As springtime warms, hiking heats up in the Appalachian Mountains

by Brian Schwarz

It's been nearly two months since I've checked in here on Man of Merit blog, but a lot's been going on in my preparations for summertime camping and backpacking. I've been obtaining new skills I'll count on as I delve into wilderness survival and emergency preparedness, too.

Brian on top of Old Rag Mountain, April 2, 2015, at 330 lbs.

Old Rag Mountain

In April, warm and sunny weather broke through the cold grey winter. I was able to get in some big hikes, one out of every three days. The first hig hike of spring was Shenandoah's Old Rag Mountain on April 2.

This winter was pretty rough on me and my fit life journey; I'd gained five pounds from a combination of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise, so when I took on Old Rag I was weighing in at a beefy 335 pounds. Try not to laugh when imagining me heaving and hauling my deluxe-sized body over walls of boulders and squeezing through ascending and descending crevices. Encouraged by such an auspicious start as summiting the DMV's biggest, baddest (and perhaps baldest) Blue Ridge outlier, I'd hiked 10 pounds off by the end of the month.

A guy from work named Tom, who's in training to hike Mount McKinley this summer, hiked Old Rag with me. Rucking with 50 pounds on his back, Tom got a kick at how I handled my own 20-pound pack while at the same time grunting and groaning as I made my way precariously over, under and through the rock formations for two miles at the top.

Just prior to reaching the Old Rag rock scramble that day, Tom and I ran into a dude who been shopping at our store the day before - Abdiel. As it turns out, Abdiel would end up joining our little HTO hiking crew, too. As a result, the two of them would become avid hiking partners for as long as I could keep up with them; We ended up doing several high points in the Massanutten Mountain Range and elsewhere in the Appalachians before the month was out.

Abdiel and Tom on Massanutten's Buzzard Rock, overlooking Fort Valley

Signal Knob and Maneka Peak

Signal Knob and Maneka Peak was the first big Massanutten hike I did with Tom. About 100 yards from the Signal Knob overlook, there's a tower for Virginia public television. You'd think this would detract from the views, but its existence in no way takes away from the experience.

After spending a while panning the landscape at the Signal Knob overlook, a couple walked up who had a lot of knowledge about some of the topography you could see from here. I was able to gain connections from the geography I'd learned while living in the area for five years in the 1980s. The couple pointed out in the distance a series of small outliers from Great North Mountain.

One of these outliers rises up from the valley floor just west of the city of Winchester; It's called Apple Pie Ridge. This ridge, I remembered, is where I'd gone to the Ridge Campus of my high school for marching band practice. And it was during those many intensive band practices that I'd built up the base for my "hiking calves", marching in cadence and formations all while playing a saxophone at my core.

Hiking north, down from Kennedy Peak, overlooking Shenandoah Valley

High Peak and Massanutten Ridge

On a foggy and drizzly day, Abdiel and I hiked to High Peak along the Tuscarora and Massanutten trails. We heard more than 70 gunshots in Shenandoah's south valley that day, and I'm pretty sure we'd agree that we heard a bear rifling around near a newly rerouted section of the Tuscarora Trail, below Shawl Gap. There was a cool bear's den sort of outcropping along the trail. Maybe we were passing by its home and it was watching from a distance. In any event, we kept moving along.

Kennedy Peak and Edith Gap

It was a super sunny day when I hiked Kennedy Peak with Tom. The views from the Kennedy Peak tower are some of the best I've seen in the region. At the summit, Tom surprised me with a fish taco - simply a small flour tortilla filled with grilled asparagus and striped bass meat. But the meat was from a fish he'd caught only the day before at the confluence of the Potomac River approaching the Chesapeake Bay, so as we looked east from the summit tower, across the Shenandoah Valley and toward the Blue Ridge in the distance, this down-home Virginia-caught bass tasted especially good.

Buzzard Rock

Even after experiencing the overlook at Signal Knob and the high tower at Kennedy Peak, a much easier hike that I did with both Tom and Abdiel sticks in my mind most for the incredible vistas from its namesake rock. I say the vistas were incredible, but I honestly lost words at the moment I saw the view of Fort Valley and western ridges of the expansive northern Massanutten Mountain Range. Lost. Words. I possibly even gasped.

Buzzard Rock is the huge slab of rock that you see hanging high on the ridge to your left as you enter Fort Valley and the Elizabeth Furnace section of Washington National Forest from the north along Passage Creek. The day we hiked to Buzzard Rock, there was a group camp set up just down from ridge. We stopped and chatted with one of the group for a while, who told us he was a guide with a therapy outing. Some teen guys were being "straightened out" through leadership and trust exercises while rock climbing, or some such.

Next Steps

My hiking has slowed a bit in May, and it's been by choice - I felt for the first week at least I needed to recover. I'll be heading out on a big hike tomorrow, though. Tom and Abdiel are doing 13 miles at Crabtree Falls. I'd go with them but Tom leaves soon for a three-week expedition at Denali National Park, so I think he may want to go harder than I'll be able to handle. Instead, I think I'm going to opt for something shorter, around between seven and 10 miles, maybe in West Virginia.

So when am I going to start backpacking? I've taken four days off around my birthday weekend, so this is probably when it will happen. I still need to buy a backpack, which is a pretty big deal. It's going to cost me around $200, and it's a really big decision as to which one to buy. I need to do it soon, though. Meanwhile, I am planning to do some car camping in conjunction with big day hikes at wilderness areas around Charlottesville and Roanoke. But backpacking will happen soon. Stay tuned to see my progress!

Follow Brian's adventures on Instagram @fitlifechronicles. Check out his splash page at about.me/brian.schwarz.

Learning Boy Scouts outdoor and survival skills - not just for the young!

by Brian Schwarz

Time to get back to the blog Man of Merit, where I'm working toward the requirements of Boy Scouts merit badges. Who says you have to become an Eagle Scout before you turn 18 - it may take me a lifetime, but I think it's a worthwhile pursuit, so I'll keep at it as long as I need to, or as long as I can.

Ready for warmer weather? Hikes this winter were infrequent and short!

