Shindagin Hollow SF — bike trails in the northern and western areas
As soon as you leave the parking lot, the rest of the hike is in deep shade, with two exceptions. The first is a beautiful pine woods that we reach pretty quickly — it was backlit with a beautiful glowing light this time — though I had to stop up and pose the hikers to catch the light properly.The other spot on the hike with a bit of open light is on Braley Hill Road, which we cross at the midpoint of the walk. But as you can see, even though there’s a break in the tree canopy, the lightig’s not great for taking photos. I had to stop the group up again and pose them to get some usable illumination.Not everyone made it into the group shot ….
Official head count: 21H, four D
PS — For the last year, I’ve been wearing a bike helmet and upper body armor every time I go into the woods. I started wearing the protective equipment after I took a nasty fall right onto my head that I suspect was precipitated by a balance disorder I developed a few years back. In any case, I plan to keep wearing the armor whenever I head onto the trail. You’ve no doubt seen me in Tiger’s photos. Probably some people have only seen me in the helmet and they otherwise have no idea what I look like. So here’s me without the headgear — Tiger got this shot Wednesday while testing out the light in the parking lot.
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Sat June 15
Willseyville Creek area, Caroline
Here’s who hiked today:
Nancy H, Virginia, Tommie, Mary, Dennis R, Tamara, Jim, Dennis F, Robin, Tiger, & Dick …..….. Katharine and Brenda, Moc, Elizabeth, June & Nancy L. Not shown: Our nature photographers Jack V and Annie, me, and Leigh Ann and Eckhart, who arrived a little late.There was a sign posted at the start of the trail announcing the first segment was closed because of flooding. So we had to follow a detour down Ridgeway Road and along the old RR right-of-way — not nearly as picturesque as the regular FLT routeSnapping turtle! We encountered a much bigger one years back, and I’ve been hoping for another ever since. This one was much smaller, but interesting anyway.A good part of this hike now involves crossing some huge fields. I thought this added a great late-spring feeling — really lovelyVery lively ditch crossing at White Church RoadWe’ve now extended the walk to take us up into the edge of Shindagin Hollow SF — steep climb, good exerciseWe decided to try returning on the flooded section of the trail. It turned out to be very easy to avoid the flooded spot.It had clouded up a bit by this time, which reduced the heaviness of the shade under the trees, and Tiger was able to get some very expressive shots in the woodsVery nice way to wrap up the walk
As predicted, it rained pretty much steadily for the entire hike, but it never rained all that hard and we stayed under the shelter of the trees, so the walk ended up being quite funThe atmospherics were beautiful — fog and mist, very dark glowing light, super-rich colors. There was a brief lull in the rain just as we stepped off, so we were able to get these shots. I had to keep my camera in the raincoat pocket the rest of the time until we were just about back to the cars, and Tiger got this shot.
Official head count: EightH, three D
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You can see more photos from Jack V’s recent trip to Montenegro here
Six Mile Creek: Mulholland Wildflower Preserve to Potter’s Falls
Official head count: 21H, three D
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Sat June 8
Upper Treman SP and several nearby country roads
It was a beautiful bright sunny morning — but the conditions for taking photos were very poor. Out in the open the light was harsh and unflattering — under the trees is was sometimes so dark you couldn’t distinguish the hikers from the background — or there were disorienting spotted sun-and-shade effects.After a while we came to an area of open shade — you can see that the individual hikers are not casting any shadows on the ground ….….. I decided we should do a group shot, so we’d have a least one shot with clear light where you could see the people’s faces. There was some griping that I’d made everyone stop ….Too many hikers to fit into one continuous shot. Sorry some people are obscured — three hikers arrived late and missed the shot — and one person elected not to be takenThe three latecomers are on the right side of the front row — Norm is wearing a face shield and gloves against the sunJust one car passed us during the entire time on the roadsBack at the cars — very nice walk!
Official head count: 31H, five D
PS — Here’s the kind of light I like for hike photography
I took this shot of Casey in the parking lot of Wednesday’s hike — this is open shade
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Sun June 9
South Danby Road east to the Tamarack Lean-to on the FLT
Another beautiful bright sunny morning — great conditions for our walk — but terrible for trying to take photos in the woods — and, since this is a photo blog, that’s my main concernThe only place along the entire hike route where you can hope to get a halfway decent photo on a sunny day in June is along the east side of South Danby Road in the few hundred feet between the cars and the trail entrance. I figured this was our only chance to catch the hikers so you could see them clearly. Everyone made it into the group shot except Tiger, who was also taking photosTiger took a lot of shots in the woods on the way to and from the lean-to, but not one was usable. I’d rate this shot as borderlineWhen we last did this hike, in mid February, the DEC was in the middle of a big logging project and the end of the trail was closed because of impassable mud. It’s been restored and the mud in the area of the logging wasn’t bad this time.
