Well as pain free as it can be at my age. 😏
I wore a compression sleeve today anyway just in case. I was very aware of the knee but I think that was more fear that the pain would come back. It did not. :)
I'm pleased to see that my lap times were progressively faster. Lap #3 was a full minute faster than #2. I was tired and afraid of letting the fatigue hold me back. Now I have to avoid the trap of expecting all my laps to be that good.
Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula
4 weeks ago I decided to dedicate Wednesdays to adding run intervals to my morning miles.
And for concerned friends and family, NO with a ginormous capital N, I am NOT training for a race. I'm just trying smile and move my way into old age. Ok, "through" old age since "into" implies I'm not there yet.
I'm starting with 1 minute walk/30 second run intervals for 3 miles. I'm tracking my pace and heart rate hoping for improvment while also working hard not to obsess about it. Just trying to Keep Smilng and Keep Moving.
Today's workout was the slowest avg pace and heart rate of the three I've completed. I'm ok with that. Rain and allergies have kept me off the streets for the last ten days. I have alternative beneficial excercies for days like that but they are decidedly less aerobic.
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving - Paula
I left them with a clipboard, paper & a pen and they cheerfully responded. Here is what they shared.
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving
-Paula
Tuesdays and Thursdays are gym days. I take swim classes to keep my joints moving and smiling. Tuesday's class is at 7 AM. I almost didn't go today.
My right arm has been wonky most of my adult life. My elbow and shoulder do not like to bear weight for long periods of time (which is why I carry things in a backpack as much as possible) and some days they just ache all day. I shouldn't complain, though. I'm lucky that I have movement at all and I rarely have to take medicine to alleviate the pain. Still it's annoying. And for my PhillyFit friends, I'm NOT whining, I'm simply stating facts.
The cold weather of late has had the elbow and shoulder talking back a lot and this morning the ache had me resisting getting out of my warm bed. I had to spend several minutes reminding myself that the reason I go to swim class is to maintain range of motion and flexibility in all my joints. "Fine. I'll get up", I told myself using the most "I hate it when you are right" voice of the voices in my head.
As I left the house the promised precipitation was icy and cold. There was a thin layer of gunk on everything including the car. I decided to let the car warm up while I removed the slushy gunk that covered the windows. I turned on the car and the radio was playing "Snoopy's Christmas"
If you know me you know that Snoopy's Christmas is the song I need to hear every year. It's not Christmas until I do. I had not heard it yet this year, so I sat down and listened. As I listened the gunky mess falling from the sky turned to big fluffy white flakes of snow coming down fast. 💖💖💖.
After the sone\g was over, I cleared off the car and drove through the falling snow to the gym. It was still dark out and the snow looked like flying stars as I carefully made my way along Route 1. I could hear my children saying "It looks like Star Trek!!"
Three of my favorite things in one moment.
If you are still with me here is more about my relationship with Snoopy's Christmas.
I had a 45 record of it when I was a child and I played the beejeezuz out of it. It makes me smile EVERY TIME I hear. It chokes my up like few other songs can and by the time the Red Baron says "Merry Christmas, My Friend" I usually have tears in my eyes.
I was ages 10 to 15 in the early 1970's. The Vietnam War loomed large over everything. As a fan of Snoopy's Christmas, my adolescent brain could not understand why someone did not simply cross enemy lines and talk it out. My mediator roots likely began with Snoopy's Christmas.
Christmas bells those Christmas bellsRinging through the landBringing peace to all the worldAnd good will to man
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving and have a very Happy and Safe Holiday. - Paula
Being able to afford it though was only part of the transition. My job was who I was. I was good at it. I know I made a difference there. Leaving meant figuring out what to do with myself besides reading and doing jigsaw puzzles. I've done a lot of both this year because I really enjoy both activities but for me, that's not enough.
One year in, I don't feel like I've found the "enough" to matter yet. However, a lot of thinking about it - and if you know me you know that means likely too much thinking about it - has helped me realize I don't need to figure it all out in one year. On one hand, at my age, there is the realization that I don't have forever to figure things out anymore. On the other hand, also at my age, is the realization that it's silly to waste time thinking about the finite amount of time. I just need to keep smiling and keep moving and "enough" will show itself when it's ready. Probably when I least expect it.
