adventure daily.
I've had my eye on the Allegheny Front Trail (AFT) lately. I'm not sure why it in particular has garnered my attention over all the other great central Pennsylvania hiking trails --- maybe it's the proximity to Evan's new workplace and our general newly found interest in the Black Moshannon area, maybe it's its attainable …
The Quehanna Wild Area is the largest state forest wild area in the state of Pennsylvania, covering just over 48,000 acres and boasting herds of native elk, the largest stand of white birch in the eastern United States and an interesting nuclear history. In the 50's, the land that would eventually become the wild area …
I taught Evan this word as we were doing an impromptu hike along the Mid-State Trail yesterday. Basically it describes body awareness while in motion, such as knowing where to place your feet while running through rough terrain. Having good proprioception means not tripping on a rock and falling on your face. An essential skill for …
Back in August, I went on a road trip to Colorado. On my way home, I stopped to see the largest sand dunes in North America, at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Ok, so it wasn't exactly 100% completely on my way, but it wasn't far enough out of my way to resist a stop to …
Yesterday, I celebrated the shortest day of the year by going on a hike with Dinah on a portion of the Standing Stone Trail. A few weeks ago I wrote about hiking the SST from the hawkwatch to Greenwood Furnace State Park. This time, I headed in the opposite direction, beginning at the end of …
For a while now, ever since we moved into our new house, Evan and I had been talking about hiking a stretch of the Standing Stone Trail (SST) on Stone Mountain, the ridge we look at every day from our porch. The section of trail we'd been discussing starts at a hawk watch just off the …
In the summer of 2012, I took a trip that changed my life. The year leading up to it had been rough to say the least, riddled with sorrow and depression and the grief of losing someone I thought I'd get to spend a whole lot more time with. I was lost, feeling purposeless and …
Last Saturday morning, after an evening of jamming out to Cabinet and exploring the town of Jim Thorpe, PA, we hiked off the hangovers at Glen Onoko Falls, a series of waterfalls just outside town in Lehigh Gorge State Park. Icy conditions made the trail treacherous, but luckily we brought our Yaktrax, which worked wonderfully. …
Triple-header (n) : three games played one after another on the same day In the case of two weekends ago, this meant 12 miles of hiking, 14 miles of paddling, and 24 miles of biking, all within 12 hours of daylight. This adventure was to take place around the area of Delaware Water Gap, on the …
I wasn't quite sure what to expect in the mountains of Japan. Until about a year ago, when Amanda came here for the first time, I didn't even know that the Japanese Alps existed. Sure, everyone's heard of Mt. Fuji, and perhaps skiing and the Winter Olympics in Nagano, but I had no idea about …
helena kotala 