Horse-Shoe Trail Section 1: Washington's Headquarters to Brightside Farmpark

I've decided to celebrate my 65th year by tackling a hiking bucket list item  - an end to end section hike of the Horse-Shoe Trail. And now that it's been said 'out loud', how is that I'm in my 65th year already? I guess time really does fly when you are having fun. 

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. 

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.  

12 Hours; 300+ miles; 2 phantom addresses and 6 tubs of margarine

Did you ever try to see how far it was from your house to somewhere and start to wonder about the other addresses that Google Maps suggests to you? I mean the ones that are the same as your address but in different towns? Well, I have. And one day a few months ago I plotted a looping drive the visited three of them. Then I said, "We should drive this some day" and "Some Day" was yesterday, July 21st. 

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? 

The first stop was in West Chester, PA We left home just before 8 am and headed to the DK Diner in West Chester on our way to visit the first stop. This was our first time at DK and we do recommend it. Good food, reasonable prices. We may have been the only non-regulars in the place but that didn't mean anything to the staff. They were very pleasant and helpful. It is a cash only establishment though so be prepared. http://www.dkdiner.com/ 

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. 

The next address on our tour was several hours and many miles away in Hamburg, NJ. Looking at our tour we realized we could angle through Easton PA. Easton is one of the towns in our "Look Up Pennsylvania" book so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. 

Our journey to Easton took us past the Groundhog Locks in Delaware Canal State Park so we stopped for a walk around. 

Easton was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting the Crayola Factory and a more industrial looking town. Instead we found amazing preserved historical buildings. Only some of which were on our tour. We recommend a walk about in Easton. If you go, we also recommend a stop at Mia & M
addies Bakery. As we walked by we both commented on how good it smelled. A young woman at the door assured us it was as good as it smelled and further informed that they had the best chocolate chip cookies in Easton. How could we not stop in and see for our selves. Of course she was right :) 

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. 

Now, about the margarine. Land O Lakes is one (if not the only) maker of margarine in this area. There are other 'spreads' available but only LOL's qualifies as margarine. Slowly but surely though, stores around us have stopped selling it. Unrelated to this trip, we discovered that a certain store does still sell it but they are not in PA. There are several in NJ though. When we realized we'd be heading near one of the stores on this trip we decided to bring a cooler and stock up. 

We stopped for a meal at a diner near the store and after that and stopping for the shopping, we arrived back home almost exactly 12 hours after we left. 

-Keep Smiling Keep Moving

-Paula 

Keep Smiling, Keep Moving and Make Way for Horses.

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). 

Us before heading out on our respective hikes

Shortly after crossing route 100, the trail took a detour. I'm still trying to find out why. A few yards into the detour I had to climb over a very large downed tree. I had to sit on it and swing my legs over to get past it. I could tell the detour likely added some distance to my hike but it took me alongside the lake at Welkinweir Nature Preserve so that was nice. 

Very shortly after this, I heard a branch crack behind me and turned to see what was going on. Coming straight at me were 6 horses. Five of them had riders and the sixth was carrying gear and some agricultural product I could not identify. I believe they came from the very large farm that the trail was passing by at this point. I stepped aside and let them by. I was so surprised and mesmerized by them that I didn't get a photo. 

Not then anyway. Further down the trail, just past the NRT marker on the Horse Shoe Trail the group had stopped. It sounded like they were chatting with someone in the field on the right of the trail. I stopped a few yards back and waited for the back rider to notice me. I didn't want to call out and spook the horses. After about a minute she noticed me and encourage the group to move farther into the field off the trail so I could pass by. This time I took a photo after I passed them.  

I figured that was the last I'd see of them since just beyond was yet another downed tree that I had to climb over. The horses were not going to make that. However, just as I approached the end of my hike, they approached me from behind again. I said "Hello, again. How did you get past that tree?" The woman said they ended up going through the field. I let them pass once more and here is a photo of them heading down Coventryville Road. The school where my car was parked is just to the right and the trail veers back in to the woods a little way down on the left. 

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 

A New Challenge

It's time to say it out loud. I've set my sights on The Brandywine Trail End to End Hike April 13, 2024. I have a year to get ready. Here is a link to the 2023 event. 28 miles; A mix of road and trail. I'll do my training mostly on the Horse-Shoe Trail because I like the H-ST and because the H-ST is also a mix of road and trail. 

I'll need to keep a pace of 2.6 MPH to meet the checkpoint deadlines of the end to end hike. Today I hiked 8 miles between Brightside Farm Park and Route 113 on the H-ST at a pace of 3 MPH. It's very likely that as the miles get longer the pace will get slower. I've laid out a schedule of sorts that has me increasing 1 mile every three weeks. On each of those weeks, I need to figure out pacing and fueling. 

Although today's hike felt good I still created a plan B as I moved along 😲 . It's the cutoffs that worry me. I don't want to get so competitive with myself that I'm not having fun. So, I'll continue along but if I find that I reach a point where worry about the checkpoint cutoff times starts to consume me, then I'll replace the End to End goal with a 'see how far I can hike on the longest day' in June 2024. A longest day hike can be done at whatever pace I want. 

So there it is. I've said it out loud which adds a feeling of accountability but I'm also giving myself permission to change up the goal as needed. How's THAT for wishy washy. 

Here is a photo from today's hike. 

Denver August 2022 Part 3

Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. 

Day three, Tuesday, August 23rd began on the Amtrak California Zephyr. Monday ended with the train about an hour behind schedule due to the one undefined and one fire delay. Overnight the train gained back a half hour.

