Mild winter day at 6 Mile Run

Dad took me for a day hike yesterday in the 6 mile run recreation area near Princeton,NJ. This is an extensive area of fields,streams and trails adjacent to the Raritan Canal towpath. It was a sunny mild day,temps topped out in the upper 50`s and we had a really nice day of hiking. We passed by a home whose roof was covered with solar panels,a good way to lower your electric bill! At another spot along the trail,scores of canada geese dotted the field. We had lunch in a pipeline clearing under warm sunshine and finished our hike with a beautiful sunset and a hike along the canal towpath by headlamp. Rather peaceful to hike at night by the glow of a headlamp!

6 Mile Run hike

Painted desert of Death Valley and Dante`s View

It was late in the afternoon when we finished hiking on the salt flats in Death Valley. Once past the salt flats,the desert turns a brownish color of varying hues. As sunset drew near,the late afternoon light painted the mountains in pretty colors. The moon rose overhead and it was just a spectacular sight! As darkness drew on,dad turned down 20 mule canyon road. This was a narrow dirt road heading off into the desert. It was listed in the park guide as suitable for passenger cars,so we were fairly certain that we wouldn`t get stuck. There were a few steep climbs along the road but finally we came to a flat level spot suitable for camping. Dad erected the tent and we camped out under the desert stars and moon! It was a wonderfully secluded spot in the vast desert of Death Valley. In the morning,we walked the desert trails around camp and the sun rose turning the surrounding craggy hills a rich golden color. After breaking camp,we drove to Dante`s view. A narrow winding road leads to this viewpoint 5,475 ft above the desert floor. The views up here were superb! The salt flats where we hiked yesterday were spread out below us and the badwater road was a thin line snaking along the desert floor. We hiked the rugged mountain trails around Dante`s View for a few hours just drinking in the astounding views! Some pix from this portion of our trip follow.

The painted desert and Dante`s View

Death Valley---Gold Mine and Salt Flats

Dad and I left Arizona and headed into the Mojave desert of southern California. We stopped at Lake Havasu on the AZ-CA border to do some swimming and rafting,then entered California as darkness was falling. Dad found a spot off of old Route 66 to camp for the night. We were alone in the solitude of the empty desert,the stars blazed overhead,and there was just a gentle warm breeze! The next morning we drove thru Barstow and picked up CA rt 127 which traverses the Mojave desert and leads to Death Valley National Park. Once in the park,we stopped to do some hiking. There was an old mill,now in ruins,that processed ore from a nearby gold mine. Next we stopped at Badwater Basin,the lowest point in North America---282 ft below sea level. There is a parking area here and dad loaded some food and drinks plus water for me into his pack and we set out to walk across the salt flats. The salt flats are about 5 miles across and we hiked out about 3 miles and back. It was otherworldly as the salt flats are just a featureless white expanse stretching to the horizon. Very little in the way of landmarks save for ridges,probably pressure ridges in the salt. It was a bit perhaps like hiking in Antarctica save that it was hot. The sun beating down was a bit intense and dad carried an umbrella for shade. He considered taking booties along for me but upon testing the ground with his hand,he found that it was not hot. We had an interesting hike here as the following pix show.

Hiking in Death Valley

Canal hiking and Geocaching

Dad and I took a long hike along the Delaware Canal towpath yesterday. We began our hike in Riegelsville,a small village in upper Bucks county. A geocache was located here so dad and I had to hike thru the streets of the town to access the cache. We hunted the cache down with the GPS and it was located inside an old lime kiln. There were thorn vines climbing up the old walls so dad decided not to scale the walls and instead entered the kiln thru a short tunnel. He quickly found the cache and signed the log,then we were back on our way. We passed some interesting sights in the town such as an old churchyard. One of the people buried here was just a young boy during the Civil War!We also passed a chiropractor`s office with an old fashoned painted plate glass window. We crossed the historic Roebling bridge into NJ to hunt down another geocache then returned to PA and hiked the canal towpath about 8 miles north to Easton. The towpath is damaged in spots as a result of last summer`s flooding courtesy of Hurricane Irene and tropical storm Lee. At times we had to hike on the cement wall at the towpath edge to avoid damaged trail. This has to be done carefully as there is a steep dropoff to the river on the other side. At Easton,dad tried to find another geocache but wasn`t successful. However,we did view an interesting fish ladder here constructed to allow shad access to the Lehigh river. The Lehigh river flows into the Delaware at Easton. We finished our 16 mile round trip hike at night hiking by headlamp. some pics of our hike follow.

Canal hiking and Geocaching

Overnite camping trip in the Pine Barrens

Dad was so impressed by his recent day hike in the NJ Pine Barens a few days ago,that he decided to try an overnite trip a few days later. Originally he had planned to wait a bit longer but a forecast of two sunny days with temps in the 60`s was too hard to pass up! We hiked the Batona Trail north from Batsto village for about 15 miles camping at a secluded spot in the vastness of the Pine Barrens. Along the way Dad found a few geocaches,crossed an abandoned railroad and hiked by the stone memorial to Mexican aviator Emilio Carranza who crashed in the Pine Barrens in 1928 during a thunderstorm. Our overnite campsite was quite lovely as the moon and stars were visible overhead as well as Venus. A creature of some sort made a screeching sound during the night,we don`t think it was the Jersey Devil,but who knows for sure!!! The hike back the next day was sunny after an early morning shower and temps actually reached 65 degrees on this Feb 1! Dad crossed Quaker Bridge,an open deck metal bridge across the Batsto River,to intersect with the Mullica river trail and hike the rest of the way back to Batsto by a different route. Some pix with descriptions of our hike follow. Dad plans to return in late March and try a 2 night trip here,there is just so much wilderness to explore!

