Friday Night Hikes

The Final Part of the Grand Canyon After a long day of hiking, exploring, driving back and forth between parks, and sweating from the heat, there's no better way to finish off the night than by watching the sunset over the mountains. Followed by a night out under the stars in the most clear skies in Pennsylvania.   Watching the sunset in general is one of my favorite things to do, so after a long day it's nice to sit down and relax. Not only is watching the sunset one of my favorite things to do, but photographing the sunset is just as great. There's always great photographs to be taken during the sunset. Interestingly enough, the first picture I ever took was during a sunset in Chicago. However this is Pennsylvania and instead of a large city in the background, there are mountains just as beautiful. First picture I ever took, unrelated to hiking lol After watching the sunset, if you have the time. I definitely recommend driving the extra hour to Cherry

Welcome to Part 2! Part 2 of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon will consist mainly of the Turkey Trail, the other trail that I hiked while I was at the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.   The Turkey Path is a 1.7 mile out and back trail located in Leonard Harrison State Park, otherwise known as the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, the trail is fairly steep and footing can be tricky at times, but it's full of views of wildlife and nature, including a pretty nice waterfall.  The trail starts in Leonard Harrison State Park and leads down to a river at the bottom where you can cross and go into Colton Point State Park and then turn around and come back to Leonard Harrison.  Some of the wildlife includes squirrels, bunnies, and even snakes! While there are rattlesnakes throughout the park, the chances of running into one on the path are very slim, there may be a few water snaked out and about, but there's no need to be alarmed or worried about these non venomo

For those of you who don't know, there is in fact a second "Grand Canyon"  Located in Leonard Harrison State Park , near Wellsboro, PA. Not to be mistaken with Colton Point State Park, where I originally went. While the views from Colton Point are outstanding, Leonard Harrison has the best views by far. View from Colton Point State Park Just before reaching the viewing area of the PA Grand Canyon you're offered a chance to stand atop of a tower and have a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. The tower stands about 150 ft high, and if you're anything like me, heights terrify you. However for the sake of the blog, and a small price of $3, I slowly inched my way to the top  Sheer Terror Big Tower Now that we're back on the ground and not being a big baby, the PA Grand Canyon offers a few different trails, the first trail is the Overlook Trail , which is a short trail that leads to an overlook less than a mile away. Along the trail

Well it's not a hike, but it's definitely a great place to spend your evening and watch the sunset. Ridenour Overlook is located in Huntingdon County, which overlooks most of Raystown Lake.  While this isn't a hike, there are plenty of nearby wooded areas in which you can hike, or spend the day wandering around the lake and enjoying the water.  The exact location of the overlook can be looked up in google maps and will lead you straight to the parking area where you can choose from one of two overlooks.  When you reach the main road that leads back to the overlook be sure to go slow and take your time as there are plenty of deer in the surrounding areas that like to wander and cross the street.  This overlook is also a great place for bird watching, especially eagles. If you plan your trip right during the year you may catch a view of some Eagles flying around and raising their young. Ridenour Overlook is a great place to go and enjoy an evening after play

Two posts in one day! How exciting! As many of you know, or for those of you who don't know. This blog was a class assignment that I believe I did pretty well on. I only needed 24 posts and 400 views and while I have reached my goal of 24 posts, I have exceeded over 1,000 views, so thank you. Thank each and every person who has viewed the blog up to this point.  There was a lot of internal discussion going on about whether or not I would keep this blog going after the class was over and I received my grade, and after careful consideration I've come to my decision. I recently put up a poll on Facebook and Instagram asking about whether or not I should continue the blog and I got a lot of positive feedback, but I also got some not so positive, but honest feedback.  So unfortunately I hate to disappoint so many of you, but I've decided to  continue to the blog.  I a

This might come as a bit of a shock to some people, but interestingly enough, I've only been hiking for two years now.  In a previous post I talked about my first time ever hiking, and that was at Mount Nittany after I graduated from high school in 2017 and that's when it all started. When answering the question, "Why do I hike?" there's no one answer. There seem to be a never ending number of reasons why, and every time I go for a hike, I add reasons to that list.  Overall I just love to be outdoors. Whether it's playing ball, shooting hoops, chasing after my dog when she sneaks out, or going for hikes. I just love the outdoors and being outside. When I first started hiking I was always thought that you had to hike up the side of a mountain, or a really big hill as some might say, but hiking is so much more than that and I think that's the reason I enjoy it so much.  Hiking comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and it can be done by anyone. You ca