Brandywine End-To-End

If you've ever thought about hiking the trail, the best time to do that is on one day each year in early April. Having hiked the trail twice on those days, I thought that

Amy French, Linda and unknown hiker crossing a creek in the first third of the hike. The ground is often muddy in April in Pennsylvania.

I would share some of my experiences, in the hope of encouraging you. These hikes begin with a whistle in the early morning twilight at the northern end of the trail. The hikers set out at once in a throng. But after the first miles, the ranks begin to stretch out. By the middle of the hike, you might see only one or two hikers in front of you in the distance, and perhaps one or two hikers behind. Some people hike together over the entire trail, but more often, the knots of hikers form and re-form, as people hike at varying speeds.

Linda and Bob McElroy in front of a group of hikers in Marsh Creek State Park, one of the first off-road segments of the hike.

In this region of the country, in early April, the trees are mostly bare. From the top of wooded bluffs, the trail has some grand vistas. More often, the trail is far enough away from the Brandwine, which it more or less follows, that its grade is gradual. If the trail continually climbed and descended the bluffs along the Brandywine, it would be almost too exhausting for a one-day hike. A thirty-six mile hike in one day

View of the Brandywine from Twin Bridges Checkpoint.

is strenuous enough. Even so, the hikers welcome the few steep climbs and descents of the trail. These steep portions are changes of pace for the hikers. Some of the veterans say that, if the trail were uniformly flat, it would be more punishing on both their feet and joints of their legs.

Because the trail is often muddy, and because of the short, steep descents and ascents on it, hikers should wear

Jason and Linda walking through a gap in the bedrock, which was cut by, and then abondoned by, a railroad, near the trail's midpoint.

sturdy shoes. Some hikers elect to wear boots. But the trail is not rocky, so there is little advantage to boots. The weight of boots offsets their good support of the ankles. Probably the best compromise is to wear either running shoes or hiking shoes.

To hike thirty-six miles in one day requires preparation. Both the Wilmington Trail Club and The Chester County Trail Club offer a series of "warm-up" hikes in March. In addition to those,

The trail on a creekside bluff near Lenape. Note the white blaze, a trail marker.

to prepare for this hike, you should probably follow some sort of regimen of exercise. If possible, it should toughen up the bottom of the feet. Blisters which form on the toes can be avoided both by applying Vaseline between the toes, according to some hikers. Other hikers say that wearing two pairs of socks, a silky inner pair and a woolly outer pair, prevents blisters. Wearing shoes or boots, which are a size or a half-size larger than you would wear normally on the street, allows room for the feet to swell during long hikes. But blisters on the bottom of the feet are more difficult to avoid.