I've pretty much nailed Hiking and am well into several other merit badges, thanks to becoming an expert day hiker and hike leader with several regional trail organizations in 2014. This year, 2015, is all about continuing my skills improvement, migrating some of my fun from land to water and learning the basics Kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, known as SUP.

Camping will take a primary role whenever I'm able to link two days off in a row. When I'm able to get three or more days off, I will be venturing into Backpacking.

You should see the drafts I've written this winter about how I was going to brave the weather tomorrow and head out on the trail. Always "tomorrow", but tomorrow would almost always cut my planned five miler down to a pitiful mile, if I the weather was forgiving enough for me to be able to get out and get active at all.

I've overcome many of my weaknesses over the years, and as tempting it is to give up on becoming an all-weather hiker and just move south to a warmer climate - maybe Southern California or North Carolina, or perhaps Ecuador or the Mediterranean even - I am committed to life in the Northeast Megalopolis and will try better next winter.

For now, though, it's spring! And today's hike will be in the mid-70s with only a slight chance of a brief thundershower in the afternoon.

Today, I'm off to test a new pair of trail shoes I got yesterday - Altra's The Lone Peak 2.0. I'm used to hiking with much more stiffness and support, so before I head out with them for the 12-mile hike I'm leading on Sunday I thought I'd test them out on about five miles of rocky terrain this afternoon. The reviews online lead me to believe I'm going to love their performance, and I've got to say I'm already in love with the wider toe box and moderately cushioned soles.

The choice to live life as a Man of Merit is made moment by moment.

Subscribe to my blog if you agree that more of us should be focused on outdoor and survival skills building, no matter the stage of life. Until there are more curricula geared toward the middle age set, the Boy Scouts curriculum - with a few adaptations here and there - suits me just fine!

Hiking Merit Badge Earned; Now Let's Go Backpacking!

by Brian Schwarz

I'm ready to move on from the Hiking Merit Badge requirements and begin with Backpacking. The fact is that even though I didn't do the 20-mile hike as prescribed in the Boy Scout Requirements for the Hiking Merit Badge, I have more than earned it. Besides the fact that I've planned and executed several hundred hikes, including more than 60 during which I led groups), I also have to consider the level of difficulty of the hikes I've done.

Boy Scouts of America Hiking Merit Badge

The average 20 miler executed by a Boy Scout is along fairly level terrain. According to the Sierra Club hike rating system, this means one of these typical hikes could be rated as low as 20 if there is no significant elevation change (1 point equals 1 mile). Every 400 feet of elevation gain and/or loss is also equal to one point.

Case in point, in June of 2012 I planned and executed a hike to the South Summit of Sandia Mountain in New Mexico. This hike was 10 miles out and back, but with 3,000 feet of elevation gain and 3,000 feet of elevation loss, the hike would be rated at 25 - higher than what would be required by the 20 mile hike done on relatively flat terrain. And this was not even my most strenuous hike. Later I hiked the South Summit from a different route - a 12 miler with 4,000 feet elevation gain and 4,000 feet loss - which would have been rated as a 32 on the Sierra Club hike rating scale.

So with that, I am ready to move on. I consider the Hiking Merit Badge requirements to be complete and am excitedly moving on to Backpacking. Stay tuned as I ramp up to tackle this beast of a badge!

PS - I'm not giving up on doing a 20 miler or even completing the three-day 30 mile challenge I set for myself in a previous post. I simply realized that those two things were not necessary for me to consider this Hiking Merit Badge challenge complete for myself based on all that I have accomplished in hiking over the course of recent years. I'm just ready for this new challenge to begin and am setting my sights firmly on completing it. Next weekend I complete training to become an official member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club's Trail Patrol and in November I train to become a Sierra Club outdoor leader. I've also taken a job where I'll be exposed to all the best outdoor gear, so it is time for me to give my full focus to this and other new challenges.

Brian Schwarz is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C. Way to old to be an actual Boy Scout, Brian has set a goal to complete the requirements of Eagle Scout by his 50th birthday in August of 2021. While some slight modifications are made to the requirements along the way, the spirit of the Boy Scouts guide all efforts Brian has on his journey, living life as a Man of Merit.

Gearing up for a three-day, 30-mile hiking challenge

Yesterday, as I was sitting at the White Rocks Overlook in the Bull Run Mountains - an outlier ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Northern Virginia - I took some time to reflect on my goals. It is disappointing that I started this blog in 2011 with the intention of completing merit badges I'd not had the opportunity to complete as a kid, and to date I've made progress but haven't completed a single one! That's gotta change. That will change! I am more determined than ever.

Being a Boy Scouts dropout was not in my control when I was a teen - lots of factors made it impossible for me to pursue my goal of becoming an Eagle Scout, the most prominent being not having an older male mentor and feeling excluded due to being different from the other scouts in my troop. But as an adult, I know that it is my decisions, and not the conditions of my life, that determine my destiny. So if I fail to accomplish what I set out to do now, it is my own fault, and I can blame no one but myself.

Reflecting on goals, watching hawk migration from Bull Run Mountains

That being said, I have been conditioning this summer to complete my final 20-mile hike as part of earning the Hiking merit badge. Unfortunately, problems with my left foot and ankle - the result of an injury while hiking Mt. Tammany at the Delaware Water Gap last fall - have precluded me from hiking long distances. I have only been able to hike up to 10 miles at a time before my body just gives out on me. So here's what I'm thinking. Instead of giving up on my goals, I am going to re-invision them. I will remain true to the spirit of the 20-mile hike goal, but I'm going to create a plan that works for me given what my body is physically capable of.

This is my plan. Instead of doing 20 miles in one day, I will plan to hike 30 miles over the course of three consecutive days. This is still going above and beyond what I've ever done before, challenging myself in an equal nature to the way hiking 20 miles in one day would challenge me, but giving my body rest intervals to recharge and not do more damage to my weakened frame.

