ithacahikers

Hello Hikers!

 

 

Wednesday May 20

Willseyville Creek flood plain, Caroline

For the second Wednesday in a row, we were hit with a big weather change just before our hike —stifling hot spell abruptly cleared out overnight, and we shaped up at a raw and breezy trail head — half the group had gloves on when we stepped off.

It was definitely cold waiting to start — and one big group got antsy and burst off down the trail before all the latecomers had trickled in — no big deal, except in this case it led to a mixup  —

This walk consists of three elements: an old railroad right-of-way through a big swamp, a series of lovely sweeping fields, and a huge picturesque pond.  The people who started early didn’t know about the fields and the pond, so they spent the whole time forging ahead up the right-of-way ….

Now, this old train bed has its leafy overgrown charms, but the hikers in the front group missed out on some other great sights.  I should have phoned them right away and told hem to wait for the rest of us, of course  —   except I didn’t think of that until two days later.

Anyway, here’s the big pond that some of us saw — if I’d stood further back, you could see more of it …. it’s really very lovely and striking — alas, none of us got to see the sweeping fields this time; this involves a detour and we ran out of time for this amid the crossed signals.

Official head count: 17 hikers, three dogs.

I took some photos of the hikers’ faces — click here.
You can see seven more action photos by me here.

You can see Annie’s shots from this hike here.

 

 

Saturday May 23

Upper Six Mile Creek, from Juniper Drive to the upper reservoir

Gorgeous cool morning on the trail after the temperature dipped down below 30 overnight  —  just the right amount of water in the rocky stream bed so it was great fun but not too challenging

Beautiful serene mood at the upper reservoir  —  I didn’t get over to the edge of the big dam to photograph the water rushing over, but Annie got some shots  —  here’s the best I have to show  —  our guys are standing on the wall of the dam, which you can just see underfoot ….

Very dark shade in the woods, photos generally didn’t work out ….

But there was some pleasant lighter shade in a few spots that made for a lovely effect

Official head count:  27 hikers, five dogs

You can see eight more shots by me online here.

I also got six shots of the hikers navigating the stream bed  —  click here.  Photos a bit grainy because of the low light, but good enough to capture the scene  —  this part of the hike went over very well with the first-timers.

Click here to see Annie’s shots from the hike.

 

 

Sunday May 24

Kennedy State Forest, Virgil

Managed to squeeze in another gorgeous morning on the trail ahead of the latest big heat wave lumbering up from the south — beautifully fresh on the outbound leg, starting to get a little warm on the way back to the cars, but still delightful.

Some of our walks have a variety of scenery  —  this one is pretty much just pure woods  —  but what woods they are!  they go on and on  —  really exceptionally lovely  ….  very little undergrowth, dramatic light-and-shadow patterns

There is one change of scene, when we come to Owego Hill Road and walk up that for a little while  —  it has a great country feeling, wonderfully shady, lots of big mud puddles

Official head count:  15 hikers, five dogs

As those of you who’ve hiked with us know, I’m always a bit nutty about trying to wrap up our hikes in exactly two hours  —  who cares, right  —  alas, I have no rich inner thoughts like some people do, so this is the kind of mundane thing I think about while I’m walking along  —  I bring this up because we managed to complete both the Sat and the Sun hikes in pretty much precisely two hours  –   yeah!

I didn’t get any extra action shots this time, too shady for good photos, but I did get some face shots while we were standing around that you can see online here.

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday May 13

Stevens Suspension Bridge, Forest Home, to the high bluffs across Freese Road

Chilly grey breezy morning along Fall Creek, with occasional sprinkles  —  everyone was bundled up  —  some hikers were even wearing gloves  —  it was a complete delight to be cool again after the previous week’s heat wave.

It seems to me that when spring finally arrives every year, the best place to get the full lush and green impact is in the flood plains right along the banks of Fall Creek, where the vegetation always seems a little wild and exuberant  —  it certainly looked beautiful along this stretch.

We walked up into the huge fields along the bluff on the north side of the creek valley  —  I always love the wide open spaces effect, especially on a day when there’s a gloomy cast to the sky

Normally we walk through the Cornell golf course as part of this hike, but this time we went the other direction, across Freese Road and along the high bluffs along the north side of Fall Creek  —  this stretch is really undercut  and dramatic  —  I never get within 15 feet of the edge but Annie got some shots where you can get an idea of what it looks like.

Official head count:  12 hikers, one dog.

You can see seven more photos by me online here.

You can see Annie’s photos from this hike here.

 

 

Saturday May 16

Roy H Park Preserve into Hammond Hill SF, Dryden

Beautiful damp mild morning along Irish Settlement Road  —  we got some decent rain early in the morning and there was still a fresh spring feeling in the air when we stepped off.

