Exploring Tyler State Park (Newtown, PA)

May 17, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: hike, hiking, hoka one one, horseback riding, pennsylvannia, philadelphia Leave a comment

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 Leave a comment

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.

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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?

Hiking Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve (California)

February 26, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: california, fitness, health, hike, hiking, nature 2 Comments

Now if that isn’t a mouthful, I don’t know what is.

The final hike while in California was the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. After exploring the Marin Headlands the day before, we wanted a change of scenery and decided to go south. The Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve is located on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Parts of the trail overlook Half Moon Bay.

I was excited to get a glimpse of the Redwood trees as I had never seen any in person. Now, coast redwoods are only found along the coast from Oregon to Monterey. The coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and can grow up to 360 feet tall. The oldest known age of a redwood is 2,200 years, but the average is 500 to 1,000 year old.

We decided to do the Purisima Creek Trail. It was once an old logging road. It can get steep, and some of the grade was about 15%. The views are worth it, and it was one of my favorite hikes of the trip. We ended up hiking about 6 miles or so.

At first, I thought this was a banana pepper LOL.

The Redwood Trees, themselves, did not disappoint. They were huge!

So many gorgeous views.

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Behind me…that is nature

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Jan 23, 2019 at 3:53pm PST

Hiking through California was a lot of fun. Even though it was the shortest, my favorite was the Anderson County Park, but I enjoyed each of them. Each was different and unique.

Anderson Park was a surprising and beautiful dam. I’ve never hiked a Volcano until Calavera Hills. Marin Headlands had beautiful views on the entire route. The Los Robles Trail was fun to get out of traffic for a while and of course, seeing my first Redwoods at the Purisma Trail was wonderful too. I hope to be back to California again and check out some more different hikes.

You Can See All Hikes Here.

California Hikes from the Trip:
Hiking Marin Headlands (San Francisco)
Hiking Calavera Hills Community Park
Mini Trip to Los Angeles
Hiking Anderson Lake County Park
Los Robles Trail

Questions for you:
Have you ever seen Redwoods?
What is a fun spot to hike near you?

FueledByLOLZ

Running and Laughing through the Garden State

Category Archives: hiking

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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Hiking Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve (California)

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