So what HAVE I done, besides the reading and puzzles already mentioned?
I committed to purposeful exercise every day. I'm pleased to report I kept that promise to myself. Since November 23, 2024, I've missed very few days. Even on vacation. I've walked or hiked 754 miles, spent 44 hours swimming and 22 hours in yoga. My osteoporosis doctor says I need to spend more time in yoga for bone health so I will endeavor to do so in year 2.
I joined the American Red Cross as a volunteer Blood Donor Ambassador and Blood Transportation Specialist. I enjoy both opportunities a lot. I have committed to at least one Donor Ambassador shift each week. Each shift is 5 hours and I really enjoy the interaction with donors and red cross staff. It's just enough to get me out of my own head but not enough to exhaust my introvert personality. Dave has joined me in transportation. Once a week we take boxes of blood out to Hershey Medical Center. On occasion we combine those trips with stops at Lancaster General Hospital and/or St Josephs (in Reading).
I haven't hiked as much as I thought I might and it's ok. I've hiked when time (and blood donations allow). During my time in the workforce, hiking was an escape. I still enjoy hiking a lot, but I don't have the decompression need that I had when I was working 40+ hours a week. The commitment to daily exercise has done wonders for my state of mind. I have been able to share walking with one of my sisters almost weekly in Spring, Fall and Winter and every other month with my sister-in-law. So while hiking less, I've found joy in those activities with others. I do miss some of the folks I used to hike with. IN retirement, when we do hike, Dave and I have hiked during the week but that doesn't work for everyone. Perhaps, purposely mixing in some weekend opportunities with others can be something for year 2.
I've attempted two volunteer opportunities that didn't work out for me. That was hard. Giving those up feels like failure and I'm not good at accepting failure in myself. I'm trying to consider volunteering like the library. If you check out a book and decide you don't enjoy it, you give it back. Life is too short to force yourself to finish the book. It's not quite the same, but I'm working on accepting giving up on the volunteer opportunities. If I don't enjoy the opportunity I'm going to find it hard to give it my full effort and that's not good either. Right? Ok, still working on that one.
Something I have stuck with is learning Spanish. Wanting to learn another language has been on my long term to-do list for years. After the last election, I moved it up on my list. In early February 2024 I started Duolingo for Spanish. I've done a lesson every day since except on our cruise because we did not have Internet access on the ship. So I did my morning walks on the ship but not my Spanish. I'm perfectly ok with that.
I wanted to do mediation in retirement. I organized the program at Tri-County when I was there. Upon leaving I joined their mediator roster. I've mediated three cases this year. I like it and hope to do more in year 2.
One year in, I've found peace in doing nothing when nothing presented itself I am not made to do too much nothing though. So it's on to year 2, now, and taking in what's next. One day, one stop, one smile at a time.
Thanks for reading,
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving.
Now that I've had time to wrap my head around it, it's time to come clean about last Friday's hike. It's not that I didn't want to tell what happened, it's that when I first tried (the day it happened) all I could think about was the Ugly and the post I started to write felt like a whiny mess. I'm better now so here it is...
The Good - I finished 7 miles
The Bad - I had planned 10 miles
The Ugly - the reason for coming up short is something I should have figured out BEFORE I attempted the hike. It was a bonehead move to attempt a this hike 4 days after a blood donation. My red blood cells were nowhere near replenished in such a short time. I was fine for 5 miles. Then I started to struggle. Physically I felt fine but breathing was becoming more labored and I felt a tad dizzy at times. So when I reached the road crossing at the 7 mile mark I knew it was time to quit. I called Dave who was waiting for me at the 10 mile mark. As I waited for him to circle back to me, I assessed how I was feeling and that's when I realized what I'd done.
In the end there are more good things than bad about this hike. First, I did finish 7 miles and that's 7 more miles on my way to completing the trail. I've completed just over 75 miles now. I'm past the halfway mark!! 💖Barely but I'm past it.
