Flip Flip Flipadelphia!

Hey guys, I'm sure at this point everyone is thoroughly enjoying the cold weather and 16 hours of darkness a day. I know I am. This time of the year is a huge drag on the blog, and I always come up short on posts due to not really having much of a chance to get out there and hike. I would however like to correct that this year and I'm working on some ideas for ways to keep the blog supplied with plenty of new posts over the next few months, so keep checking back in for updates.
A few weeks ago (almost 2 months at this point) I went down to Philadelphia to visit one of my good friends. We were only there for three days but I'm confident in saying that I got a completely fulfilling tour of the city and what it had to offer. It was less of the traditional trip I usually post here on Wanderlust and more of a fast tracked episode of No Reservations sans Anthony Bourdain. We toured Independence Hall, saw the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklin's grave, then separated from every seventh grade class in America and explored the rest of the city. I'm notorious for making "Top Five" lists for just about eveything you can possibly think of so instead of talking about everywhere we went I'm gonna give you
Wanderlust's Top Five of Philly:

1. The 700 Club  is a night club with two floors, the first being a full bar with a generous amount of beers on tap. But it's the second floor that made me decide to put it on the list, it's set up as an old house with the bar in the kitchen, the dance floor in the dinning room and the DJ in the bathroom. It's a unique set up and is worth visiting.
2. The Foodery  is a deli/liqueur store with a selection of  over 800 beers from around the world on sale. The kicker? The beers are purchased À la carte and can be drank in the attached sitting area. Awesome.
3. The Shubin Theater,which puts on some kick ass improv shows, is definitely worth checking out.
4. Yards Brewery brews up some pretty tasty beers with names like "General Washington's Tavern Porter" and "Poor Richards Tavern Spruce" that pay tribute to Philadelphia's butt-load of American History. Oh and they also have an oversized bar with tabletop shuffleboard and some awesome artwork. Check. It. Out. 
5. Fairmount Park , the place where we hiked was great. It's located just outside of Downtown Philadephia and it does a great job of not showing it. It's quiet, has a ton of trails, the Schuylkill river flows through it, and it's easily accessible, making it a great place to do a bit of hiking if you're looking for some less metallic scenery. We did a small loop inside the park on our last day in the city and it was a great way to end the trip.

Runner up: Reading Terminal Market, a Market place in the heart of Philly with tons and tons and tons of things to buy and places to eat. Oh and it was on Man Vs. Food. Enough said. Try Dinic's.
So there is my Top Five, there is a ton of things to do and see in Philly, obviously, so if you get the chance to visit I would highly recommend it. While you're there though try not to hang out with anyone under a bridge, you might have to pay the troll toll. A special thanks to Erin Pitts for being a great friend and host/tour guide for our stay. 

Mileage: 2 Miles

Chub Toad.

Schuylkill river.

Weird Bugs.

 

Oooooooooooklahoma!

