fit-camp

Last night I went to my first fit-camp of the year. I tried to go once before and it was cancelled. This year there is more paperwork. I had to sign a new waver (not unexpected) and there is now also an attendance book.

Coaches Suki and Tiffany were back. Coach Sweat wasn't. There were also three trainees, two of whom actually ran the class. Suki and Tif they are not. They knew the exercises but they didn't demo well, nor did they offer modifications. Thankfully Suki and Tif knew me and kept checking on me. If I would have encountered these girls the first time, I probably wouldn't have gone back last summer, yet alone attended every week until Halloween. Hopefully it was a one-night thing.

Last night was abs and glutes. Some using the picnic tables. But only one set because the girls running the show were inefficient. But I can't complain, it was free. We also did the two loops of the track.

There was a quick cool down and then the Herbalife ad. Nothing is really free. This camp is just a way to sell their products. In that group, I'd say a lot of people there have drunk the Kool-Aid. (Yeah, I know, it was Flavor-Aid in 1978, but who the heck knows what that is in 2018?) But not me. I'm just there for a free workout. And ads are part of getting stuff free. 

What was different? The newbies shared their success stories. I felt like I was at an AA meeting. Then they gave out samples of the product called Liftoff. According to the web "Liftoff is an effervescent energy drink tablet that does more than give you your body a boost. It'll shift your mind into high gear! With an exclusive energy blend of taurine, guarana, caffeine, Panax ginseng and Ginkgo biloba, Liftoff fights fatigue and improves mental performance." Suki told everyone to use half the first time. I can't imagine how much caffeine is in it. Oh wait, I'll google it ... 9 mg per fluid ounce. Coke is about 2.5 and while coffee is about 11 mg. Yeah, I turned that sucker down. 

The group was diverse as ever, and there were several teens in our group. And lots of kids on the playground equipment. Clearly Fit-Camp is a family affair.

(I'm on the far left, behind Coach Tiffany. You can see my white legs behind her black pant legs. There's also a bit of shoulder showing. I thought I was clear of people. Apparently not! Photo from team-beyondfitness Instagram page.)

Miles/Steps:   1
Weather:        Humid and sunny.  
Wildlife:      Nasty geese were gone
Extra:          Mom stops at the playground to get her 8-9 year old. "Mom, they didn't work you as hard today. Did they?" My sentiments exactly kid.

the rain held off

Yesterday Pam, her friend Lisa, and I hiked around the Dodson Street park. Pam and I hike a lot. Pam also bikes a lot with her family. So for us it wasn't out of the ordinary. But for Lisa--who usually does a loop with her friend in the neighborhood--it was a totally different experience.

Like Pam, Lisa is a photographer. They met while working as photogs at the Bethlehem Globe Times. Lisa only had her phone with her but she was snapping away -- curled bar, moss, tree formations, fungus...you get the idea. After she edits she'll send me the photos and I'll post them here. I'm sure this blog will look like the pages of National Geographic...iPhone edition.

We decided to drive to the park. We took the yellow trail to the red trail, carefully avoiding getting on the orange.  We stopped at the power line lookout and watched the trains and cars, then headed deeper into the woods to the large outcropping. Since I had never gone further than that we turned and came back.

When we reached the yellow trail we took the other side of the loop and became confused at one point. One of the markers must have fallen in the winter. I knew we were close, we were at the top of the tree canopy and could see the light of the athletic fields. We doubled back and found the next rail marker and returned to the car.

Driving home, we went to Walking Purchase park which now has a sign! We found where the red trail came out, so maybe one day we'll park there and head into the woods from that direction.

What adventure does next Wednesday hold? Stay tuned ...

52-hike challenge: 21/52 
Miles/Steps:   3.3 or 3.85 depends on which fitbit you looked at 
Weather:        71 and overcast when we left.  HUMID
Wildlife:          Heard lots of birds.

memorial day hike

 Lydia loves silly holiday hats. We left them in the car.

On Friday, I think, I saw an article in the Express online about 15 trails in the area that you must hike. The regulars were there like the D&L and the AT. One peaked my interest, it was at the end of the list "Warrens Highlands Trail" in Phillipsburg. P'burg?

I emailed Angel and we planned to go Sunday after she got off from work. It stays light till 8:30 and it should be no problem. Sunday, it looked like it was going to pour all day, but never did in Bethlehem. (Philly and the shore got hammered.) I texted her and asked if they still wanted to go. She said it was raining in Easton as she left work. We called it off.

