Hello Hikers!
Wed Nov 29
Road walk — Fitzgerald Road and Bergen Road, Odessa
This is one of our best farm-country road walks, IMO — we’re midway between Mecklenburg and Reynoldsville, up on a hilltop with rolling terrain stretching away in three directions — almost no houses or traffic
Up near the top of the hill is a large dairy farm (over 1,000 cows), Bergen Farms — it’s obviously a major operation but there’s not a lot to see from the road — couple of manure lagoons behind the hikers in the photo above — didn’t smell all that bad, actually
We saw just a few cars and trucks until the very end, when we had this mini-congestion as we approached our cars — the farm vehicles on the right were impressively huge
Official head count: 17H, three D
More photos:
Annie. One lively moment: We were standing outside Bergen Farms when an enormous farm vehicle pulled up ….
“On the matter of the giant tractor, I had waved at the driver and he was so curious about us. He came right down from his throne and asked us if we were nature lovers and where we were from. He said that the last time he had seen so many people on Fitzgerald Road was years ago when deer hunters would gather there. Apparently, they don’t any more. At any rate, I very politely asked him if I could take his picture and he agreed only if he could take my picture. It was fun going up there!”
Jack V. He and Mark found an enormous leg bone near the farm — Jack got a fun shot of it
Saturday Dec 2
Jim Schug Trail, Dryden
Several of the hikers called for Tiger and me to pose romantically in this lovely setting ….
(Photo by Margaret, using my camera)
Official head count: 27H, six D
More photos:
Sunday Dec 3
Buttermilk Falls SP
Official head count: 36H, 12 D
More photos:
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A formerly active Ithaca Hiker sent me this note to publicize:
As a former hiker as well as a NYS Hunter Safety Instructor, I am appalled that some hikers are not wearing blaze orange during deer season. If a hunter can shoot a pickup truck believing it was a deer, why on earth do you assume you are safe?
Wear a blaze orange hat; wear a blaze orange vest!
Best,
Gerry Cox