Honestly speaking I never really thought too much about Oklahoma. I mean, I knew someone set us up the bomb there, and there was a musical about it.....but that's about it. So when I booked my plane tickets to see my brother graduate from boot camp, while pumped that I got to be a part of that, I didn't think I would be able to find much of anything for us to do there. It would have been easy to not think about it and just go and hope to find something to do, but if you're going to travel somewhere you wouldn't normally go and probably never will again, why wouldn't you try to see everything there is to offer? So after a little research I came up with an itinerary, and as anyone who's come on a trip with me can tell you, I'm pretty famous for that. So after the plane landed in Dallas, I promptly picked up our rental car and ripped it down to Rahr and Sons brewery for a two hour beer and chili tasting. Save for an appearance by Chuck Norris riding a bull, this was exactly what I would have expected Texas to be like. So after pounding beers on a stomach filled only with microwave Texas Chili Bowls, we got back in the car and began our three hour trip to Lawton, OK only hoping that there would be plenty of rest stops along the way.
Before I go on to talk about the hiking/exploring I just want to say that I'm pretty damn proud of Kendrick and his choice to join the Army and it was awesome to get to see him graduate boot camp. I've never really thought to much about the military, I mean I've had friends that have joined up and gone away to boot camp or been deployed, but I never really thought about it to much, it was like they had just went away for a bit and I would see them when they got back. But when Kendrick went away, it was different. Weird. I thought about it a lot more, about what he was actually doing, the commitment and all that, and after spending a week on a military base and seeing how everyone acted and presented themselves, I gained a lot more respect for anyone who chose to join up, and I was completely proud of Kendrick for that.
The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge was the big destination for this trip, and while I've included a link to their site, sadly as with most National/state/wildlife refuge park websites, it doesn't nearly do the place justice. In a state not know for much more than being flat and perceived as mostly boring, this place was an oasis of wildlife, hell there was even "mountains" perfect for any seeker of outdoor activities. Along with miles of hiking trails, some quite a bit more difficult that you would expect, the Refuge is home to "a total of 240 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 64 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 36 species of fish". Not to mention free roaming herds of American Bison, Rocky Mountain Elk, White-tailed deer, and Texas Longhorn cattle. In the four days spent in Lawton, we went to the Refuge a total of 4 times, and I easily could have gone back 20 more times and not have had enough time to see everything.
During my time there I went on two separate hikes: The first, a short walk over a dam, and along the banks of a pond on the Baldy Trail. The second was a longer hike over bouldery terrain on a rough trail system known as Charon's Garden Trail. The second hike was the more notable hike from this trip, and "rough trail system" was an understatement. We set out from the parking area at about 11am and made our way into the woods past a mostly dried up stream bed. After hiking in dense forest, we came out into a rocky area with low vegetation, which reminded me a lot of the hikes I did in Utah earlier this year. Sarah and I took a short side trip to attempt to scramble up a rocky mountain to get a better view of the area. After about 45 minutes of attempting to find a suitable angle of attack, I got to the top of the mountain and was pretty pumped about the great 360° view it afforded, the rock climbers who top roped it, on the other hand, were a little less enthusiastic that they had just climbed a mountain that someone scrambled up ropeless. Sorry bro's. After climbing back down, we headed up the trail and pretty quickly became completely lost. A condition we could have easily prevented had we realized trails are usually not over lose boulders and giant shrubs. After Rob the Ringleader finally came to terms with his miss-sense of direction, we headed back in what seemed like the right direct. An hour later we found the trail and headed back to the car. Honestly as long as it's not dark, and it's not in the heart of Africa, getting lost can be a fun experience, just as John Locke.
Aside from hiking, we also came to the refuge to watch a meteor shower at night (Watching meteors is a bit less fun with the fear of stampeding Buffalo's, just ask my dad.) Took a self-guided safari, that included prairie dogs, Buffalo, Elk,  Lizards, and a Texas Longhorn who almost gave my mom a chest piercing, ate at a burger restaurant that had been around since 19-2 (Meers Store and Restaurant), saw a western Sheriff, dined with scorpions, and drove to the top of Mount Scott. It was the first family trip I've been on in a while, and quite simply everything about it was great. It has become increasingly hard over the years to be able to spend time with my family, and this trip was exactly what I needed. I got a reminder of how awful my dad's sense of direction is, and how much my Mom realllllllly likes to take family pictures of everything, but most importantly I was reminded of how lucky I am to have them. Easily the cheesiest post I've written so far. Thanks for reading, Cheers!

Mileage: 3.5 Miles

Meers Store and Restaurant.

Buff Chick Buffalo.

Alan! Alan!

Papa O'Connor.

Prairie.

Durrrr.

Oklahoma sunset.

Great Scott.

Buffalo.

Que Sarah Sarah.

B&W Sunset.

Mt. Liberty

This past Columbus Day weekend I headed up to the White Mountains with a few good friends for a weekend of camping and hiking, during arguably the best weekend for fall foliage. Unfortunately the weather wasn't exactly the best, but that didn't stop us from doing everything we set out to do. As a precursor to this post, I'm moving and I've had very little free time in the past couple of weeks, and while I know I need to write some posts before the memory of the trips start to fade, I'm lazy and this post will prob suffer due to that. While we hiked a few short side trips along the Kancamagus highway, the main event was Mount Liberty, part of the Franconia ridge, which I've been somewhat obsessed with this past year as I've done Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield, and now Liberty, along this ridge. The hike up wasn't too bad in my opinion (although a few members of the group might beg to differ a bit) we took the Liberty Springs trail up, not too steep and the rain held up for the most part as we made our way to the summit. While the main allure of hiking a mountain is for the incredible views at the top, there is still something to be said about a summit surrounded by fog, which is good because since it was in the clouds we couldn't see jack shit. After eating some heavily processed, loosely deemed chicken products and 3 pounds of golden grahams the rain picked up quite a bit and we were forced to make our way down the mountain. Now a hike in the rain sounds awful, but with the proper gear it isn't all that bad, but if your rocking some homemade jorts, a band tee shirt, and Wal-Mart brand boots it can be the worst experience ever, just ask Patrick. Although the jorts could have been replaced with a open-assed kilt, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, and needless to say by the time we made it back to the car, people were ready to go. After getting back we booked it to Oktoberfest at Loon Mountain, pounded some beers on empty stomachs that had just hiked 9 miles and swerved our way over to the Woodstock Inn for some dinner and further drinks, the best end to a day of hiking in the rain you could possibly ask for. The Woodstock Inn is perhaps the best restaurant I have even eaten at, and I've done so every time I've been hiking up there for this blog. I may or may not have already spoken about this place, but I don't care. Go there. Eat some damn meatloaf. Smile. Pass out. Thank me later. And if you don't like meatloaf, well then, get the hell out of here. I'm sure they make good Apple-tini spiced baby sauce that you might enjoy better. All and all awesome weekend with some good friends. Camping is just awesome, and it is possible and enjoyable to do so after Labor day, just as long as you don't wear white. Cheers!