Also, I really did feel great for 5 miles and except for having trouble catching my breath at mile 7, the rest of me felt good enough to keep going.
We've reserved a date in May on our calendar (far enough out to be recovered) to attempt another 8-10 miles. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, please keep smiling and keep moving.
-Paula
Today I learned two new things. Well, one of them I learned a few days ago, but I learned it because of what we were doing today.
Thing #1 - Ridley Park has a lake. We calculated today that I've lived in Delaware County all but 5 years of my life. Yet, I did not know that Ridley Park has a lake. I am a tad embarrassed. This feels like something I should have known. 😞
I discovered this due to our blood donation today. We had appointments at Ridley Park Presbyterian Church. Hiking was off the table then so I went looking for a route to take a post donation walk instead. I located the church on Google maps and there it was -- Ridley Park Lake. Who knew? As already established I did not.
There is a walking path around the lake. On the path you'll pass two original buildings, a pumphouse built in 1890 and a boathouse built in 1935. There are lots of benches including what appears to be original ones made of stone. Similar to many of the towns built on or near rail lines in this area, Ridley Park was a summer resort destination for wealthy Philadelphia.
If you'd like to learn more here is the Wikipedia entry and a history page from the borough.
BTW, in case you are wondering (we were), the creek that feeds the lake is Crum Creek not Ridley Creek.
On our walk, we encountered people walking, fishing and meeting in the park. It was lovely.
Thing #2 - Veins have valves. My donation experience was going very well. Michelle, the phlebotomist was pleasant and kind. The needle stick was amazing. I felt nothing beyond the initial prick and there was no pressure while it was in. Strangely though I could feel vibration in the tube which was draped over my forearm. I never felt that before. It felt funny but not concerning. Michelle, however was concerned.
The blood flow was very slow. In fact, as she watched she was confused that it would flow fine one second and slow down the next. She calmly called for help. I wasn't worried. I just chalked it up to my notoriously low blood pressure. Every time I donate, the check in person asks "Is it always this low?"
The senior phlebotomist looked everything over and said, "I'd like to move the needle a little bit. Ok?" I reluctantly said ok. The last time they tried to move a needle while I was donating, it hurt A LOT. But I figured it was either let her move it or the donation attempt would likely be stopped short. Fortunately, she was equally good with a needle. Although I braced for pain I didn't feel a thing. And with the move, the vibration stopped and the flow returned to steadily normal.
That's when I learned that veins have valves. The original placement of the needle was too close to a valve. As best as I could understand the opening and closing of the valve was causing the blood to flow over the needle. This caused the vibration and the blood to miss the needle opening off and on. Senior blood taker said she could feel the vibration in the tube and that's how she knew.
And in case you were wondering (I was) the valves keep the blood flowing in the right direction. Makes perfect sense. I just never had reason to think about it before.
So there you have it. Thing 1 and Thing 2.
Shortly after the injury I tried to resign myself to considering the recovery time as a lesson in patience and staying in the here and now.
Truthfully it's not so much a lesson as a ''you-have-no-choice" state of being. I have always had the luxury of deciding I want to go and just going. In the past 8 weeks, however, many steps have had to be carefully planned.
As I weaned myself out of the boot, I had to think about each outing with regard to needing the boot or not. Answer: I wore it in high traffic areas or in situations where I needed to move a lot or quickly. In situations where I shed the boot (mostly at home and around the office) I adopted a crossing the street mentality when leaving a room. At the doorway, I'd stop and look both ways before stepping out to avoid running into anyone and risk getting stepped on.
I've had lots of time to think about how privileged I was (and will be again) to just move when and where I want to.
On Monday (6-24), the doc removed all restrictions on the use off my foot. She warned me that it would be slow going to return to my previous distances. I'm supposed to build back slowly and let pain be my guide. I know she's right even if I don't want her to be.
Today (Friday), I walked to and back from the dentist and then to and back from the library. Total for both walks 2.4 miles. My foot is achy and my ankle - inside and outside - is sore.
However, the dentist did not find any cavities and I did find a book I wanted at the library so life is good.
