ithacahikers

Hello Hikers!

Beautiful cool gloomy morning on a fantastic new trail on Connecticut Hill — raw and blustery at the trail head, but lovely once we got into the shelter of the woods. The hike was a huge success — except for one very alarming mishap.

Near the end, one of our small dogs, Yoda, stepped onto an animal trap that was staked out not more than a foot off the trail. While the dog was screaming with pain, the people with him tried but failed to pry the jaws of the trap open. Luckily, we had a new hiker with us, Jan, at far right in the photo above, whose hand strength was powerful enough to loosen the trap jaws. We were also lucky to have with us our regular hiker John, a retired professor at the vet school, who immediately checked over Yoda’s foot for damage. Verdict: Somehow the foot wasn’t seriously hurt, and Yoda was able to walk out without evident discomfort.

Otherwise, we had a wonderful time. Here we are looking at a huge beaver dam across a gorgeous pond — couldn’t manage to show everything in the photo, but you can see the hikers were impressed by the sight.

Official head count: 27 hikers, six dogs.

I’ve felt for quite a while that Connecticut Hill is full of great new hikes for our group  —  the problem’s been that we haven’t had anyone who knows the area well enough to lead us around  —  there are many ski trails that make for fantastic hiking but they’re very hard to follow  —  anyway, now we have new regular hiker Dave B  —  he said there are three more trails he can take us around.  He definitely has the right skills  —  Dave said he knows which direction he’s heading in the woods 99% of the time  —  and he wrapped up this hike in two hours, 1 minute and 54 seconds  —  outstanding job of pacing.  (Always knowing the right direction isn’t all that common:  Sixteen of us got completely turned around and disoriented on our midweek hike Wed in Shindagin Hollow SF.)

The Carter Creek trail has a wonderful mix of everything  —  much of it takes you along narrow old woods roads, which are much easier walking that the usual path full of roots and snags to trip you up

Everyone agreed this is a splendid new hike, and we all want to come back.

Click here to see 10 more shots online.

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We had four other photogs shooting photos of this hike  —  two of them, Iris and Jack V, already have albums up at our group photo-sharing web site HikePix2  — check them out here.

Hello Hikers!

Gorgeous cool sparkling morning in Dryden — chilly enough at the trail head for a few people to wear gloves — though we all got sweated up soon enough

Goldenrods still in bright bloom, and the asters were out, and the first part of the hike looked a bit like a scene in Provence as painted by one of the Impressionists.

Official head count: 24 hikers, seven dogs. We also passed by a frisky horse, and some goats bleating away — very nice country touches

This walk is a great mix of open terrain and dense woods — so dark under the trees I didn’t even try to take any photos — no loss, dark woods are a dime a dozen for us — in any case, it’s the sweeping long views that make this hike so fabulous.

Here’s the hill that the trail took us up and then down the other side — much steeper than I remembered, and there was some grumbling that I gave it much too low a strenuousness rating — OK, for the record it’s a 4+ out of 5 — very good way to warm up fast.

After you get to the top of the hill there’s a fantastic view on the other side — definitely worth the climb  —  maybe I’m getting sentimental, but it looked just like a wonderful version of Happy Valley to me.

I put eight more photos up online  –  click here.

Three other hikers were taking photos  —  Wan, Iris and Jack V.  At the moment only Wan has put his shots up on our other hike photo-sharing page, HikPix.2, but I’m sure the others will too  — click here to check it out.  — click on the individual albums to see the shots inside.

Hello Hikers!

Fabulously dark, damp and moody walk in Danby SF  —  perfect conditions to get the best from this great trail through the pine woods.

A little rain on the drive out to the trail head to moisten everything up nicely  —  by the time we wrapped up, the sun was just out and the sky was full of beautiful puffy clouds  —  wonderful morning!

Unfortunately, I can never get photos from the most dramatic parts of these somber hikes, because the light’s so dim.  So you need to come out in person if you want to experience the gloom I’m always raving about.  The only shots I ever manage to get are in the few bright spots.

Official head count:  17 hikers, five dogs

We had some excitement  —  first, on the outbound leg, one of the dogs got stung  — then, coming back, three hikers got stung one time each  —  fortunately, we were on a nice downhill stretch at the time so we were able to start running  —  I’ve never run on a trail before  — pretty exciting, even though (because?) I felt out of control.  One of the hikers who didn’t get stung is actually allergic  — she usually carries an epi pen  — but this time it was in the car.

I already met my yearly obligation to use a photo of myself in a hiker report, two weeks ago, when I ran the candid shot in my bathing suit showing the love handles  —  now I’m going for extra credit  —  Tiger thought I looked picturesque with my hood half off  —  very clear light and a pretty crisp focus  —  you can really see the aging at work, especially if you click on the photo twice to see the blown-up version.

Click here to see nine more photos online.

Hello Hikers!

Fabulous afternoon get-together at Twin Ponds

hot out on the big lawn but just right in the shade  —  no bugs  —  the rain and lightning in the forecast passed us by

a bit cooler than usual in the pond, thanks to the chilly nights this month

but it was gorgeous once you managed to ease in

I didn’t eat a single bite of dish-to-pass, but everyone else was all over it and I guess it was a big success as usual

We had some kids with us for the first time  –  they really add a fun touch  —  that’s Emmie, who last hiked with us into our famous mid-February cook-out in 15-degree weather in Danby SF

No official head count but we had at least 80 people, the most ever

My yearly moment of truth:

If you start to follow our weekly hiking adventures, you’ll soon realize I never show photos of myself.  To make up for that, I have to undergo a close-up shot of myself in my bathing suit at every cook-out, diligently enforced by Liz.  This year it went one better  —  Liz chased me down in the pond as I was trying to get in gradually, while Hobit took photos:

I knew what’s coming so I dieted this time in hopes I could whittle down my puffy middle in time for the photo ordeal

Liz was pretty aggressive

at the end, she was strutting

So how did I do with the diet?

For whatever reason, we have a wonderful time at this cook-out every year  –  this has left me with a deep pool of great memories, and very strong affection for our group

We all owe thanks especially to Roger and Gunilla, and Liz for the food operation, and her daughter Nicole for doing far more than her share of the grilling

Click here to see 12 more shots online

Hello Hikers!

another great morning on the trail, warm but not hot, almost no mud or bugs, a sweet smell in the air from autumn olive  —

and dazzling sunshine everywhere, sparkling in the creek and lighting up the woods

Official head count:  37 hikers, 11 dogs

we fractured into sub-groups as soon as we turned uphill away from the creek bank, and there were hikers scattered all over for the rest of the walk  —  at Potter’s Falls, a surprisingly large group decided to keep going, along the frightening cliff-face walk that drops right into the creek 100 feet below  —  I didn’t realize we have so many daredevils

everything out in the open looked fresh and wonderful in the intense light  —  in the deep woods, it was dark and lovely  —  too gloomy for any good shots, alas

 

I got back to the parking lot in precisely two hours flat  — those of you who know my minor O-C tendencies will know this made it into a super-perfect walk for me.

You can see 11 more shots online  — click here.