Buchanan State Forest and the abandoned turnpike

For another Hike PATC in 2023 hike, we visited Pennsylvania's Buchanan State Forest. It is divided into several discrete parcels, all land donated to the state after forestry companies were done with it. We visited the Sideling Hill area to see the abandoned railway aqueduct.

The hike is a short and flat one, but we ended up making it longer by deciding to hike through one of the three abandoned turnpike tunnels nearby. The abandoned turnpike is not part of the forest but adjacent.

Overall, a fun hike.

Cowans Gap State Park hike

We picked a hot day for this one - a hike around the lake at Cowans Gap, then up the Standing Stone Trail as far as the first overlook.

Ten Mile Run - the video!

This is not turning into a vlog, but I am making a few videos as part of a fundraiser for the Catskills Center.

Black Hill loop hike

I am working up to longer hikes again, and so on Saturday I aimed for at least five miles in our local Black Hill park. My route traced one of the lake's northern peninsulas, and so was rather flat.

Byrd's Nest #4

On our last day in Shenandoah, we got another hike in, only a little more challenging - a loop to Byrd's Nest #4. We started on Rocky Branch, which was surprisingly overgrown, then took the Appalachian Trail to the Neighbor Mountain trail. We followed it to Byrd's Nest #4, one of four day-use shelters. What was supposed to be a mown (I think, based on other photos) field was filled with waist-hike grass, which obscured the trail. But after a lunch break, we plowed through and down Neighbor Mountain back to Skyline Drive and our car.