Overnite hike in the Pine Barrens

NJ Pine Barrens

Saturday Jan 28 was a sunny mild winter day. Dad decided to take me hiking along the Batona Trail in NJ. This is a 50 mile trail thru the dense pine barrens of south Jersey. We began our hike at the historic town of Batsto and hiked about 8 miles out and back. It was an interesting hike thru dense forest.The seclusion was wonderful! One interesting thing here is that the streams and rivers are a distinctive tea color due to tannin from vegetation leeching into the water. We hiked past some isolated sandy beaches which in the heat of summer would make for excellent swimming spots! The trails here are sandy and intersect with numerous woods roads. These roads have a mysterious quality to them as they extend out into the vast forest in all directions,inviting exploration! We finished our hike in the dark by headlamp which was interesting in itself as dad`s headlamp illuminated the reflective trail markers as we neared our starting point at Batsto Village. Dad and I must return soon for an overnite backpacking trip in this area!

Hiking the Batona Trail

Lowell Observatory and a lava tube

After our hikes at the Grand Canyon,Dad prepared to leave Flagstaff the next morning. We had stayed at the Motel 6 in town and since my dad had internet access there,he downloaded some geocaches into his GPS. The next morning,he proceeded to hunt one down. Turns out that this particular geocache was located at the entrance to the Lowell Observatory! Dad found the cache and since we were here,decided to look around the observatory a bit. He lucked out and a tour was just starting,so he was able to go inside some of the buildings here and see some telescopes. There is also a neat scale model of the solar system on the observatory grounds.I couldn`t venture into the buildings,but was able to walk the grounds here. The astronomer Percival Lowell used this observatory to study the planet Mars. He mistakenly thought that features on the red planet were canals which would imply canal builders and he speculated in some of his books about the existence of Martians! Another astronomer,Clyde Tombaugh,discovered Pluto here. Pluto has been downgraded to a minor planet recently though.
Before leaving the observatory,the tour guide told my dad about the existence of a lava tube nearby in the Coconino National Forest. An old lava flow had tunneled out an underground cave here. We drove several miles from US 89 along forest roads to arrive at the Lava Cave. Dad tried to take me down inside the cave but I freaked out as we descended boulders into the darkness. Rather than force me to go,we went back to the car and I waited inside while dad went ahead and explored the cave.It was a cloudy,chilly day so I was safe being left alone in the car. He later remarked that he should have brought along a spare headlamp as if his went dead,he would be in pitch darkness inside the cave. The cave went back a twisty 3/4 mile before dead ending. Had the headlamp died,it would have just been a straight hike back in the other direction but rather scary in pitch darkness and slow going as there were cracks in the cave floor in places. All went well,however and it was a fun caving experience! A few other hikers were leaving the cave as my dad was entering but he was alone down there once they left. The cave had a really high ceiling almost like an underground cathederal in one spot,but got narrow elsewhere at one point it was necessary to bend over to traverse a rock tunnel. Some pix of the observatory and lava cave follow. We spent much of the day here so we camped in the forest overnite. Snow flurries the next morning!

Lowell Observatory and Lava Tube

Desert View

Before leaving the Grand Canyon and heading on towards California,Dad and I went back one more time to visit an area that we hadn`t been to for a while. It is called Desert View and sits at the end of the East Rim drive. At the entrance to Grand Canyon National Park,the road splits in 2 directions. The west branch leads to Grand Canyon Village and most of the popular viewpoints as well as the main rim trail. The east branch,or east rim drive,is less traveled and ends at Desert View. There are stunning views of the Colorado River here and more nice views at Navajo Point just before Desert View. A rainstorm rolled in while we were here and while a bit uncomfortable,it made for some interesting photos. Some pix of this area appear below.

Desert View

Hiking the Grandview Trail

After our day of hiking the Rim trail,Dad decided to return once more to the Grand Canyon and explore the area that goes out to Desert View. This section branches off in another direction from the road that leads to Grand Canyon Village and the rim trail. It is known as the east rim drive.We drove a few miles along the drive,arriving at the Grandview trailhead. This trail was constructed by a miner who wasn`t concerned about tourists or hikers and simply wanted the quickest way to reach his mine. Hence the trail is very steep,about 3 times as steep as the Bright Angel or Kaibab trails. It is against the rules,but dad decided to take me on a day hike down the Grandview trail.It was only going to be a hike of a few hours rather than several days and dad thought that I could handle it. We hiked almost to Horseshoe Mesa which is the terminus of the Grandview trail. Dad debated going all the way to Horseshoe Mesa itself,but he had a limited supply of water and didn`t want to run short,leaving us in a bind. As it was,we hiked down until the trail leveled off and got close to horseshoe mesa. Normally it is rather hot below the Grand Canyon rim,but it was rather cloudy on this day which kept the heat down. A nice breeze was blowing as well. Perhaps next year we will carry more water and go further all the way to Horseshoe Mesa.

Hiking the Grandview Trail

Winter Hike and an old farmstead

The Philly area got its first snowfall on the weekend of Jan 21-22. It wasn`t much---only about 2 inches---but it provided the opportunity for a nice hike on Sunday Jan 22. Dad and I hiked the Delaware Canal towpath from Washington`s Crossing,NJ up to Stockton,NJ a distance of about 9 miles. We crossed the Delaware River via the bridge at Stockton hiking past the quaint Centre Bridge Inn then hiked the 9 miles back to Washington`s Crossing. Near Lambertville,NJ midway between Washington`s Crossing and Stockton,there is the Holcombe Farmstead Museum. It has some interesting old buildings that date to the early 20th century! Dad took some pix here. He never would have discovered this place except that a hidden geocache led us here!

Holcombe Farmstead