I will plan to do a 12 mile hike on day one, followed by a 10 mile hike on day two and an eight mile hike on day three. The 12-mile hike and the 10-mile hike will be hikes with little elevation gain. But the third and final hike will be a hike with some significant elevation - Old Rag Mountain. It will push me beyond what I believe myself to be capable of, but because I am conditioning to prepare for this three day challenge, I know I will be able to handle it.

My goal is to complete this challenge the end of October 2014. Since I have already completed every other challenge set forth in the Hiking book in the Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Series, once I complete this three-day, 30-mile challenge I will consider my hiking merit badge to be complete.

Meanwhile, I will also begin working on the Geology Merit Badge. This week I am reading through the manual and setting up an interview with a local geologist to interview and do a profile on him for my blogs.

Hiking: Setting goals for the summer

I am happy to report that I endured the harsh winter and am finally back to hitting the trails - hard! Last week for the first time in 2014, I achieved my 20-miles/week goal. For two years I was hiking 20 miles per week, but 2013 had seen a steady reduction in miles, and my fitness level has declined as a result. I just didn't have the same access to trails as before. For that reason, I've moved to a neighborhood that abuts a park with some mildly rugged trails, and from my front door step I can make a nice loop of between three and seven miles that includes a bit of city trekking mixed with good old dirt-and-rock single-track. I'm back in the zone. Location is everything.

During the dead of winter, I joined several organizations related to hiking, the sport that's got my passion. I joined the American Hiking Society, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, the Philadelphia Trail Club and the Appalachian Mountain Club. All of these organizations have incredible missions and tons of ways to get involved. But the one that reached out to me in a way I responded best to was the Appalachian Mountain Club - Delaware Valley Chapter. I had been looking for affordable outdoor leadership training, and they offered a two-day class for just $35. Cha-ching!

I attended the two-day training in the beginning of April, and throughout the month I have been training to be an outdoor leader with the AMC, which is the oldest conservation and recreation organization in the United States if you didn't know. After the two-day training at Nockamixon State Park, the club assigned a mentor under whose guidance I was to arrange to co-lead two hikes.

Serving as "sweep" on my first AMC-DV co-lead, April 2014

The first co-lead I did was with the DV chapter chair, Joan, on a brisk and sunny jaunt through the Tohickon Gorge. For that one I helped with registration at the trailhead and served as sweep on a hike of nearly 30 people. My second co-lead is one I actually planned and executed with the help of my mentor, Lennie, who is also the club's leadership chair. That one was just this past Saturday in the Upper Wissahickon Gorge, and I did it with Midori as the "leader", since Lennie was unable to hike that day. Midori's role was really to observe my leadership skills in the field and report back to Lennie.

While many people do this training to lead hikes with the AMC, I am still leading hikes independent from the AMC with the fitness-inspiration group I started, Hiking Megalopolis. I've held two hikes within the past 10 days - one was an Earth Day Hike in East Fairmount Park and another was a thru-hike of the Wissahickon Gorge. I am feeling that my fitness level is getting better than it was a month ago, but with this being said, I still need to train harder so I can finish that 20-mile hike I've been talking about since forever. I am still gung-ho as ever about it, but I fear my body is not up to it yet, so I have some preliminary weight loss goals that must be attained before I can set out on the hike with any degree of certainty for success.

I have set a goal to hike 20-miles per week as part of a fitness plan that includes core training with a medicine ball and strength training three days per week at the local YMCA. With this, and a healthy eating plan based on Michelle Obama's My Plate, I believe I will be able to achieve a large portion of my weight loss goals by August - around my birthday. This means that September is when I will plan my 20-miler.

September 7, there is a 5K on a historic trail near my house - The Boxer's Trail 5K. I plan to run this, and then two weeks later I will do my 20 mile hike. I am planning a route that leads from Love Park in Center City, Philadelphia, through East and West Fairmount Parks, and through the Wissahickon Gorge to Chestnut Hill.

Well, that's it for now. If you have any questions or comments for me about this post, please leave it below. And check out a list of my other blogs and social media contacts at About.Me/Brian.Schwarz.

Hiking: Is 2014 the year to hike my first fourteener?

Wow, I can't believe it's already 2014! I haven't posted here in a while, as I've been getting adjusted to my new home here in Southeastern Pennsylvania for the past eight months, hiking up a storm in the nearby Appalachian Mountains. In fact, I figure I did between 60 and 75 hikes this year.

The Catoctin Mountains, part of the Appalachians in Maryland

The first four months were spent hiking Sandia Mountain and other geological formations of central New Mexico. I hiked Pinnacle Mountain in Arkansas on my road trip back east, and the rest of the year was all about the Appalachians, from Western North Carolina to Northern New Jersey. I still haven't completed my goal 20-mile hike in a single day, but plans for it are in the works. Meanwhile, I'm thinking beyond that goal to another hiking goal I have in mind: hiking my first fourteener!

Although I absolutely love hiking the Appalachians, I am often inspired to research hikes out West. Ever since returning from New Mexico and Southern California, I've been thinking I really missed out by not hiking the Rockies in Colorado. Well, this year is the year. How epic would it be to hike my first fourteener in 2014!

I'm not sure how the details will all pan out, but I'm hoping that in either August or October to make the trip to hike either Longs Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park or perhaps one of the Collegiate Peaks. I need to do more research, but meanwhile, my mind and my heart are soaring in the Rockies tonight. I hope my body will be able to joint them soon.

For inspiration, John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High"!

 Happy Trails! And check out my blog HikeyHikey for info on great hikes from East Coast to West! And for more info on me, check out my splash page.

Hiking: Conditioning plan for Boy Scouts Merit Badge 20-miler

This summer I have been doing a bunch of hiking both locally in Philadelphia's Wissahickon Gorge as well as in the nearby Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont. Most of my hikes have been fairly intense - meaning they were usually greater than 7 miles and included some moderate elevation change (1,000+ feet) - but I haven't been exactly conditioning for my first "Boy Scouts Hiking Merit Badge" qualifying 20-miler, which has been a goal of mine for about two years now. Now that I've finally become accustomed to East Coast high-humidity hiking once again, though, it's time to get at it!