I had planned to hike at Lessor Lake in New Tripoli for Memorial Day. It's a 4 mile loop around the lake. I've never been there. This is going to be a summer of discovering new trails. I'm tired of walking at the same old places.

My not-quite 16 year old niece came along. So did Lydia. She had off from work. I printed the brochure and map and off we went. I thought it was odd that the directions said the entrance was across from Aqua NJ. I thought they were giving us a landmark. Not at all. There was a pullover and two picnic tables. If you didn't know it was there you missed it. I know we did. I was looking for Aqua NJ which was right past it.

The river road doesn't have many places to turn, so at the next cross street I went to turn and saw a name "Marble Hill Road". Wait. That sounds familiar. I pulled over and there was another trail head a half mile up the road. We headed there.

This one looked like a trail head. A sizeable parking lot, a trail map, warped picnic tables made from recycled plastic. The whole 9 yards.

The website says that the trail showcases "the exceptional Highlands Region and pleasant Warren County countryside, the Warren Highlands Trail extends over 52.4 miles from the Delaware River in the west to the Musconetcong River in the east. From its western terminus at the iconic Northampton Street Bridge in Phillipsburg, hikers can connect with the Morris Canal Greenway Trail. (Now on to do list. Downloaded map.)

There are four trails. Red takes you from the city park to the trail. Yellow, which takes you to this parking area. Blue -- the one by Aqua NJ, has most of the trail highlights and is in fact the longest and "straightest". And the orange which takes you to an ice cave.

After taken silly selfies Lydia found the trail head on the right. Then entrance was grass here and really overgrown since it's been raining for two weeks. But it quickly turned to dirt. I was happy I opted for bug spray. Our first challenge was a wet, steep hill. It was at this point I was happy we decided not to go last evening. I turned around and went back to the car for my hiking stick. Wise decision.

We arrived at the top of the short hill and Lydia says "I can't climb over that".  Entire trees were down.  We turned around and slid down the hill and went back to the Aqua NJ entrance.

http://howtowilderness.com/trail-signs/

The unmarked trailhead began as a gravel entrance. We soon found ourselves in a grassy meadow, not knowing where to go. Looking at the map it seemed like we should go straight, but the obvious trail was up a powerline to the right. We headed across the field looking for trail markers and the teen found one straight ahead. Once we managed to get thru the meadow, the trail was well marked, using flashing symbols that I learned aeons ago in Girl Scouts. (And we thought it was just fun!) We also learned trail markings that used stacked rocks but those I don't remember.

We were parallel with the road for most of the trail. Sometimes you could hear it. As we retreated deeper and higher into the woods you couldn't.

It was all uphill. Sometimes a little, sometimes steep, but always up. Lydia lagged behind but insisted she was okay. Her goal was the Scenic Outlook of the Delaware. We trugged up.

Our first point of interest was the ice cave on the red trail so we kept an eye out for the red blazes. It was pretty easy to find, as was the cave. The loop was only a 1/4 mile long.

"The Fulmer Mine or “Ice Cave” is a mine that was excavated in the late 1800’s for its iron ore reserves. During the winter months, you will see the floor covered with stalagmites. The icy stalagmites form when the air and floor are cold enough to quickly freeze the water that drips from the roof above. Over time, the frozen water droplets build up into ice stalagmites, creating a beautiful, almost surrealistic scene within the mine."

Lydia asked what was next. It looked like the scenic overlook was about a 1/4 mile away. She said okay,--that was her goal afterall -- and then we could keep going if we wanted too, and she'd head back. We walked and walked and walked. No overlook. I was looking for a clearing in the trees, or maybe a rock outcropping. Nothing. We had gone way more than a 1/4 mile. Lydia said "I'm taking a break and then I'm heading back. If you see it soon, I'll come." There was a clearing at the top of the hill and the teen and I went for it. When we arrived we were greated by three red flashes. "start of trail". WTF? That's the trail to the community park. We were at least 1.5 inches on the map TOO FAR.

We went back to Lydia and tried to figure out our mistake. We found where the yellow trail split off.  Had we seen that on the way up, we could have saved ourselves some steps. I was too busy reading blue flashes to notice the yellow, because I wasn't looking for yellow. Again, yellow was covered with brush and fallen trees. We continued to head back, walking thru the rhododendron section we missed taking orange. Then the teen says, wait! Over there! I think I see a sign. It was the sign for the overlook. Does this look like any scenic overlook you have even seen? I challenge you to see the Delaware River. Or anything for that matter. It sure deosn't looklike the picture on the sign. We were maybe 1000 feet from where we came off the red trail!

