fall down. Maybe in another year, it will be a pile of rotted wood.

The barn, however, is not. In fact it's being improved. They added a sign on both sides saying Whitehall Parkway — no more guessing! Plus on the long side facing the parking lot (rather than the street), it says "Future Site of Whitehall Township Environmental Advisory Council Outdoor Learning Center". It must be true because they are working on the barn and have not removed any hex signs.

I walked on the path thru the woods to get to the IRT spur. This is a view of the unfrozen creek and the quarry.

I walked until I reached the Troxell Steckel House and then turned around and came back.  There were few people out, which surprised me. The weather was beautiful. And this path has winter matience so there is no ice or snow—melting or otherwise — to deal with. Two bikes and one runner. That's it. Oh, and a man walking a large beautiful white dog. I saw the runner going both directions.

52 week hike challenge:  2/52
Miles/Steps:   4 miles. 
Weather:        46°, overcast
Bathroom:      P-2.5. But it was open! No need to hold it to get to the Sheetz station. I think the mice had fun with the TP. The floor was a mess. But the toilet looked okay
Wildlife:         I heard five distinct bird calls, but saw no birds or wildlife
Extra:             My phone battery did not die. For a change. I actually had juice left when I got to the car.

fitness challenge: resistence bands

I have written about the Wellness Warriors at the community college many times. Today was the first event for the new term—resisitance bands.

Now honestly I thought it was those rubber band things. I've used them before. But I decided to go anyway. It's icy out and I really can't safely walk. And those video tapes are boring. I talked Lydia into coming along. What the heck, the cord and the class was free.

About 25 people came. We were given the bands and instructions. Wait! They were not rubber bands. They were bungee-like cords with handles. She showed us how to do each of the movements and we all tried a couple. That was the first half hour.

 About half left before the second half. Then we did a real mini-workout.  I was okay with the core stuff, and the arms, but of course I couldn't do the squats.


Now that I have a band, I guess I can look on you tube for an easy video.

golv: stone soup 2018 (1/52)

Today was the stone soup walk for Get Out Lehigh Valley. It's also prize day. Food and prizes. Can't beat that with a stick.

I arrived on time. Whoo hoo. No need to get lost going to Poole. When I arrived my friends Pam and Ron were there, so we hung together for the morning. This was their first Get Out walk. It was well past 10 when the walk began. This always happens with this group. For the stone soup I took home-frozen bi-color corn.

As always the battery on my phone was fickle, so I took a single picture with a 90% charge. The group pic was taken on Pam's phone. (I've had enough and have made an appointment for a battery replacement.) Once the photos are uploaded to the GOLV FB page, I'll steal them and put them here.

The event started with the prizes for the eighteen walkers who have completed ten hikes. This year the prize was a water bottle with the logo. I was a tad shocked. The first time I have ever received something branded from this group. The Tail on the Trail people brand EVERYTHING. Maybe they are finally understanding marketing?  I'd even buy a t-shirt. It's a good looking logo.

Then there was the grand prize drawing. I won! Two LL Bean totes. No, I don't know why two. Maybe people walk as couples? Honestly, I don't really have a need for either right now. I'll put them in the closet and when I do need them, I'll have them.

After the group pic, we split into two groups and headed out to walk. A third group stayed behind to cook over the open fire. We did three different trails in about an hour. It was a slow hike because it is interperative, we kept stopping. The boardwalks were a bit icy. The ponds were frozen, and the creek was running fast and it was high after yesterdays rain. We finished hiking at the educational bird enclosure. There was a red headed vulture, a black one, three owls, a perigone falcon, and two red tail hawks. I am not including them in the wildlife count, since they are captive.

Finally it was soup time. How such random ingredients can make soup is beyond me. Someone brought pumpkin puree. Who knew?

And I've forgotten how wonderful one smells when they sit in a campfire. My coat, my hair, my clothes, all smell wonderful.

52 week hike challenge:  1/52
Miles/Steps:   2 miles. 
Weather:        27°, sunny, windy
Wildlife:         immature downy woodpecker, 2 red tail hawks, and the carcus of a deer
Extra:             I hate my new Fitbit. I don't think it's even close to accurate. There is a feature where you get a dot for moving 250 steps each hour. One day I had nearly 6000 steps in and two dots. I've even counted and not gotten a dot. Today it says I have 38 active minutes. I hiked for an hour, walked back and forth from the parking lot to environmental ed center, and took the dog on a half mile walk. Clearly that's more than 38 minutes. 
    One day I did a walking tape and realized it wasn't measuring because I wasn't moving forward. I took it off and attached it to my belt loop.And god only knows how it measures sleep. It told me I slept 8 hours and 17 minutes last night. It took three hours to fall asleep and I was up at least twice after that. I don't think so. I think as long as you are laying there -- staring at the ceiling -- it measures it as sleep. 
    Golly I miss my Fitbit One.

ut oh

Tomorrow is the Stone Soup Hike with Get Out Lehigh Valley. You're supposed to register ahead of time, I rarely do. But since it's the first one of the year I decided to do it today. And in the process I signed up for all 20. Even though I probably can't make all of them. Hey, I had to go thru the hassle of finding out my user name and password, so I figured why not?

