đ„Ÿ Hike time | Outdoorsy Newsletter
And mysterious notes in parks
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Weâre in that sweet spot between summer and fall where itâs not too hot to take on a trail, and itâs not too cool to prefer staying indoors just yet.
New Jersey may be mostly flat, but there are great hikes hiding in plain sight. Jason Nark points us in the right direction with his hiking picks for the season. Grab your boots and letâs go.
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âïž Your weekend weather outlook: The weekend looks mostly sunny. High 70s for Saturday and 75 for Friday.
â Paola PĂ©rez (outdoorsy@inquirer.com)
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Slowly but surely, weâre getting into fall. Going for a hike is one solid way to score a spectacular view of Mother Natureâs transformation.
Jason Nark flat out thinks fall is the best season to hike â and Iâm compelled to agree â but he also points out that it feels like the shortest.
So where should we go while fall lasts? Jason narrowed down some spots to check out in the link below, plus some important tips:
Hiking on sand can be deceptive. It may be flat, but it can slow you down. You might not want to break in your new boots in some adventures.
The Pinelands are home to two monsters (no, not the Jersey Devil or rattlesnakes): ticks and chiggers. Protect yourself accordingly.
If you see a black bear, remember to stand your ground and yell. Donât play dead.
From large and small, easy and hard, see Jasonâs list of five great hikes to try this fall in the Garden State.
News worth knowing
Officials in New Jersey say there have been no reports of used hypodermic needles or other garbage washing up on local beaches after incidents in Delaware and Maryland last weekend. Sadly, needles washing ashore along the Atlantic Coast is nothing new.
Sept. 24 is National Public Lands Day, the nationâs largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. Use this online locator to find events observing NPLD in your area.
Did you catch the âsupermoonâ rise this week? Conditions werenât great, but good news: another one is due in October.
For the best in hyperlocal organic produce, you could shop at any of Philadelphiaâs upscale supermarkets â and expect to pay a high price. Many food-insecure city residents can get the best in hyperlocal organic produce, too, and itâs free.
đ€ Now weâre passing the microphone to Jason. Youâll always find his work here. Hereâs one I wanted to bring you from earlier this year.
Neatly folded notes crammed with just about every conspiracy theory and internet buzzword imaginable keep popping up in rural Pennsylvania, some illegally tucked inside cereal boxes and others pinned to pine trees in state and local parks.
Unfolded, the notes are mostly indecipherable, containing a coded run-on sentence of secret societies, sci-fi movie mentions, and name drops like âMuskâ, âBill Gates,â and âOprah.â
âItâs tied to Saturn, Lord o/t Rings/time,â one line reads.
The FBI, Food & Drug Administration, and elected officials in Pennsylvania are all aware of the notes, but no oneâs been caught in the act of actually planting them.
Philly had its own strange ânoteâ phenomenon with its Toynbee Tiles, which were found embedded into city streets and, eventually in other states, with messages about Stanley Kubrick and Jupiter, mostly in the 1990s and 2000s. While the Toynbee Tiles had an art house vibe, the Schuylkill Notes feel a bit darker. â Jason Nark (Jan. 2024)
Read on for whatâs inside the conspiracy-laden notes and what officials are asking the public to do if they find one.
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Have fun out there.
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