Recent conditioning hike, Lover's Leap Trail, Wissahickon Gorge

So, without further ado, here is my conditioning plan for preparing to do my first 20-miler.

1. Attack the core. When I first started hiking two years ago I had a core of steel. I had been focusing on my core for more than a year before, doing medicine ball exercises five days per week and planking every chance I got. These excellent habits have waned greatly over the past year, so step one is to get back into near-daily core work. I will return to doing my former medball workout every day except Tuesdays.
2. Hike with a mission. I am able to get to the Wissahickon Gorge to hike on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Normally I do about five miles each time I go, but now that I'm going to be focusing on conditioning or a 20 miler I've got to amp it up. That being said, I will begin hiking a minimum of eight fast miles at each outing. This means I'll hike with no significant rests for contemplation, picture taking or anything hippy dippy at all. I'm going to book it through those woods!
3. Hike for fun. On Saturdays, I have been in the habit of hiking with friends. This will be my opportunity to slow it down a bit and just enjoy being outdoors for the sake of it. I'm still going to hike fairly quickly, but I'll take time to stop and smell the Hemlock.
4. Hit the gym. After one full month of adhering to the first three steps outlined above, I will add strength training at the gym. I really miss lifting weights, but I know I don't want to bite off more than I can chew right off the bat. Besides, if I do too straight away I'm prone to injure myself, and that would be entirely counterproductive.

Hiking the north slope of Philadelphia's Wissahickon Gorge

Well, there it is. My conditioning plan for completing my first "Boy Scouts Hiking Merit Badge" qualifying 20-miler is fairly intense, but it is totally do-able. I just need to be focused on my goal and intentional about creating the habits over the next month that will prepare me to handle hiking 20 miles in one day between sun up and sun down.

Hiking: Trail Maintenance along AT and North Trail at Lehigh Gap

Today I joined Dave Scheid, trail maintenance co-chair with the Philadelphia Trail Club, and James Dunn, an Appalachian Trail Ridgerunner, to do some hedging of prickly greenbrier and other plants that had practically overgrown great sections of the blue-blazed North Trail, a scenic offshoot of the white-blazed Appalachian Trail just west of Lehigh Gap.

AT Ridgerunner, James, and PTC trails co-chief, Dave, on North Trail

I met Dave at the Translator Road parking area off of Mountain Road west of the gap, and we hiked up to the AT using an un-named spur trail - which we agreed to call the Birch Clump Trail, since there's a striking clump of white birch trees at the spot where it intersects the U.S.'s premier interstate long-distance trail. 

Looking west on the AT from Birch Clump Trail - AT intersection

From the birch clump, we hiked briefly east on the AT to the start of the North Trail, which shoots north but soon doubles back to the west as it traverses an exposed ridge of Blue Mountain, featuring nearly two miles of striking views of the Lehigh River and valley beyond.

Lehigh River and Pennsylvania Turnpike snake north from Blue Mountain

At the point where the North Trail cuts west, we came to a spur that to leads to the Devil's Pulpit, a precipice overlooking the Lehigh Gap that requires a precarious scramble to enjoy. I made a mental note to return here soon. For today, though, there was work to be done - and lots of it!

Clearing the trail from overgrown understory was the job of the day!

The North Trail runs through the Palmerton Zinc Superfund Site, Dave explained as we clipped away at rampant overgrowth. The entire north side of this section of Blue Mountain had been denuded at one point as soils were poisoned through the work of a now-defunct zinc smelter in the valley below. Trees are sparse along this ridge, but they are coming back. In fact, the once thriving American Chestnut is making a stand, though not a very tall one. The real growth here is the forest understory - the taming of which was the reason of today's trek.

American Chestnut makes a comeback on Blue Mountain near Lehigh Gap

Seeds were at one point dropped from the air to re-vegetate Blue Mountain's north face, from the Lehigh River to the ridge. And following the substantial rainfalls the area has experienced throughout this spring and summer, the site is thriving with ferns, tall grasses, sassafras and greenbrier, all of which are taking root and spreading like crazy over what Dave said in recent seasons looked more like a moonscape than a forest.

Hiking through rebounding Palmerton Zinc Superfund Site on North Trail

A little farther down the North Trail we ran into Ridgerunner James. James had hiked in from Lehigh Furnace gap with the intention of catching up with us. I'm glad he did! Listening to him and Dave talk clued me in on lots of trail trivia I might have missed out on if it were just Dave and I on our own. Dave is day hiker, like me. But James thru-hiked the AT in 2012, and now he spends many nights on the trail fulfilling his official role with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

Staving off our hunger along the way, we had been snacking on juicy wild blueberries that were growing in patches all along the North Trail. But as the morning mist began to clear and we realized it was already well past luncthime, we decided it was a good idea to have a bite to eat before finishing up and making our way back down the mountain. 

Wild blueberries! Our reward for hard work clearing the North Trail

As we sat down in the midst of a great boulder field, I noticed my arms and fingers were quivering. I joked that I thought I might be having a stroke, but James confirmed he was experiencing the same sensation, confirming it must have been the result of nearly three hours of walking and clipping, not of something more serious. Phew! After eating and hydrating, we made our way back to the AT and then eventually to a point along Translator Road, which we took back down the mountain to our cars.

Appalachian Trail - North Trail and Lehigh Gap 

For me, this day exceeded my expectations for my first trail maintenance experience. It was great exercise for one, and even though my purpose for coming out here was to give back to the hiking community, which has given me so much in recent years, I ended up walking away having received an amazing learning experience. If you think you might like to learn more about the AT or volunteering with the Philadelphia Trail Club - and I highly recommend you do - check out the PTC website or email Dave for information. Tell him Brian from Man of Merit blog sent you!

Brian Schwarz is an award-winning journalist whose career was derailed by super obesity. He fought his way back to health - losing 165 pounds in the process of his "fit-life journey". A professional communicator by trade and activator by nature, Brian's personal mission is to inspire others to live their fullest lives. Follow Brian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Hiking: Giving back to the community that gives so much

I suppose you could call me an avid hiker now. That's hard to fathom considering where I was just a few years ago. But it's true! In 2011, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to endure a two-mile walk in the woods. Now I've summited at least a dozen mountains and can handle hikes with as much as 4,000 feet of elevation gain and happily trudge fairly significant distances. I've gotten so much out of hiking, in fact, that now I feel it's time for me to give back.

