My First Hike

I felt like it wouldn't be right to blog about hiking without sharing my first hiking experience! Interesting fact, I didn't go on my first hike until after I graduated from high school. It was June 2017 and a friend of mine at the time decided we should go hike Mount Nittany. 

I had no idea where Mount Nittany was, how long it would be to hike, or even what to wear. My first time hiking I went hiking in a pair of jeans, beat up shoes, and a t-shirt! Needless to say, it did not go well! After finding our way to the beginning of the trail, it was time to begin our hike.

At this time I was beginning to get into photography, so I had brought my newly purchased camera to snap some photos. I'm sure you can guess how well that went. New at hiking and new at photography, great combination! A few minutes into our hike I quickly discovered that hiking in jeans may not be the best pants to wear while hiking. It was a struggle to get to the top but I powered through and made it up. It was definitely worth the struggle. With the sun shining and the wind blowing, the view from the top was absolutely stunning!

After making it to the top, we decided to explore the trail a little more and went for a few more miles stopping at different trail markers and enjoying the view as well as nature. We didn't see too much wildlife, however we did encounter a snake! If you're anything like me, you like snakes, but don't want to be too close to one! After this interesting encounter, we happened to run into a smaller and more adorable butterfly. After an hour or two, we decided to make our way back down the mountain and head home to eat lunch and go about the rest of our days. 

My first hike was definitely interesting to say the least, but since then I've loved to explore new places and hike anywhere I can and enjoy nature. If you're thinking about hiking for the first time or want to get interested in hiking, be sure to know what you're getting yourself into before diving in head first!