golv: shades of death trail

Today was the Get Out Lehigh Valley walk at Hickory Run State Park. It was advertised as the Shades of Death trail, 2.8 miles with an option for another two. A lot of people came today including a whole Cub Scout pack. I think it was because of the weather. It was gorgeous.

I had planned on going alone, and then my friend Pam texted and asked if I wanted company. I said yes. It's a good thing she went. I'm pretty certain that I would have bolted had she not been there. This was probably the hardest hike I've done in recent memory. It was Hell. A beautiful Hell.

It's in an area of the park that used to be a CCC camp during the Great Depression. I wonder if this was where daddy was stationed. There was evidence of their work everywhere, especially at the dams.

The trail followed the stream. It went up and down. At times it was very narrow. At other times it was all roots. Sometimes it was muddy. Sometimes it felt like I was walking thru boulder field.  We climbed over fallen trees.

At one point we walked through the crevice of a split rock...with stairs.

And crossed two creeks with wet, loose, mossy rocks.

Eventually we found the road. Turn left and you returned to the parking lot. Turn right and you  walked another two miles. We were promised the worse was over and it was. The next section went thru a meadow (the CCC camp) over a dam, and down a mountain laurel trail.

I am shocked I made it. Every challenge I met, slowly and carefully. I held up the line on more than one occasion, but I did it.

52-hike challenge: 15/52
Miles/Steps:   3.5 miles and I did the whole thing. Clearly the measurement was off. We hiked three hours. That's about 1 MPH
Bathrooms:     I-3.5
$ Found:         3 cents
Weather:         high 70s. Sunny
Wildlife:          1 rainbow trout hanging out by the 2nd dam.
Extra:              I finally met a Boy Scout leader that leads. He was teaching the children trail etiquette and the reasons why. He didn't let them horse around. And he also told me he doesn't leave them build sky-high fires. Maybe there is hope.

chasing big red balls

This weekend is the Southside Arts and Music Festival. It used to be called Spring on 4th and What's on 3rd and featured a chili cookoff. The chili cookoff is still part of the festival, but now you buy a pass for 10 samples, instead of getting unlimited samples.

It all began on Wednesday with the ball jammed in between the Sun Inn and the building next door. I was on my way to school and couldn't stop. Sharon attempted to take a picture, but failed.

Thursday was the day for the Bethlehem-South walk with the Liberty Bell Wanderers. I couldn't go because I had classes. But between classes (and schools) I stopped at Farrington Square and took the photo. And who do I meet? The walking group. I had a little free time so I walked a little with them, then returned to the car and off to school I went.

Friday, I met Lydia at work and we walked over to the Hoover-Mason Trestle, Friday's location.  Since it was 4 pm, the sun made it difficult to take a picture. on the trestle.

Yesterday after the Volkssport walk, I stopped to see it on New Street across from the entrance to the Greenway. For those of you who are thinking "where the hell is that?", the building on the right is an office building (the old vacant lot at 3rd and New and tbulding with the tile mural) and on the right is a parking deck. Graham street ad the little meter lot are gone. As well as the railroad tracks. When the overpasses are complete, the area below it will be Greenway Park.

I hiked up the seven floors of the parking garage to take pics from above. If you wanted to have your pic taken with the ball you did it on level 5. Since the overpass isn't finished and the rails are just steel wire, children had to hold an adults hand to go out there.

Today Lydia and I signed in for the Bethlehem South volkssport walk and headed down toward the Sands. You could see the ball from the Greenway. Balanced on the I-Beam, and wedged under the awning,  it is almost into 2nd Street.

Lydia has taken a picture with the ball at each location. That's not me. And the ball-sitters are more than happy to take the photo for you. But today I couldn't resist (top picture). After holding that pose for a while I have a whole new appreciation for poor Atlas, stuck holding up the world.

Along the Greenway, there were murals on fabric and plywood being done as part of the festival. They were not set up yet for the festival at ArtsQuest. Cars and Coffee was still leaving out.

Then we headed to Aharts and back home. In May I'm going to put a mark on the calendar for every day I don't have to go to the store. This week -- dispite a freezer and pantry full of food -- I had to stop at the supermarket and purchase a key item, if not all the items, for the meal. The fussy eater is destroying my budget.

Miles/Steps:    about 6000 steps today.
Bathrooms:      None used
Money:            2 cents
Weather:         high 50s. Sunny
Extra:              On the Greenway we passed a jogger with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. A visual oxymoron. Or maybe just a moron. Take your pick.

skippack volksport walk

I tend to not go to the Philly area volkssport walks. I spend more time traveling than walking. But I had nothing else planned this weekend and I wanted to get the heck out of town. Turns out it's only about 50 minutes away.

For the first time in months, Bonnie came along. She has started to walk in the evenings with her grandson, and built herself back up to 2 miles. Could she do a 5K? We were going to try.

Google gave us directions from the turnpike, and the road was closed. Bonnie pulled out her phone and used the GPS. We made it in the nick of time. Parking was awful.