Tomorrow we are heading back to an unpaved surface for the first time in 8 weeks. I'm hoping that hiking poles and an ankle wrap will get me through to 3 miles. For now I'll put my foot up and check in to my books. I'm going to leave this post in draft mode until after tomorrow's outing. See you then.
So this happened.....
I stepped on a snake. To be clear it was not on purpose. I didn't see it. Regardless of my intention, the snake was not happy about that and wriggled to get free at about the same time that my hiking partner said "Snake". I spooked. I jumped to get out of the way and came down hard on my right foot.
With Dave's help, I hobbled the half mile back to our car. A couple, younger than us but not by a lot, commented "You guys are doing great!!" I'm sure they did not intend it as it sounded to me. But when they passed us again on their way back, I made sure to tell them why I was moving so slowly.
I twist and sprain my ankles a lot. Especially the right. So first we went home and I kept it elevated and iced. But by the next morning I knew it was more than an ankle sprain. So off we went to Urgent Care.
Diagnosis, non displaced fracture of the 5th metarsal. The non displaced part is key because it means no surgery. But I will be off the trail for awhile. I'll know more after I visit the ortho doc on Friday but estimate from the Urgent Care doc is 6-8 weeks to heal. Never having broken a bone, let alone one in the foot, I don't know what kind of rehab might be needed after the boot comes off. I hope the Ortho Doc is prepared. I have LOTS of questions.
I am concerned about losing my momentun on the trail. I will likely have to work back up to 8-10 miles. It's frustrating. I'm trying hard to take this as a lesson in patience and staying in the here and now. I can't do anything until the ordeal is over so there is no use worrying about it. Right? If you know me, that's easier said than done.
Keep Smling and Keep Moving.
-Paula
We left Dave's car at Brecknock Police Station where an Eagle Scout project resulted in an access trail to the HST. We then drove together to drop my car at Plow Farms and began hiking west together. The trail starts on a downhill here and then climbs and climbs. Just when you think you are at the top the trail rounds a bend and there is more UP. It was a good workout.
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| At the five mile mark, Dave headed off on the blue trail toward his car. He told me later that he ended up wandering off the access trail and probably put in another half mile trying to get back to his car. |
I continued on to the end at Rt 625. The blazes in this section were faded and there were these weird jumping bugs that wanted to land on my face so I had to put my sunglasses on even though I was in shade. This made the blazes appear even more faded. It was slow going up the hill and trying not to go off trail.
This was our last section that includes trail we've covered before. Next time we go out we will have about 3 more miles of 'old' trail and then it's all new stuff. Well except for the 11 mile section that we missed several times back in March and decided to move on. We will go back to that later to make the end to end official.
Also, after this trip we will likley start doing 2 sections back to back with an overnight stay in between. The trail sections are more than an hour away now. It's a very long day getting there, hiking and then returning home. So to test myself, tomorrow I am heading to RCSP to put in another 8 mile hike to make sure my body can do back to back days.
I'm pretty sure I can but I will likely sleep very soundly tomorrow night!
EDIT the next day - I succeeded in back to back hikes. My brain was not entirely with the program when I started out but after a few minutes of stern talking to, it was fine. And I feel pretty good.
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving
-Paula
This sectio begins in a gravel parking area off Geigertown Road near the Birdsboro Gun Club. A recent re-route of the trail here take one off hte gun club property but you can still hear it. I find it weird but not scary. Of course that may be becaause I know where the sound is coming from.
Dave and I hiked together to the spot where the access trail from the Birdsboro Picnic Park joins the trail. Dave returned to his car and I continued on to mine which we had previously left at the old Plowville Farms on Rt 10.
I enjoyed this most of the section a lot. Spring is springing so the woods are full of new life. The elevation change provides a good work out but with enough breaks to not feel overwhelming.
I was dreading the last two and a half miles. I had done this once before and it stuck withe me. The last stretch is all on Buck Hollow Road to Rt 10. It is a windy road with no shoulder to speak of and it's mostly uphill. I almost did somehting I've never done on a hike. I almost turned on a podcast on my phone to distract me. Almost.