Since it was uphill going, it was mostly downhill coming back. It was slippery. We all slipped at least once.

My suggestions for this trail: Go with blue and orange. Stay off of yellow. And don't look for the overlook.


52-hike challenge: 20/52 Miles/Steps:   3-ish 
Bathrooms:     None
Weather:         61 and overcast when we left.  
Wildlife:          One squirrel. Heard lots of birds.

monocacy park on a rainy day

It was supposed to rain today ... again ... in biblical proportions. But it didn't.

My early morning walk was cancelled. I texted Pam to see if we were still on. It was 8:30 and looked like dusk it was so overcast. She passed. So did the black clouds. The sun tried to come out. At least briefly.

Lydia and I went to Monocacy Park for a quick walk before the clouds opened. The whole time we were walking it was bright and the sun was still trying to come out. I was sure my plans for later in the afternoon were going to happen.

We started at the Nature Center and walked on the main path to the Monocacy Trail, then followed that to Paint Mill Road, and turned around and came back.

In the process we found some long abandoned, graffiti covered, overpass supports. We also found a BMX bike course. I'm fairly sure that's a new addition. And maybe not so "official". When we reached the railroad tracks, we walked back along the tracks until we could re-enter the nature area.

We came back along the creek trail, where fisherpeople were fly fishing.

52-hike challenge: 19/52
Miles/Steps:   2-ish 
Bathrooms:     None, but the one at the Wawa was great!
Weather:         60's and overcast when we left.  
Wildlife:          two chipmunks, two cardinals, one blue jay, seven male mallards (and one had a white body), one female mallard, we heard a hooting owl or two ... couldn't tell (or maybe it was mourning doves cooing?), a morning dove, and a swan. There was a symphony of bird calls. The woods were very active with the sound of birdies (and squirrels).

a walk to the park

Thursday or Friday Bonnie called that she'd be walking today and Monday with her grandson, would I come along. They were going to walk, then go to the playground and play. Mmmm not so much I thought to myself.

But here it is Saturday morning and I've made no other plans so I went.

We met at her house and walked to the park. It's about a mile. Of course Bonnie knew another couple there with their grandchildren. She's like my daddy. She always knows at least one person.

There was a new-ish plastic climbing set with a rock wall and slides. And there was old-school stuff like a medal slide, 8 swings, and at least 6 baby swings.  The child played on everything. I tried swinging but as soon as he saw me on htem he wanted to sing and guess who had to push. He'd probably still be there had I not given him a 30 minute warning. I actually did it on my phone so that he could see and here when time was up.

This park also has ball fields, a creek, and a pond. The pond didn't look healthy, and there was no signs of life in it whatsoever.

Then we walked back to Bonnie's.

Tomorrow Angel and the teen and I plan to go to a newish trail in P'burg by the new high school. Monday I plan on hiking with Frances and maybe Lydia at Lessor Lake or maybe the AT. An I just got a text about walking tomorrow with Pam. What can I pick that's close to her house?

Miles/Steps:   2 ish 
Bathrooms:     I-2.5 (old fashioned comfort station)
Weather:         70 and overcast when we left. High 70s and sunny when we returned. 
Wildlife:          robins and crows. The child kept pointing to a bunny rabbit,  but neither Bonnie or I saw it

the rain stopped

Tuesday night it rained like hell again. I thought, I no, here we go again. But by morning it was warm and overcast.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMZNC_TROXELL_STECKEL_HOUSE

Wednesday morning Pam and I went to walk the IRT, the beginning ... or end ... of the spur off Levans Road in Ironton. We walked to the Troxell-Steckle house and back. Pam wanted to know the significance of the property and I didn't remember. There was also no big blue historic marker. When I looked up the significance I found the marker. It's on Church Street, near Bridge, in Egypt. According to the county website, "The centerpiece of the property is the stone farmhouse, built in 1756. A spring house and 19th century barn are also on the property. The farmhouse is an authentic Pennsylvania German farmhouse and offers an example of Lehigh County agricultural history." 

The creek was really, really high and at several places looked like it might flood. You can see how high the water is here in front of our goose family. And it was running fast, like you could white water raft on it.

The quarries were also full of water. 

This section of the trail features two rod and gun clubs and people were out shooting early in the morning. So this walk had a pop pop pop soundtrack.

Pam and I are going to try and walk on Wednesdays. I'm hoping to find more trails near her place in West Allentown. I don't want to lose too much time to travel. But we can always meet somewhere, or she can pick me up in Bethlehem and we can go east. We're just not going to do the same walk twice.