In the process I also signed up a bike and boat, snowga and snow shoe hikes -- 24 events in all.

Maybe this is what I needed to get my lazy winter butt into gear. We'll see.

the artic snap is over

It's warm out today. Really warm. Like 50 degrees. Three days ago it was -2  (-10 wind chill) when I woke up. Clearly Mother Nature is pissed off.

The wacky weather and a knee injury have my walking schedule off. I wouldn't go first thing in the morning — my preference — because -2  just hurts the skin. Even though that much skin would be not exposed. But then life gets in the way and morning turns into afternoon, and suddenly it's dark.  Hopefully, with school stating next week I'll no longer have the "you're not working can you drive me ...." interruptions. I hate being Uber. I need to learn to say no.

I have been dog walking, a few Walk At Home style videos, and taking elaborate routes around stores when I'm Ubering. We divide chores and I take the furthest corner or store in the strip mall, and then take the furthest route to get there. Even if the item needed is two aisles away, I will go the opposite direction to get there.

In addition my knee still hurt like heck. I was afraid of falling again on black ice.

Saturday I layed on the couch for four hours with my leg up and wrapped in a blankie. I read a trashy dime store crime novel. It was heaven.

Sunday morning I finished the novel and then felt guilty for being a slug. I decided to go to the Westgate Mall—no ice inside—and mall walk. The LV Mall would be more inviting, but dead malls have their benefits: No people, no temptations, and this one goes uphill. It's a shame, the owners poured a lot of money into a remodel and still nothing.

I started at the Subway door and walked all the way to the old 7/11. Part of it was outside. That was a mistake. It was bitter cold. I came back and made a loop around Bon-Ton and repeated. This time I didn't quite go to the 7/11, I went and did a circle around the Rite-Aid, and then back around Bon-Ton. The next loop I did the Hallmark store, and stayed out of the liqour store. The last loop was a half and  then I looped Weiss, before buying some groceries and headed home.

Monday it was warmer. It was 18 in the morning, and high 20s by the time the Uber was needed to take my sister to the doctor. By then the freezing rain had started. We stopped at CVS for her meds and I found a painted rock. We moved it to the senior high rise my sister lives in.

It was slippery when I took her home. We walked her to the door. I returned to the car and pulled out into Main Street and saw some "trash" in the street. I was about to say to Lydia that trash blew into the street, and she yells "Stop! There's a person in the street." She's out of the car before I'm fulling stopped. I'm shocked she didn't fall and crack her head open.

By the time I arrived she's talking to the lady and on the phone with 911. A man is walking across the street from the bank wearing a t-shirt in an ice-storm.  He went back for a jacket and first aid kit. A physical therapist and her friend also showed up. Finally the parimedics came.

A half an hour and much more ice, then snow, we were headed home. I no longer felt like walking.

Tuesday morning I started my new teaching gig at Penn State Lehigh Valley. Another guaranteed walk plus two flights of stairs every Tuesday/Thursday morning.

Tuesday afternoon it was beautiful. Maybe in the low 40s. I could finally walk. But no, I had to take my sister to Holy Fmaily Manor to deliver stuff to a client. These are the birds in the lobby.

Today, I was headed out after school, but again plans are foiled. I need to be to NCC by 2:30. Make I'll at least get a loop on the walking trail.

Winter sucks for a walker. I can't be afraid of falling. My knee is better, so no more excuses. Another arctic blast is on the way.  That might means more mall walking.  Also I will be signing up to the 52 Hike Challenge shortly. That will get my fat butt out at least once a week.

Then the Stone Soup Walk is Saturday. Pam might be coming. I might have someone to walk with.

nor'easter splat

The Jersey shore is getting hit with the brunt of the nor'easter. We only got maybe an inch. It's very fine and very light. The wind is high and it looks like a blizzard.

At lunchtime I was frustrated with work and decided I'd take the dog for a walk, bring him back and then continue on. That was not meant to be. We were coming back Broadway and there was a little ice under the snow, I slid, fell and tumbled over the curb into the slush on Broadway.

Thankfully a man was shoveling his walk and helped me up. It is hard to get up just so,  plus I had the dog. My left leg really hurt. It's better now but sitting is tough. I might have to break down and take some generic Aleve. 

I walked home soaked. My pants, my coat, my underwareand gloves. All drenched. It was the longest three blocks ever. When I stripped off my clothes my left leg was bright red.

I decided maybe I should do a Walk At Home tape tonight. Or maybe one from Prevention. Michele, the walking coach uploaded some yesterday.

