Hiking Tuscarora Mountain

June 21, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: fitness, hike, hiking, nature, pennsylvannia, spiders, sports 1 Comment

On the way home from Indianapolis, my husband and I decided to stop at the Tuscarora Mountains for a 2-hour hike. I’m not someone who road trips very well (meaning about 5 hours is my limit for sitting still, and I need to use the bathroom every couple of hours.) The weather was perfect, and we thought it would be a good stop. Since my husband grew up in the area, he knew the mountains well.

The Tuscarora Mountains are an accessible destination to get to if you’re in central PA. Many main roads like the turnpike come within minutes of the trail head. There are a few hiking trails that reach the summit, but you can also park at the top and admire the view.

We saw a few deer as well as a few giant spiders. This was a little to close for comfort.

The trail is one of the more overgrown trails we’ve been too recently. Some spots have a calf-length grass. I advise you to wear long pants (even if it’s hot) and use bug spray. The public health major in me, says that Lyme disease is most prevalent in PA so be protected.).

There are a few rocky spots, especially to the summit, but for the most part, it’s an easy trail. It’s 4 miles out and back (8 round trip), but if you feel like that’s too overwhelming, you can park at the top and walk down then back up.

The trail is well marked, and unless you decide to go bushwhacking, it’s next to impossible to get lost.

The top is worth the climb and even if you want to make a pit stop and just drive to the top, it’s beautiful. It’s one of my favorite summits of hiking so far.

You Can See More Hikes Here.

Questions for you:

Are you a fan of road trips? How long can you sit in a car?

Do you like hiking?

Exploring Tyler State Park (Newtown, PA)

May 17, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: hike, hiking, hoka one one, horseback riding, pennsylvannia, philadelphia 2 Comments

Recently I found myself just north of Philadelphia. Since I was already up there, I thought it would be fun to check out a new park and see what I saw. I spent about 2 hours there and walked between 4-5 miles. Some of the park is paved trail, some is grassy, muddy, and rugged terrain. It truly has a bit of everything. There are plenty of runnable paths and it would be a good spot to run if you’re in the area again.

A lot of the trails are paved which can be used for biking too. During my walk I saw bikers, walkers, hikers, and even horseback riders. In fact, when I stopped to let a horse pass, it licked me.

I enjoyed all of the different surfaces of the park. I wanted to test out my Hoka Speedgoat Midis on new surfaces so opted to wear them. They were great for all terrain including pavement, dirt, grass, and muddy water (my feet stayed dry when I sunk into a few inches of mud).

It starts off walking across a dam. It’s all paved and there were people fishing as well.

While there isn’t a lot of drastic elevation change, there is some.

We walked through huge fields as well. I thought perhaps it could be used as a cross country course too. Maybe it has been.

Even found some “creatures”.

I also thought it would be funny to try and fit into this tree that had fallen and was hallowed out. Why, I don’t know.

There is even a beautiful covered bridge in the middle of the park as well.

In all, it was a quiet, fun, hike. If you are in the area and looking for something relaxing to do, I recommend it.

You can see all hikes here.

Questions for you:

What is your favorite low key park?

Have you ever been horseback riding?

I did when I was much younger.

Hiking Parker Loop at High Point State Park

May 9, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: backpacking, fitness, hike, hiking, new jersey, new york, pennsylvannia, sports

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I woke up early and drove up to Northwest NJ for an all-day hike. We ultimately hiked 13.4 miles, and it took us about 6 hours.

We’ve wanted to get to High Point State Park for a while. It’s just over 2 hours away and the highest point of elevation in NJ. The Parker Loop Trail was about 15 miles long, but there were a lot of spots, you could quickly go off trail, or get lost. If we did it again, we would follow the blue path which ultimately takes you about 15 miles but is much easier to follow.

The trail itself is moderate. It was only difficult for a couple of climbs and also due to the length. It had everything from climbing, to scrambles, to stream crossings, and walking along dried up water beds.

It started off easy and flat. We wandered through the trail for a couple of miles before hitting a stream.

I’ve never crossed a stream before, so it was terrifying. What if I fell in? My husband just went across like no big deal.

After the major stream crossing, we followed the trail for several more miles. There are spots that it’s easy to get lost because the trail isn’t the best marked. We added a few sections and had to double back. Ultimately, we would have followed the blue path which does about the same thing but is easier to follow.

