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May 26, 2014 Yellow Springs Campsite to Peter’s Mountain Shelter 13.5 miles, Staying at shelter Something like sciatic nerve pain, but down the front of my leg, kept me tossing all night. Add that to continuously sliding off my mat and you have all the makings for an early rise! I had fallen asleep […]
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Day 3 Sunday May 25, 2014 Swatara State Park to Yellow Springs Campsite (tenting) 10.8 miles On our way day down into Duncannon yesterday, while I was silently cursing that descent, I asked Google & Cindy what they thought of us flipping directions, starting at Swatara SP and hiking back to our cars parked at […]
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Day 2 Saturday May 24, 2014 Darlington Shelter to Duncannon, PA (Staying at the Stardust Motel) I fell today. Yes, a sacrifice to the trail gods was necessary before the descent into Duncannon. As usual for me it was on the least rocky section of trail…I loosen my focus for 2 seconds…skinned my right knee […]
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Day 1 Friday May 23, 2014 Trindle Road to Darlington Shelter (Staying in shelter) This day! Wow! Easiest hiking I have ever done on the AT if you exclude the part just before Darlington Shelter. Google and I left Trindle Road at about 10 am this morning and got to Darlington about 4:30 pm. The […]
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March 16, 2014 Two days and a night at Milesburn cabin with the Trail Dames? Oh, Let’s go! 🙂 Trail Dames Maryland had rented Milesburn cabin, a PATC cabin, in Michaux State Forest for the weekend. I had signed on for Friday and Saturday with planned hikes on the AT each day. So north on 15, west on […]
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It should not have been a hiking day. Why? Because there is a house waiting to be put on the market and my job was to paint doors and a myriad of other chores. However, I don’t see my sister very often because of conflicting schedules…and sometimes just pure laziness or maybe it is selfishness. […]
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This day. Oh goodness, THIS DAY! Hiking at Catoctin has never been this much of an adventure…but I WAS with Bag Lady and other Trail Dames… I arrived a little early and saw that B^2 was already in the parking lot. I gave her a quick wave and told her since the visitor center wasn’t […]
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Spring is finally here! I welcome the blue skies, green grass, spring flowers, and happy birds more than ever after the crazy winter we have had here in Maryland. So with a literal spring in my step I have headed out more than a few times over the last couple of weeks to take it […]
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“Yeah, there aren’t any views over there.” said the ranger at Catoctin Mountain Park. She, the ranger, said this to Bag Lady and me last Saturday after we asked her about the other side of Catoctin…the side with Owen Creek. Oh, no views, we thought…but what we thought that meant was less elevation, a more […]
Earlier in the week Bag Lady, yes…the same Bag Lady from the AT Maryland back pack last fall, put out an all points bulletin for a hiking partner this weekend. She wanted to go face her nemesis from that trip…Lambs Knoll. She also wanted to train for an upcoming hiking trip in Alaska.
You just went “wow!” didn’t you? Me too….Alaska …Totally cool!
I was in! But turns out she wanted to shuttle so we didn’t have to do an out and back hike. I couldn’t do that as I wanted to bring Sidekick Pauli! So we decided to hike a big loop at Catoctin Mountain Park instead.
Now this was probably more my desire than Bag Lady’s since my hike at Catoctin got cancelled last week because of an absolutely ridiculous late spring snowstorm. 😉
We met at the visitor center, then started down the trail at about 9:45am. We were hiking an 8.5 mile loop with a stop at Chimney Rocks, the picnic area just before Hog Rock and the falls before trekking back to our cars.
The first mile went smoothly and soon we were climbing up the rocky trail to Chimney Rocks. Weather was decent with an occasional chilly breeze that made me happy that I had brought both a hat and my gloves!
On the way up we met a guy doing a training hike with a full pack. He was training for Colorado!
Wow! Everyone is going to hike someplace really neat this summer!!!
I was glad I didn’t have on a full pack! I was already sucking a little wind with a day pack. Up, up, up…reached Chimney Rocks in good time. We took a short break, then continued to Hog Rock. Along the way we passed Wolf Rocks and Thurmont Vista. We did not stop at either. We were ridge walking now and it was nippy! Winds had picked up and it was no longer sunny.
A Short Break at Chimney Rocks
As we walked I took in the destruction left by the ice storms. The forest was littered with downed trees and widow makers were left along the trail. I silently mouthed “please don’t fall on me” every time I had to walk under one!
We took a nice sit down break at the picnic area before Hog Rock. I ate my PB&J and put out water for Sidekick Pauli. Bag Lady gave Sidekick Paulia slice of real meat (salami? Pepperoni?).
Sidekick Pauli makes friends with Bag Lady
Oh good Lord. The look on her face! I am vegetarian…well, not exactly…I eat fish…anyway the point is that she has never had real meat! Sidekick Pauli definitely has a new best friend!
We finished lunch and headed across Park Central road to Hog Rock. Supposedly you can see Chimney Rocks from Hog Rock but I have never spotted them and today was no different! I looked a second time searching the opposite ridge…nope, couldn’t find them. Maybe another day! Onward!
We crawled down the mountain, visited the falls, then took the rolling path back to the visitor center. There we found out that there is a shelter you can reserve on the other side of the park where the trails are a bit more level. We both thought about a Trail Dames beginner back pack!! Fun! Fun!
Hike on! 🙂
McAffee Falls
Girl Gone Hiking 