Back on January 25, Sarah and I hiked the Shades of Death trail at Hickory Run State Park. It’s hard to believe it was that long ago; I’ve really fallen behind here.

We used snowshoes, but in this case we could have gone without. There was snow, but it wasn’t very deep, and there were a few narrow sections where the snowshoes actually made it harder. On the other hand, the added traction from the crampons was much appreciated during some icy parts.

This was a truly beautiful hike — the trail followed a stream, which was frozen over in some parts, and passed some impressive rock formations and waterfalls. It started snowing on our way back.

We may have turned around too early: we thought the trail ended when we reached a blocked-off bridge. But looking at the map again, I think the trail may have continued past the bridge. We probably could have found a way around. Oh well.

Sand Spring Run

Ice

Waterfall, with some weird blue ice at the base

Rob, enjoying himself

Small waterfall – the woods were green with massive quantities of rhododendron

The trail goes through a crevice in the rock

Sarah

A layer of ice, suspended above the creek

Snowy rocks and creek

Me — dig the new glasses?

The creek again

Looking down from above the waterfall

The creek, lined with pines

Last year, Sarah and I hiked at McCormick’s Creek State Park, in southern Indiana, with my family. That day was unusually warm, at 47 degrees — I wore a sweater, for a hike on Christmas day!

Well, it looks like the Christmas hike is becoming a tradition. This year was a lot different, as it was just Sarah and me, and here in NE Pennsylvania, we had snow and ice to contend with. We both were (and still are) sick, but it was great to get out anyway.

We went down to Nescopeck State Park, where mom and I hiked when she came to help us move in. Sarah and I had never been there together. We decided to hike the Creekside Trail, and now that we have done a little snowshoeing, we felt confident enough to bring the dog with us.

Rob

Sarah

Snowshoes

Wide trail, mountains

Creek

Another view of the creek

Rob, running alongside the creek

The trail was wide and easy for a while. It had snowed, warmed up, and then re-froze, so there was a fairly thick layer of ice on top of the remaining snow. It was very slick, but no real problem with our snowshoes. The crampons dig into the ice and have a very strong grip.

There was one thing we hadn’t counted on, though, that caused us some problems: with all the melting snow came some flooding. Parts of the trail were underwater, and we had to find a way to cross the water where it wasn’t too wide.

Flooding

A thin layer of ice hovered above the water

Wide creek

Sarah found a good way to cross flooding in a couple of different places. She was a really good sport about it. We managed to step over/through the water without getting wet.

We reached a point where we were ostensibly supposed to continue in the direction we had been heading. However, the arrow pointing to the Creek Side Loop in that direction had been painted over, and there was no trail visible. We had to instead head back on the Fern Trail.

What happened to the trail on the left?

Another view of the creek

The icy/muddy/slushy Fern Trail

At one point as we hiked, Rob was clearly watching some kind of animal. Eventually a rabbit jumped up and Rob took chase. He didn’t catch it, but it was good to see Rob acting like more of a dog (he normally just lays on the couch).

Rob, stalking a rabbit

Shortly thereafter, we saw some tracks that I can only assume were bear tracks, unless there was some kind of bow-legged guy with weird boots hiking there previously. Can anyone confirm this?

Bear tracks, maybe?

Fern Trail

After a while, the Fern Trail reconnected with the Creekside Trail, and we headed back toward the car.

Creek

Sarah and Rob

Another creek

Back at the car

We really enjoyed our hike, despite the flooding problems and disappearing trail. I hope we can keep the Christmas hike tradition alive, as it’s a great way to celebrate the holiday and spend some quality time together.

On Sunday, Sarah and I went for our first snowshoe hike together, at Frances Slocum State Park. The park roads were snow-covered, so we did not venture down the big hill to the lake. Instead, we decided to hike a portion of the Deer Trail. Sarah wasn’t feeling too well, so we only did a short hike.

First steps, and a big smile

Shadows

Some other hikers had already gone through, some with snowshoes, some without, so we were not blazing our own trail. We saw a group of hikers without snowshoes and they were doing OK, but the snowshoes definitely worked to our advantage, especially in a few tricky sections. Unfortunately, the trail was not well marked and we got off track. We eventually found our way, although there was one section of trail we never did find. As we were wandering around, a couple of deer bounded across the trail ahead of us.

We made our way down to a beautiful creek. The rocks were covered with snow, but water was flowing through the creek, leaving bits of snow sticking up here and there.

Looking down at the creek

The wind blows snow down from the trees

Trail

The creek crossing was tricky, and Sarah was not amused. However, she did a great job and I think secretly had fun doing it.

Sarah, crossing the creek

The trail more or less followed the creek for a few minutes. We reached a footbridge and decided to turn around.

Me

The creek

Bridge

Another view of the creek

We lost the trail for a few minutes, and blazed our own. It’s a lot easier to have off-trail excursions like this when there’s a bunch of snow on the ground. You can walk right over a lot of debris, shrubs, etc.

Rocks in the creek

Our own trail

Sarah, smiling during the creek crossing

Creek icicles

Light

Curly root (taken by Sarah)

Sarah, a near sunset behind her

Frances Slocum Lake

Stairs

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours in the snow together. Sarah did a great job her first time  snowshoeing, and I enjoyed my second such outing.