Man of Merit and HikeyHikey blogger, Brian, on the Mill Creek Trail

Pennsylvania is home to an extremely active hiking community, a fact that was lost on me when I previously called this state home. I had spent the better part of a decade living in Pennsylvania - off and on from the mid-1980s to the late-1990s - and back then I can honestly say I only truly experienced the mountains of Pennsylvania through my car windows, on frequent commutes between my mom's home in the Susquehanna Valley of South Central PA to my university - IUP - located in the Laurel Highlands of Western PA.

I'm happy to report, though, that since I've returned to the Commonwealth I have discovered that Pennsylvania is home to thousands upon thousands of miles of trail, including portions of three national trails and a handful of other long trails. To manage this vast trail network, there are several hiking clubs that staff an army of volunteers - my local club is the Philadelphia Trail Club (PTC) - and there is even a statewide advocacy group - the Keystone Trails Association (KTA).

I have contacted both the PTC and the KTA this week seeking out volunteer opportunities, and these groups are so on the ball representatives have already contacted me and eagerly recruited me to get involved.

The PTC maintains a 10-mile portion of the Appalachian Trail, north of Allentown, and on Saturday, July 13, I will be joining members of the PTC's trail crew to clear an AT-access trail within PA State Gamelands near Lehigh Gap.

Mill Creek Trail, in need of some maintenance, French Creek State Park

On September 7, I will be volunteering as a trail sweep for the KTA's Super Hike along the Susquehanna River between York and Lancaster counties. For that event I'll be clearing the trail, making sure all participants are ahead of me and no one is left behind, while removing all flagging tape from the last quarter of the 29.6-mile course. (Next year I plan on training to actually do the Super Hike!)

Hiking is such an amazing activity for achieving and maintaining physical and mental fitness, so I'm excited about the chance to volunteer to support the local hiking community here in Pennsylvania. Maybe I'll meet some folks along the way, too, so I can finally find some hiking buddies to join me on my many planned hikes for the remainder of the summer and the rest of the year.

Brian Schwarz is an award-winning journalist whose career was derailed by super obesity. He fought his way back to health - losing 165 pounds in the process of his "fit-life journey". A professional communicator by trade and activator by nature, Brian's personal mission is to inspire others live their fullest lives. Follow Brian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Hiking: Planning seven hikes in Eastern Pennsylvania

Since arriving back on the East Coast two months ago, my hiking has been limited to the Orange and White trails of the Wissahickon Gorge, a rare gem of urban wilds that rises into the Piedmont through Philadelphia's northwestern city limits. I'm getting the itch now, though, to hazard deeper into the woods. So I'm making plans to venture farther north and experience a few of the many amazing trails of Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Highlands and the Pocono Mountains.

Beneath the canopy of green along one of Eastern PA's amazing trails

My goal is to experience the following seven hikes this summer as I continue to condition for my first ever 20-mile hike later this year:

1. Pulpit Rock and Pinnacle Vistas - Appalachian Trail

This hike will take me from the Hamburg Reservoir along a section of the Appalachian Trail which, according to what I've read online, boasts two of the best vistas along the Pennsylvania portion of America's premier long trail.

2. Neversink Mountain - City of Reading

I love urban-accessible hikes, so I'm excited about hiking this historic small mountain, wedged between downtown Reading and the Schuylkill River.

3. Camelback Mountain - Big Pocono State Park

The first time I heard about Camelback Mountain I was in the ski club at my high school in the Shenandoah Valley, on a trip to nearby Massanutten Mountain. The cool kids were excited about going to Camelback for a ski trip later that year. I learned that night that skiing was not really my forte, but now that I'm an avid hiker, I figured it's about time I check out what the fuss is all about.

4. The Falls Trail - Ricketts Glen State Park

Wow! Twenty-plus wateralls on one loop trail! I have to check this place out! Having spent the better part of two years hiking the desert mountains of Central New Mexico and Southern California, I am more than ready to experience a full-on riparian environment like this.

5. Glen Onoko Falls - Lehigh Gorge State Park

This hike is located just outside the town of Jim Thorpe, known as the "Gateway to the Poconos" and the "Switzerland of the Americas". I'd always been confused by town's name, which was renamed last century as a marketing ploy (bad move if you ask me). But now that I've learned the town's original name was actually Mauch Chunk, named "Bear Mountain" by the native Lenapi people who once called this place home, I feel much better about checking this place out.

6. Hiking French Creek State Park: Chestnut Hill-Mill Creek Loop

Beyond the Wissahickon, French Creek State Park in the Pennsylvania Highlands seems to be one of the best places to hike near Philadelphia. I'm hoping to get some friends to join me on this hike and possibly whet their appetites for longer, more strenuous trails, but unless I can make some local hiking buddies quickly it looks like I'll be doing this and the other hikes listed here all by my lonesome.

7. AT-North Trail Loop on Blue Mountain at Lehigh Gap

I had the opportunity to hike a few miles of trails here while doing trail maintenance with the Philadelphia Trail Club. What a great experience. I plan to return soon to do some real hiking soon. The best thing about this area is the exposed north face of Blue Mountain so hikers experience nearly two unbroken miles of views of the Lehigh River and valley beyond.

Roots that are deep in the forest - something we all share!

There are several other Eastern Pennsylvania hikes on my radar, but these are the most accessible for the time being - each is within just a couple hours' drive from Philadelphia, making them ideal day hikes. As I get more confident with camping, I would love to plan a backpacking trip to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon to do the West Rim Trail. But I will have to tackle that in a future blog post when I'm ready.

Thanks for reading!

