hike reports – Page 74

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 30-Nov 5

Hello Hikers!

Tuesday Oct 31

Special event — visit to Collins Sawmill, Alpine Junction

We periodically come upon scenes of logging activity out in the woods on our walks, and over time this caused me to wonder what it’s like in a sawmill

It so happens we have a regular hiker, Casey, who’s widely known in the sawmill industry — he’s a specialist who smooths, straightens and tensions the big saws used in mills, which take a terrific beating from the cutting operation. In addition, Casey used to be a partner in a mill when he was young. On Tuesday he took us to a traditional, old-style mill SW of town in Cayuta

I didn’t know what to expect but the mill was even more picturesque and colorful than I hoped — missing outer walls on several sides, dimly lit — the saw is powered by a tractor and it uses 1940’s technology — above you can see the sophisticated mechanical apparatus that adjusts the width of each succeeding cut of a log to one inch wide

Three men make up the crew — you can see them in the shadows inside — the operation produces rough-cut softwood like that in the photo. There’s also an adjacent building where the men produce more-finished lumber like moldings and shingles (it was too dark inside for me to get a shot).

You can’t see much in the gloom but this is a view of the machine that adjusts the log for each succeeding cut.

The building on the right s where they finish and sell the finished lumber.

This guy is a customer who arrived while we were in the finished lumber building.

I loved everything about this visit. I thought it was really interesting that the mill can compete and make a profit using such an old technology and a bare-bones plant.

Wednesday Nov 1

Shindagin Hollow SF, bike trails

Official head count: 18H, four D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Saturday Nov 4

Mineah Road from Mt Pleasant Road north toward Route 13, Freeville

I’d hoped this would be a relatively dry hike despite all the recent rain — didn’t work out that way — some muddy area and the grass in the fields, while not high, was soaking wet — most people ended up with very wet feet

Official head count: 21H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

Sunday Nov 5

Bock Harvey Forest Preserve, Enfield

Official head count: 26H, seven D

More photos:

Jack V

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Our regular hiker Bud is just back from hiking in Utah and Montana — you can ee his photos here

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 23-Oct 29

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 25

Yellow Barn SF, Dryden

Official head count: 16H, two D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Sat Oct 28

Doll Hill, Connecticut Hill WMA — with Dave B

We came upon an old well that Dave estimated was about 15 feet deep. Norm, who’s greatly interested in moss, climbed down the upper part of the well shaft by straddling his feet on the rock walls to get some moss samples.

Official head count: 23H, six D

More photos:

Annie

Sunday Oct 29

Rained out

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 16-Oct 22

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 18

Road walk — farm fields south of Mecklenburg — N Shuler Road and Morris Road

Official head count: 19H, five D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Sat Oct 21

Van Lone Loop, Alpine — with Randy and Nancy

Official head count: 27H, seven D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Get-together at Randy and Nancy’s afterwards

It was a gorgeous day out, and the vibe when we got to the house was wonderful, bucolic and relaxed. I love snack get-togethers — I ate probably much too many salty things — woke up in the middle of the night feeling alarmingly thirsty

Sunday Oct 22

Virgil Creek flood control project, Dryden

Official head count: 15H, seven D

More photos:

Annie

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 9-Oct 15

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 11

South Danby Road east on the FLT to Tamarack Lean-to, Danby SF

Official head count: 20H, five D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Sat Oct 14

Treman SP on the FLT from Route 13-34-96

If you really hustle on the long steep outbound leg and don’t stop to rest, it’s possible to reach a spur trail that allows you to return on the more picturesque rim trail. We never attempt this because our group simply walks too slow. But this time an aggressive sub-group broke away from the start to try to make the loop in two hours. The rest of us kept our normal pace.

This is the group I was with, undergoing the customary group shot at this clearing. Right after this, our speedy group appeared and rejoined us, demonstrating definitively it’s possible to do the rim trail loop in two hours …. though one person in that group fell behind — no one waited for him — he couldn’t find the spur trail and had to retrace his steps back.

Official head count: 22H, eight D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Sunday Oct 15

Hammond Hill SF, ski trails off Hammond Hill Road

Official head count: 23H, six D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 2-Oct 8

Hello Hikers!

Wed Oct 4

YMCA land and big overgrown fields at Ecovillage, West Hill

We spent 45 minutes walking in the YMCA tract, which is heavily wooded — lighting and shadows too poor for me to attempt any photos — you can get an idea from these two shots at the start of the trail what it was like. Annie did take a number of woods shots — link below.

Out of the woods and into the brushy fields of Ecovillage — this is Rachel Carson Way, the main entrance to the development. It has a great casual country feeling.

We rarely get to walk through overgrown fields like these, especially on a wide mowed path, and I really enjoyed it. My only complaint is that there are a lot of big utility poles sticking up on this Ecovillage property.

There’s a mishmash of trails here and it can be confusing. Tiger sketched a map using Google’s satellite view and we did well following that.

For reasons too complicated to get into, our hike broke into three groups early on — two of the groups never got into the fields — one made it over to Coy Glen on Elm Street Extension instead.

Official head count: 17H and five D. We also had a first-time hiker who set out to join us but she found she’d misunderstood where we were meeting and she’d left her phone at home — so she didn’t get to hike.

More photos:

Annie

Saturday Oct 7

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

Official head count: 30H, eight D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Sunday Oct 8

Malloryville countryside — with Bob B

This is a viewing platform in the middle of the Malloryville bog — there’s some significant plant growing in the middle of the enclosure but I missed what it is because I was distracted trying to get a shot — there’s some very nice woodwork inside the bog but the plank boardwalks can be treacherously slippery and slimy — one of the hikers slipped and fell, landing first on her ass, then her elbows, and then immediately smacking her head on the boardwalk — this person was Tiger — no serioius damage

Here’s a view of the beaver dam — Bob felt the top was too soft for us to walk on, so we forded the stream just below the dam — lots of tremendously gooey mud — one hiker toppled over while crossing and got wet up to her waist