Miles/Steps:   4+ 
Bathrooms:     none available
Weather:         high 60s. Overcast to start, sunny to finish
Wildlife:          2 robins, 5 geese (above), and a red bird that flew across the path. Maybe a cardinal. Maybe not.

it only felt like forty days

Last week it didn't rain. It poured. All week. I didn't think it would ever stop. I seriously considered building an ark. But I didn't have wood. Or room. And I don't really like cleaning up poop. And an ark would have a poop-load of poop.

I didn't do much walking. Most of the time, cancelled. (Thursday they will try the farmers market one again.)

I would have been soaked by the time I reached the corner. Both fit camps were cancelled.

Thursday it stopped briefly, after they cancelled class. When the market closed, it started again. I parked at Aharts and did a short walk on the greenway and back thru the market.

Friday it started to clear up. They were talking about showers for Saturday. Pam and I decided we'd do the Get Out Lehigh Valley event at Trexler Park if it wasn't pouring.

Saturday morning the rain came down heavy from about three am till three in the afteroon. There were a few lulls, but it was a lot of water. My rain barrel is probably full.

Sunday I had to get out. The rain had mostly stopped. I decided to go somewhere paved because I was sure natural trails would be soupy. (The photo at the very top is next to the paved trail yesterday. No, there isn't a creek there.)

We entered the trail behind Redner's at the park. The trail has all new signage, and it's really high up. My thought is to keep the graffiti artists away.  It's a fairly level path and we walked down to the Freemansburg Avenue overpass and back.

Pam and I decided to walk Wednesday mornings. Maybe a different trail each time. That got me thinking. This summer I am not going to walk a trail section twice. So the IRT can be split into 3-5 pieces. The D&L can be split into many sections. It will be a challenge.

52-hike challenge: 18/52
Miles/Steps:   2.5+ 
Bathrooms:     none available
Weather:         60, windy, overcast ... but no rain
Wildlife:          3 robins, 2 geese, and a murder of crows

fit camp has begun

Fit Camp at Freemansburg park began May 2. I couldn't attend because I was still in school. So I was excited, this would be my first time. The posts on Instagram shows that there were a lot of people attending.

We had a huge storm last night and it's rained all day. A light, but steady rain. Fit Camp has always been rain or shine. So I changed my clothes and went to camp. Nobody was there. I decided to look at my phone while I waited, and low and behold there was an Instagram post saying class was cancelled. A text or email would have been better. I guess they figure everyone looks at social media 24/7.  But I don't. I have a life.

I decided to walk the track anyway. It was a light rain. I wouldn't get too wet. So off I went. The track is only a half mile, but I went around twice before I started feeling wet and decided to go home.

There is no camp next week because of the annual carnival. But I'll try again next week.

I have also signed up for a Boot Camp tomorrow at the Farmer's Market. Yep. You read that right. They are having a once-a-month boot camp (Fit Fresh Thursday)at the south Bethlehem Farmer's Market. Think about it. It is the right target market. I am not entirely sure that I'll be able to do it, but  I shall try. The description is "A fitness boot camp is type of group exercise class that mixes traditional calisthenic and body weight exercises with interval and strength training."

Stay tuned.

Miles/Steps:   1, two loops 
Bathrooms:     not used 
Weather:         60, fine rain
Wildlife:          2 robins, about 20 geese, a bunny, a red pole, crows
Extra:              I don't remember goose shit all over the park path, but there was a ton of it on the path and the grass. It was an obstacle course.

d&l has a new trailhead

After the hike Lydia and I went to check out the new trailhead on the D&L. This stretch used to be 21 miles between trailheads. I don't think it was used much other than at each of the ends. Build some parking lots and people will come.

Since it's my goal to walk the whole D&L this summer I had to check out the Ringing Rocks trail head. The cool part is the county owns the property up to the rock field, so is planning—in the future—to build a trail from the lot to the park.

On the property where the lot is are two old, crumbling buildings. They need some signage. We followed a path, but that took us to a road. No trail. Then Lydia saw a bridge in the distance. That looks like a canal bridge, let's go that way. The canal path ran under the bridge.

The canal path in this area is narrow. A one person trail. But the canal is open and full of non-stagnant water.  It was a pleasant change.

SPLAT! golv: ringing rocks

Today was Get Out Lehigh Valley hike at Ringing Rocks park in Upper Black Eddy. I've been there many times before. I really was thinking about not going, but I hadn't walked seriously all week. It looked like it was going to rain and I knew if I didn't go I'd just sit at home on my ass.