An unusual number of our regulars were out of town or otherwise engaged, including my Tiger, off looking after her brother, who was badly banged up in a motorcycle accident a few weeks ago  —  I’m happily eating a deliciously unhealthy diet while she’s away

Official head count:  10 hikers, three dogs.

Everyone insisted this photo wouldn’t come out, because I was facing toward the sun and I should have had the sun at my back  —  I argued if the hikers were facing into the sun, they’d all look horrible with the bright glaring light right in their faces lighting up the sags and creases and wrinkles.

Some mosquitoes …. they were biting other people but none got me  —  one mishap  —  Roger lost his iPhone out of its holster on the way back to the cars  —  he turned back to hunt for it, but a small group of people hiking behind us had already found it and gave it to him

This trail segment has some great dark-forest action on it  —  as usual, I failed to capture any of it  —  this shot is the next best thing, the dark mass in the background behind Jack B and Betty at least gives a hint of what you can see.

You can see seven more shots by me here.

You can see Annie’s photos here.

 

 

Sunday May 17

Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna

More rain overnight, another gorgeous mild morning on the trail.

This walk is very popular with the hikers, and understandably so.  It takes us past a whole series of delightful spots, some of which are so dark I don’t bother trying to photograph them  —  so you need to join us if you want to see the whole package.  The top photo shows West Beach  —  the shot right above is the dramatic high bluffs stretch  —  it’s 100 feet straight down  —  as I mentioned, I never approach the edge, but you can see some bluffs shots in Annie’s photo album from this hike, linked below.

This is the huge Cornell fields area  —  I always shepherd everyone over here so I can get an unposed group shot  —  I also want them to admire the sweeping open area, but as you can see, no one pays any attention or even seems to notice, they’re so busy talking

One of the two east beaches  —  a lovely bucolic spot  —  the last time we were here the creek was frozen solid and we were standing out in the middle on the thick ice.

Official head count:  31 hikers, five dogs.

You can see nine more shots by me here.

You can see Annie’s photos here.

 

 

Special photo report  —  walk across England  —  by Jack V

Regular hikers Jack V, John & Kathy finished up a walk from one coast of England to the other last week.  Here are the details, from Jack:

“The Coast to Coast walk is a 192 mile walk across England. Most people start on the west coast at St Bees and walk east to Robin Hood Bay. It goes through 3 national parks: Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. The trail is not a national trail of England and is sometimes difficult to follow. It is a wonderful way to see the different regions of England.

We hiked an average of 13.5 miles per day with the longest being about 26 and the shortest 8. We stayed at B&Bs, all very high quality. The food was very good, we sometimes ate dinner at the B&B and other times at a pub. The weather had everything: rain, snow, hail, strong wind, cold and sun shine. We had about 5 beautiful day for hiking out of 14.”

Click here to see Jack’s photo album from the trip.

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday May 6

Fischer Old Growth Forest, Newfield

I love this picturesque and atmospheric Cornell tract, but I’ve reluctantly had to put it onto the back burner for our group. The problem is, there’s not enough parking along Route 13 if we get a large turnout. I used to schedule this hike faithfully on two Sunday mornings a year — we’d usually get 20-25 people, and I was always lazy about paying attention to the parking — then, on Easter Sunday two years ago, we got 47 hikers — causing some congestion on Route 13 — I abruptly became aware I’d been negligent about this — so now I’m trying to keep our Old Growth Forest hikes small — one trick is to schedule it on a rainy morning

It rained Wednesday up until a couple of hours before hike time, and it was beautifully damp in the preserve — for whatever reason, this place reminds me of a rain forest, and I think it’s at its best right after rain — although if we get too much, the trail can become dangerously slippery on the steep ups and downs — anyway, it was fine this time

We had just about the right number of cars, 11, for parking comfortably — 12 hikers, four dogs

An adjacent landowner closed off access to a little side trail we used to go up so we could stretch this hike to the full two hours, and that was a problem for a while — but now that’s solved — Irma had the bright idea to walk more slowly and look around — maybe it sounds obvious to you, but it was a revelation to me, and it worked out delightfully

I always feel a little sad climbing up the long hill back to the cars on this walk — this really is a lovely place to spend time.

You can see six more shots from this hike by me here.

You can see Annie’s online shots here.

