Three hikers met on Level Green Rd where the FLT crosses
The snowpack on the trail was relatively fresh and un-compacted, which would have made for a difficult hike without skis or snowshoes. Instead, we did a road walk of the surrounding area.
Hikers headed Southerly on Level Green Rd before turning Easterly onto Goodrich Hill Rd
It was a clear and sunny day, and as we walked down Goodrich Hill Rd the view of the valley below and the opposite hillside was quite enjoyable.
At the bottom of the hill Goodrich Hill Rd merges onto Blackman Hill Rd. The group followed this to the bridge that crosses into Tioga County.
Once in Tioga County the group crossed West Creek Rd and began climbing Jewett Hill Rd until it was time to turn around and return to the cars.
There were a few other people out enjoying the beautiful day, including Lucy G and a friend snowshoeing, another small group of hikers and a wagon train of snowmobilers who passed us at one point as they raced up Goodrich Hill RD.
Other than a short period of chilling wind it was a beautiful day to be out for a walk.
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Sat Feb 13
Hike report and five photos by Jim
Upper Treman SP — park trails and nearby roads
Eight hikers and two dogs met in the parking lot of Upper Robert Treman State Park.
I had done some preliminary exploration and found that trailheads on Woodard and elsewhere appeared to be untrodden.
I did find that the Rim Trail was open and had a well-compacted footpath through the snow.
The group set off up the Rim Trail, enjoying the play of light and shadows through the trees over the fresh snow. Eventually the group arrived at the Lucifer Falls overlook, where we found further progress impeded by the locked gate at the head of the staircase.
We enjoyed the view of the frozen falls with barely a hit of flowing water still visible under a sheath of ice that could be seen extending far up the footpath on the opposite side of the creek.
After posing for an obligatory Stephen-esque group shot, the group turned around and began making our way back up the Rim Trail.
We soon found a late arriving 9th Ithaca Hiker who had followed the group up the trail.
Returning to the parking lot, the group jumped onto the CCC trail, which was slightly less compacted than the Rim Trail, but not terribly less so. Making our way to the other end of that trail the group passed over the new Fishkill Creek bridge to arrive at Butternut Creek RD. The group followed that road to where the FLT veers off into the woods again, which led us back to Thomas Rd
Taking Thomas Rd back to the Rim Trail, the group retraced our earlier steps back to the parking lot.
Finding ourselves back at the cars a little early, a couple of us chose to walk Woodard Rd to near Stone House Rd to make up the allotted hiking time.
Eight hikers and three dogs met on Springhouse Rd in the Town of Dryden, for a walk of the Dryden-Freeville Rail Trail.
Hikers set off towards Freeville under a sullen sky that sent a few random snowflakes our way. Much different than the clear blue skies with wisps of clouds on Saturdays hike.
As with the Saturday hike at Robert Treman, the walkable trail consisted of a single narrow beaten track through the snow, flanked in some areas by snowshoe or ski tracks and the occasional tracks of some animal or brave hardy solitary walker. Stepping off this narrow track of compacted snow resulted in a quick shift of the hikers balance as they would sink into the softer snow along the trail.
Hikers crossed George Rd, paused briefly to admire the view across the valley, and continued on towards Freeville past the lands of the William George Agency.
It was a relief to me to finally reach the paved portion of the road that services the near-by sewage treatment plant. The group walked the paved road to Railroad Street ( Rte 38 ) in the Village of Freeville, before returning to the single width track through the snow to re-trace our steps to our vehicles.
I found on the return trip that temperatures seemed to have warmed up just enough to start loosening up the compacted snow and make it slightly slushy under-foot, as if we were walking through a sandy beach.
The group passed at various times a couple of cross-country skiers and dog walkers. Overall I was disappointed that a fairly nice fitness trail of this caliber that is so closely situated to many Town residents has seemingly been used as little as this one has since the snowfall of ten days ago.
If you look at the photos that illustrate our weekly hike reports, it’s hard to miss noticing our dogs. They’re there almost every time, scurrying around at ground level. But of course the photos give no indication of their personalities.
For those who hike with the group regularly, it’s a different story. The regular dogs have distinct and vivid personalities. I won’t say all the regular hikers appreciate the dogs to an equal degree, but everyone is certainly aware of them.
