Step In Time: Hiking in Frederick County

This summer I wrote a long list of goals and things I wanted to do before the return of all my children. My list included things like, go to the pool every day, reading a variety of books, write a daily devotional for teachers. Just a few days ago while browsing the web, I came across a website describing all the walking trails in Frederick County. After discovering all Frederick County has to offer, my summer to do list quickly changed. HIKE, HIKE, HIKE!

Yesterday was day 1 of my hiking extravaganza. I decided to start with Catoctin Mountain because it was closest to my house, and free! There are ten hikes on the website that are at Catoctin. I began with the Blue Blazes Whisky Still Trail. This is a easiest and shortest trail. Along the way, there were a few stops describing the huge whisky distillery that was busted during the Prohibition.

After that I hiked the Thurmont Vista to Wolf Rock to Chimney Rock. It was a very beautiful and cool day, complete heaven on earth. A lot of the hike was up hill but it felt good to be active again.

Taking our first break on the way up to Wolf Rock. This was about 100 yards from where we began. I didn't realize how steep it was going to be. Which leads me to the first 4 lessons or what i like to call Bridget Santmyer's rules for survival. Rule #1: Don't forget your inhaler. by the time we stoped for a break, my lungs were on fire!! I wasn't going to pass out or anything but it was a strong reminder that i still haven't grown out of my asthma. Rule #2: pants are over rated. I wanted to wear pants so that i didn't get eaten alive. for those of you that know me know i have sweet blood and have always had a ton of bug bites in the warmer months. well the bugs didn't seem bad and as cool as it was with the temperature being so mild and being in teh shade, i was still super hot! I will wear shorts for sure next time. Rule #3: Always listen to your backpacking app! I downloaded this really cool app on my phone that gives you hiking routes and tells you how to get to the "Trail Head" (the start of the trail). Well the trail head was on the side of route 77 and i couldnt find it so i decided to start where i was supposed to finished and quickly realized why the app had me start on the other side of the trail. Because I didn't take the time to keep looking for the trail head, I walked up hill the majority of the hike. although after experiencing a small amount of down hill sliding, i am greatful for this lesson. When i get my hiking boots, i will be sure to listen to my app. Rule #4: Hats do NOT keep you cool...unless your at the beach with the sun beaming down on your face.

park sign. this was all uphill still.

Working our way on up. which leads me to rule #5: pick up your damn feet! I lost count of how many times I tripped over rocks. by the end of the hike, my toes hurt the most from being banged up so many times.

Did you know that the Appalachian Mountains "were [once] higher than today's Rocky Mountains"? Learn something new everyday!

Heading up to Chimney Rock

self explainatory

The view from Chimney Rock

Taking at break at Chimney Rock

Do not be mislead by her yawn. She had TONS of energy left.

Finally a decent picture

tree shot at Chimney Rock

more tree shots. not too shabby for my droid.

Heading back down the mountain

Lucky us we finally get to go down hill! In my new nikes, walking up the mountain, I thought my new nikes would be good for recreational hiking, thheenn i pretty much slid down the mountain and decided hiking boots are in order.

and down.

I hate taking pictures of myself but this was just too much fun not to document it.

Right after i took this picture my phone died. Which leads me to rule #6: bring a battery that won't die after contant use for 4 hours. luckily i was about 1 mile from the end so i figured it out without my app.