After warming up, I went out and shoveled. We only got about 1 inch. Maybe a little more. 

I was feeling cooped up, so at dusk I went with the dog and Lyd to the graveyard. The sunset was gorgeous.

25 degrees ... it's a heat wave!

 When I awoke this morning it was 4 degrees outside. I decided to wait till the afternoon to walk. I am so glad I did. When I left the house about 3 it was up to 25. A virtual heat wave.

Lydia was off today, so I asked her if she wanted to come along. I'd keep it realitively flat. Just up Broadway to St. Ursula's and back Delaware. She agreed. When we reached Bergen she asked it the playground was close. I told her it was only a block out of the way. We went.

As you can see we played on everything that was not snow covered. The reason why there are no pics on slides! Oddly, we were the only one at the playground. I can't understand why.
 

Miles/Steps:   About 1.75 miles. I had on my nfitbit but I forgot to look before we left
Weather:        25°, sunny
Wildlife:         None.

i bought a fitbit

I went to Target last night and bought the Fitbit Flex 2. It's okay. It doesn't track stairs which is a bummer. But hhis one does have an interesting feature. It wants you to walk 250 steps every hour between 9-5. I guess it's to get you out of your chair at the office. I'll see if I can beat that one.

This one is a bracelet. That's the thing I hate the most. People tell me I should buy a different brand. I guess I'm brand loyal and I have 5 years worth of data with the company. I don't want to lose that.

I can't stand wearing braclets the minute it gets warm. So that means 6 months a year, maybe more, this will be inefficient. Actually, since I'm not used to wearing it, I'm ready to rip it off now. It's driving me nuts.

Now in all fairness, they do have a necklace on the fitbit site. And it's really pretty. But it's $100 worth of pretty. Etsy has a ton of pretty bangles and bracelets, but again, the whole bracelet problem. I guess I'm going to have to come up with something pouch-like that I can pin to my waistband or in my pocket. The actual electronics is very small. I'll lose it quickly if I don't come up with a plan.

volkssport day!

Today is a big day for volkssport walking volunteer committments. I have to change all the stamps for my three walks, collect all the paperwork, and update the website. The last one is the scariest since Alison moved to Virginia three years ago.

We have new stamps that the AVA is making in-house. They bought a laser etcher. Everything is one piece no more changing dirty slugs manually.  However, using them is a little different. Previously we'd change bits and pieces and they were all just a little bit off. We'd wack them on the stamp pad, force them on the paper and then rock them back and forth hoping to get a decent print. The new stamp is one-piece, all the same level, and doesn't need to be inked as hard or wacked. It's wonderful.

I downloaded an app for my phone that pauses videos so I could make a before/after for the clubs FB page. (Yep, that's my job too.) But I couldn'tdo it alone, and I guess the roomies really didn't want to help. So I posted the picture above and instructions.

Next up is the paperwork and making sauerkraut. I'll do the website last. I have the greatest chance of messing that up.

Today the Volkssport 401K challenge begins. But I don't have a tracker so I'll be starting it late.

dang the gym was chilly today.

Clearly, Mother Nature is not paying her utilities. She brought the new year in with a morning temperature of 5 degrees. Fahrenheit.

Today the Wildlands was having a  First Day hike at 10 am on South Mountain. We were to meet at the Alpine Street trailhead.  I arrived with five minutes to spare. I usually don't park at this trailhead, so I wanted to leave time to get lost. I didn't get lost! But there was no group either. Now I didn't sign up, so maybe an email went out to cancel, but I didn't get it. But there I was, alone in the parking lot. (Beltsville cancelled two days ago!)

Now this trail and I have a checkered past. And it's been check mate trail each time.  The first time I went, I couldn't find the trail. The second time I thought it was better marked, but they put an orange and a red trail together, and I got horribly lost, in winter, with a dead cell phone.

Did I really want to take this trail alone again?  And my cell phone was at 16%, again. It would die quickly. I decided to take a chance, and the minute there was any vague confusion I'd turn around and go back. The trail markers have the names on each one, so I read every trail marker. I did not rely on color.

 The boardwalks were snow covered.

 And the creek was frozen.

The trail was 1.7 miles and I had no issues.  On the way back I decided I should have taken a selfie of my outfit. And then I remembered I bought a selfie stick at Dollar Tree for just such occassions, and it's been in my trunk since June. It was time to try it out. I really need to use it more often. Even though I am covered with fabric, I am much further back and you can see the scenery. That is the whole point of taking a picture with yourself in it. Isn't it?

Miles/Steps:   The trail map says 1.7 miles
Weather:        5°, overcast, with a wind chill of -5°
Wildlife:         None. Tracks, sure, but no actual animal. They were hunkered down somewhere warm. I didn't even hear birds.
 Extras:           I saw a crazy family of four out walking. I couldn't tell the gender of the three children. All you could see were their eyes.