Boomer didn’t hike with us that often, but he was famous in our group. He was certainly our luckiest dog ever. Perhaps our most adventurous dog — or maybe just our least observant dog.
That’s not Boomer in the photo — I don’t have a shot of him at hand — but the photo illustrates the Varna Cliffs along Fall Creek in the Monkey Run Natural Area. Unfortunately, the shot doesn’t show the full height of the cliffs — it’s very high. Boomer was hiking one day on the opposite side of the creek, atop the cliffs, with Eva B, the hiker he lived with, when he went over the cliff. Eva looked over and realized he was alive — she called the rescue squad — they got Boomer out of the gorge and he lived for quite a few more years. He recently did a long stretch of the Appalachian Trail on a solo hike with Eva.
Late last week I got the following e-mail from Eva:
I know a lot of the hikers know my dog Boomer. The one who is famous for falling off the cliff at Monkey Run. He was doing very well until about a week ago when he stopped eating and lost weight. And slowed way down. I took him to my vet this morning who recommended that I take him to Cornell. He’s been at Cornell all day and it turns out that his heart disease has finally reached the end stage. He has an abnormal rhythm called atrial fibrillation, causing his heart to beat 250 beats per minute. His atrium (upper heart chamber) is dilated and torn, leaking blood into the sac surrounding his heart. So we are on our way to Cornell to say goodby before he is euthanized. Eva **********
Hike report — Sun Feb 7
Report by Jim. Photos by Cian
Road Walk in rural Newfield
Eight hikers and 2 dogs met at the junction of Seely Hill and Tupper Rds in the town of Newfield
After the snow this week I anticipated that trails would remain mostly impassible, so this was a planned road walk.
The surrounding snow had lost its pristine appearance and had that “dirty snow” look that it acquires after a few days of laying around.
The wind was moving at a brisk pace, encouraging me to quickly move the group in any direction likely to diminish the wind intensity.
I opted to lead the group down Seely Hill Rd, a route that initially gave us a decent view across the valley through the trees. The route has hikers passing between banks with towering trees on either side. Soon enough we reached the junction with Vanbuskirk Rd, where we took a right turn. Walking through residential areas, the lack of leaf cover offered us views of the hills across the valley. Those views were still largely obscured by residential development as well as truncated trees wrapped in shrouds of grapevine, victims of the utility company pruning back the undergrowth around the power lines.
Vanbuskirk Rd reaches a point beyond the residential section where the road starts a sharp descent towards Bower RD. The group descended this hill, shortly after which it was time to turn around and return to our cars.
As we climbed the hill up Vanbuskirk Rd the wind returned, along with a decent amount of snow flurries. Soon my fleece coat was shrouded in a layer of fresh snow. Passing through the residential area again, I found the previously observed view across the valley now obscured by a hazy shroud of falling snow.
Reaching Seely Hill Rd the climb continued, at which time we encountered a late arrival ninth hiker who had opted to walk their own hike after not discerning our route out of the many available options from the parking area.
As a road walk this was somewhat acceptable, although I will always prefer trail hikes.
Thanks to all who participated, and hope to see the rest of you on the trail soon!
Jim cancelled last Wednesday’s hike, and Saturday’s hike, because of the snow. But he wanted to give everyone who follows our adventures something to read, so he urged the hikers who are on our active-hiker list to send in a report of any individual hikes they did during the aftermath of the storm. Here’s what they sent in:
Mark H
I have one to add, snowshoeing with the Cayuga Trails Club Saturday on the Van Lone Hill Loop, but in the opposite direction as described by Hank Spencer. We parked at the Gulf Rd parking area and walked 1/4 mile up the road to begin on the orange blazed trail up Connecticut Hill to Todd Rd to meet the white-blazed FLT. We returned back down the hill via the FLT along Cayuta Creek. We took turns leading, creating some of the tamped down trail Hank experienced the next day. The six-mile loop took almost five hours. It was a beautiful sunny blue-sky day!
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Clare
Jim asked us to send you our adventures for the week, since two of the hikes were cancelled.
I stayed firmly tucked in at home on Wednesday, but had a fantastic day skiing at Greek Peak on Thursday.