We changed from Central to Mountain time
between McCook, NE and Fort Morgan, CO.
Just about where this photo was taken. 

Estimated arrival in Denver was now 7:45 a.m. (scheduled 7:15 a.m.) The delay meant for a more leisurely breakfast in the dining car. Or so we thought. The dining car opens for breakfast at 6 am. First come first served (For dinner you have reservations). We, and just about everyone else who was planning to disembark at Denver, were in line about 5:55 only to be told there would be a delay. 

As mentioned in Part 1, the SuperLiner trains, such as the Zephyr, have real kitchens with cooks who make the meals mostly to order. Which is great until the griddle decides not to work. 😟 At 6:30ish the dining car steward decided it was best to at least let everyone in and try to smooth things over with coffee and tea. Eventually, the griddle did get working and a good breakfast was had by all. 

Our dining table companions for breakfast were Richard and Denise from Reading, PA. They had boarded the Cardinal with us in Philadelphia and their roomette on that train was just across the aisle. It was like dining with old friends. 😄 They are empty nesters with two sons and they used to live in Norristown, PA. Like us, they had ridden Amtrak before. We enjoyed a pleasant meal exchanging stories with them before all of us headed back to tidy up our roomettes and make any final adjustments to our suitcases before arriving in Denver. 

Our first glimpse of Denver is just to the left of this paragraph. It was also our second, third, fourth and so on. Upon arrival we sat here or just a tad up the line for almost 2 hours. 

First there was (we were told) more computer/switching problems. We heard several announcements apologizing and ending with, we are almost there. It wasn't quite as bad as being told your "almost there" at mile 20 of a marathon but frustrating none the less.

Once that issue was corrected we were informed that the train was picking up a "private car" and would be moving and stopping several more times before it would be our turn to de-train. That process involved a significant distance backing up. 

In case you haven't realized it yet, you do not plan to be anywhere at a certain time when you travel by Amtrak. Always give yourself wiggle room because there are any number of reasons for running late. While switching /computer problems and apartment building fires were the reasons for this trip, on other trips it was due to freight trains in the way or needing to pass. We knew this going in. We purposely planned our baseball game for the day after arrival just in case. So the delays here, although frustrating because the view never changed, were more comical than than upsetting. We had brought plenty of reading material. Though we did regret having decided against packing a deck of cards. 

At 9:45 a.m. we were off the train and headed in to Denver's Union Station. Our hotel for the next two nights was about 30 minutes away near the airport so we'd have access to an early morning shuttle before leaving on Thursday. The hotel attached to Union Station will hold passenger's bags for $12 a day. We decided that made more sense than an hour round trip to check them into our hotel. That turned out to be an even better decision than we knew for reasons I'll explain later. 

Bag checked, restrooms visited and off we went for our walk about Downtown Denver. First we headed to the state Capitol complex about a mile away. Upon arrival, we inquired about the tours and there was one just starting. Brenda, our guide, took us and one other visitor (from Paris) up, down, around, in and out of various parts of the building. She seemed very knowledgeable (although truth be told she could have been making it up and we wouldn't really know now would we?). 

The tour culminates in a climb to the dome of the Capital building. There are 99 steps to the top. At least that's what their website claims. I didn't count them. I was just happy that they were sturdy and enclosed with no view that would trigger my aversion to heights. And the climb felt good after sitting on a train for two days. Once at the top (actually two levels down form the top top) you enter a round room with views of the city like this one --- 

After the tour we left the building and tried to find the Mile High marker. Despite a map and, at one point, an arrow allegedly pointing in its direction we did not find it. Truth be told after two nights of fitful sleep (remember the train horn and the bumpy rails) we were both a little punchy and could have walked right past it. 

We began our return trip to the station via the 16th Street Mall. The street is closed to all traffic except for a free bus that runs the length of it. The mall's website tells us "Designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, the pedestrian promenade is made of red, white and gray granite in a repeating pattern that, seen from above, resembles the skin of a diamondback rattlesnake." It boasts shops, restaurants and fun activities along it's length. Unfortunately for us it was undergoing massive renovation while we were there so we did not get to see much more than construction fences and machinery. 

Back in the area of Union Station we wandered a bit more. This area, we learned from historical markers, was once a warehouse district. The boxy shape of the buildings certainly supports that. Taking advantage of proximity of the rail lines, the architects of these buildings created warehouse and corporate office space for the town as it changed over from mining gold to managing merchandise. 

We stopped inside The Sugar Building. Today it appeared to be a mixed use retail/residential building and still has a working Otis Cage Elevators. Dave reported that the ride was very smooth. 

We finished our day with a very good, albeit early, dinner at The Thirsty Lion before boarding the train to the Airport where the hotel shuttle would pick us up. 

Denver's public transit system is decent. It's not as extensive as other cities we've visited but it's also smaller than most of those. There is a one day fare pass for $10.50 ($5.25 or seniors) that included all buses and trains and the A-Line to the airport. So for the two days we would need to use public transit, the cost would be $31.50 for unlimited off and on the system. Quite reasonable.  HOWEVER, due to Colorado Senate Bill 22-180 the state was celebrating Zero Fare for Cleaner Air for the month of August. We lucked out on that one!! Timing really is everything 💚

There was (and based on news reports has been) trouble on the rail lines. On Tuesday, we had to take a shuttle bus between three stops on the airport line. This added time to the ride and our growing fatigue. Still we arrived safe and... well safe.. at our hotel and after checking in and doing our best to stay awake until a 'decent' hour we slept soundly that night. 

Keep Smiling and Keep Moving

-Paula