Step into fall, hike them all!  Tom recently had to take a short break from riding his trike, so we started looking for an alternative exercise.  I like walking and do a three mile loop in Char-Mar Ridge Park across the street every morning.  I was willing to do more walking but needed to mix it up from the usual.  In doing a little research into the parks around us, I found the Delaware County Preservation Parks Step into Fall, Hike Them All program.

Tom and I always did the Fall Hiking Spree when we lived in Summit County, and the Step into Fall sounded similar.  In Summit County they picked one trail per park and you hiked a total of eight trails to earn a hiking stick or medallion.  We completed the hiking spree 20 times during the years we lived in Summit County.

The Delaware County Step into Fall program is similar.  You hike trails in each of the Delaware County Preservation Parks to earn a hiking stick or medallion.  There is one big difference.  In Delaware County, you have to hike EVERY trail.  When I read that, I was ready to close the page on doing the program.  After all, there are 13 Preservation Parks.  Hiking all the trails seemed overwhelming.

But then I read the fine print.  Of the 13 parks, only ten are included in the Step into Fall program.  And, although many of the parks have more than one trail, many of them are short.  The total of all the trails in the Step into Fall program:  less than 19 miles.  Okay, we can do that.

Tom and I started the program on September 23 with the park across the street.  We hiked the 1.7 mile trail at Char-Mar Ridge Park.  September 24 we headed to the next closest park, Hogback Ridge Park, but it was closed!

Thwarted in our plan!  What did we do?  Where will we go next?  Will we be able to complete the Step into Fall challenge before the deadline on November 1?  Will we get our medallion?  Follow along in the blog to find out!