An Old Wet Bulldozer at Ricketts Glen

April 10, 2009 23:31 by author

4/4/2009

So, for some reason the wives needed to do a hike and the husbands had to come along. And the hike to be done had to be a gruelling 10 mile round trip slog thru puddles and mud. Somehow it was just determined that we would do the Old Bulldozer Road Trail in Ricketts Glen State Park. I had done this hike a few times before, and Jodi had done it once, but Brett and Renee had no idea what they were in for.

The first mile of this hike is the real test, a straight up, very steep climb. Does this look steep? Kind of? Well, it is, much more than it looks. See the elevation gain from the foreground to the very bottom of the trail?

And like most nasty climbs, it has a couple of corners that give you hope you may be finished, but, of course, you're not. And the steepest part is the last 100 yards. See the body lean on these 2 poor souls?

While you could probably climb the entire mile without stopping if forced at gun point, under normal circumstances you usually stop 3 or 4 time before the top. See the hands on hips, the classic gasping-for-air position?

Looks really steep to me!

There is a little reward at the top - a nice big rock to rest on.

We picked one of the worst times to do this hike, smack dab in the middle of the spring thaw. A good part of the trail was under water and muddy. Look, Renee's an airplane coming in for a water landing!