Brian Schwarz is an award-winning journalist whose career was derailed by super obesity. He fought his way back to health - losing 165 pounds in the process of his "fit-life journey". A professional communicator by trade and activator by nature, Brian's personal mission is to inspire others live their fullest lives. Follow Brian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Hiking Update: Still working on accomplishing 20-miler

I recently relocated to Philadelphia from Albuquerque, and while the hiking offers little in comparison to the mountains of the Southwest there are still many excellent opportunities to explore. Just this week I did a five-mile hike a section of the Orange Trial in the Wissahickon Gorge, located in northwest Philly. In the morning I will return to hike the trail's entirety, which is about seven miles*. And I will be paying close attention to time as I hike the gorge tomorrow as I'm still seeking a 20-mile route to finally complete the last requirement of the Boy Scouts Hiking Merit Badge.

Training hike along Wissahickon Gorge Orange Trail, east of Lincoln Drive

Those who follow this blog may have noticed that I've already outlined a couple of options along the way for my 20-miler - one, an urban hike in Albuquerque, and the other, a wilderness hike in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish those plans. The hike in Albuquerque didn't happen as a result of the dangerous pedestrian conditions the city has become notorious for, while the San Jacinto hike was scrapped after I did the upper portion of the trail and realized degree of difficulty would be an impediment to its safe completion, especially considering my current weight, still dangerously in the obesity zone.

I'm still researching options, but what I'm thinking I may do for the 20-mile hike is to hike from downtown Philadelphia through Fairmount Park East and into the gorge, doing a loop of the Orange and Yellow trails, then returning to Philadelphia via Fairmount Park West. I don't have an exact plan yet, but I will be posting one sometime during the next month as I continue to lose weight and train.

Over the winter I packed on 20 extra pounds, and I will need to take that weight off before considering such a long hike. In fact, my goal is to get my weight down below 260 pounds again. After losing 165 pounds a couple of years ago I made it to 255 pounds before slowly putting on weight again. Now I weigh between 280 and 290 pounds, and I have recommitted myself to achieving my goal of overcoming obesity by achieving a weight of less than 227 pounds.

Thanks for reading this blog and my two related blogs, MyFitLife2Day and HikeyHikey. Also, I welcome and invite all your comments. Either leave a comment below or Tweet me @MyFitLife2Day.

*NOTE: To reach the start of the Orange Trail for tomorrow's training hike I'll take the Broad Street Subway from South Philadelphia to Olney Transportation Center in North Philadelphia, a 30-minute ride. From Olney I will transfer to the L Bus, which heads west toward Plymouth Meeting, and I'll get off at Germantown Pike and Northwestern Avenue. The trailhead is just beyond the southeast side of the bridge that crosses over the Wissahickon Creek on Germantown Pike, east of Harpers Meadow and Dewees Rock. I'll hike the entire Orange Trail, including the old section on the east side of Lincoln Drive, which ends somewhere under the rail bridge along Ridge Avenue. At this point I'll catch the 27 bus back to the Broad Street line.

Hiking: 20 mile trip plan to complete merit badge requirements

I have accomplished all requirements for the Boy Scouts Hiking Merit Badge except one, which is to hike 20 contiguous miles in a single day. This summer I laid out on this blog an ambitious plan to hike 20 miles from Palm Springs to San Jacinto Peak and back to the upper tram terminal. After careful consideration, however, I have determined this is just not do-able considering my current weight and fitness level. I am still planning on working up to this amazing hike, but in the interest of checking this Hiking Merit Badge goal off of my to do list I have decided to make a new plan.

Old Town Albuquerque will be one of the sights along my 20-mile hike

Currently, I'm back in Albuquerque enjoying Balloon Fiesta week and supporting my partner Khizer as he completes his final two weeks of training for the Duke City Marathon. I thought I would take advantage of the beautiful and crisp fall days here at an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet to do my final 20 miler as an urban hike. As such, I have mapped out a suitable route using MapMyWalk.com and will plan to accomplish this hike Thursday, October 11.

I will start at Khizer's place here in Barelas and begin my hike by heading east, up Coal Avenue to Nob Hill. This first leg of the trip is three miles and has an approximate 300 foot elevation gain (the only true gain on the hike). I'll get some coffee at Starbucks and then head back down the hill via Central Avenue and follow it west through University Heights and Downtown all the way to the Rio Grande, nearly eight miles into my hike.

From there I will take the Paseo del Bosque Trail north for about four miles to Montano Road. At just over 12 miles into the hike I will stop to get lunch at Flying Star on Rio Grande, where Khizer will be working. It will be nice to see his smiling face as I'm more than halfway to my goal.

After lunch I will take Rio Grande Boulevard south, passing Central Avenue, and then take a network of local streets, including Tingley Drive, to Bridge Boulevard, at 18 miles. I will then go east on Bridge to Broadway, then north to Coal Avenue, then back west to 3rd, and finally south to arrive home at the 20-mile mark.

I estimate this hike will take about 10 hours, considering I will average a pace of between two and three miles per hour and take breaks whenever I find something interesting to look at and photograph - like balloons floating overhead, the gorgeous Rio Grande and cottonwood trees of the bosque, and of course Old Town.

I will wear plenty of sunscreen, wear my wide-brimmed hat and carry snacks and three liters of water (I'll need more but I'll be able to re-fill at the halfway point, so no problem).

Stay tuned for the hike report on Friday. Hmmmm, I wonder how I'll celebrate finally accomplishing this goal. Any suggestions?

Swimming: Assessing skills and setting goals

From its inception, the Man of Merit blog has focused on my fulfilling the requirements of the hiking merit badge, since hiking has been my exercise of choice for the past year of my fit life journey. I have decided, though, that since I am still working toward completing the capstone of the hiking merit badge - completing a 20-mile hike in one day - I should up the ante on my fitness pursuits by taking on another goal. As such, starting today, I will begin working toward the swimming merit badge as well.

How could I not go for the swimming merit badge with access to this?

As many of you know, I am an adult who, upon turning 40 last year, took up the goal of spending the next 10 years trying to accomplish my dream of completing the requirements for the Boy Scouts Eagle Scouts rank. I dropped out of scouts when I was younger because I had low self-esteem and felt I couldn't keep up with the other boys. Now that I have the confidence, I may not officially be able to earn the Eagle Scout rank but I'm sure as hell going to benefit from the experience I missed out on all those years ago.

