Mike,

Saturday was my first visit but I thought it was worth the effort. A lot of the trail was pretty isolated from suburban sights and sounds but still one is never far from paved roads. The multiuse trails (paved) were pretty busy with folks taking walks or doing some jogging. But the forest trails were pretty empty. Of coure might be different in warmer weather...

I think the next hike will be at the Heinz Refuge down near the airport. French Creek is also supposed to be pretty nice. Picked up a copy of a Falcon Guide to Hiking Pennsyvania. It has 55 guided hikes throughout the state.

Andy

PS. Never been geocaching, can't say that the concept is all that enticing to me.

"...geocaching, can't say that the concept is all that enticing to me..."

It can be fun. If nothing else, it gets you outdoors, and you get to become more proficient with your GPS

Sounds like a fun trip!

You probably have this covered, but have a compass to use with your map as backup to your GPS when it fails.

Sort of. I have a button compass on top of my hiking stick and had I remembered to bring said stick it would have been useful. I was wearing a watch with a built in compass (there's a thread about that around here somewhere). I carry spare batteries for the GPS. The map reading was also a re-learning experience as I had to remember to orient the map properly as I was trying to figure out which way to turn. Sigh...

OBG, I've read about this finding other people's trinkets using technology and sturdy shoes but it just sounds like too much work! lol

Yeah, Geo-Caching is kind of the high technology version of orienteering.
There is a lot more to navigation than just relying on a GPS reciever though.
You still need the maps because the GPS will give you direct courses unless you set your own waypoints.
The GPS will expect you to walk over a lake or a cliff instead of around it when it sets your course.


I keep a moderately good sighting compass with me all of the time. Silva makes a nice little folding one called the huntsman or the guide.
There are tons of inexpensive military lensatics around too.
A compass lets you just use the GPS for occasional position fixes, which is what it is really good at.
This means your batteries will last much longer.

Orienteering and the little button compasses are not as good for me because they have no way of sighting them.
Being able to take a back bearing on a landmark can be really helpful in locating your position on a map.
http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/topomaps/bearing.htm