We got to a beautiful campground and lake around mile 6. You can rent cabins and hang out there; it looks like a beautiful and peaceful spot to relax.

As we kept going, we noticed how many large trees were down. New Jersey has had a lot of storms recently, so I have to wonder if it’s from that, but we noticed dozens, maybe even 100.

Around mile 9, comes the longest and steepest climb which takes you to the top. The view is one of my favorites, and if you look, you can see PA, NY, and NJ. (The Northern NJ tri-state).

Finally, we headed back. Since we had gotten lost a few times and doubled back, we had no idea how long the trail would be for us. We ultimately did 13.4 miles. It was a lot of fun, and we are looking forward to doing a few more all day hikes before it gets too hot.

You Can See More Hikes Here.

Questions for you:

Have you ever gotten lost?

During one of our first hikes, we got completely lost at Bear Mountain and ended up taking an Uber back. Thank goodness there was one. We learned a lot from that, and how to be much safer hikers.

What is the longest hike you’ve done?

Hiking Watchung Reservation

April 26, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: hikes, hiking, history, nature, new jersey 2 Comments

Recently I was in Watchung Reservation. The weather wasn’t ideal for hiking, but I was in the area and have wanted to go. Because patience is not a virtue I have, I decided to hike anyway (instead of driving back up the following day).

There are plenty of trails in Watchung Reservation. The most famous is the History Trail. It’s about 6-miles and visits sights of historical significance. The Watchung Reservation, itself is about 2,000 acres.

On the site, there are several posts, benches, and historical markers. It starts and stops at the Trailside Nature Center. It’s not a strenuous hike and was rather enjoyable when we went. Parts were flooded out to rain but no big deal.

It starts on a smooth dirt trail.

There were a ton of trees down, as you can see!

When we went to cross the reservoir, it was completely flooded out. I had to hop across branches, and stones, which to be honest not falling was one of my biggest accomplishments of the day.

On the other side, there were plenty of historic sites and small huts and houses that were almost completely gone.

In all, it’s a beautiful and peaceful hike. It’s perfect if you just want to relax with something not too rigorous.

You can see all hikes here.

Questions for you:

Do you like hiking in the rain?

Are there any historic hikes near you?

Hiking Six Mile Run Park

March 8, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: fitness, hike, hiking, new jersey, nj, sports, trail 1 Comment

Earlier in the week, I found myself at Six Mile Run Park. I’ve wanted to explore it for a while now, but the timing never works out. Even though it was cold, I decided it would be a fun opportunity and I could leave if I got too cold. There are a few trails: blue, red, and orange. We stuck to mostly the blue trail. Because of the weather, and it was slightly snowy there weren’t any mountain bikers or horses out.

The blue trail actually had a few stream crossings but I wore my Goretex Brooks Cascadia, and my feet stayed dry. The path includes several stream crossings, but they should not present problems. The blue trail is about 4 miles long. We did most of it as well as some of the red trail.

There are a lot of downed trees. We saw huge uprooted trees, some of which must have been over 100 years old.

The red trail was unique in that it had plenty of open fields. If you have a dog, it would be an excellent spot to relax. The red trail is more rugged and challenging than the blue trail but nothing too intense or anything like the Palisades.

We skipped the orange trail all together because the weather seemed like it could turn for the worst (spoiler, it started pouring rain about 15 minutes after we left). The orange trail is only about a mile long and looked as though it would probably be muddy with the storm.

In all, it was an enjoyable hike. We spent about 2 hours out there; my guess is just under 5 miles. After that, it was time for a nature nap. I think it would also be a great spot to run, similarly to the Manasquan Reservoir.

View this post on Instagram

What are you doing? . Me: what does it look like, I’m taking a nature nap…it’s Monday after all.#naturenap

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Mar 4, 2019 at 11:28am PST

You can see more hikes here.

Questions for you:

Do you like hiking? Where is your favorite spot to hike near you?

FueledByLOLZ

Running and Laughing through the Garden State

Category Archives: hiking

Hiking Tuscarora Mountain

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Exploring Tyler State Park (Newtown, PA)

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Hiking Parker Loop at High Point State Park

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Hiking Watchung Reservation

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Hiking Six Mile Run Park

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