Hello Hikers!
Wednesday March 30
Mundy Wildflower Garden along Fall Creek to Cornell Dairy Bar
Never hiked in Europe but I gather they have many hikes that terminate at a picturesque café or pub — this is our version — gorgeous walk through some very bucolic areas along Fall Creek — not sure if the new Dairy Bar qualifies as picturesque, but it’s definitely a fun place to sit around for a little while
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The Cornell lands along Fall Creek as it approaches and sideswipes the campus are surprisingly lovely — you really get the sense you’re out in the woods, or at least on the edge of some lightly settled area
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But the delightful thing is that you can then make a turn or take a side path and you’re at a fantastic place like the observatory or the botanical gardens — where large amounts of money have been invested over many years to create fanciful, sophisticated structures — and there’s typically no one else around you need to share the scene with
Official head count: 19 hikers, two dogs
You can see more photos by me online here. Both our nature photogs were absent.
Saturday April 2
South Danby Road east to the Tamarack Lean-to on the FLT
It was raining a little when we got to the trail head — stopped just before we set off —beautiful mix of overcast and sun-and-clouds for the walk — started to rain hard about two minutes after we got back — couldn’t have been timed better!
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This is such a beautiful hike, the way the light comes between the trees, the springy soft carpet of pine needles, the rows of lined-up tree trunks stretching away
Randy (left) really likes to cook, and he announced he’s going to grill chicken for our July 30 cook-out. We were all happy to hear this — it makes the cook-out more festive, and it’s very good news — assuming you like chicken. But we tend to have a picky group — Randy brought a dish made with wheat noodles to our Easter get-together — not grasping just how many of our hikers won’t eat wheat — he was disappointed more wasn’t eaten until he caught on — gluten!
Those are tamarack trees behind our hikers sitting at the lean-to table — I always mean to try and look at the trees closely to see what makes them special — never can remember to do it when I’m actually there — I do like the effect they make as a backdrop for this shot
Official head count: 25 hikers, five dogs
More photos online:
Sunday cancellation
The high wind gusts kept blowing over 40 mph until at least 10 AM, according to the weather station at the airport. Tiger and I walked up the hill from Fall Creek to the arts quad at 10:30. Streets completely deserted. We walked along the middle of the roads just to be extra careful and stay way from the overhanging branches, though the tree crews from the city have been very active in the neighborhood recently, trimming and cutting extensively. Nice out, not too cold, but definitely unusually windy on the libe slope. I looked online trying to see what wind speed becomes truly dangerous — info not very consistent, but it sounded like gusts over 47 mph can definitely bring branches down.