Achieving the Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout rank requires that scouts earn a total of 21 merit badges. Ten of these are considered core requirements, and among the 10, only nine are mandated. For one, scouts are given a choice among three options - hiking, swimming and cycling. So I will probably plan on taking up the cycling merit badge once I have lost a bit more weight, too.

While I have wanted to add swimming to my fitness routine for a while, it just wasn't convenient. But I recently moved to the sunny and hot desert region of the Coachella Valley in Southern California, and the community where I live in has a pool that's perfect for taking on this new challenge. So here I go!

My friend Dan will help me with the requirements of this merit badge that require two people. He recently gave me a swimming lesson that helped me improve my breathing while doing the crawl stroke, and he said he'd be glad to help me further my swimming goals.

The requirements of the swimming merit badge can be found on the Boy Scouts of America web site. I already know I can do many of the requirements and will get with Dan soon to check these off my list. Meanwhile, I will begin with requirement five - the strokes - since these are the fundamentals that I still may need a little work on. Here is what is stated in requirement five of the BSA swimming merit badge:

Swimming: Req. 5. Swim continuously for 150 yards using the following strokes in good form and in a strong manner: front crawl or trudgen for 25 yards, back crawl for 25 yards, sidestroke for 25 yards, breaststroke for 25 yards, and elementary backstroke for 50 yards.

For the past week I have been swimming a little over 150 yards each day of both the front crawl as well as the breaststroke, so I'm good with these. The elementary backstroke and sidestroke I know are easy for me, so this will not be a problem. But the back crawl might pose some difficulty for me, so I think I'll head out to the pool in a little bit to practice this.

Based on the size of the pool I have access to - which is approximately 50-feet long in the center lane - I will plan on doing the following to complete this requirement by swimming the following continuous progression:

1. Front crawl - two lengths
2. Back crawl - two lengths
3. Sidestroke - two lengths
4. Breaststroke - two lengths
5. Elementary backstroke - three lengths

For the first four of these strokes I will actually be swimming 33 yards instead of 25 because of the length of the pool. This is good, I figure, since I am older than the typical scout who would be doing this and possibly in greater need of the extended aerobic exercise! Plus, some of the other requirements of the swimming merit badge include lifesaving and survival skills, for which I will need to be in better shape than I currently am in.

As always, I appreciate all my followers for reading, commenting and sharing my blog with others. This blog is my way of tracking my progress and creating accountability for myself as I pursue my goals. You're a big part of that! Thanks!

Thoughts from the hiking trail to San Jacinto Peak

Out on the trail, a man has a lot of time to think. This past weekend, I spent 7.5 hours in the San Jacinto State Park Wilderness. While I did say "hey" to a few of my fellow hikers, and I even stopped to chat with a few, the majority of that time was spent with my thoughts.

Collection of maps and guides for San Jacinto and Southern California

I'm a map guy, so I had several maps with me to help me find my way from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway's Mountain Station to the summit of San Jacinto Peak, looming 10,834 feet above the Los Angeles Basin. I picked up the free state parks map from the ranger station, and I bought the $2 map available at the tram's gift shop. I even brought along two hiking guide books with maps of their own. I was well equipped to find my way.

Sign near the San Jacinto Peak trail head in Long Valley

Still, as I walked from the lush forests of lodgepole pines at the bottom of Long Valley to the sloping fields of enormous black-speckled white boulders above, my eyes took constant notice of the trail and its many signs, made by nature as well as left by man.

A ridgeline rises from the mostly dry stream-bed leaving Long Valley

Trails have a way of following the easiest route, much like water. In fact, many old trails follow the paths of the flourishing and green riparian environment, close to streams where travelers and their animals would find refreshment and cool respite away from the blazing sun. Other trails follow ridge-lines, where the elements of land and sky come together to aid onward navigation. At least that's how it is here in the desert southwest, home of grand mountains.

From Round Valley, Cornell Peak, rises to 9,721', still 1,000' below the goal

Along the well-worn path to San Jacinto peak, I followed the low trail, along a creek bed whose springtime rush had calmed and collected in near-still pools among the leaf litter of the forest floor, a vibrant riparian canyon. The trail signs led me, sometimes steeply up the sloping canyon walls, to the popular wilderness campground at Round Valley. From there I could see the various smaller peaks within Mount San Jacinto State Park, which lead northward toward the mountain's high point - San Jacinto Peak. Even these smaller peaks seemed so far off. Later, though, as I reached the top, I was humbled by the realization of how small they actually were, and by knowing that I was that much smaller still.

Rain over lower Coachella Valley and Salton Sea, seen from Wellman Divide

Continuing on, I struggled a mile or so more to reach the popular resting point Wellman Divide, a saddle where one catches the first glimpse of the sweeping Coachella Valley below, and of the Salton Sea many miles to the southeast, that disappears into the shimmering grey horizon.

Tall pines thrive among a field of black-speckled white boulders

The trail rises gently to the east en route to San Jacinto Peak

From Wellman Divide a number of trails branch off, which at first glace is confusing, but fortunately a clearly marked junction sign post was there to spark me off again in the right direction. The trail from the divide is more gentle, slowly climbing through a boulder field - more impressive than the one before - and rising finally above treeline to reveal carpets of low-lying alpine shrubs. The shrubs were teeming with bees, so much so that as I sat silent on a rock amidst them their buzz sounded almost mechanical and techno, like I was inside a factory of some sort as machines droned on to do the work of man.

Gently beauty on upper portion of San Jacinto Peak trail from Long Valley

The bees love these alpine shrubs on the trail to San Jacinto Peak

The upper reaches of the trek became less well-signed and I had to rely more on informal forms of finding my way. The final ascent led to an emergency cabin, constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and from this point any sense of an official trail all but disappears. The remaining climb becomes a free-for-all scramble. Cairns, or piles of rock left by hikers who have come before, give a general idea of which way to turn. Everyone seems to pick their own best way here, as the trail spreads out and you are suddenly joined by folks who took other routes up to the peak. Eventually you find yourself maneuvering among a cap of loosely fitting large boulders, one of which is higher than all the others on this great mountain.

