A big part of life is about who you meet along the way. There are a lot of things I would never have done if I did not meet the right people at the right time in my life. Being an introvert it sounds strange to my own ear to say that a big part of life is those you meet along the way. But it is not about the quantity of people you meet along the way, it is about the quality of people you meet along the way.

People

People who come into your life may help you develop and explore your interests. Other people might align perfectly with your current interests and allow you opportunities to do thing you otherwise would not do. For me sometimes there are things I think about doing, but really just need to get at least one other person on board to do it with me.

Something I have been thinking about a lot is how far could I go if I just got on a trail and started hiking. And I just kept hiking all day. ThenI stopped when it was dark.

One of the biggest challenges with this is that the main trail nearest me that I am familiar enough with to try an adventure like this, The finger Lakes Trail, goes in essentially a straight line. And that would make it more time consuming to set up logistics and have someone drop me off or pick me up if I went alone.

Then my friend Melanie Wood asks if I want to go for a 27+ mile hike that will probably take us at least 11.5 to 14 hours to complete. My first instinct was to say yes. This is exactly the kind of adventure I have been wanting to do. Melanie and I have done a few other hikes and adventures together.

Melanie and I share a love for the outdoors. And she has been spending an amazing amount of time in the outdoors. Hiking everywhere she can as she trains and prepares to through hike the Appalachian Trail starting in June. And I knew I could count on her to be fully prepared for the adventure and be committed to it. If you are looking for an inspirational outdoorswoman to follow along on their adventures click the link above to learn more and follow along.

Hiking Vs Running

This all day hike is also an adventure that is a bit different from most other adventures I have done. I have done a fair amount of hiking, but most of my hiking usually tops our around 15 miles, and I don’t know if I have ever hiked for double digit hours consecutively.

I have done long adventures but they usually feature running. Running and hiking use different muscles. It might sound like on the face of it that running is the same route is obviously harder than hiking it. But I am not so sure about that. Running might require more top end exertion, but running a route will get done faster, so my exertion would end sooner then I can rest. Hiking would require more stamina and endurance, but less top end exertion.

The weather was also going to change significantly during the day. It started off cold, near freezing. But the forecast was for a 15 degree warm up as we were out on the trail. Then if we were out until dark it would cool back down. I was not sure how to dress for all that. I was planning to carry a different, larger pack than I would at any trail race I had ever run. I was carrying more gear and food and water than ever before. All of this newness had me excited and nervous for the adventure.

Old Loggers Path

Our hike would be on Old Loggers Path in the abandoned town of Masten, Pennsylvania. My friend Amanda was also joining us on this adventure. And we were also meeting two other adventurous hikers there that I did not know.

We all set off on the trail. Our two new hiking companions set off on a blistering pace, that I could not have imagined keeping up for 27 miles. They quickly left us in the dust.

So, before long it was a trio of us hiking together. We were really making good time despite not keeping up with our other compatriots. We felt so good that we even took the slight detour off the main trail to go see the view from Sprout Point Vista.

If you are ever out there I highly recommend taking this short detour. The view was beautiful. As we looked out into the valley we could see the fog that was still settled below and would soon burn off as the morning sun rose in the sky.

After enjoying the view we kept moving. And eventually we made it tot he next outstanding view. Staading along the edge at Sharp Top Vista. This is one of the few places along the trail I was familiar with. I have had the pleasure of photgraphing the runners at the Sharp Top 25k/50k over the last few races. And This is one of the locations I like to set up for photographs.

Pleasant Stream

There isn’t a ton of water along the trail, but one place you will almost certainly get your feet wet is at Pleasant Stream. It is a beautiful location. The water is clear and running fast. And the water is nearly knee high on my 6’2″ frame in places where I crossed.

I try to always learn from my experiences. And I often learn the hard way. This is the only thing during the hike that I wish I had done something differently. I could have stopped and changed my socks after getting them completely soaked here. For some reason I stubbornly didn’t even though I had extra socks and anti chafe ointment to re apply.

Everyone else was readjusting their footwear, but I didn’t. It was still relatively early on in our hike and I was feeling invincible I guess. What could possibly go wrong? I figured I would probably end up with some blisters because of this decision, but I wasn’t worried. I have dealt with blisters before. By the end I had some of the worst blisters I had ever had. Comparable to those I have earned during 100 mile attempts.

Lesson learned. Change your socks.

But the scenery all around the far side of the stream was beautiful. I did enjoy the time I spent taking photos instead of changing my socks.

Endless beauty

This trail really is endlessly beautiful. I am a fan of trees and there are obviously a ton of trees. But there are also the kinds of trees I like that have interesting looking tree bark. And there are trees in every stage of growth and decay.

There are beautiful views from vistas like Sharp Top and Sprout Point. But there is also this entire section of trail where you basically hike along the ridgeline of the mountain. And being there this time of year was perfect, otherwise we would have missed out on the view. The whole time through that section we could see out into the valley. If it had been spring or summer all the trees would have had leaves and we would not have even realized what views lay just beyond the trees. Sometimes timing is everything.

The trail itself is not particularly technical. It is not as full of rocks as I think of most PA trails I have experienced being. But the landscape did feature many large boulders and stone outcroppings. It was a very different landscape then where I typically hike in my region of New York.

Some of the rocks were extremely textured. They were so grippy that I couldn’t imagine slipping on them. It was like someone took a bunch of small crystals and crushed them together under extreme pressure to create one larger rock. And you would see along the trail where the exposed pieces of small crystalline rock had broken off and fell along the trail as tiny pebbles.

There is also a section of trail closer to the end of the loop where you can see a large stream running in the valley below. The stream gets increasingly more rapids as it squeeze’s through narrow rock formations. And there are numerous waterfalls you can see down below. Some of them are quite beautiful. But they are down a steep embankment. And with 20+ miles on my legs there was no way I was going to try and make my way down there for a closer look.

Another really fun feature of this trail were all of the camping locations. It was pretty clear where the most popular locations to camp along the trail were. Most locations had large fire rings built up out of stone. Many of these spots also had large stones pile sup to make chairs that even had backs you could lean on if you sat here. That was pretty cool to see. Although I did not take advantage of any of those seats. We kept moving pretty much the whole time.

I don’t have a lot of friends, but I have the right friends. The kind of friends that say things like do you want to go hike literally all day in the woods. And that what makes life whole.

If you enjoyed the photography in this post and want to see more click the link to see my gallery of photographs that contains a few more images from Old Loggers Path as well as from other parts of Pennsylvania. PA Photography

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