That Hiking Family

That Hiking Family Family of 5🖤| Wilderness Adventures 🌲| Camping, Hiking, Canoeing 🏕️| PA State Parks & Forests🏞️ | Homeschooling 📚 |

It's been a minute 😎 🌟
04/15/2025

It's been a minute 😎 🌟

So close to the end of a journey with my kids. The amount of times I've had to pause and take deep breaths to keep from ...
08/23/2024

So close to the end of a journey with my kids. The amount of times I've had to pause and take deep breaths to keep from sobbing... my goodness. Reading the entire series together with my kids has been something so special and close to my heart... moments I think we will all cherish. . . "Always"🏰⚡️🪄🖤

Which mountain view is your favorite? 🥾🌳Pic 1 -- Hyner View ⛰️Pic 2 -- Fish Dam Run vista🗻 ...
08/23/2024

Which mountain view is your favorite? 🥾🌳
Pic 1 -- Hyner View ⛰️
Pic 2 -- Fish Dam Run vista🗻

This month we crossed off another bucket list item -- 📍The 1000 Steps in Huntingdon County.This was both a pretty challe...
08/22/2024

This month we crossed off another bucket list item -- 📍The 1000 Steps in Huntingdon County.

This was both a pretty challenging hike as well as the busiest trail we've been on yet. But it was also BY FAR one of our favorites.

It was a little rough around the midway point. My husband and I looked at each other with worried eyes, not 100% certain that the kids (at that point a little miserable) would be able to make it to the top. Oddly enough, not long after, a LARGE group of very sharply dressed young men from what looked like 3 years old up to 10, marched right on up that trail passed us and at that point we jumped up and hurtled the kids forward. So as not to be outdone by a 3 year old, of course.

The steps are broken up into several (maybe 6-10?) sections of trail, separated between by flat lays of trail that would have once been tracks for the dinkey trains that hauled sandstone from the quarry over the mountain. Some sections are a bit steep and narrow, but I felt that only 1 or 2 sections were more on the "dangerous" or a little scary side. It was overall much less intimidating than expected! (Also unexpected, the trail is more than 1000 steps long LOLOLOL).

At the top of the trail, you'll find short paths to various overlooks and to the ruins of the "Dinkey Shed" that would have served the dinkey trains I mentioned.

An amazing and humbling piece of history, a fun and challenging hike, and some of the best views in PA make this trail an absolute must and favorite!!

Have you hiked the 1000 Steps? Tell me how your adventure went!

Precision craftsmanship, alien conspiracies, government propaganda and nuclear testing are the topics of our next couple...
07/22/2024

Precision craftsmanship, alien conspiracies, government propaganda and nuclear testing are the topics of our next couple of posts exploring the Quehanna Wild Area. 👽🚀⚒️⛰️

Our first stop, the ruins of Kuhns Camp. Built more than 100 years ago and abandoned for over 60, the remains of this camp stand as testament to the beautiful, precise and strong craftsmanship skills of the time. Sans powertools, the angles, straight edges and level stone are artwork themselves.

Most uniquely, 2 of the 4 walls of this structure are made of gigantic stone boulders as the house was built between them and utilized them (the epitome of work smarter, not harder!).

It was a gift to walk through these ruins, run my hands over the edges of the fallen chimney, touch the perfect corners of the threshold, revel in the perfect masonry of the stone walls meshing seamlessly with the boulders... and imagine all the lives behind those walls and the strong hands that built them.

So what happened? The government happened.

In the 1950's, a program came to town called "Atoms for Peace," that changed the lives of everyone living in the wilds, as they were all forced to evict and leave their camps, cabins and homes behind.

Part 2 of the story coming soon!! (prepare to get.... nuclear 💣)

Gemmed Amanita 🍄✨️ Found on our hike today, thanks to my husband who is the best mushroom spotter 🍄 🪵 🌳 ...
07/17/2024

Gemmed Amanita 🍄✨️ Found on our hike today, thanks to my husband who is the best mushroom spotter 🍄 🪵 🌳

📍Ghost Town Trail, C&I Extension, Strongstown, PAA random stop we made leaving Yellow Creek State Park, and I'm so glad ...
07/17/2024

📍Ghost Town Trail, C&I Extension, Strongstown, PA

A random stop we made leaving Yellow Creek State Park, and I'm so glad we did!

The Ghost Town Trail is 46 miles of converted railway through Cambria and Indiana counties. The name comes from the ruins of the many (now ghost) towns that once surrounded the railway that you can see along the way. Wehrum, Bracken, Armerford, Lackawanna #3, Scott Glenn, Webster, Beulah, and Claghorn are some of these towns. (The Indiana Parks and rec website indicates some of these are now on private property and need permission to view. But not all 😉).

The trail also has several covered bridges along the way, if that's your thing 🌉

We didn't get to see a ton of this trail, as it was at the end of an already VERY long hiking day, but it was beautiful, mysterious and I'm so glad we turned around when we saw the Ghost Town trailhead sign (thank you, husband 🖤). There was so much interesting history to learn and I'm excited to spend a few days in the future checking out the rest of the trail! 🥾⛰️

Dead man's fingers. 🍄🍄
07/13/2024

Dead man's fingers. 🍄🍄

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1921 Bilgers Rocks Rd
Grampian, PA
16838

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