Hiking: Thanksgiving 5-mile hike plan

Home for the holiday, and I've already enjoyed homemade chili, golden potato bake, pork chops and several snickerdoodles. So I've decided to start off Thanksgiving day with a nice long hike to make sure I don't unwittingly pack on unwanted pounds after enjoying tomorrow's feast of turkey, all the trimmings and mom's home-baked apple and pumpkin pies.

I won't be able to do a 10-miler - there's just not enough time since most of the family won't be joining me and being anti-social won't cut it on this brief visit home. No, a nice five-miler will do just fine.

Khizer will be joining me, of course, but so far no one else from the family has shown any interest. I have, though, put out the following invite to friends via Facebook:

Hey Hanoverians...join us in the morning for a five-mile Thanksgiving hike! We're walking from the Hanover YMCA down past the hospital and old Eichelberger school to the library, then down Railroad Street to the Famous Hot Wiener, where we'll turn up Broadway and head to Moul Field. From there we'll take the Hanover Trolley Rail Trail to Wilson Avenue and head northwest on Wilson past Hanover High to end up back at the Y. Meet up at 8:30 a.m. Let me know if you're coming!

I hope to get another couple of hikers to tag along, but even if not Khizer and I will have a great time exploring the old town and checking out a bit of the rail trail. Then on Friday we hope to get out to the woods, either at Maryland Heights down by Harper's Ferry, WV, or Chimney Rocks in Michaux State Forest here in the south central Pennsylvania. Both of those hikes would include portions of the Appalachian Trail, and I've got hope that my brother Zach will join us on that one.