Historical Hiking

 It is no secret that I love history.  So when we hike somewhere where there is history involved, I love it!   Such was the case with our hike on Sunday!   We hiked a side trail up to a ridge and the Appalachian Trail.  It was a great hike. 

Return to the scene of the Hiking Crime

We last hiked this trail on January 1 of this year.  That day, almost 11 months ago was a great day for hiking.  It was cold, but not overly so.  The trail was well trafficked but not annoyingly so.  It was the first time we had hiked in quite some time.   I was tired and winded going up, but coming back down my legs were so wobbly.  And yes, that was one of the tumbles (aka falls) that I took while hiking earlier this year.  That was actually the first fall.  I was embarrassed and a bit sore but thankfully not seriously hurt.  

SO it was with some laughter (and maybe fear) that I walked this trail again!  We talked about my previous swan dive each time we crossed that stupid rock crossing/stream too!   Jason cautioned me to go slow and be careful, which I did!  But this time I had my trusty trekking poles (Amazon Affiliate link) and there was no problem!  I zipped right across.  

VICTORY!!!!

A Wee bit of History

Every time we hike this trail we are so intrigued by the fact that there once stood an old hotel at the top of this rocky and steep trail.   It just blows our minds!  We have tried numerous times to look for information and come up with very little.   What we can find is absolutely fascinating!  I have written a post about the history (what we know if it) on my second website, Belief in Living. (There is a link to the youtube video I put up about it on that website also if you are interested.)  

We also discussed and pondered the two men who have trails and a campsite named after them.   I'm telling you....chock full of history!   For me, when I can occupy my mind with fascinating thoughts, like history, I kind of forget that I'm hiking.  And that is when I don't feel pain or tired!   That is a perfect hike in my book!

The actual hike on Thurston Griggs and the Appalachian Trail

The hike up the Thurston Griggs trail was rocky and steep, but that was expected.  Ironically enough, it wasn't my legs that got me.  It was my cardio endurance.  It was my lungs and my breathing!  I duly noted my weak spot and have vowed to work more on building my cardio strength!

Once we got to the top of the Thurston Griggs trail, we roamed around the Pogo Campsite a bit. Jason has vowed that we will be buying that tent that we need and camping SOON. I have a feeling we will be trying out our new tent at the Pogo Campsite.  (The hike up Thurston Griggs is one of our favorites and probably the most frequently hiked trail that we have done since we have been together). 

After roaming the primitive campsite a bit, we headed north on the Appalachian Trail.  Yes, if you are familiar with the area, you are probably wondering why we didn't head south.  After all Black Rock was only a short distance away and the Annapolis Rock overlook just a mile or two further than that.  Both of them offer fabulous views.  But you see, we had driven by the parking lot for the trailhead that was closest to Annapolis Rock and it was overcrowded.  I knew that there were a lot of people on the trail and we like trails that are less travelled.  In essence, we want the woods to ourselves!   So we went the way that we figured would be less populated.  

It was probably less populated, but there were still a lot of people out and about!  Was it due to the nice weather?  Was it due to the never ending pandemic?  Was it some weird uprise in fitness?  I don't know.  I just know that I'll be searching for less populated trails for our next hikes!!!

All in all, it was a good hike.  My legs felt tired and I did have one small ache in my left knee when we were done but I felt strong and feel like I did pretty good.  I am loving my new hiking boots and my hiking pants...both great purchases!  Best of all, Jason and I were together and able to enjoy the splendor of nature!

Hiking on the Appalachian Trail: And it was uneventful!

 Hiking is great exercise and I am totally blessed to have the Appalachian Trail meander through our area.   We have plenty of additional parks and trails to keep us hiking and moving!   This past weekend was no different.  

After our last experience on the Appalachian trail where we hiked a further and longer than we had planned, resulting in a case of heat exhaustion, I am happy to announce that our most recent hike on the Appalachian Trail was uneventful!

We decided to hike North from Keys Gap, which is North of Harpers Ferry.  I really want to hike Maryland Heights again (and for the first time ever with Jason) but the Harpers Ferry area is SO darn busy and it is difficult to find parking.  Sooo, we settled on the AT again.

This trail was awesome.  We parked and for the most part, the 3-4 miles that we walked on this trail was flat with very minimal grades!   YAY!  My favorite!    There were some rocks....ok, a LOT of rocks!  It was a very rocky path!  But it was a great hike!  We saw some pretty incredible aspects of nature!  

We saw some deer...and even this youngster....

And we saw this neat looking caterpillar.......

And not exactly nature, but this dolls head was laying in the woods!  (Jason put it on the log)

Of course we saw pretty flowers of all sorts of colors.

And mushrooms.....

Lots of mushrooms.......we left the psychedelic ones where we saw them!

Nature truly is amazing!  It was a good hike!  We covered about 7 miles.  

So how did my new hiking boots that I talked about recently work out on the trail?  I went with ultra light boots. They feel amazing on my feet!  But the trail was too rocky.  My ankles are too week and my feet are too messed up.  I need a heavier boot for rough terrain.   So back to the drawing board for the rough rocky trails!   I will still be using these new Asolo ultra light boots for easy trails.....ones without tons of rocks, so it is not a waste!!!!

Hiking with your best friend is the best thing in the world......I can't wait to go again!

A little Heat Exhaustion

 It was a hot one....so very hot!  We were not going to let that deter us though!  So we headed out to the Appalachian Trail.  We just picked a spot.  We didn't know what we would see, if anything.  We were ok with that! We just wanted to be outside and enjoying nature!   We headed Southbound on the AT and we were loving the trail.  

