• Location: Franklin Parker Preserve, Yellow Trail
• Time: 10 am – 1 pm
• Distance: 6.00 mi
• Pack Weight: 20 lbs
• Time on Trail: 2:40:40
• Splits: 
  • Mile 1: 21:56
  • Mile 2: 25:55
  • Mile 3: 34:50
  • Mile 4: 27:04
  • Mile 5: 27:02
  • Mile 6: 26:04
• Weather: 54° mix of clouds and sun, slight drizzle around mile 3

Hiking with: Andy & Adria

Notes: The trail is marked on the map as a 5 mile loop; my iPhone’s GPS said it was actually 6 miles. Still, one of the best hikes we’ve had. Franklin Parker Preserve is beautiful and we found a lot of weird stuff to look at today. The first 2-3 miles of the trail ran through an area that had a recent controlled burn (I’d guess within the last two weeks). The ground was a bit muddy in places after this past week’s rain, but we were able to find a way through even the worst sections.

We found a rabbit’s leg bone, a set of front teeth of some kind, a long trail of coyote tracks, a bunch of old structures, a huge beaver dam, the remains of a snake, and some really good tent caterpillars. We definitely didn’t rush today, taking our time to look at what we were hiking through. The trail itself is not difficult and I imagine when the controlled burns are not happening, it’s well-blazed – but the blazes are plastic diamonds attached to the trees, so they melt when the fire comes through.

Our feet were yellow by the end of the hike from all the pollen we picked up.

I’m sore this evening, but nothing unbearable – left foot more than the right.

And no ticks today. 🙂

In less than 12 hours, we’ll be heading out.

Wish us luck.

The entire month of August slipped by without an update. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t busy training!

I’ve upped my distance in the past month – I regularly did roughly 9 miles throughout the month of August, hiking at Belleplain State Forest and in Wharton again. I completed the Mullica River Trail (the yellow trail on this map), which was a goal I’d set for the month. There’s a pretty good description of the trail here – this site describes it as “Moderate to Strenuous,” which I scoffed out before setting out – what trails in the Pine Barrens are strenuous?! Oh. This one. The first 6 to 6.5 miles were gorgeous, and we noted that each mile looked different than the last, moving through bogs, cedar stands, and plenty of pine-and-oak mix. We stopped around 5 miles in and had lunch – I broke out the BioLite Stove that Karen gave me for my birthday last year, and we cooked up some chicken sausages using Light My Fire’s Grandpa’s FireForks, for what was probably the easiest camping meal I’ve ever made. The BioLite cooled off and was ready for repacking within 20 minutes of the fire going out – I was pretty impressed.

The last 3 miles or so were a different story – primarily on the soft sand roads that the Pine Barrens are so well known for, the hike was still beautiful, but much more difficult. Imagine hiking on the beach well above the high tide line for 3 miles with a full loaded pack – only there’s no water in sight! It was a rough go for the last stretch, and there was even some rerouting of the trail, so we ended up on some of the old roads behind Batsto Village. I managed to empty my hydration pack just as we entered Batsto Village; fortunately the awesome hot dog guy that usually appears in the Batsto Village Visitor Center parking lot was there, so we were able to refresh with some extra water and an ice cold root beer. That guy is awesome.

I also hiked a section of the Batona from Route 679 to Buttonwood Camp that was marked at about 8.5 miles, but actually ended up being close to 10 miles. The last mile or so was a connector trail that took us off the Batona – this was fine, except that it was absolutely drenched in spiders! Every three feet or so, we had to stop and disentangle ourselves from a giant web. At one point, I didn’t spot the web until it was literally in my face – spider included. I jumped and yelled so loud just from being startled by the feeling that I scared Don, who was a few feet behind me.

This weekend, Andy and I are setting out to do something like 11-12 miles along the Batona, from Buttonwood Camp up to Quaker Bridge, which is roughly five miles back into the woods beyond the Atsion Ranger station. My friend Lynn, who is a triathlete, is going to brave the woods with us for the day – it’s going to be an awesome day!

Tonight I’ll post an update to the mapping page with distances between landmarks and some info about the campsites we’ll be at in October. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from our August adventures – and visit my event page to donate to support us in October!

somewhere along the Batona

Beaver Pond

Again, somewhere along the Batona

Using the BioLite and FireForks!

Snake!!!

Sunrise on the way to Belleplain

Making friends on the way to Batsto

Whaaaaaaaat.

We’re about 11 weeks out from the thru-hike, which is almost no time at all.

The first two days are going to be long ones – 17 miles each, we’re estimating. In order to build up stamina, I have moved toward 6 miles at a minimum. Up until today, that’s about all I’ve done – 6 miles at a pop, coming in at just around the 2 hour mark. Today, though, I did about 7 miles on the trails around Batsto Village, still coming in at around 2:20.

We also took a trip up to New Hampshire for a week this month with some writer friends. It was intended to be a writing retreat (you can read about it over here) – but of course I managed to sneak some hiking in! One of the trails we attempted was a 2-mile trail – sounds easy, but it was actually straight up the side of Black Mountain. Oof. It was beautiful and challenging, and to be honest, we didn’t quite finish. But it was good to be out there and moving.

Next weekend, I’ll be heading down to Belleplain State Forest to do a 7+ mile trail, and then it only goes up from there. I’d like to do the Mullica River Trail in its entirety before the end of August – that’s a 9-ish mile trail. And then start tackling the southern end of the Batona in September, so I have an idea what I’m working with there before I set out in October.

I’m also trying to keep myself on track at the karate school – I fell off the wagon pretty hard and was lucky to make it to one class a week. But I’m building back up with a goal of doing at least 4 classes per week by the end of August, and maintaining that through September. That should help with the stamina AND the strength, since the instructors combine cardio workouts with core/strength exercises that rely on body weight.

In terms of gear, I bought myself a nice set of trekking poles and a new pair of Keen boots, which are super comfortable. I also signed up for a subscription to Cairn, one of those monthly box services. Cairn is geared for outdoorsy things, and so far I’ve managed to score a titanium spork, a backpacking pillow, and some delicious snacks from Simple Squares and Bricks Bars.

Upcoming posts: figuring out what the heck I’m going to eat on the trail, more training notes, and some hacks I’ve managed to pick up over the last few months.

As usual, consider supporting my hike with a donation to the National MS Society! Details here. 

Slowly but surely I’m getting back to writing.
In the meantime, there is music and karate and hiking.