 

 

Saturday May 9

South Danby Road east to the Tamarack Lean-to

It was already over 70 by the time we stepped off but it was gorgeous in the pine woods, breezy and dry, and we had a wonderful walk — the bugs were swarming at the trail head but they disappeared once we got moving

We were supposed to have a picnic in the woods at the Chestnut Lean-to in another part of Danby SF, but it was almost as satisfying to sit around at the Tamarack Lean-to and then go over to Katharine’s for a back yard cook-out — I ate three hot dogs in quick succession, something I’m not accustomed to — felt weird when I got home, drank more than two quarts of ice water

Hiker fashion news:
1) Brenda and Juliana introduced a hew item to our group, scarves filled with frozen gel — adapted from an ice-filled scarf Brenda discovered for Yoda, who was wearing his for the first time. The ladies had replacement ice packs wrapped up in their backpacks. They felt the results were good.
2) I tipped over a can of beer I was resting in my lap at the cook-out without noticing right away — made a very big puddle of beer in my lap — but I was wearing EMS-brand hiking pants and the beer didn’t soak in immediately — I was able to jump up and get it out of my lap, and I actually didn’t get my underpants wet  —  that EMS!

Official head count: 23 hikers, eight dogs

This trail is notable for having a spring you can (theoretically) drink out of — usually we have one or two people bold enough to do it — this time we had six — Annie and Margaret, Mary, Lucy, Jim and Randy — don’t be misled by the expression on Margaret’s face, everyone said the water tasted very sweet.

You can see eight more photos by me online here

You can see photos by Annie online here.

 

 

Sunday May 10

Shindagin Hollow rim trail along the gorge

Another morning over 70 by hike time, but once again it was just right — warm enough not to care if, say, you wet your foot crossing a stream, but not warm enough to be oppressive. Swarming bugs again, but manageable.

Trillium report:
I’m color blind so I can never appreciate wildflowers, but everyone else said this year’s trillium display was outstanding, and the extent of the flowers really is unusual.

A number of hikers were seeing this trail for the first time — it was a great day for a first visit, the light was really lovely.

Summer of love:
On the way back to the cars two young women suddenly appeared wearing long flowing dresses and with long flowing hair straight out of 1967 — they seemed exactly like throwbacks to the Summer of Love —I didn’t notice so I didn’t get a photo, but they had bare feet — they looked ethereal but their feet had to be as tough as leather — definitely an odd sight

Official head count: 18 hikers, three dogs

You can see eight more photos by me here.

You can see photos by Annie here

 

 

Sun-Mon May 3-4

Out-of-town trip to Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

This report is by Mary W, who coordinated the trip. All the photos are by her except the group shot, which is by Norm.

“10 Ithaca Hiker’s paddled half of the Pine Creek Gorge on Monday, May 4, 2015.

The water had receded due to lack of rain before we arrived, so rafting was not an option. We each paddled our own kayaks. There were 10 Ithaca-Hiker-paddlers in all. Here are their names: Jim and Tammy Rundel, Bud Norvell (Sue Norvell did not paddle, but went sight-seeing), David and Denise Kooperman, Vicki Nuzzo, Norm Trigoboff, Hank Spencer, Rich Andersson and Mary Weiss-Andersson.

We began in Ansonia, PA at the Pine Creek Outfitters, and paddled 7 hours up-stream to Blackwell. We endured some fairly hefty headwinds, but the weather was beautiful and the creek was a delight to travel. From the beginning to the end of the day, we each independently learned to read the river and float the creek with joy and determination. Our guides were good, but several of us anticipated that we’d be given more substantial information. We were supplied with all the gear we wanted, wet suits, socks, gloves, PFD’s, etc.

Pine Creek Gorge is a hikers paradise. It begins in Ansonia and ends at the Susquehanna River in a town called Jersey Shore.

We paddled appx. half of the gorge which is about 32 miles. We stopped in Tiadaghton for a picnic lunch, which the guides provided. Some paddlers chose to take a short hike to a large waterfall before returning to our boats for the second half of our float trip. A big treat was sighting two American Bald Eagles. “

You can see five more photos by Mary here.

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed April 29

Virgil Creek flood control earthworks, Dryden

I’ve been out to this giant engineering project in southeast Dryden four times now — the first trip here (May 1 2013), I was utterly bowled over by the size and weirdness of the landscape — I’m happy to say it was just as fascinating this time around.

The big attraction is the series of deep flood-water catchment basins and high berms jutting up between them — but it’s been a little tough to stretch the walk out for a full two hours unless you backtrack and dawdle around — this time, we turned up a side path and found ourselves in a whole new set of fields stretching off in a new direction, and there was plenty to see for the full two hours.

I have a real weakness for photos of people spread out against the horizon — I think it’s left over from having seen The Seventh Seal in NYC in 1959 when I was 15 — the famous dance of death just stuck in my mind, never been able to get it out.

After the hike we headed over to Norm’s house nearby for a hot dog cook-out — it was a gorgeous morning and we had a delightful time — Norm didn’t have any charcoal or hot-dog skewers so we made do with twigs — a little primitive, but fun.

Official head count: 16 hikers, five dogs …. this gate crossing is our version of the start of the Kentucky Derby, by the way ….

You can see 10 more photos by me online here.