Instead I tried to find things to look at (while dodging trucks) and that worked. Sometimes I have to work hard to invoke Keep Smiling Keep Moving.
-Paula
Well sort of ...
The plan for today was to finish the piece between the downed tree and Warwick County Park. Hiking is like life. Things don't always work out as planned.
The plan was this:
Step 1) Park a car at Warwick County Park. DONE.
Step 2) Drive to French Creek Elementary School to leave the second car. DONE.
Step 3) Hike East to the downed tree or 2 miles whichever came first. Downed tree is not a thing on the official trail maps so I had to guestimate where it likely was based on our mileage back in Febraury. I guessed it was about 2 miles. At 2 miles we were steps from the right spot. I have to admit I was impressed with myself. LOL. Also, we discovered that a re-route around the downed tree had been created since we were last there. DONE.
Step 4) Turn around and head back to the elementary school. DONE.
Step 5) Hike West to Warwick County Park. Here is where things went off the rails. Getting to the park required a crossing of French Creek. We hiked the half mile from the school to the Creek and this is what we saw:
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| I was going to have to jump in a few places and likely was not going to make it. Even Dave, who is taller, was going to have trouble. |
I knew there was chance that crossing the creek was not going to be possible but I had to try. I have crossed this spot on French Creek before, but today was not a good day for that. Had the creek not been rushing so high and fast we might have tried it knowing that our feet would get wet. But not being able to seeing clearly what we'd be stepping into it just wasn't safe. No one was going to die if we tried but other injuries were not out of the question.
So we turned back toward the School.
Once back to Conventryville Road I could have turned left and followed the road detour to Mt Pleasant round and back to the trail. My heart wasn't into a road section. So I had Dave drive me to the Mt. Pleasant trailhead and I hiked to the car from there.
I'm counting the whole section done because I have hiked the road section at least three different times and crossed the creek a few as well.
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving
-Paula
Meanwhile, I've re-worked my milage expectations and pretty much accepted the fact that I may have to go into next year to finish. Had we been able to stick to my original (admittedly ambitious) plan we'd be more than halfway done by now. That's ok. Life (and hiking) are a marathon not a sprint, right?
When dayight savings time started (March 10th) I embarked on a plan to walk every day. Not the first time I've attempted this and time will tell if I stick to it. I feel better when I excercise every day and that should be enough to keep me going. But it isn't.
DST is significant because on weekdays I need to walk after work. Although I could easily complete 2 miles in the time I have between waking up and leaving for work, I can't get it out of my head that something might happen. I am prone to twisted ankles for example and it's very dark in the mornings right now. How embarassing would it be to call the office and say I won't be in becaues I'm a klutz.
My goal to start was a minimum of 2 miles every day. My average from March 10 to March 31 is 2.14 miles/day. I did NOT walk every day though. Rain, and a few after work obligations gave me some zero days. I only made the average by walking longer on weekends.
My goal for April is going to be 3 miles per day and no zerio days. On days it is going to rain (as predicted for the first three day of April) I will substitute another indoor workout. Since I can walk 3 miles in an hour or less, the substitute work out will be 1 hour.
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving (and thanks for reading this)
-Paula
Last weekend we had hoped to once again attempt the section between Brightside Farm Park (BFP) and Route 100. However, weather, wind chills and a blood donation have kept us off the trail for too many weeks and 11.1 miles felt like too much. Instead, Elaine, Dave and I went to Bryn Coed Nature Preserve and, despite getting lost, had a wonderful time. We covered 5.5 miles that day.
Returning home from that outing I decided to refigure the sections to build back up to 10 to 12 miles. The other thing I decided was that two attmpts at BFP to Route 100 was enough for now. We are already out of order so we'll go back to that later. That brings us to today's section, 5.9 miles from Warwich County Park and the SGL 43 parking area on Harmonyville Road.
This section follows French Creek with several crossing of streams feeding into the Creek.
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| January snow and rain has the Creek running at a decent height and pace.
