Piper goes Viral after hiking Crum Woods

Posted in Hikes, Piper by Annie T

Holy Cow. This photo of Piper has received over 23,000 views on Flickr since yesterday morning:

I wonder… does having 23,000 views qualify as “going viral”? It is certainly the most buzz any content that I’ve ever created has garnered in a short period of time! To her credit, Piper is pretty freakin’ adorable in this photo so I don’t blame those 23,000 people for clicking on her photo. 😉 The full resolution image can be viewed here if you’re interested in seeing it in all its viral glory on Flickr.

Anyway… I took The Photo while hiking with Pipe and Matt in Crum Woods. This 220-acre woodland is situated on the western edge of Swarthmore College’s campus in Delaware County, PA. It features 3.5 miles of hiking trails, fantastic views of Crum Creek, and a giant railroad bridge that carries Septa’s Media/Elwyn line over the creek.

Trail Map with our Route Overlayed

Treacherous southern end of the Crum Woods trail

A much nicer trail

To access the Crum Woods trail we parked on the western (opposite) side of Crum Creek at the Leiper-Smedley trail parking lot off of Avondale Road and walked down Avondale to Yale Ave. The trails in this southern section of Crum Woods were dotted with tree roots and sloped steeply down to the creek, but the path evened out to a nice walking trail once we made it north of the trailhead by the Swarthmore College fieldhouse.

Rail Trestle

I loved this bridge!

Piper in Crum Meadow

“This ice stuff is slippery!!”

I love train tracks and bridges, so it’s no surprise that my favorite part of Crum Woods was where the Septa rail line crossed Crum Creek. Just before reaching the bridge the trail emerged out of the woods into “Crum Meadow,” where Piper licked her first frozen puddle and we had great views of the trestles crossing the creek. The view from under the bridge was even more impressive and I may have made Matt and Piper wait around for 5-10 minutes just in case a train came along while we were under it. (Sadly, we did not see a train.)

After reaching the northern terminus of Crum Woods, we decided to make the hike more interesting by looping back to our car via the paved Leiper-Smedley trail on the other side of the creek. Unfortunately Crum Woods and Leiper-Smedley are not officially connected on the northern end, so in order to access L-S we had to jog a short stretch of Plush Mill Road and skirt along the shoulder until we reached the trailhead. We were lucky that Piper was still small enough for Matt to easily carry her during this stretch… this impromptu trail connection would not have been ideal if we had had a larger dog or small children in tow.

Rail Bridge over Leiper-Smedley

Piper on the Leiper-Smedley Trail

Our return trip along the Leiper-Smedley Trail was uneventful and mostly downhill, woohoo! I’ve run on this trail several times, most recently going UP the trail in the other direction at the Fueled Up and Fired Up 5K in September. The trail is well marked and has a much less exciting train bridge on it than Crum Woods… but it’s a train bridge nonetheless, so of course I took a picture!!

I definitely enjoyed our Crum Woods hike because I had never been to Crum Woods before, but overall it was a bit of a choppy walk and there are probably better hiking loops in the area. The southern portion of the trail was a little treacherous and the northern end didn’t technically connect to Leiper-Smedley, but with good hiking shoes and a quick jog up Plush Mill Road we made it work. Plus, Piper thoroughly enjoyed herself and was very tired afterwards… Mission Accomplished!!!

Useful Links:
• Crum Woods Web Site
• Official Crum Woods Trail Map & Brochure (PDF)
• High-res version of Crum Woods Map with our 4 mile hike overlayed (JPG)

26Nov2014

Snow Day!

Posted in Piper by Annie T

Happy Thanksgiving eve! It snowed in eastern Pennsylvania today. The snow might have been less than ideal for people traveling along the I-95 corridor for the holiday, but Matt and I were off from work and had a blast playing with Piper in her first snowstorm.

Piper took the snow in stride. She spent the first several minutes trying to eat the mysterious white stuff, then joined Matt for a slippery game of fetch. I snapped some photos as they played.

Snow day dog

Hi, Piper!

Stalking in teh snow

Tennis Ball!

Matt and Piper playing fetch

Fun perspective on Piper

Camouflage Puppy

Enjoying the snow day!

After our playtime in the snow we went inside for hot cocoa (for us) and nap time (for Pipe). So far she’s been great about settling down for quiet snuggle time on the couch while we watch tv (or edit snow day photos). I’ll have to take a photo of her actually sleeping someday (my mom still doesn’t believe that Piper EVER sits still!) but for now I’ll leave you with this gem. I love this wacky puppy!

25Nov2014

Piper visits Newlin Grist Mill

Posted in Hikes, Piper by Annie T

As you might expect, Piper’s arrival has had a big impact on our daily routine. Matt and I are waking up earlier on work days, stopping home 2-3 times to let her out during the day, and (still!) taking turns setting an alarm for a middle-of-the-night potty break. We are also making sure to do at least one mentally and/or physically stimulating activity with Piper every day to tire her out. On weekdays it’s practically dark when we get home from work which limits us to activities around the house like wobble-disc practice in the kitchen or epic games of fetch in the back yard. (Fetch is, of course, frequently interrupted when Piper gets distracted and tries to eat deer poop, but I digress!) Weekends, however, are a whole different story… daylight means that we can go hiking!

Since Piper is still very young, meandering hikes in the woods are a great way to tire her out without causing too much stress on her joints. To keep things interesting, we’ve been visiting a different local park or trail each weekend. This has been a fun way to re-explore some of our old favorite hiking spots that I’ve been meaning to blog about for a while. One such local gem is Newlin Grist Mill.

Newlin Grist Mill is a 160 acre park and historical site in Glen Mills, PA. You can read more about the park’s history, working grist mill and educational programs on their web site. I’m sure that all of that historical stuff is cool (convincing plug, right?) but WE visit the park for its miles of secluded nature trails that wind along an abandoned rail line and a beautiful stream. Here are some photos from our hike a few weekends ago…

Brilliant fall foliage at Newlin Grist Mill

Piper

Piper taking a break

Piper

Grist mill history on display

Stream crossing below the waterfall

Newlin Grist Mill’s trails are well maintained and clearly marked, but I have not been able to find an actual detailed trail map of the park. There’s a basic map at the parking lot showing park boundaries and general right-of-ways, but it’s missing most of the side trails that we actually hiked on. Luckily, the park is relatively small and most of the major trails tend to be oriented east-west along the old rail line and stream. This makes it hard to get lost and fun to explore… perfect for hiking with a 10-week-old puppy!

If you’re in the western Philadelphia suburbs and are looking for a low-key, relaxed hike with lots of stream views and history, I’d definitely recommend spending an afternoon at Newlin Grist Mill!

Newlin Grist Mill
219 South Cheyney Road
Glen Mills, PA 19342 (map)
www.newlingristmill.org

14Nov2014

The Darlington Trail (Piper-style!)

Posted in Hikes, Piper by Annie T

On Halloween Matt and I took Piper hiking on the Darlington Trail. The Darlington Trail is a public hiking trail in Middletown Township, Delaware County, PA that winds along Chester Creek and an abandoned section of railroad that once connected Media to West Chester. Naturally, I brought my camera along to document this adventure and wanted to share a few of my favorite shots here.

Warning… lots of cute puppy photos ahead!!! 😊

Piper loved climbing around on the train tracks and even walked on one track balance beam-style for a few steps.

In order to get a good photo angle of little Piper I ended up lying down on the tracks, which put me at the perfect level for a surprise puppy attack!