Mileage: 9 Miles

Victors.

Gothic Peak.

Fall Awesomeness.

Strike a pose.

Fall is good.

"That's water"

Wanderlust 2012!

So I realize it’s been pretty damn quiet on Wanderlust lately, but I can assure you a lot is happening. The only good excuse I could possibly have for not putting up posts is that I’ve been too busy exploring to write anything up, and in this case that’s the truth. I’ve spent the better part of the last three weeks hiking in New Hampshire, Exploring in Philadelphia, and traveling in Texas/Oklahoma, and due to this I’ve had absolutely no time to write a post. The bad news is I still haven’t had time to write up any summaries from the trips in question. The good news on the other hand is that I have been spending what little free time I have working on something for the blog. As a preface to this project I bought a GoPro back in January in order to film some of the trips and hikes I would be doing over the course of the year, some of the footage has made it into the past few posts, but the fact of the matter is I have hours of video from just about every trip I’ve done over the past 10 months and I’ve compiled all of it into a five minute video for the blog. The reason being? This last year has been nothing short of amazing, and I’m completely lucky to have such good friends and family who have supported me in my quest to see and do literally everything. You’re the reason I made this blog, you’re the reason I’m able to go on all of these trips and experience all of this awesome stuff, so friggen thank you all for allowing me on short notice, without much information, in all manner of weather conditions, to convince you to go on whatever crazy adventure I happen to have planned, you guys are awesome. And hopefully you have all enjoyed yourself too.  All sappy shit aside, enjoy the video, and please, please keep joining me for the ride.

P.S. If you’re wondering why I made this video in October and not the end of the year it’s because I’m impatient and require instant gratification when I think of an idea. Deal with it. Also keep doing stuff with me for the rest of 2012.

Without Further Ado: Wanderlust 2012

Willowdale State Forest

I've been pretttty busy the past few weeks doing tons of fun things. In fact the last two months have been completely non stop, no complaints mind you, it has been an awesome time full of trips, hikes, parties, adventures, festivals, hanging out with good friends, and of course burn out mode activities. I was however able to squeeze in a hike two weekends ago at Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, MA. I ended up going on this one by myself which was good because I got to clear my head and think about some stuff, blah blah. I don't really have all that much to write about this hike, although it was just shy of 7 miles in length, there really wasn't to much to see along the way. This however wasn't a bad thing, just different from my hikes of late. It was great fall weather, perfect for hiking and the trails here are well marked. The only downfall of the trail system within the park is that there are so many trails and trail intersections that it would be quite easy to get turned around if you were trying to attempt a designated hike. I say this speaking from experience of course, on account i got turned around as shit for about 45 minutes before, after a series of complete guesses, I ended up back on the trail I was suppose to be on. I may or may not have yelled "fuck" a few times. After completing the loop I went to a nearby farm stand/hay maze/familyashellthingtodo and bought a root beer and a pie. I took said pie with me over to a friends house to watch some football, which is where I learned that bringing a pie to a football game makes you gay. All and all it was a good hike, not the best I've been on in the area, but with miles of trails and a surprising sense of remoteness while hiking them, Willowdale State Forest is worth a visit. Also this hike put me over my goal to hike 100 miles this year, which is awesome and I'm grateful to everyone who has come along with me so far. There is still 3 months left in the year and I intend to crush that goal and go for as much as possible before years end, so dammit people, keep hiking with me. Cheers!

Mileage: 6.5 Miles

Fall Path.