New hiker Annie clearly loved this place as much as me — you can see her photos at our group photo-sharing web site here.

 

 

Saturday May 2

Lloyd Stark Loop, Connecticut Hill

If you’ve been waiting for nice spring weather to come out onto the trail with us, you better get cracking

The woods at the higher elevations haven’t even started to turn green yet, and already it  was feeling like summer. We started this hike out in jackets, but they came off almost right away — by the time we were wrapping up, it seemed completely like a summer day

Dave, who led this hike, carefully warned everyone beforehand not to fall behind and risk getting lost on the confusing and poorly marked trails here ….

…. so what do you think  —  did someone do exactly what Dave said not to?

…. well, looking on the bright side, our lost hiker had cell phone reception and we were almost back to the cars and she emerged onto a road, so it could have been a lot worse.

We hit our first bugs of the season, a milestone I always can do without — but they weren’t biting — not me, anyway

Another limbo contest — apparently tougher than last week’s, because only two people, Mary W and Katharine, made it under the bar without touching the ground.

Official head count: 22 hikers, six dogs

You can see 10 more shots by me online here.

Our new hiker-photographer Annie has six photos up at our online photo-sharing site here.

 

 

Sunday May 3

Lick Brook

We hadn’t done this fabulous trail since before the horrible winter set in, and it felt wonderful to be back here on a balmy morning, with a handful of midges in the air and the woods at lower elevation finally starting to turn green

I won’t bother to try and describe how beautiful this walk is — if you’ve been here, you already know — if not, you really ought to check it out

The creek was surprisingly dry for so early in the season, and it was warm verging on hot from the get-go ….

…. I’m just mentioning this, not complaining …. this hike’s much too much fun to ever complain about

Official head count: 22 hikers, seven dogs

You can see 10 more shots by me online here.

Hello Hikers!

I hope you marked down the date of our summer cook-out like I urged you to the other day.  It really is the best and biggest event of our year  —  I’m not exaggerating  —  we had more than 80 people last summer, and it was definitely a blast  —  see for yourself.  The date is Saturday July 25.  You don’t want to miss it.

Now here’s our regular report on the week’s hikes:

 

Wednesday April 22

Shindagin Hollow State Forest, blue and yellow mountain bike trails

Dilemma: It’s supposed to rain, but not until hours later — then, just as you leave for the hike, it starts to come down unpleasantly hard — what should you do?

Answer: Drive on — meet all your hiking pals at the trail head as scheduled — have a great hike!

I think maybe we’ve all been toughened up by the constant bad weather we had all winter — as we drove to this hike with the rain spattering on the windshield, Tiger and I figured no one else would ever show ….

…. but all the regulars drove up like it was nothing, and we had a wonderful time. It rained the whole time  —  quite muddy  —   but on the plus side, this was the first time we didn’t get lost doing this hike,

Official head count: 16 hikers, two dogs.

 

Saturday April 25

Six Mile Creek, south side, rim trail

Gorgeous cool morning along the creek, mid 30s with a light breeze  —  the woods were bathed in a most beautiful light

There’s lots of great pine-tree action along this trail and I managed to work the pines into a few shots, providing some green color

…. otherwise it’s still all brown in the woods and no signs of spring yet  —  I really like the muted look myself but it probably seems just drab to some people

This trail provides just the right amount of exercise, in my opinion  —  a few lively ups and downs, a couple of stream crossings, a good knife-edge ridge with views of the reservoir  —  but in general it’s not that hard.

Official head count:  24 hikers, eight dogs

Click here to see nine more shots online.

 

Sunday April 26

Jim Schug Trail east into Cortland County on the FLT

Make that two great mornings in a row for hiking  —  pretty much the same lovely weather and beautiful light in the woods we had the day before.

The thing that makes this hike stand out is the sheer number of sweeping long views we get.  This shot shows you the one hill on this trail segment, which we go up and over

There was a bit of grumbling on the uphill that the climb was a lot steeper than I described in the notice of the hike  —  so keep that in mind the next time we come out here  —  not that I’m going to change the strenuousness rating just for a few complainers ….

For the second weekend in a row, we had a limbo contest under a big fallen tree  —  a lot more people were able to get under the log this time without bracing themselves on the ground  —  that’s new hiker Annie  —  even someone exactly my age managed it  —  but I realized afterwards people were bracing themselves against the log over them, so maybe it wasn’t as hard as I first thought.

What I really love about this hike are the long and picturesque views everywhere, from start to finish  —  this is just after we stepped off from the cars  —  and here’s a delightful farm we pass coming and going,

Official head count:  28 hikers, seven dogs

You can see 11 more photos online here.

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Here are some photos from our beautiful hike along the east shore of the lake in King Ferry on April 18  —  taken by Scott, who organized the event so masterfully  —  click here.