Yesterday (Saturday) I had signed up for the CTC snowshoeing trip on the Van Lone Hill Loop. I should have read the description more carefully as it was described as 6 miles on strenuous terrain, but I was beguiled by the moderate pace! As predicted it turned out to be a pretty strenuous 5 hours of hiking on snowshoes in deep snow, but with excellent company. I showed up without water or sustenance, but was kindly provided for. At several points I wasn’t sure that I would make it but I did and it was a fantastic day for my first foray on snowshoes (apart from up and down to my house)!
That was partly why I didn’t make it to this morning’s road walk!
Clare
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Roger
HI All, Twas disappointing that no one stepped up to lead a Saturday hike, I should have done so. I had a great hike with Rubie and Diego, Parked at Upper Treman, then to left on Woodard, to left on Stonehouse, past that grand, seemingly, uninhabited, monument. Then to left on Van Osstrand. Then left on Thomas, almost to dead end, and back. A few ups and downs, fews cars.
Roger
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Hank
I’ve got one!
Sunday: Two Hikers met up at The Van Lone Loop Trailhead @ 10:30 and hiked the entire somewhat snowshoe packed loop. We traveled in a counter clockwise direction, beginning on the white marked FLT trail and ended following the orange blazes. Total distance came to 7.2 miles, time 4 hours.
Along the way we encountered many tracks. Why, there were weasel tracks, raccoon tracks, fischer, deer, and coyote tracks, yak tracks, snowshoe, snowmobile, backcountry ski tracks, and human foot tracks.
Only saw two other people on entire loop, heading in the clockwise direction. A very nice hike and excellent cardio workout for sure.
Be well,
Hank
…. and more Hank
Here is another: On Friday,I played hookie from workie and under overcast skies with a temperature of 34 degrees, treated myself to a backcountry ski at Onondaga County’s Highland Forest. Conditions were decent, except sticky in a few places due to the warmer weather over the previous day. The downhills weren’t as fast as I would have liked, the uphills definitely had more resistance than I am use to.
As far as distance, I skied a 7 mile loop. I brought lunch and stopped at a lean to eat at about the halfway point. I was able to sit down on a bench inside the lean to w/o taking my ski’s off. After about 20 minutes of rest, I got up to continue on and the sun came out, the skies cleared and stayed that way for the duration of my ski run.
Highland forest is an amazing place, with many different outdoor recreational opportunities. It was a very enjoyable day, well worth the hour and ten minute drive to get here. I will definitely return another day.
-Hank
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Nancy and Randy
I’m sending you this update in response to Jim’ suggestion. Over the past week I’ve been practicing cross country skiing. It’s a struggle after letting them languish in the garage for so many years. Randy and I went skiing several times in Connecticut Hill. Doll Hill is perfect if you take the trails around the top of the hill. The slight ups and downs are gentle. I also explored right across from my house straight across the corn field or in the wood lot across the way. Finally Saturday I did several miles in the black diamond. Skiing conditions are not ideal. Tracks are crusty because of freezing and thawing. And breaking trail is tough because the snow is deep and heavy but hey it was fun to be out in the snow.
Here is a link to some pics that include digging out the garage.
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Cian
Since there was no club hike on Saturday , I ended up hiking around Ithaca with my sister.
I started around Stewart park, but turned around when I saw the condition of renwick trail – we ended up going to Ithaca falls (not all the way in ) , up gun shot hill , up libe slope , across campus to top of cascadilla gorge , since the gorge trail is closed, we went along the rim in the neighborhood above cascadilla gorge , took some pictures at the base of the gorge, and followed cascadilla creek across town, then worked our way back across town past the old clockworks building which houses hickeys music.
My sister Aidan said that when she saw my pictures from our Halloween hike last October, she laughed because she visited pretty much every place I had photographed, but later in the day, and following a different route. I am hoping that she will be able to come on some of the hikes, but she generally prefers to go out a little later in the day then our club hikes.
Six Mile Creek, south side trails from Crescent Place toward Burns Road
9 hikers met on Crescent Place on South Hill for a hike of the South Hill Rec Way and the foot trails that run between the Rec Way and Second Dam. Norm, long absent from the group these many months, was able to join us again for this particular hike.
There was not an excessive amount of snow or ice on the hike route, which made the hike more enjoyable for everyone
As is our normal practice, the group started Easterly on the Rec Way before soon detouring over the blue blazed trails that lead to the hills above Second Dam. The group turned away from Second Dam and followed the ridgeline above the small lake that formed behind the dam, continuing to work our way Easterly along the foot trails.
