THIRD TIMES A CHARM

3RD HIKE: SOUTH MOUNTAIN

Facts

Location: Emmaus, PA

Park: Wildlands Conservancy-South Mountain Preserve

Trails: Alpine Street (1.6mi), Trout Run (1.2mi), Rodale 3-Boulder (1.2mi), Mountain Top 301 (1mi) = 5 miles

Time: 2 hours

Elevation: <500 ft

Date: 4/29/11

Adventure

It took three different tries to find the entrance to south mountain. Before arriving at my first failed attempt I went to Wally's Deli, home of the hog, to obtain a sandwich for lunch. It's called the home of the hog because the owner, Wally, had an obsession with pigs and all of his sandwiches were named ____ hog. The woman at the deli was kind and pleasant to speak with. She helped me a pick a sandwich, La-hog, which had muenster cheese, honey maple turkey and ham with honey mustard, yum!

I then drove to the address in my GPS which was a residential neighborhood. Had I made one turn at the street I was on I would have found the entrance to south mountain at the bottom of the road. Instead I googled the address of the wildlife conservation. I went there and they told me I was at the wrong address. All of the interactions I had with folks in Emmaus, were very friendly. One of the things I enjoyed most about the day was getting to know the townies. They gave me a map of the trails and explained how I could locate south mountain. I put the cross streets into the GPS and on my third attempt found the entrance to south mountain.

View of Emmaus

The reviews online claimed that this mountain was better for biking, but was also used by hikers. I couldn't agree more having completed all the trails. The ascent was slow, but there were definitely small sectors of the trails that kicked my ass because the elevations came quickly. I was hungry the second I got to the trail, but I pushed myself to the top before enjoying my delicious hog. I talked to one of the bikers on the trail who told me which direction would take me to the top. When I got to the highest point on South Mountain there was a quick view of the town, but nothing too impressive. My favorite part of the hike was the view of the descending boulders, various campsites where it was clear teenagers had gone to drink and party, plus I saw beautiful bluejays everywhere, and hawks!

Do you know where your kids are?

The four trail combination was an excellent workout and taking a gander at the variety of birds at the preservation was truly fantastic. I also got cheap gas on the way home. It was a good day!

Run of Boulders!