Hiker Badge

We had so much fun! We went to Rickets Glenn State Park in North Eastern Pennsylvania. It was quite a drive for us. I did not realize how far it actually was. We set out for the hike in a caravan. However every little town that we went through seemed to be having their fall festivals or fireman's boot drives. So not only was it a long drive, but now it was long with traffic. I do not think kids at any age a patient in traffic.

We headed to the visitors center and picked up trail maps. Then parked the cars and regrouped at the picnic area. We then proceed to make trail mix. The girls each brought an ingredient. Ours consisted of pretzels, goldfish crackers, honey roasted peanuts, raisins, and honey nut Cheerios. They all got to pour in their ingredients and then shake the bag.

We then looked at the trail map and came up with a game plan. We also laid out some ground rules with the girls. No running was a big one. Get girls in the fresh air and they almost always want to run.

We got to the first part of the trail and they had a big rule sign and trail map. This was a perfect chance to go over the park rules (not just our troop rules) and for them all to see on a big scale where we were going and what we were going to see. We also went over trail markings and what we should do if we got lost in the woods.

We walked for about a mile and all of a sudden the terrain changes. These trails are marked as mostly difficult and they were. The park starts off at a high elevation and you walk down hill to the falls.

The girls were dying to get into their trail mix and we agreed that they could break into it at the first fall. The girls walked great and then spotted a mini-fall and enjoyed their snack. This is the first time that most off these girls were seeing waterfalls in person. This one was about 5 feet tall.

After our snack we continued on. They found lots of wild life and bugs including this white caterpillar. The girls said that he was poisonous, but I am not sure on that.

At this point, I am thinking wow these trails really are tough. I am not in shape at all. We turn a bend, the sound of water gets louder and then another steep incline followed by stairs.

And the reason why I now refer to the first fall as a mini.

We continued walking along the path and saw three more huge falls. My co-leader got to the next set of steep stairs and we agreed, it was time to head back up.

We originally wanted to walk only about an hour and it turns out we walked about 3 and a half hours. The girls were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Not one complaint from them. Me, I was beat and at the point of whining, but these third grade girl had no issues. They just kept walking. At one point, they even broke out into song.

At the end of the day 3 girls earned their hiker badge and all 5 had a great time. (2 already had the badge.)

My daughter and her friend were asleep in the car before we were 20 minutes into the drive home!