Emergency cabin, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s

Cairn marks the way to the final reaches of the San Jacinto Peak trail

Pulling myself up onto these huge behemoths of rock made me tense as I could not ignore the question of how I might make my way back down. But the call of the summit was great, and capturing it was the only thought imminent, and I was sure that reaching it was the only way to make sense of all the effort I'd put into finding my way to this point in the first place. So I tucked my maps and my camera in my backpack, took my time boulder by boulder, and finally made my way to my destination on top of Mount San Jacinto.

The end of the trail, San Jacinto Peak, elevation 10,834 feet

Peace and victory, at the top of the world on San Jacinto Peak

Flush with joy upon reaching the summit, I almost lost my balance and fell off the slanted pile of boulders as soon as I'd topped it. Fortunately, I maintained balance, and so I hopped on the capstone boulder for just long enough to have a 360-degree view and let a fellow hiker take my picture to mark the accomplishment. There were others waiting for their own photo opp, so I shimmied my way back down, and as I stepped on a boulder just under the one on top, I noticed that tucked beneath it was a little box apparently holding the remains of a mountaineer who never made his way back down.

Unfortunate reminder that not all who make it to San Jacinto Peak return

From here I snapped a few shots and finally had a great look around, making my way from 2nd-tier boulder to 2nd-tier boulder, to identify the surrounding peaks of the Transverse Range and the small mounts of Catalina and the Channel islands I could make out far to the west. Then I made my way back to the main trail to begin my descent to the trail head.

View of Diamond Valley Lake and Laguna Mountains from San Jacinto Peak

What I thought about during all that time out on the trail is hard to put it in to just one simple sound bite. But as you read through my blogs and follow me on the adventures yet to come, you'll probably get a good idea of what's going on in my head as I ramble round the wild places of the world.

And please know, I really do appreciate you reading my blog and joining me on my adventures. It's great to be alone sometimes, but friends are what truly make living worthwhile!

For more info on the hike to San Jacinto Peak, check out the blog HikeyHikey! For info on hiking and other fit-life activities, check out MyFitLife2Day.

Conditioning hikes, mindfulness and your encouragement

I set a goal recently to complete the 20-mile Cactus-to-Clouds (C2C) hike. In terms of day hikes, it's massive. In fact, it's been called the most challenging day hike in the lower 48 states. The hike starts on the desert floor, just outside of Palm Springs, California. From there, the trail climbs unrelentingly more than 10,000 feet over the next 14.5 miles to reach the peak of Mt. San Jacinto. After catching your breath - and enjoying the breathtaking views (on a clear day it's said you can see the Channel Islands) - you have to make your way back down the trail, 4.5 miles, to reach the upper terminal of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway before it closes.

My first SoCal hiking book - will look for more guides once I'm there!

A goal like this would be huge for anyone. I feel it's even huger for me. I'm a larger guy - weighing in at 275  pounds on a good day - and rigorous hiking like this would require a level of physical fitness greater than where I am today. Don't get me wrong - I'm in fairly good shape, and physically I am confident I could handle this hike. But I would have a seriously hard time getting it done during one day's light unless I can become quicker on the trail. For this, I'll need to lose weight as well as do more frequent conditioning walks and hikes.

Climactic extremes make this hike an even greater challenge. Late spring after snow caps melt and late fall, before the first snow falls, offer limited windows of opportunity to do the C2C hike comfortably. The probable weekend for me doing this C2C hike is the last weekend in October - a week after my buddy Khizer runs his first marathon here in Albuquerque.

I'll have to set out on the trail at first light, perhaps a bit before, and I will need to get back to the tram before dusk - if possible. I will obviously carry the proper emergency equipment for night hiking and the possibility of an unexpected overnight stay on the mountain. But really, I should be proactive and focus my efforts over the next two months on shaving off time by shaving off some of this excess weight.

That I need to lose weight is not news to me - I have weight loss goals and have lost a significant amount of weight already just to make even these last six 10-milers I've hiked possible. The extra weight will be remedied in large part by certain portion size and food choice modifications. I am also working on getting back into my former medicine ball and plank habit, which has helped significantly during my fit life journey. But for August and September, I am focusing more than ever on conditioning - preparing and carrying out hikes that will get me ready for the big hike to come.

The book 101 Hikes in Southern California, by Jerry Schad, says conditioning hikes for the C2C hike should "include 5,000 feet or more of elevation gain, plus exposure to elevations of 9,000 feet or more."

Descending from Mt. Taylor Peak on the Gooseberry Spring Trail

So far both of my conditioning hikes have climbed above 9,000 feet - Sandia's La Luz Trail to the crest (10,678 ft. elev.) and Mt. Taylor's Gooseberry Spring Trail to the peak (11,301 ft. elev.) - but neither fits the bill with regard to elevation gain (3,600-ft. and 2,000-ft. gain respectively). My next few conditioning will  be:

1. Humphrey's Peak, tallest peak in Arizona, San Francisco Peaks (12, 637 ft. elev./3,333 ft. gain)
2. Sandstone Peak, tallest peak in the Santa Monica mountains (3,111 ft. elev./1,400 ft. gain)
3. Old Baldy, tallest peak in the San Gabriel mountains  (10,068 ft. elev./2,300 ft. gain)
4. Old Greyback, SoCal's tallest peak, San Bernardino mountains (11,503 ft. elev./4,000 ft. gain)
5. The "easy" and "middle" ways to San Jacinto Peak (10,834 ft. elev.), 2,600 ft. elev. gain from Palm Springs and 4,400 ft. gain from Idyllwild)

I will also be doing more conditioning walks throughout the week, as well as working out at the gym and swimming regularly to increase my cardio performance.

To be honest with you, the C2C feels out of reach right now, but I have faith that my hard work and mindfulness I will be ready to do it when the time comes. As always, I appreciate my readers and their encouraging comments, as feedback of all forms helps me to reach higher each time I try something new. Thanks!