The entrace to the trail starts with a covered bridge. Really. It's pictured above. The 5k went thru the woods, and then looped thru a development, and then came back. The 10K continued on the trail, and I believe made a loop thru town.

Bonnie did fine. Though she wasn't at her normal front of pack posistion. But that's okay.

I decided on the walk that I was going to do other LBW walks that I've never gone to. That includes Hatboro, Landsdale, 4/5 Philly walks, 1/2 Valley FOrge walks and the two AT walks starting at the water gap. I actually might do one of them next weekend. I can't send the girls back to Pakistan/India without hiking a bit of the AT. Right?

We ate at the start point, Mal's Diner. We had breakfast at 11:30 am. It's now 6:35 pm and I'm still full.

Driving home we came back Rt. 73 and 29. As we arrived in the Upper Perkiomen valley, I noticed they had all new wayfinding signage. One pointed to the Goschenhoppen Folk Museum. I never heard of it, but I wanted to go. But we didn't. Good thing we didn't. It's only open the 2nd and 4th Sunday's of each month. Oh well. Will certainly go back. The website tells me that it is my cup of tea. I even liked their FB page. Maybe and event would get me down there again.

52-hike challenge: 14/52
Miles/Steps:          5k
Bathrooms:            I-3.5. In the diner. It was tiny.
Money:                   6 cents
Weather:               50s. Cloudy and then sunny
Extra:                    Bonnie pick up barkfor a pre-school project. She didn't take a bag. I carried and was covered with dirt when I returned.

oops. i did it again.

Today was the last race in the Girl Scout Trefoil Series—the Thin Mint Sprint. It was supposed to be a run, hense, the sprint. But my nephew couldn't make it, so I took his place. And I won first place in my division. Of course, I was the only person in my division.

We left here at about 7 am, and it was an hour drive to Wissihicken Park. We were at the very edge of Philadelphia. This park is gorgeous with lots of trails. Heavily used. We will go back after school is out to visit more of the park. I could have stopped and taken a couple dozen pictures. But it was a race. I only took this one of the covered bridge.

The information we received from the Girl Scouts said the parking lot was "small" and we'd have to do street parking. The lot held 6 cars.. That isn't a lot, it's a pullover. We probably walked a half mile from where we parked.

First stop after registration was the port-o-john. I didn't even try to go in. Angel and her daughter did. Angel declared she's gone in cleaner bathrooms in Africa.

Other than that the race was good. They keep the finish line up till every one finishes, which is terrific. There was one street crossing and it made sense they stopped traffic for the large herd of runners at the beginning. But on the way back we were spread out, a lot. When I got close it looked like they were just hanging out on the corner. But as soon as they saw me they stopped traffic and moved into the street. Yes! (There are races I will not return to because they stopped us, not traffic.)

I knew that my inactivity over winter has made me out of shape. Saturday was a reality check. I am really, really out of shape.

There were three divisions if you are into prizes: Girl Scouts by age level, youth (boy and girl) by grade, and adults (men and women) pretty much by decade. I finished at 59:53. Basically an hour. The last mile was tough. Angel did 42.49.5 (personal best) and she ran. The girls finished 55.39 and 55.38. However, my niece won the "Senior" level first place in the Girl Scout division. There were four other girls in her age group, and they must have all been walkers. Our girls ran the beginning and the end, and walked the middle. That way there was time to take pictures and play in the park.

This race was different than the other two. First, it wasn't at a camp. Second, it was really diverse.  For example, it's the first time I've seen religious "athletes" wearing the Nike hijab. In other ways it was very much the same. Especially Whole Foods as the sponsor, serving up a feast of fruit in many forms—fresh, cereal bars, fruit leather, and juice.

We came home and the girls and I walked the dog.

52-hike challenge: 13/52
Miles/Steps:    5k
Bathrooms:      O-0. Well, actually Angel said one was a -8 and the other a -10. She's seen clearner bathrooms in Africa with no running water. That's saying a lot considering one was a hole in the ground with a shower curtain around it.
Wildlife:          Goose, chipmunk, then 2 snakes while walking the dog
Weather:         88 or higher. Cloudy and then sunny
Extra:              This race series was fantastic. Girl Scouts did a great job. Today it was probably equal girls and parent.

winter challenge swag

Tail on the Trail gives prizes for achieving goals. But not like the "prizes" the first year—way to many people.  They narrow it down to three and then have participants vote. Nothing I vote for ever wins. I think I'm going to start voting for the loser item. That way maybe the thing I really want will win. Since it's a winter challenge we've gotten ice scrappers (best ever), gloves, scarfs, and a long sleeve tee. This time it was about lighting up the night so you were not hit exercising in the dark. I picked the headlamp. I have one already, but I'd love to leave one in the car.

Instead, the light up sneaker clip won. And there is one. I guess they assume your feet will always be together. I think that's a good assumption.

