Report to Hikers: week of May 23-May 29

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday May 25

Road walk  —  Travor Road, South Danby

Aviary Photo_131086732820017270Aviary Photo_131086743491972658First hike of the year over 80 degrees  —  I worried at the start that it might be a bake-off, since we were out in the open part of the time  —  but the humidity fell below 40% after we set off, and it was very pleasant

Aviary Photo_131086753081452374We did most of the hike in the shade and this was gorgeous.  This was another unfamiliar road, Travor Road, which runs mainly N-S through Danby SF in South Danby.  Some of the scenery was extremely good, and there was a little breeze blowing, the birds were singing merrily, and a mix of sweet pine-needle smell and something else sweet hung in the air  —  extraordinarily nice!

Aviary Photo_131086741841296236One car passed during the whole two hours  —  I always enjoy the flurry of excitement.

R0097630In the middle of the forest we came to an open area along the road where people evidently gather to shoot  —  we picked up a number of spent rifle casings, some of them seemingly large, though I actually have no idea how big they are or how far they might carry  —  this was a first in 12 years of hiking and it was fun for a few minutes.

Aviary Photo_131086822911477869Official head count:  13 H + Yoda

I love to get out of the car and look out over a country road I’ve never walked before  —  it really exerts a bit of a pull on me  —  I like to imagine a life of tramping the countryside and having adventures like I used to read about with relish as a boy ….

Aviary Photo_131086729707868178I’ll need to choose road walks for the hot months that don’t expose us to heat exhaustion, but I think we can keep on finding great ones this summer.

 

Saturday May 28

Doll Hill, Connecticut Hill WMA, followed by a get-together at Dave and Joanna’s

R0097709Aviary Photo_131089361869996742R0097753Aviary Photo_131089822197116373R0097774R0097816R0097828R0097854Official head count:  20(22)H, five D  —  hiker #21 was seen driving the wrong way near the trail head; he turned around but then took a wrong turn and couldn’t find us;  hiker #22 arrived late, met us as we were getting back to the cars

In Jack V’s online photos you can see a fawn  —  there’s no real reference to judge its size  —  it was actually about as big as a very small thin cat

 

Sunday May 29

Kennedy SF, Virgil

Aviary Photo_131090653683914423R0097881R0097889R0097901Aviary Photo_131090281168608493Aviary Photo_131090282458590734Official head count:  22H, four D

It started to thunder about halfway through the hike  —  got extremely dark after a while  —  started to rain just before we finished  —  began to pour a few minutes after we drove away