Acadia National Park: Mt. Penobscot

Our first and longest hike in Acadia National Park was a loop from the Jordan Pond House up to the top of Mt. Penobscot, with a slight detour to Sargent pond for a swim. Since we got to Acadia late Friday night we weren't able to see the beauty of the park until we woke up on Saturday and headed in to hike up Mt. Penobscot. Acadia has a weird system for paying to enter the park, while you can drive into some areas without paying, if you get on the one way road that circles the park you are forced to go through the entrance gate and pay the fee (Which we didn't even end up doing till Sunday evening).
We started out the hike from the Jordan Pond House, first making our way through droves of hungry car hikers waiting in line for the breakfast place. There was literally over 100 people waiting to eat breakfast, apparently their Maine blueberry's were better than the billion other places around. After the zombies were behind us we headed up the trail, slow at first and then more steep, until we broke treeline and made a scramble for the summit of Penobscot. The views on the way up were the first ones we had experienced in Acadia and they did not disappoint.The summit afforded 360° views of the Atlantic, the island of Mount Desert, and inland Maine, friggen awesome if I do say so myself. After eating lunch with bumble bee's and tuna we headed on a side trip to Sargent Pond to go for a swim. We had originally planned to hike Sargent Mountain also, but opted for swimming instead. At this point in the hike we got stuck behind a woman in maybe her late 40's hiking with the most annoying adopted kid in the history of the god damn world. After 30mins of hearing the word mother (pronounced mudda) we finally made it to the pond and Mike and I proceeded to drown her. We didn't really. After changing we dove in and it was completely nice, like something out of a commercial with a fun. song as the soundtrack. After swimming for a bit we got out and toweled off and headed back to the top of Penobscot to take the Penobscot Mountain Trail down to the base and back to the Jordan Pond House to complete the loop. This turned out to be a great first hike in Acadia which raised our expectations for the rest of the trip which were inevitably met and surpassed in the days to come. Some other noteworthy stops we made in Acadia included: Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, Bar Harbor, and some horseshit lighthouse 45 minutes out of our way. All and all it was an excellent trip and I'm already planning my next jaunt there which will hopefully be sooner rather than later. Go to Acadia, Go to any National Park, they are the best idea this country has ever had, Ken Burns knew that, I know that, you should know that too. 

P.S. Lost my National Parks Pass. Lesson for the day: Drinking and responsibility don't always go hand and hand.

Mileage: 4 Miles

Deerz.

Jordan Pond.

Acadia Cairn.

Mike contemplating.

Directions.

Bumble Bee's Tuna.

Sargent Pond.

Hike on.

Little bridge guy.

Mike without swimmies.

Sunrise, Cadillac Mountain

Getting up at 4:30 am is a lot easier when it's to see something as awesome as the first sunrise to touch American soil, and while in Acadia N.P. I was able to do just that. In the fall and spring months Acadia's Cadillac mountain holds the title for being the first place in the United States to see sunrise. After waking up before the crack of dawn and driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain using the auto road, cheating I know but I was not in the mood to hike 4 miles before sunrise, We parked the car and found a spot on the summit to sit and enjoy the show. The weather was perfect and the low lying clouds shrouded Bar Harbor and most of the bay in a thick layer of fog that we were fortunately above. At first there wasn't many people but by the time sunrise was starting hundreds of people lined the top of the mountain to get a view. If you go to Acadia, I would highly suggest getting your ass out of bed and watching the sunrise, it was a completely awesome experience. And for the first time in my life, after heading into Bar harbor, I had to wait for a breakfast place to open instead of getting there after they close like I normally do.
And finally my attempt at wisdom, no laughing.

"Wander on as though you were meant to, as if your feet were not meant to stay put in any given place for too much time as to get used to it. Put on your boots and head down the trail that takes you to somewhere new, somewhere different, some place unlike any you have been before, and hopefully, just hopefully you will discover a part of yourself you’ve never known before. Carry the spirit of wanderlust in you throughout your life and seek out as much as our short time here will allow, because when that final bright day comes it is better to have tired feet and bones than a broken spirit and a lost sense of adventure." 

Once again thanks for following along!

Video Series: Cadillac Mountain time lapse sunrise

Mileage: Not enough to count.

Bar Harbor in the fog.

Bar Harbor fog covered.

Pre Dawn.

Momomomo8989898.

Thrilled.

Sun Come Up.

Sunrise Flowers.

Lahvas.

Awesome.

Rolling Fog.

From a plane window?

Dream Team.

Over the Horizon.