Hike and Bike

Its always hard to get outside in the winter for some exercise so when Jack asked if I wanted to join on a hike I said why not. We ended up doing a hike around the lake at Mercer County Park. I had been on most of the mountain bike trails over the years so it was a familiar area to walk around. Jack Laura and I started from the boat house and did a clockwise loop around the lake. I haven't done any real hiking in about 5 years and really don't have good hiking shoes or jacket but made do with some work boots and a ski jacket.

I was a long hike of 7.7 miles that took about 3 hours. We had to stop about halfway though to fix Laura's boots because the soles were falling off. Although it was just above freezing I was warm once we started the hike. The hike gave me a chance to see a couple areas of the park that I haven't been before. It was the longest that I hiked in years and I was a little sore by the end but would do more hikes this season if I wasn't able to get out on the bike.

Sunday Laura had a ride on the canal path from Blackwell Mills to the end of the canal by Rutgers. We had been up to the to where the Raritan meets the Millstone a couple of weeks ago so Laura wanted to go all the way to the end. There was some snow left over from a flurry on Saturday so the path had patches of snow on it

It was just Laura, Peter and myself as we worked our way north. The first 6 miles was familiar since I had done it a couple of weeks ago. Because of the cold and snow it wasn't as muddy as last time. The path was in good shape most of the way. There were  a few rough spots around Bound Brook. Once we got to Landing Lane and cross the road the last quarter mile to the actual end of the canal was more a single track than a path. We spent a few minutes taking pictures of the end of the canal before starting back.

It was just over 13 miles from the Blackwell Mills to the end so it took us a while to make our way back. It was a little warmer and the path was a little softer in spots but not much worst than the way out. We stopped for a quick break where the Raritan meets the Millstone. Then road the last 5 miles back.

I still haven't done the part of the canal path from Washington Crossing to Trenton but now have been on almost every part of the canal path.