"A Walk in the 'Woods'"

This is Chris from The Wildernest again, with some info on a Lancaster hiking trail a stone's throw from the store - the Farmingdale Trail located off of Good Drive. Please pardon the double quotes in the title; I can explain. The outer quotes are an inside joke code that my wife Sarah and I use when I want her to go on a hike with me, to indicate that I wasn't going to overdo the miles. It's not that she doesn't like to hike, it's just that, well... I was a little too aggressive in choosing the mileage for her and I to hike and backpack early in our relationship. So, when my reputation for long hikes was already in place, she would inquire, "Why don't you just walk in the woods?" And so, a walk in the woods implies something less intense than a hike in our family.

The interior quotes refer to the location of our hike. We decided to go to the landlocked Farmingdale Trail, the trail head of which is located at the Noel Dorwart Park in East Hempfield Township. The purpose of the hike was two-fold: to get out for a nice walk with my wife and three sons... and to possibly assist in inducing labor on Sarah, who was very pregnant with our fourth son.

The first thing I noticed was that the woodlands along the trail were young and distinct. A bit farther along I noticed the occasional tire along the side. With some further research, I realized that in my ignorance I had no idea that the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority had opened the trail on a former landfill. That sort of nixed my thought that someone should come through here and get these tires and take them to a landfill. Ha! However, this is a great example of reclaiming some land that was lost for some time.

Anyway, the trail makes for a nice easy walk (or jog or bike), especially with kids. Its location is also a plus, with few other trails in the vicinity. You can easily piece together three miles worth of travel with the various loops. So, if you want to make a quick and easy jaunt with just a bit of seclusion and you live in the area, I would highly recommend it. However, if you are truly looking to get into the forest in Lancaster, you should head to the northern or southern parts of the county where more outdoor opportunities are offered.

So, the walk to didn't bring on the baby, but we were blessed with a healthy birth within a couple of weeks. Another plus was that our 20-month-old hiked much of the 1.5 miles we went without being carried - his longest trek ever! One final kid note: My oldest son, a kindergartner, shares my same concern for keeping hiking areas clean. He found a plastic bottle on the ground and picked it up for us to carry out, saying that we need to keep the Earth healthy. I asked him where he learned that, expecting to feed my parenting ego; however, his response was, "I don't know... I think I just know it." Wow - maybe we are hard-wired for tree hugging...

Well, stay tuned for more on Lancaster trails, hiking/camping with kids, and much more. If you have any questions or comments, contact me at thewildernestchris@gmail.com or Shawn at the store at thewildernest@msn.com.