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?

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 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?

Hiking Los Robles Trail and Open Space

February 15, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: california, fitness, hike, hiking, history, nature, sports 1 Comment

It feels like this was forever ago. While in California, we hiked five different locations between 2-9 miles. Nothing was overly strenuous but each was fun and challenging in its own way.

Los Robles Trail and Open Space is located at the southern portion of the Conejo Open Space. It’s located near the highway, and you would never guess there are over 200 acres in the park.

We were traveling north from Carlsbad to San Francisco and wanted to get out and stretch your legs. When I googled short hikes, I found the Los Robles Trail and Open Space. One commenter wrote: “perfect for when you’re stuck in traffic and want to get out of the car for a short walk.”

What I didn’t realize until later was the trail’s historical significance! On Feb. 28, 1776, Juan Bautiste de Anza and nearly 200 settlers came through the Conejo Valley on a similar trail while traveling from Mexico to San Francisco.

While we were out, we saw several other hikers as well as plenty of mountain bikers too.

The Open Space

Lots of mountain bike trails too

A very old tree

Views

The end of the trail to a neighborhood

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Trying to catch a sunset and eating hair. Typical.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on Jan 20, 2019 at 6:07pm PST

You Can See More Hikes here.

California Hikes:

Hiking Marin Headlands (San Francisco)

Hiking Calavera Hills Community Park

Mini Trip to Los Angeles

Questions for you:

Are you good at road trips? Can you drive for a long period of time without stopping? (not me LOL)

Where is your favorite spot to hike?

Walking the Manasquan Reservoir

January 22, 2019 By Hollie in hiking Tags: fitness, health, hike, hiking, nature, new jersey 4 Comments

Recently I was at the Manasquan Reservoir. Even with the number of times I tried to spell it writing the post, I’ve struggled!

Anyway, the perimeter loop is 5 miles and it’s an, scenic, flat loop. You can run or walk, whatever you’re feeling like. It took me about 2 hours to walk, but I was taking my time and seeing what I saw. It would be a fairly nice loop to run or even do a workout on. Why didn’t I run? I was catching up with a couple of people and it was a cross training day. I would come back and run.

It’s definitely an easy hike or walk but there is always a view along the way. Plus, I saw people riding horses which I haven’t seen in a while. I parked near the boat ramp and just walked around that way.

The Manasquan Reservoir Park has about 1,200 acres which include the reservoir itself plus the surrounding forests and wetlands. While it was cold when we were out, you can definitely boat or fish at the reservoir too.