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The perk of this section is the ease of visiting St. Peter's Bakery post hike. 💖
The question of the day is "Why is the village alled St. Peter's"? While I can find many refernces to the village and its history, none shares the origin of the name. If you know, please let us know.
Keep Smiling Keep Moving - Paula
Physically I have recovered from Friday. Expected wind chills in the mid-20s to start is tolerable. Been there done that and have a few tricks up my sleeve for that. Some of them literally up my sleeve*. The snow of course was not an issue. It was the rain mixed in followed by high winds with gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range. I'd end up with a chill that would last until next weekend!
So instead I opted for a short walk to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. I had received a Wawa rewards coupon for free birthday coffee good until 1/14/2024. Today is 1/14/2024. Except apparently that means midnight before the coupon expiry date. Still got my coffee just had to be flexible yet again. 😎
Keep Smiling Keep Moving (even when the weather and your coupons conspire to try to make you frown) LOL
-Paula
* Or down your sleeve as the case may be. Put your hydration tube down your sleeve in below freezing weather and your water will remain water :)
Today's hike is brought to us by the letter F for Flexible and Fall.
Flexible because even the best laid plans may go awry when you forget that you are hiking on a Friday not the weekend. The planned section for today should have picked up where we left off two weeks ago (at Brightside Farm Park) and ended at Collinson, Inc on Route 100. Fortunately, I remembered last night that parking at Collinson is only permitted on weekends and holidays as they have a business to run during the week!! So much for my plan to hike each section in order.
In case you are wondering (and if you're not, skip ahead), I couldn't switch my hike day to tomorrow due to yet another round of heavy rain coming tonight.
After leaving my car at Giegertown Road we travelled in Dave's car to SGL 43 at Harmonyville road and hiked together to Hopewell Furnace (about 2 miles). From here I continued on to my car and Dave went back to his.
The remainder of the hike was in and around the grounds of Hopewell Furnace area and French Creek State Park. Signs informed me I was travelling in and out of permitted hunting areas as well. I was properly dressed for that and felt safe. It was strange, though, during well signed "No hunting" areas to hear the sound of gunshots coming through the trees from the Gun Club not too far away.
I saw a couple, a single hiker and a mountain biker today. The mountain biker was coming up behind and I stepped off the trail to let him pass. He stopped and commented on the condition of the trail. In spots it was very wet with boot sucking mud. He said "I've been coming here for 30 years and have never seen it this bad". I asked where he came in from. He said Harrisburg. I let him know that the snow they got in Harrisburg last week and this past Wednesday was all rain here.
The trail here (as in much of PA) was full of rocks and roots. Many of it camouflaged by leaf cover which brings me to the other word of the day FALL. I'm impressed with myself that it only happened once. But it was a doozy. My sunglasses and Perki went flying. I am fine but suspect I'll be feeling it tomorrow. It was a bone rattler.
The rocks, roots and mud made for slow going to day. 10.25 miles and 4 hours & 43 minutes after leaving Dave's car I was re-united with mine.
Keep Smiling Keep Moving - Paula
Since my first hike on this trail in December 2012, I've hiked all of Maps 1 though 4 and a portion of Map 5. Some of the sections on these maps I've hiked multiple times. Now, I will make a specific effort to start at the beginning and continue one section at a time to the end. With Dave's help we'll car hop our way across the state from Valley Forge to Harrisburg.
With the help of the 2023 HST Trail maps, I've divided the trail into 12 sections averaging 12 miles each. I am limited to weekends and will need to work around other weekend commitments. I'd love to finish before Memorial Day. I'll hike in rain and snow. I won't hike in thunder and lightening (not on purpose anyway) and I prefer not to hike in a torrential rain. So we'll see how weather affects our schedule.
Also, it hasn't snowed more than a dusting in almost 2 years in eastern PA. Now that I've made these plans, I feel a blizzard coming on. No, I won't hike in it but it's a good thing I miss the snow or it would be tougher to laugh at that.
For today's section we left my car at Brightside Farm Park and took Dave's car to Washington's Headquarters. My watch measured .38 mile from the rest room near the HQ parking lot to the Henry Woolman monument that marks the eastern terminus of the Horse-Shoe Trail.
