Category: hike reports

Report to Hikers: week of May 13-May 19

Hello Hikers!

Wed May 15

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 us
We 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

Official head count: 17H, three D

More photos:

Annie

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Sat May 18

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 leg
We 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

Official head count: 23H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

Report to Hikers: week of May 6-May 12

Hello Hikers!

Wed May 8

Upper Buttermilk Falls SP and La Tourelle, from Yaple Road

Official head count: 16H, four D

More photos:

Jack V

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Sat May 11

Bald Hill Road and the Abbott Loop to The Pinnacles, Danby SF

This is one of the hikes where we always do a group shot
We had three photographers taking shots — me, Jack V and Tiger

Total head count (two hikes): 23H, six D —- fourH and five D stayed on Bald Hill Road the whole time, the rest went up the steep hill

More photos:

Jack V

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Sun May 12

Jim Schug Trail, Dryden

I don’t like to be too timid when I’m trying to decide if we should hike when it’s going to rain — on the other hand, I don’t want to see a group of hikers ride out to the trail head and then it pours. I thought I made a sensible decision about this hike based on how hard it was supposed to rain between 9 and noon. But then shortly after I sent out the “let’s do it” notice, it started to rain much harder. It was really coming down on our drive to the trail head. We wondered if other people would show up. In fact, we had a surprisingly good turnout, and everyone was energized by the fact trhat we were goig to hike in such heavy weather. It turned out the weather service very much underestimated the rainfall from 9 to noon in its prediction — we can know exactly how much rain fell because Cornell maintains a high-quality weather station just a few miles from where we hiked, in Harfard. In fact, we got 3X the amount of rain that was predicted. It didn’t matter — we had a great hike — the setting was just as lovely as I’d hoped.

I only took a few photos because I didn’t want to get my camera wet. Here’s a closer view of the hikers:
Leigh Ann, Haven, Norm, Kathy, Tiger, and Jim in front
Roger, Eckhart, Nancy, Joel, Wendy and Randy. One more hiker, Brenda, showed up to hike, but when she got out of the car to start the walk, she realized she’d left her hiking poles in the parking lot of Saturday’s hike, so she went off in hopes of finding them (she did). There were three dogs with us on the trail.
The rain slacked off briefly at one point and I got this shot.

One word of advice: Don’t wear cotton pants if you’ll be walking in the rain for two hours and it’s chilly out.

Report to Hikers: week of April 29-May 5

Hello Hikers!

Wed May 1

Lands belonging to the YMCA and Ecovillage, West Hill

Official head count: 15H, one D

More photos:

Jack V

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Sat May 4

Wildflower walk, Shindagin Hollow Road, Brooktondale

It rained overnight and the rim trail was extremely wet and muddy — I slipped at one point and fell sideways against a tree stump which had a stub sticking out that jabbed into my side pretty hard — sore and bruised the next morning
There were indeed a lot of trilliums and other wild flowers along the lower stretch of the road just as Annie said in her preview report — but the rain that fell overnight caused them to sag and droop, so the flowers weren’t as visible as usual.

Official head count: 29H, six D

More photos:

Jack V

You can see Annie’s preview photos here

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Sun May 5

Malloryville countryside with Bob B

It was raining a bit on the drive to the hike — no rain while we were walking — started raining again on the drive home ….. the damp cloudy atmospherics were fantastic
The high point of this hike is walking across a large beaver dam. I think it’s great fun but it makes some of the hikers nervous; they’re concerned it might give way. This photo was taken by Norm, who was wearing high rubber boots and who waded out into the water just downstream of the dam to get the shot
This is what the dam crossing looks like from up at the level of the dam
This is one of a series of eskers we walk on — there’s a pretty big drop off to both sides
The old railroad right-of-way — view from one of the high trestles down to Fall Creek
Inside the Malloryville bog
This normally isn’t a hike where we do a group shot, but we had a visiting hiker, Adnan K (in pants #46), who asked for a photo with everyone — for the second time in a row, all the hikers made it into the portrait.

Official head count: 22H, four D

Report to Hikers: week of April 22-April 28

Hello Hikers!

Wed April 24

Fischer Old Growth Forest, Newfield

Parking for this walk is very limited and a bit dangerous, so we only do it on Wednesdays when the turnout is smaller. It’s a shame because I’m sure our weekend hikers would really enjoy this hike just as much. Two things set it apart — many of the trees are unusually large and old, and the terrain rises and falls pretty steeply in a striking manner
We used to hike here regularly, but then I began to find the trail too steep, so we didn’t come for three years. Then my curiosity got the better of me.
I was surprised to see that Cornell Plantations, which owns the forest, has created an extensive new trail segment that’s very wide and well groomed, and is extremely easy to walk on. I was thinking they’d redone the whole length of the trail, and eliminated the super-steep and rugged ups and downs that I’d come to find so challenging.
Alas, most of the original old trail is still there, as hairy as ever, though the difficulty has been eased in several spots by the provision of some sturdy rope strung along the steepest parts. But it’s still grueling.
But I don’t mean to complain too much. The forest is really exceptionaly nice.
Unfortunately the trail’s not long enough to last two hours, but it’s too long to do two circuits, so you have to quit early. I didn’t mind; my ass was dragging

Official head count: 17H, two D

More photos:

Jack V

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Sat April 27

Texas Hollow SF, Bennettsburg

Official head count: 20H, one D

More photos:

Jack V

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Sun April 28

Hammond Hill SF, Dryden

Raining very lightly at the meet-up — not a great forecast — the regulars faithfully turned out anyway
If you enjoy grey damp cool weather, it was actually quite nice out
We’re strongly focused on trying to keep our slower hikers from getting lost here — Norm is making a directional arrow out of branches to show which way to turn, since it’s not obvious
If you click on this shot and look closely at the high resolution version that will pop up, you’ll see snow falling — this was the second year in a row it snowed on the last Sunday of April while we were on the trail
This might be the first time ever that everyone on a hike made it into a formal group portrait — we have certain hikes where a portrait is always part of the routine
The scene back at the cars could look a little bleak and grim to you — in fact, everyone was in a very cheerful mood

Official head count: 20H, four D

More photos:

Jack V

Report to Hikers: week of April 15-April 21

Hello Hikers!

Wed April 17

Woods road walk — Curtis Road, South Danby

It was an exceptionally nice morning with a wonderful sense of spring in the air. There is a delightfully cute goat and this little horse who live next to the road — they were dashing around excitedly as we walked past, creating a classic idyllic scene — Tiger was very taken with the hors
There’s been a lot of recent logging by the state along the road === I really like the way the logging has opened the woods up — it creates a whole different mood
This is where Curtis Road ends, at South Danby Road — very conveniently, walking down and turning right around makes for almost exactly a two-hour hike

Official head count: 14H, one D

More photos:

Jack V

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Sat April 20

Bob Cameron Loop, Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area, Newfield

It was extremely wet and muddy in spots — my shoes were caked in mud by the end
Many areas of beautiful scenery — combined with the fog, it made for a great morning

Official head count: 19H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

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Sun April 21

Layen Road to Bruce Hill Road and beyond on the FLT, Danby


Official head count: 29H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

Easter get-together at Katharine’s
Extremely lively and festive — almost everyone who hiked came on to the party, and a large number of people who didn’t hike also showed up. One drawback: the noise level started to sound like the atmosphere at a brew pub. One failure: No one brought potato chips, as far as I could discover