Naturecise

It was another beautiful sunny day, today. I wanted to get out for a walk and decided I would go for a hike. For a long time I've wanted to explore all of the Lancaster County Conservancy preserves. In fact it was just over two years ago that I blogged about another Conservancy hike and challenged myself to try to get to them all. I'm not much closer to that goal now than I was two years ago but it's still part of the bucket list.

Today I determined to go to Reed Run Nature Preserve. It is toward the southern end of Lancaster County so it was a little bit of a drive but a beautiful one. Once I got to the site I realized I had been there before with Mike and the boys. The hike is a loop which you would think would be very easy to follow.

Oh no, think again.

The trail is marked with blue tree markers which are very visible (once you see them). The trail, however is VERY overgrown. I was very glad to be wearing long sleeves, long pants and my hiking boots. It was great fun trying to follow the trail, crossing the stream a few times, and generally NOT following the loop. I didn't get to see the overlook since I ended up going back and forth on the eastern side of the loop and the overlook is on the western side. 

All in all it was a really good hike. I felt a little bit like an explorer (ok, a pathetic explorer) and used my amazing sense of direction (the sun rises in the east and goes down in the west) to make sure I was headed back in the right direction. It really was challenging to find the trail at times both in the woods and on the edge of the woods. It was also a really good little workout without being overwhelmingly steep.

If you want to try this hike (let me know if you get the whole way around!) be sure to wear bright clothing since hunting is allowed in this preserve. I also recommend sturdy shoes, jeans and long sleeves. Oh, and a GPS might come in handy.