Susquehanna State Park and Breaking Records

9.9 Miles.. Our longest hike ever! To some of you, that might seem really, really lame. To Hubs and I, it's huge! We finally broke our record of longest hike! It seemed that we kept getting stuck in a 5-6 mile range, fearful that if we went too long or too far we wouldn't have enough [fill in excuse here] to go that long. Maryland Heights was the exception at over 7 miles. Now all excuses are gone, nullified, void! We know we can hike that long, we know the pups can hike that long, and I'm still living off the adrenaline!

 Last week a certain *cough* friend *cough* of ours was supposed to hike with us (love you!!). We arranged our trip so that we could go on Sunday with her, and then she bailed.. lame, right? Ok, ok! Not lame! She was sick. We decided to stick to our original plan of a Sunday hike, and after church we loaded up the dogs and headed to Susquehanna State Park. We followed an awesome trail guide from Midatlantic Hikes. It was so well put together and thought out! The trail guide wound us around the park, following the Susquehanna River for a bit, and then heading off into the hills. The trail guide says it's 8.7 miles, but our GPS recorded us at 9.9 (see my EveryTrail map). The guide was written in 2006, so it's possible that the trails have changed a bit since then.

Grist Mill, where you pick the trail up

We had a fantastic hike, and saw a lot of cool nature things! There were a lot of deer. A. LOT. OF. DEER! It seemed like every time we turned around there was another deer and fawn, or deer and fawns, or deers and fawn.. you get the picture (no bucks, sorry!).

Deer hiding in the tree

We also got to see some trees that looked (to me) like they'd been woodpeckered (yes, I do enjoy making words up) to death!

I did some research (I Googled), and all of these type of holes in the tree came up for woodpeckers. If I'm wrong, let me know in the comments! Share your knowledge, people!

We saw beaver damage:

But sadly, no beavers.

We also saw this:

And we have no idea what it is.. Do you?? Hubs tried to figure out where the wire goes to, but it gets pretty overgrown there and we didn't want to disturb nature. Leave no trace, and all. While we were checking this out, the dogs were getting restless..

And we saw some berries (again, please share your knowledge. Google failed me).

The coolest part of our hike was walking through a field. It was amazing. One minute you're trekking through the woods, wondering when is this hill going to END! and then BOOM, you're in a field.

As the hike continued through the woods, there is an old stone wall that weaves its way around. The trail crosses it a few times. You see it mainly as your on Old Farm Trail. The history in this area is palpable. I loved every second of it!

The longer our hikes get, the less I am able to do them justice in a post. There were so many adventures from this day that I want to share, like Cocoa learning to eat an apple!

Or the really awesome, really old White Oak we saw. This tree has a special sign pointing hikers towards it.

And even the super cute red mushrooms! I wonder how many power ups those are good for in Mario???

But then, I haven't even mentioned the river or Old Flint Tower or the rail road tracks!

I guess you'll just have to go see for yourself! It really is something!

By the end of the hike my feet were sore. I couldn't wait to rip my boots off. However, I'm happy to report that I still haven't had a blister yet! I'm sure I've just jinxed myself, but it's worth saying that these boots have been pretty awesome. I think that I'll be getting some gel inserts for our next adventure, though, because my feet have never hurt so bad in my life. I live in high heels. That's saying something. 

Hubs and I are getting closer to our first overnight hike! We're heading to REI this weekend to start looking at gear. Y'all know shopping is my favorite thing, and I smell a sale! The Baltimore market REIs are having their end of summer clearance this weekend, so if you've been looking for an excuse to go, you're welcome!

Thank you so much for visiting My Journey from High Heels to Hiking Boots! Please take a moment and like me on Facebook. Happy Trails!