Lydia was off from work and came along. It started to rain a little, and then harder as we drove down.  It was mostly over when we reached the park.

The boulder field is maybe a 1/4 mile from the lot. We arrived quite quickly. I decided I was not going too far in, even though I wanted to. I am slow and my leg muscles suck lately. They just don't work like they should. I really think I'm in worse shape now then when I started to walk back in 2008.

They called us back to continue on the hike. I turned, decided the best route, and pretty much immediately fell backwards. I sat down so I hit the most padded part of my body. I flew back and lost my hat but didn't hit my head. I was stuck in a crevious between two rocks. I couldn't find my footing. They guy in red is Phong. He and his wife are on every walk. He was the first to arrive and found my hat. The naturalist, in green, came as well. (he found my apple.) I managed to get one cheek up on a rock. Then using my stick, I tried and tried to stand up but my legs had no power. I couldn't get my footing. The guys had to pull me up.

I was jealous of the children running across the rocks. And young adults rock scrambling.

 (Lydia took this at the begining while I was still feeling confindent.)

We continued on the trail to the waterfall. It's supposedly the biggest one in Bucks county. I have to tell you, it's pretty small. You can walk across the top shelf.

From here the trail turns left. It get's really rocky. It was a challenge because it was also muddy, and uphill. I did the side grapevine walk on my way up the hill.

 But it was worth it. The mayflowers were starting to bloom.

And the woodpeckers were building condo's. Many trees in this area look like this. Including fallen ones. It's a woodpeck condo community! I wonder if the have a homeowners association?

52-hike challenge: 17/52 
Miles/Steps:   1.5. It took about 2 hours.
Bathrooms:     The comfort station was closed but there was a port-o-potty
Weather:         low 50s. Overcast
Wildlife:          Woodpecker, we heard a lot of ovenbirds, and saw a lot of millipedes.

http://photoclub.canadiangeographic.ca/mediadetail/6842791?offset=2

tail on the trail 5th anniversary event

Thursday Bonnie sent me a text and asked if I was going to the Tail on the Trail 5th anniversary walk on Saturday. She thought maybe she'd bring the Little Man. So I said sure. At the last minute, Lydia decided to go as well.

The event was scheduled from 9-11 and included the dedication of a new dog park. The actual walk didn't start until 9:45. After signing in, we discovered the walk was only a mile. Well that's not worth driving to Easton for. We decided to do our own walk and be back in time for the end of the celebration. Basically, skip the speeches. When we left the pavilion was filled with tables for several organizations, and there was refreshments. Out on the lawn there were other tents set up.

We left about 9:10 and headed down the path that runs parallel with the main road.  Then we entered the woods near the bike course. There were no bikers so Little Man and I walked it.

We were about half way went bikers came. So I told little man that we had to jump off the course. We didn't want to get run over! So we kept hopping on and off as the bikes came. The bikers were very tolerant of a 4-year old.

Then we returned to the woods trail. Lydia took this photo of us. Little Man decided he wanted both of us to hold his hand...the entire walk! He talks non stop.

We picked up the D&L at the edge of the woods and headed toward Easton. We saw two families of geese, and Bonnie was telling Little Man how we had to be quiet, so as not to scare them away, and in a loud voice he says, Gigi there's baby ducks. They made a bee-line across the canal.

After about a mile we turned around and headed back. We met the geese again. This time Bonnie told him to be quiet again, but earlier. She also had the "remember what happened last time" evidence to help. I think he was quiet a full three minutes!

It was about 10:20 when we returned to the pavilion. It was a ghost town. On the trail we saw the parade of dogs headed to the dog park. The registration table was up (until 10:40) but almost everything else was gone. The nutrition lady was still there. That's it. She said they cleaned up and left after the speeches and the 1 mile walk. I'm thinking 10. A mile only takes 20 minutes. Bonnie was pissed.

After a trip to see the boat, and the potties, we headed to the playground. It's a great playground. The child did not like the zip line.

He would not cross the rope bridge. Even after I did it.

He also did not like the see-saw. There was even a little boy his size to ride it with. I did yell at him for pushing the swings without a person in.

It was about 11:30 when we packed up and left for home.

52-hike challenge: 16/52
Miles/Steps:   3 ish
Bathrooms:     I-3.5 they are old, but clean
Weather:         high 60s. Sunny
Wildlife:          Hawk in flight, wood pecker (child: it is making  a hole and then it will build a house) 5 adult geese and 4 goslings
Extra:              It's Derby Day and Cinco de Mayo. So I am drinking margaritas from a Derby glass. Blame any errors on the tequila.