It's hard to get on the shoe. And I honestly thought it was reflective and not light up. I opened the cellar door and looked to see if it was glow-in-the-dark. Nope. Then I decided to put it outside to "charge it". That's when I saw the "on" button. It flashes, and it stays lit.

I've taken it off my sneaker and thrown it in my walking bag. Next time I walk at dusk or night, I'll be prepared. But that probably won't be until November.

Enjoy the video of my flashing sneaker.

bethlehem-north volkksport walk

On Wednesday I received a call from the president of our walk group. "The Bethlehem-North walk is Saturday and we're supposed to have 5-6 inches of snow. Do you want to cancel?" I was puzzled. Afterall, I hadn't seen the weather, and it was Wednesday. Why would I cancel?

I told him no, I wouldn't cancel, and then the next day had the email volunteer send out a notice that this was an all-weather event. I honestly expected no-one to show up. But they did. We had a group of six people and did the full 10K.

The top picture is on the new pedestrian bridge in the historic district during the first 5K loop.

This was taken on the second 5K loop.

Not much to report, I've written about the route before. Nobody fell on the crappy sidewalks, and everyone enjoyed the new children's garden and sculpture on Sand Island. The lady in green wanted to see the Steel, so I showered her a great view from the island.

52-hike challenge: 12/52
Miles/Steps:    6.2 miles
Bathrooms:      None used
Wildlife:          Swan, blue heron, and a rainbow trout coming out of water on fisherman's hook. There were a lot of fisherman on the canal. Apparently it was stocked yesterday.
Weather:          High 40s, cloudy, then sunny
Money found:  2c
Extra:               Signs of spring were everywhere: cherry blossoms and tulip trees have begun flowering, and on Moravian's campus there was full-bloom daffodils.

no spring peepers

Last night was the spring peepers walk on south mountain. It was one of the events I signed up for that day in January when I went crazy signing up for things.

I thought it was 7-8 but didn't get an email. I checked the website and I swore it said 7:30-8:30 so I arrived at 7:15.  Cars were in the lot including one from the Wildlands. But no one was in site. Clearly 7 was the correct time. But I was puzzled. Wildlands events NEVER start on time. Get Out Lehigh Valley walks start at least a half hour late. When we did the owl hike in January we started late and then had a half hour of owl education until it got dark. Bottom line. These things NEVER start on time. Clearly last night it did.

From the pics on the web site I thought maybe I knew where they were going. I hiked over there and no, not there. Then the Alpine Trail goes to a creek. So I headed there. Not there either.  Dusk was waining, so I hightailed it back to the car. I didn't want to spend the night in the woods.

Miles/Steps:    >2
Bathrooms:      none
Wildlife:           three doe
Weather:         high 50s, cloudy

easter hike

Today is Easter Sunday. If you believe in the resurrection of the dead, this is an important day. If not, it's just another Sunday. I fall into the later camp. I never really bought a virgin birth either. So how did I spend my Easter Sunday? Walking. Working. And discussing the meaning behind Easter -- both religious and commercial -- then watching Jesus Christ Superstar. Yeah. I'm complicated. But it's Andrew Lloyd Webber. I can't believe this show is almost fifty. They chose a futuristic set. Kind-of industrial. King Herrod wore an orange velvet suit with a gold shoe ... and had Vegas show girls.

The plan for today was to hike at Dodson Park with the international students and then make a global feast for dinner. They arrived around 1 pm and off to the park we went.

We took the the yellow trail to the red trail and then headed west to the power line. Usually when we hike we stop a lot for pics. Not this time. We didn't stop till we got to the lookout. Maybe the woods aren't a novelty anymore. Or maybe it's because we spent the entire time talking about Easter. It started innocently enough. "What is Easter about". I gave them the cliff notes version of both the religious and commercial aspects. We ended up talking about it until the power line. My knowledge of islam is a little deeper now.

After reaching the power line trail, we went down the hill for pics and selfies. Then we climbed back up the hill and continued heading west. At 2:20, we turned around and headed back. The return trip had many more photo opps.

When we arrived back at the power line I gave them a choice of climbing up the power line trail and going directly to the parking lot. It was shorter, but steep. Or follow the trails back. They chose the power line. It was way steeper than I thought. At one point I almost fell backwards.

We arrived at the top of the hill, and walked back to the parking lot. When I got home it was time to walk Adonis and make dinner.

52-hike challenge: 11/52
Miles/Steps:    3.57
Bathrooms:      I-4.5 I think it was just delivered
Wildlife:           Saw lots of birds. Lots of activity. Heard 4 different woodpeckers.
Weather:          high 50s, sunny
Money found:   a nickel
Extra:               The only signs of spring we saw was a cluster of short dandelions. Nothing is budding yet. We're supposed to have 5 inches of snow in the morning.

Mom would have been mortified that Easter dinner was served in pots on the table (as opposed to eating off the stove) and the "everyday dishes. Food was delicious but HOT. I ate a lot of yogurt and cukes.