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| It was not possible to get us and the monument in the same photo. |
Dave and I hiked together to the spot where the HST and the Valley Creek Trail meet (about .3 from the beginning of the HST). Dave went off on his own hike out to the Covered Bridge and I continued on to my car.
Those who follow my hiking trips on Facebook know that I take A LOT of pictures. I can't help it. I'm enamored of Mother Nature's beauty and the many animals and people I see on the trail. For this end to end adventure though I plan to limit my photo taking. At least on these first sections that I've travelled so many times already. Today I challenged myself to find something interesting to photograph at 2 mile intervals only. There were times when I wished I hadn't made that challenge to myself but I did stick with it. 😀
For those in the know of this section, the Tinman is back. On the opposite side of the trail now. It was nice to see an old friend. Tinman was not at a 2 mile interval though so no photo. Despite how much I wanted a selfie.
This section by trail map definition is 10.4 miles. There is a re-route at about mile 3 and this combined with the distance from our car brought my total mileage today to 11.44. I feel pretty good considering my last long hike was 12 miles on August 12th. Since then our outings have been inconsistent and usually in the 4-6 mile range. So yeah considering all that ... I feel pretty good. My joints and many muscles are tingly but I can walk up and downstairs without two footing it and only wobble the first few steps out of the chair. At my age, the wobble is there more often these days regardless of whether I've been hiking. Today it takes a few more steps than usual. There is no doubt I'll sleep well tonight.
The hike began a little before 8 am. It was 36 degrees with a bit of a breeze. I wore two layers on my torso with a fleece pullover on top of that. About 7 miles in I wished I had a lighter jacket to change into. I had two layers on my ears to start but was able to remove the headband at about mile 5. I packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into quarters and ate one piece at 2, 4, 6, and 8. I barely drank enough water trying to avoid the need to pee. This section does not have opportunities for that.
One section down. 11 to go.
Keep Smiling and Keep Moving -Paula
P.S for those who wonder what happened to wanting to do the Brandywine End to End in April, I've abandoned that idea. The need to maintain a certain pace to make the cutoffs is the main reason. While I can keep the pace it leaves little room to enjoy the hike. The secondary reason is the lack of consistency in our outings (mentioned above). I don't think I have enough time to work up to a single 28 mile hike.
The loop, according to Google, would take 7 hours and change. It took us 12 hours because what fun is it to just sit in the car for 7 hours?
Next we were off to the first address on our tour. Unfortunately it did not exist. The road existed but not the address Google claimed was there. Perhaps it exists in an alternate universe a la Platform 9 and 3/4? We decided we would not ram someone's mailbox to find out. It was a mystery left unsolved as we moved on to our next stop.
Our journey to Easton took us past the Groundhog Locks in Delaware Canal State Park so we stopped for a walk around.
After completing our tour of Easton, we moved on to our next address. Turns out Google was yet again mistaken as there was no shared address in Hamburg, NJ. However, there was a common intersection.
From here it was on to stop #3. This address in Parsippany, NJ does exist. It is a split level home. So Google got three out of four addresses right (one of them being our own.) It was a goofy thing to do and a fun way to spend a day.
When I first planned out my miles for preparing for the Brandywine End to End Hike, I had hoped to get to 10 miles before Memorial Day weekend. Allergies, weather and fatigue caused me to miss a hike or two so I backed off hoping to get to 9 for this weekend.
Dave and I drove two cars out the French Creek Elementary School this morning. We left the Fit there and then proceeded to Chantilly Lane bus shelter to begin our respective hikes. By way of the Horse Shoe Trail I expected to cover 9.4 miles hiking back to the school. I wanted 9 for today but there was no good spot to leave a car at the 9 mile mark and I did not want to go out and back so 9.4 it is (or was planned).
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| Us before heading out on our respective hikes |
I ended up with 10.2 miles today. My pace was slightly off the cutoff for the End to End Hike but given the downed trees, the detour and the humidity today, I'm ok with that.
Keep Smiling Keep Moving - Paula
