Exploring Wells State Park (Sturbridge, MA)

September 13, 2018 By Hollie in hiking Tags: camping, fitness, hike, hiking, massachusetts, trails 2 Comments

It looks like Wells State Park is my last post for summer hiking. This summer, I was lucky enough to have time to hike in several spots in the Northeast. Heck, I even did a couple of mountain races too. I genuinely enjoy hiking as much as running.

Anyway, on my way back from the Boothbay Half, my husband and I stopped around Sturbridge. Instead of running, we opted for a 4-5 mile hike in Wells State Park. Wells State Park is neat because there is plenty of camping. We were out early, and we saw lots of other hikers and campers. It was never overwhelming, and it wasn’t as if the trails went right through campsites. If I lived in the area, this would be a place I would camp.

Wells State Park is about 1,400-acres. Apparently, there are the campground has 60 sites. We primarily hiked around Walker Pond which appears you can fish or swim depending on the location.

There are over 10 miles of trails which are for hiking. There is also a road that goes through the park for campers to easier setup sites.

Here are a few photos:

Around Walker Pond

Dirt Path

More Hiking

Do you see the frog? I didn’t until my husband pointed him out.

In all, we had a great time, and if I’m ever back in the area, I will go back. The trail itself is easy, and doable for kids or dogs.

Here are other hikes I’ve done this Spring and Summer:

Hiking Turkey Swamp in Freehold
Exploring Cattus Island in Toms River
Exploring Hartshorne Park in the Highlands
Hiking to the Cape May Lighthouse
Hiking Bear Mountain in a Downpour
Hiking through Belleplain State Forest
Hiking High Mountain with a View of NYC
Walk Out a Mile and It Down Pours
Hiking Shark River Park

You can see all hikes here.

Questions for you:

Do you like camping? I haven’t been in a while, but I don’t mind.

What is something fun you did this summer?

Walk Out a Mile and It Down Pours

August 14, 2018 By Hollie in hiking Tags: allentown, fitness, hike, hiking, outdoors, pennsylvannia, summer 2 Comments

This is the tale of a hike that was supposed to be a hike but then wasn’t.

I was up in the Allentown area last week. I needed to be up there sometime in the mid-afternoon. If you’ve ever dealt with Philadelphia traffic, you know you don’t play games during that time (like any city really). So I left early and ended up having 5 hours of free time. I like to see various areas and had the day off, so I thought why not? The drive could either be 90 minutes earlier or 2.5 later in the day.

There are a few hikes I’ve wanted to do in the general area, so I decided to kill some time and went up to Hickory Run State Park. While driving up, the weather was beautiful. There wasn’t any rain, and it wasn’t forecasted to rain. It was sunny, but cooler for the summer (around 80). I thought it would be an ideal day to hike.

Starting out at Hickory didn’t go as planned either. I like Nuun when hiking and prefer the caffeinated Ginger. I would prefer noncaffeinated ginger, but to my knowledge, they don’t make them. (I’m not a Nuun ambassador and prefer something with more substance while running.). With Nuun, I also eat food while hiking, so I don’t really eat gels.

Anyway, I accidentally dumped an entire canister of the Nuun into my pack. So I didn’t see stars from that much caffeine, I diluted, but at that point, I knew the hike would be “one of those hikes”.

I started off on Blue Trail. It’s a thin trail that winds through the forest. It connects both the Pine Hill and Sand Spring trails.

The path went along a stream crossing, and while trying to cross, I fell in. I do have a pair of Goretex Brooks Cascadia which are fantastic but when you fall into a stream, there is only so much that will protect you. As I continued along the trail, the skies opened up, and it started downpouring anyway.

I wasn’t expected rain, so I didn’t have anything I would usually have like a jacket or hat. I kept trecking along. The trail was overgrown and the further I got, the deeper the water was.

Around an hour, and probably only going 1.5 miles, I ended up turning around. It was a trail I know I could have covered hiking 3 miles per hour, and I wouldn’t make it anywhere at the rate I was going.

In all, I’m definitely happy I was up at Hickory Run Park near Allentown, and I do want to go back on a better day. Nothing about the hike went as planned but I made the best of the situation and that is all I can ask of myself.

The park looks awesome, and there are so many fun trails. I love NJ, but I’ve done 75% of the hikes here now! I don’t regret the short but fun hike, I’m happy to be able to do it.

View this post on Instagram

Had some time to kill today and thought a new hike would be fun…until it started downpouring. I didn’t make it anywhere but up a creek but it was an adventure. Getting the knots out of my hair…not as much.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Aug 10, 2018 at 4:39pm PDT

Here are other hikes I’ve done this Spring and Summer:

You can see all the hikes here.

Questions for you:

Have you hiked in the rain?

Where is your favorite place to hike?

Hiking Indian Wells State Park (Connecticut)

July 11, 2018 By Hollie in hiking Tags: connecticut, hike, hiking, swimming, waterfall

While in Connecticut last month, we decided to take a nice hike at Indian Wells State Park. It’s not a rigorous hike but a pleasant hour or two walk around the park. It’s family-friendly, and right along the water with a beach if you want to swim or boat. The hike itself was about 2-3 miles, and we went to the lookout point as well as the waterfalls. A few people were swimming in the waterfall, so I didn’t take many photos as that might have been a little awkward.

If you hike about a mile, you’ll reach a small overlook which was a beautiful spot to relax. We spent a few minutes looking out and then hiked to the “main attraction” of the waterfall.

The free-flowing waterfall has a deep pool at the base that we saw many people jumping into. We did as we weren’t interested in swimming at all. If I were to go swimming in the area, it would probably be at the waterfall because it’s not far from the beach and entrance and a more secluded area.

The hike itself was quiet, and we didn’t see a lot of people throughout the couple hours we were out there. Here are a few photos from the adventure.

The hikes all start with climbing a short but well-maintained series of steps.

View from the look point into Connecticut

Into the Creek

In all, it was a great walk, and I would definitely go back. It’s a short and easy hike if you’re looking for something to do with kids or a dog. Of any of the parks, it’s one of the most family friendly we have been too.

Here are other hikes I’ve done this Spring and Summer:

You can see all hikes I’ve done here.

Questions for you:

Have you ever swam near a waterfall? Do you prefer going to a beach, pool, or lake? Or none LOL.

What is a fun hike local to you?

Hiking Bear Mountain in a Downpour

June 5, 2018 By Hollie in hiking Tags: fitness, hike, hiking, new york state, sports, trails

I like going to Bear Mountain in New York State, however, some of the hardest and scariest hikes I’ve done have been in that park. Bear Mountain was one of the first hikes my husband and I did. Somehow, we got lost and hiked over the mountain and to other side and main road. In order to get back to our car, we either had to take a taxi or spend another 4+ hours hiking in the dark. By some miracle, there was a driver up there. When we discussed options that seemed like a silly one to even pursue.

This particular time, we started in a mist and by the time we were about halfway in, it was downpouring. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad. I invested in a nice Goretex jacket which kept me dry the entire time.