Canyon Vista Trail

Some say the world will end this year so we decided on New Year's Day that it would be good to visit World's End State Park, in PA.

We chose the Canyon Vista Trail, a loop of about 4 miles. It was a good walk not real difficult. The hard part came as we were coming down from the ridge and the leave laden trail and it started sprinkling, The rain made the trail a little slippery but we all managed to get down without any significant falls.



Photos of the vista and other view points will be posted as time permits.

Hi there!

On the early sections of the Mt Monadnock white dot trail, we were under tree cover with the sun behind us. As I was walking (hiking) along, my shadow kept me company.

One way to avoid falling or tripping on a rocky trail is to key an eye on where you are going. Paying attention to what the footing looks like.

Hence looking down frequently, I saw my shadow a lot. And decided to wave!

Hi there!

Mt Monadnock

On Columbus Day, we took in the White Dot trail on Mt Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH.

Brad, Dan, Carolyn and Dolores pose just below the summit.

It was a good hike, about 5 hours round trip on a glorious day for hiking.

Shadow on the trail

When on the trail, heading up and eventually down Mt Monadnock this weekend, my shadow was ever present.

Does your shadow follow you around?

Does s/he keep track of what you are doing?

Does s/he change your behavior?

Wonderful Weekend

The weather was so good this weekend, we had to get out and about. From the quiet of the Blackstone River Bike Path on Sunday



to the very busy 'white dot' trail on Mt Monadnock




we did get out to enjoy this New England weekend. What did you do?

Mother's Day hike

It was almost a 10 day to walk along the Blackstone River Bike Path on Mother's Day:



I ran out and back to catch up with the ladies doing their walk and we all finished together.

Katahdin - The Knife's Edge - Slideshow

Earlier this month, a group of us did the Knife's Edge Trail to Mt Katahdin in Baxter State Park, ME. The following slideshow captures the essence of the climb up and down.



It was a long walk but worth it.

What peak have you reached?

Hiking the Knife's Edge at Mt Katahdin

As mentioned earlier, I had the opportunity to hike Mt Katahdin with some good friends recently. I have sorted through the photos and found the two short video clips that I made during the hike. This first one is part way up the Helon Taylor Trail. We approximately 3400 feet above sea level at this point. Heading to the peak at Pamola which is 3900 and a brief milestone on the way to the peak of Mt Katahdin at 5267.




From Pamola we went into the Chimney and then across the Knife's Edge. There is a very good reason for calling it the knife's edge. The second video will give you a little bit of that understanding but you'll need to see some of the other pictures that I'll be posting to get a better view of the edge. This video is shot from Chimney Pond looking back up to the Helon Taylor Trail, Pamola, the Chimney and then across the Knife's Edge to the Katahdin Peak. It still doesn't fully do it justice.



You would have to see this yourself.

If you are less adventurous, I would recommend taking the Hunt Trail to the peak. The Hunt Trail is actually the last leg of the Appalachian Trail that starts at Springer Mt in Goergia.


Stay tuned for more pictures!

Peak time

The is much more to be written but the quick update for now is simply: the Knife Edge trail to the peak at Mt Katahdin is incredible!

I can now say that I have been there, done that!

More pictures and stories later.

Twin Oaks Bridge

Twin Oaks Bridge on the Carriage Trail from the Red Lock Trailhead in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.



As we crossed the bridge, we will admit that a thoughts did venture back to the Twin Oaks Restaurant in Cranston, RI and the wonderful food available there.

CVNP

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Enjoyed a pleasant ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. We boarded at Peninsula, rode down to Arkon and then north to Rockside Station, the current northern-most point, before heading south again to Peninsula where we got off.



We drove up to the Red Lock Trailhead where we did the Carriage Trail, a good 5 mile walk.

These sites are all within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Empty parking lot at Oak Hill area

Empty parking lot at Oak Hill area, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Folks are missing out on a glorious day for a good hike here at Cuyahoga Valley National Park (south of Cleveland, OH).

The Ozone Fall - Rickets Glen

Rickets Glen has quite a collection of water falls. This one, if my notes are correct, is called "Ozone" with a drop of sixty feet.



Dolores and the Bastian's are in the bottom left of the photo to give the water fall some sense of scale.

Ricketts Glen water falls

Two meandering streams drop dozens of feet, suddenly here, and there, finally joining together to drop over three more water falls. The two sides of the triangle in Ricketts Glen State Park in central PA provide an up close view of 19 of nature's wonders.



If you are ever in the area, this is well worth a side trip. A hike around the triangle covers about three miles and is not overly strenuous. Stopping to admire the vegetation and the water falls provides enough rest and sustenance to make the hike easily.

Look familiar?

Out walking in Danville, PA found this scene to be something similar to a standard Microsoft Windows desktop background. Now, I have my own "personal" version.