Official head count: 19H, three D
PS — here’s Tiger’s version of the group shot I took at the start of the walk. I regard her as a better hike photographer than me — she has a better eye and steadier hands to keep the camera from shaking — but she didn’t get enough different shots of the hikers while they were lined up
This was her best shot, but two hikers are obscured — you’d be surprised how many shots you need to take to get one where everyone looks good and isn’t hidden behind someone else
I love it when a hike takes out into the deep countryside, someplace I would never otherwise have any reason to go. It’s a great chance to do a little looking around and satisfy my curiosityRobinson Hollow Road, where this trail segment starts, has an interesting vibe, IMO. It starts out seeming a little down at the heels when you turn in from Route 79, but very peaceful, and surrounded by beautiful hills. There’s a bunch of mobile homes but they’re pretty much clustered on the corner, and as you drive up the narrow road, the houses thin out and become more substantial, though still colorfully unpretentious.This barn and farm house are just down the street from the trail head. The property is bordered by a very lively brook.This place is right across the street from the trail parking lot. Notice the street sign name. I find the overall mood of this neighborhood very pleasing. …….. Anyway, back to our walk ….
Official head count: 21H, one D
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Sat June 1
Michigan Hollow Road east on the Abbott Loop to Hill Road and beyond
The hiker with the beard is Allen Q — I mention him because he took a series of photos that I’ve linked to right below — Crossing the big stream — it was very dark and Allen was using an older camera so the image quality is a little soft — but it’s a fun set of shots
I’m so glad I wasn’t spooked into cancelling this walk by all the bad weather predictions. It was raining on the way to the trail head , and I was wondering if I’d made a bad call and if anyone would show up except our small super-hard core group. We did get a little light rain during the walk but the leaves pretty much completely shielded us. As usual when there’s stormy weather in the vicinity of our walk, the atmospherics were fabulous, and we had a wonderful hike.
Harford-Slaterville Road north on the FLT into Hammond Hill SF, Dryden
This trail head is in a lovely country setting out in the middle of nowhere — at first glance it looks very idyllic — but in fact it’s a bad place to shape up, and it makes everyone nervous. As you can see, the road is very narrow, and the hikers’ cars aren’t more than a few inches out of the driving lane. It’s impossible to get any further off the pavement because the ground drops away quite abruptly into a pond right on the other side of the cars. The hike meet-up area in in a short straight stretch between two blind curves, and the speed limit is pretty high.Steve S, Jim (across the road), Casey, Joel and Jack VIf you click on this shot and enlarge it, you can see Katharine in the far left demonstrating her special method of carrying two dogs — quite a trick IMOTiger was waiting just up the trail as the group sprang into action — she took all the rest of the shots in this report. You can see another shot of Katharine carrying the dogs — she’s really good at itThe trail itself is very attractive — makes up for the bad parking situation
Official head count: 14H, three D. Two more hikers set out to join us but they missed a turn and drove way out of the way asnd never managed to find us.
Special out-of-town hike organized and led by Steve S — Labrador Pond, Tinkers Falls and Hang Glide Hill, Tully
The hike report and photos are by Steve S
IthacaHikers Splinter Group hike guided by Steve S to Labrador Pond, Tinkers Falls, and Hang Glide Hill. After we all managed to gather at Labrador Pond we admired the serene lake and walked the boardwalk through the boreal forest. Warm and pleasant at Lab Pond, then rain at Tinkers Falls. Several hikers did the walk behind the falls and met the rest of the group at the junction with the trail up Hang Glide Hill. The rain stopped by the time we made it up the long hill to the summit. Spectacular view, snacks, a bit of hang out in the damp air, but the view was very atmospheric. Afterwards we drove to Tully where we had coffee at Bloom Cup Cafe–a very pleasant comfortable coffee shop.
Sorry for the poor quality of the shot of the falls but it was soaking rain. I think the context etc makes it ok to publish. It’s especially neat to see Irene and Nelson behind the falls and Norm at the base. We all had a great time despite the weather.
Official head count: SevenH, one D
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Sat May 25
South Danby Road west on the FLT to Curtis Road and Hill Road, Danby SF
There was mud, as expected — it was very sticky, and very slippery. Luckily the muddy segments were fairly limitedThe chance of rain was very low — but within just a few minutes after we started the drive home, we ran into a real cloudburst along 96B in Danby that would have drenched us if it hit a little earlier. The storm seemed to be confined to Danby — it wasn’t raining as we got closer to town.
Finger Lakes National Forest — Logan Road to the Burnt Hill lean-to on the FLT
Grist Iron Brewery, Route 414 — a short drive from our trail headThis was the biggest turnout we’ve ever had for a brewery after a hike — we had two tables full of hikers at Grist IronThe brewery is in a great setting overlooking Seneca Lake — it was a gorgeous day, really beautiful and not hot
Connecticut Hill WMA — loop trail on the FLT and Ridge Road south of Boylan Road
This is a new trail for us that Nancy L worked out while she was exploring this part of Connecticut Hill. It was pretty much unfamiliar territory for all of usWe had one stream crossing with steep high banks — a bit of a challenge — everyone else had to climb down and then back up the other side — Eckhart is 87
Road walk — Beck Farm, Red Mill Road, West Malloryville
We came upon a very large area of trilliums in full bloom — not as striking as the trilliums we recently saw at our official trillium viewing site on lower Shindagin Hollow Road, which spread far up the side of a deep ravine, but very impressive
Official head count: 19H, three D
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Sun May 19
Upper Black Diamond Trail and south rim trail, Taughannock Falls SP
It was sunnier and hotter than predicted — our car thermometer read 85 as we headed home — there was no shade on part of the Black Diamond Trail and I was starting to feel a little punchy on the return legWe have several regular hikers who often arrive late but have a great ability to find us — it’s always fun to suddenly see them pop up — this is Katharine, our main party hostess
