I am currently a junior at Penn State, and I hiked Mount Nittany for the first time this past weekend. After hearing about the hiking spot since freshman year, my visit was long overdue.
Even though campus is different this year, but roommates and I have been making the most of it by finding COVID-friendly ways to spend the weekends. We thought hiking Mount Nittany would be the perfect way to spend our Saturday, since we can no longer go to the usual social gatherings this semester.
Being from Long Island, I am not too experienced with hiking. The extent of my hiking experience includes visits to the "mountain" at my town's local trash dump; charming, I know.
It took about 10 minutes to get to Mount Nittany from our downtown apartment, and we were glad to see there was a parking lot there.
Going into the hike, I honestly wasn't expecting a challenge. Since Mount Nittany is so popular, I assumed it would be a nice, easy hike.
Turns out I was right about the nice part, but it certainly wasn't easy.
The mountain offers two different hiking trails, Blue and White. The Blue Trail is the harder of the two, with steep and rocky terrain. My roommates and I decided to hike the Blue Trail on the way up, and the White Trail on the way down.
On the way up, I found myself struggling to maintain a steady heart rate, and I definitely worked up a sweat. I was surprised to see how rocky and strenuous the trail was. Although the hike up was harder than I anticipated, the view at the top was so worth it.
Amanda Kessler
It felt so good to get out into nature after spending the whole week cooped up in my apartment doing schoolwork.
Hiking Mount Nittany was exactly what I needed.
My roommates and I spent about 2 hours at Mount Nittany, pausing at the top to make TikToks and have a photoshoot, of course. According to my heart rate monitor, I burnt over 750 calories and I felt productive and content.
Even though hiking Mount Nittany was a challenge, I would definitely do it again. If you're looking to try it out, I recommend taking the White Trail, as it's the easier of the two. But definitely take the Blue Trail if you're up for the challenge!