G2 Peaks Trip 1 – 3 Peaks (3/50)

Pennsylvania and Maryland

And we’re off on our first trip as official peakbaggers. I flew into New Jersey on

November 4, 2020 and had a fun night at Al and Dana’s house drinking beers by the

firepit getting ready for a weekend of adventure. All 12 of us met at 5am and hit the

road in our 12 passenger van towards Pennsylvania’s high point, Mt. Davis at 3213’.

There was a sign on the side of the road that said Pennsylvania high point and for a

second we were worried that was the only site to see! Once we realized where the

trailhead was we started off on our hike. This was an easy one with a watchtower

along the way and a structure at the actual high point. We hustled back down and

hit the road towards Maryland to hike Hoye Crest. This hike was also rather

uneventful, an easy 2 miles roundtrip. The trail was being used as a logging road, so

it was muddy with massive tire marks. The high point was a much prettier view

where we snapped our photos and got our headlamps on for a dark trek back down.

We hit the road again this time towards West Virginia for a fun dinner together,

cake to celebrate my birthday, wine and laughs.

West Virginia- Spruce Knob

A few of the girls still say that West Virginia is their favorite peak so far. At 4863’

and 11 miles, it was just a stunning hike. We hit the road early on Nov 6 and started

the hike without a hitch. About .5 a mile into the hike Dana and I heard a low

vibrating growl, which really scared us. No big deal we told the girls, good reminder

to stay together. So, she and I led the pack up maybe another 100 ft and we heard

it again on the other side of the trail! Well, I screamed and ran, the 2 things you’re

not supposed to do in those situations!!! Thankfully, it didn’t end up being anything

more than that, but it definitely gave me some jitters for a couple miles. The whole

trail was beautiful and the weather was perfect – we understood why it was called

Spruce Knob. We passed by really cute campgrounds and fun manmade areas to sit

and have a fire. We had a late night back to New Jersey then I hopped on the train

to NYC the next morning to have a fun day with June, which happened to be the day

Biden was officially elected and the whole city was out celebrating on a gorgeous

New York City day.

Fun trip and perfect way to start our Peakbagging experience!!