The trail was mostly shaded and it was gently rolling.  There were no major grades and we knew that the hike was going to be awesome.  We were just moving along at a nice clip!   A few miles into the hike we hit it.  We hit the rocks.  We hit the incline.  We hit the yucky part!   Ok, not yucky but rather the hard part! The hill  didn't stop. 

 I had a mileage goal in my head.  I was determined to reach that mileage goal.  So I kept climbing!   My trekking poles continued to do a fabulous job and I trucked on up that hill.   We made it to  my mileage goal and I was so happy and proud of myself. I could feel the first tingling of tiredness and knew that I could get back to the car but would be tired.  It was a great place to turn around!

"But what if we are only 10 feet from an overlook,"  Jason asked?   Well, that is a good question.  We were climbing. Surely we were going to climb to an overlook right?  But how much further was it?  Jason started to walk ahead to see if there was anything in site around the corner.  I reluctantly followed.  We hiked a bit further unsure and then we got lucky!   A hiker was coming down the hill and we asked him!   The answer was a mixed bag.  There was an overlook.  YAY!  But this said overlook  was about a mile further!  BOOO!   Jason left the decision up to me.  I'm either brave or a sucker for that man  since I knew he really wanted to see the overlook!  (probably a bit of both!)  I decided to hike onward toward the overlook!

I did make it and I enjoyed the view.  But then it was time to turn around and head back.  Luckily it was downhill....but it was still a hike!   About a mile into the return trip, I started to feel it.  What is it?  I was started to feel the early signs of heat exhaustion.  We immediately stopped and I allowed myself to cool down and I drank water.  We started hiking again.  It was a long walk back!   I had to stop and sit about 3 times on the way back. (It could have been worse!)  As if that wasn't enough fun?  About a mile from the car we ran out of water.  We had not planned on hiking as long as we did...ooops!  Luckily we had waters in the car which we guzzled as soon as we got back!     

And yes, we made it safe and sound.  My last 'sit down' was literally in sight of the parking lot (although I couldn't see our car or any cars from there...just a wee corner of the parking lot).   I had progressed past just the first stages of heat exhaustion and I was so sick to my stomach.  I thought I was going to hurl!  Luckily for me, I didn't!  After I cooled down a bit (no water so I couldn't drink also) we headed for the car where we did have water!  That water tasted so good!  

I am actually super proud of our longer than planned hike.  It was tough...especially with the heat exhaustion.  My legs were super tight and achy the next day.  My planters fasciitis was kicking after we were done.  But I did it!   GO ME!

A weekend of activity

We had another active weekend!   This is the third weekend in a row that we have moved a fair amount.   We are slowly working to chcange our habits and it feels good!  I will be honest though. there were a few times this past weekend that I would have much preferred to curl up on the couch with a good book and say ‘to heck with the activity’.  But, once I got moving I was glad that I did it!!!

My official weigh in was on Saturday and I showed a 1/2 pound loss.  Not as much as I would like...but I will gladly take it!   My eating was a bit higher over the weekend, but I’m not going to stress myself out over it. It is what it is!

On Saturday I was so tired.   We ran some errands.  Nothing too exciting.  We got an oil change for my car, ran my car out to have my emissions test done, searched for shells for the newest crab and picked up a new vacuum.   Yes, we have been limping along with an old low quality vacuum.  It was time to just do it and sink the money for a good vacuum.   We chose the Dyson cordless Animal (affiliate link).   So far so good...except for the battery life on the max power setting!    But it does pick up like a charm!  (I knew it would though,  since I have had a Dyson before!)

We got home from our errands and I ended up falling asleep on the couch.  I may or may not have drooled all over Jason who was my pillow!   When I finally woke up we headed out to a small trail to do a bit of walking/hiking.

This began the weekend of snakes! 

Luckily I noticed that black snake hanging out on the tree before I walked under him!!!

On Saturday we headed down to a local trail by a lake.  It is the trail and site of the great mountain bike meltdown that I had last fall.  This time we planned to be on foot. We were exploring and hiking while we also kept an eye out for Morel Mushrooms.  (Spoiler alert, we didn’t find any!)

We decided to look for an abandoned house that we knew was nearby.  Oh boy did we find it!  

It was huge!  We circled around outside.

And then we went inside!

The house was in really bad shape so we didn’t stay inside for long before we were back outside exploring.  We headed down to some more abandoned cars that were a short distance from the house.  It was while we were looking at them that we heard the squawking of some birds.

We looked up and saw two bald eagles flying above us.  They did NOT like us there. We looked up and saw a huge nest!

You can see one of the eagles on the right edge of the picture.  We can only assume that they had eggs or eaglets in their nest!   We decided to leave to allow them peace.   As we were making our retreat we ran into snake number two of the weekend.

We hiked a few more miles and then got in the car.  On the way home we both expressed the desire to not be inside but to enjoy more of the spring day.  So we went to the C&O Canal and walked some more! (This was easier...flat and graded...not an up and down trail!) 

We saw our third snake on this segment of our day. Seriously, way too many snakes!!!

We came home and while I wasn’t as exhausted as last week  my body was tired and ready to relax!!!

All in all a good weekend.  I am happy with the  activity levels  that we are achieving on the weekends.  We are moving!  Now the plan is to bring that exercise level to the weekdays....just a wee bit!