Pennsylvania – The Roaming Roths

I did not leap into my January hiking goals quite as I had hoped. Between the ongoing back injury and then an unexpected shoulder injury, I couldn’t get as aggressive as I had wanted to on the trail levels of difficulty. Anything too rugged would have been a little risky from a stability standpoint. We did cover a stretch of the Appalachian Trail from Chambersburg to Newville.

Today we finished out the last hike of the month and rewarded ourselves with some Bloody Mary’s and brunch afterwards. I am not sure I would say any of us truly got exercise in today since we stopped for a lot of pictures, but we told ourselves that to justify the drinks. I think somedays we get more mental therapy from these hikes than physical therapy. It’s amazing what a couple miles in the mountains and some obscene laughter can do to clear the head.

I have another three sessions of physical therapy to get in this week and am hoping to have my strength up by next weekend so we can take it up a couple notches. I am looking for recommendations on a new pair of hiking shoes. I had been eyeing up the North Face 110 GTX’s but am open to any suggestions from those of you more experienced!

No better planning is done than on New Year’s Eve by a bunch of motivated people several bottles and a handful of shots into the night. Now I didn’t take it quite to the extreme planning that my friend did. She managed to drink enough to sign herself up for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in May. Keep in mind she has never run. Ever. But alas, a New Year’s Day hike also sounded wonderful at the time, and like a ruthless dictator, I held my hungover friends to it this morning.

I had decided last month to track my miles on the trails, both foot and bike. I asked my friend to take the lead on selecting a nice beginner hike for the year. She suggested Sunset Rocks. 3 miles she said…easy peasy. She is an avid hiker, but informed me on the trail that she has no actual concept of distance. So almost 5 miles, 3 hours and 900 ft of elevation later, I am sinking myself into some mashed potatoes buried under pork and sauerkraut to make up for the 1,100 my app claims I burned today.

I know this isn’t necessarily travel, but we were certainly out and about today taking in the fresh mountain air. The All Trails app allows me to track my trail stats, add photos, see reviews of trails, etc. It also allows you to follow your favorite hikers in the area. You can track my weekly trail time on there, but I felt it fun to kick off the new year with some pictures on here as well. Welcome to 2020!

Tag: Pennsylvania

January Journeys

Trail Time for 2020