hike reports – Page 63

Report to Hikers: week of Nov 5-Nov 11

Hello Hikers!

Wed Nov 7

Roy H Park Preserve to Canaan Road in Hammond Hill SF

Official head count: 20H, six D

More photos:

Jack V

Sat Nov 10

Connecticut Hill WMA — Carter Creek Loop — with Dave B

Raw and blustery standing around waiting to start — once we got moving, a fabulous hike

Official head count: 17H, three D

Sun Nov 11

Kennedy SF, Virgil

Official head count: 32H, 11D

This hike is wonderfully picturesque, but there is a significant downside — the first half hour is pretty challenging — the trail surface is very uneven, covered with protruding roots and rocks, constantly going up and down and twisting and turning — it was worse than usual this time because there was a good bit of mud and a covering of fresh slippery leaves, and the roots and rocks were wet and slippery because of the snow — it was hard to take your eyes off the immediate trail and look around.

A good crowd headed over to Hopshire Brewery after the hike but we ran into a problem there too — there was an engagement party in the big room we normally have to ourselves — we had to jam into a very small room next door with almost no seats — everyone stood around basically shoulder to shoulder — we’re not used to such extreme crowding, but in fact it was fun anyway and we had a good time.

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 29-Nov 4

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 31

Watkins Glen SP gorge trail

All photos by Annie and Jack V

Report on the hike by Jack V: “There were 9 hikers. It was herding cats. Some wanted to hike fast, some much slower. The weather was very nice, there was lots of water flowing.”

Regrettably, Tiger and I had to miss this hike, which is almost certainly the most dramatic one we do. I had a chance to see how the distance from town affects the turnout — at least five hikers had to skip this walk because they needed to be back in Ithaca earlier than was possible coming from Watkins Glen.

You can see the full sets of photos from Annie here and from Jack V here.

Sat Nov 3

So Danby Road east on the FLT to Travor Road, Danby SF

Yet another rainy Saturday morning ….

Another tricky ditch to kick off the walk ….

Like I hoped, the trail wasn’t terribly muddy — but there was lots of standing water in the trail

When we got to Travor Road the FLT was closed — the state has been logging just beyond Travor and their heavy equipment has created a large stretch of impenetrable mud — instead, we walked north on the road for a while to fill out the time

This was definitely the best leaf action we’ve seen so far — extremely beautiful!

The rain stopped part-way through the hike and we got more fabulous atmospherics — another great wet morning

Official head count: 15H, five D

Sun Nov 4

Malloryville countryside with Bob B

Official head count: 33H, six D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

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Jack just came back from a trip to Guatemala. You can see his photos here.

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 22-Oct 28

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 24

South Danby Road west to Curtis Road and beyond on the FLT, Danby SF

Another rainy morning, though it wasn’t raining hard

Aside from the six people in the photo here, there were three more hikers right nearby in phone touch — but somehow we failed to connect with them — then they went home early because they ran into heavy mud and they didn’t want their dogs to get totally mud-covered

The fall weather has produced a lot of mushrooms this year — these are chicken of the woods

Official head count: 10H, six D

Sat Oct 27

Rained out

Sun Oct 28

Michigan Hollow Road to Hill Road on the Abbott Loop, Danby SF

Raining lightly for the first half of the hike — by now everyone has gotten accustomed to wet hikes and we all just ignored it

We started with a bit of drama — this ditch has become extremely hard to navigate and it took a while to get everyone safely across — it’s much trickier than it may look — in the past, one of our hikers took a very nasty fall here

The scenery is generally much better than average on this walk — the downside is that the outbound leg up to Hill Road is really quite strenuous

The rain stopped half way through — great atmospherics!

Crossing the ditch isn’t as hard in the reverse direction, but it still provided a little excitement for everyone

Official head count: 16H, five D

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 15-Oct 21

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 17

Willseyville Creek, Caroline

This trail has been extensively changed since the beginning of the year — it’s now an extremely nice hike — great improvement

There’s a big pond at the end of the hike that we always visit — it was extensively flooded this time, several feet above the normal level — much higher and it would have flooded Ridgeway Road.

Official head count: 14H, two D

More photos:

Jack V

Sat Oct 20

Connecticut Hill WMA — Four-mile loop — with Dave G

I thought the forecast looked OK this time, but then it started to rain very hard a few minutes after we got to the meet-up — I was ready to cancel the hike on the spot and go home if it kept up for long, but the intensity lessened after a little while and we set off, just a little behind schedule, in wet but tolerable conditions.

One thing about getting rain on a hike — after it stops, it’s often spectacularly nice — that was the case this time

The sun came out near the end

We did this hike with Dave G for the first time last April and I thought it was great then — this time I found it even better — what a beautiful morning!

Official head count: 20H, six D

Sun Oct 21

Bald Hill Road to Thatcher’s Pinnacles, Danby SF

Looking out the kitchen window before we left for the hike, it seemed pretty awful out, grim and depressing. It was discouragingly cold and windy at the meet-up too (check out the hikers’ expressions)

But once we got going people warmed up and the trees blocked most of the wind, and the scenery was really beautiful

There was slush on the roads in some parts of the county, but this snow-coated table top at the look-out was the only snow we saw

Not everyone’s shown in the line-up shot here — there were more hikers walking down along Bald Hill Road

This is the look-out on the return leg — nice views even though the leaves are all still up

It turned out to be a great hike

Official head count: 14H, eight D

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 8-Oct14

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 10

Six Mile Creek, south side rim trail starting at Crescent Place

There’s a little story with this photo — the hikers abruptly decided to start walking a few minutes before we were scheduled to depart — you can see me in my bike helmet in the right background shouting and cursing at them to wait until 9:30 — they just kept going

Won’t happen again ….

Official head count: 19H, five D

More photos:

Annie

Sat Oct 13

Hammond Hill SF, ski trails in the north and eastern areas

Another rainy Saturday morning ….

The woods looked great in the gloomy, misty atmospherics — I had a wonderful time

Two hikers failed to make it back to the cars with the rest of us — luckily, one had a working phone, not always the case here — they’d fallen behind and gotten lost — no map — the trails in this part of the forest are completely confusing and it took us a while to figure out by phone where they were, referring to a good map that Tiger had the foresight to bring — they made it out 45 minutes after everyone else …. a little distressed by the experience

Official head count: 16H, nine D

More photos:

Jack V