Eventually the group came out on the Rec Way again. After a quick survey of hikers preferences about half the group opted to return to their cars via the direct Rec Way route, while the other half retraced our steps back along the foot paths.
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Sat Jan 30
Hike report by Jim. Photos by Cian
Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek (Varna)
14 hikers and 3 dogs met on Monkey Run Rd on the southern side of Fall Creek. There was a slow but steady snowfall that would accompany us throughout the hike.
Hikers left the parking area, quickly climbing and descending through the surrounding hills of the Monkey Run Natural Area on the orange blazed trails.
Soon we were crossing open fields, which gave us the most difficulty of the hike as far as snow accumulation and a discomforting wind.
We quickly found our way back under the cover of trees on the red blazed trails and walking along the creek, which was a deep emerald green and flowing with quite a bit of force. Later in the hike along a slower section of the creek, the creek had frozen over, its ice a similar hue of green and the uneven surface appearing as if the waves had frozen in place as the water flowed.
The air was clear, and the vistas from some of the higher elevation promontories was quite beautiful.
For most of the hike the trail surface was quite manageable, with just a few well-trodden inches of compacted snow and very little ice underfoot. Some hikers commented that some foot traction was good on the steeper parts of trails
Towards the end of the hike we entered a patch of evergreens that had a similar coating of snow as I had observed on other recent hikes. That combined with the stillness that always seems to accompany walking through stands of pines are always attractive to me.
Soon enough it was time to turn around and re-trace our steps to the side trail leading to the parking lot. We arrived there with a Hesse degree of punctuality, to find that the street was lined with probably double the number of cars we ad arrived in. Clearly that locale was a popular destination this day, although we’d only encountered a couple of trail runners or hikers during our own hike.
Marsh Road to Coddington Road on Deputron Hollow Road, Danby
Six hikers and two dogs initially met on Marsh Rd on what was a cold but not uncomfortable morning
The hikers set off down Marsh RD towards Deputron Hollow Rd.
Upon reaching Deputron Hollow Rd the hikers found that the plowed portion of the road ended, but that a tractor recently passing through on Deputron Hollow Rd has broken up the snow pack enough for the hikers to be able to hike comfortably in a single file.
The hikers were soon met by a seventh hiker who had hiked up from Coddington RD to join the group.
The group continued down Deputron Hollow Rd at a steady pace, admiring the wintery scenery around us.
Soon afterwards we were joined by an eighth hiker who had arrived on Marsh Rd a few minutes late.
The group continued on Deputron Hollow as it followed the gorge.
Upon reaching the maintained lower portion of Deputron Hollow RD, the group opted to walk a few minutes longer and go all the way to Coddington Rd before turning around for the uphill trek back to our vehicles. This was motivated in part by the fact that the side road we often explore for a few minutes of the return leg of the hike was entirely snowed in.
When I joined this group in 2004, after living in NYC for many years, I found that I liked hiking in winter better than in other seasons. You can see the lively post-glacial terrain really clearly — you get a sense of openness and spaciousness which I prefer to the closed-in sense when the leaves are out — it’s fun to go up and down the hills on a layer of snow — and I personally love the bleak, stark quality of the woods in winter; you can really only get the full effect when you’re out in the midst of the scenery. Also, you don’t get hot and there are no bugs, no mud and no puddles. And it’s probably the best way to get aerobic exercise outdoors short of vigorous X-country skiing or speed skating or ice hockey.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get out onto the trail myself much in the past month. I have a rare nerve disorder that began to affect my balance some years ago. Then, in 2018, I fell down onto my head on a hike and got a bad concussion. I still haven’t fully recovered from that, and I’ve been having even worse balance problems recently — temporary, I hope. So for now I have to follow along online like almost everyone else in the group. But I’m extremely eager to get back out there ASAP.
Five hikers met in the Jim Schug trail parking lot on Lake Rd.
There was fresh snow falling, a torrent of white that increased as we walked the outbound leg of the hike.
A couple of people on the trail ahead of us disappeared into the flurries of white, never to be seen again by the group.
The fresh snow on the ground made for easy walking, and our footprints behind us quickly disappeared under the continued accumulation falling from the sky
The group made the normal detour off the trail to the parking lot for a quick group photo, then continued on our way.
By the time we reached the turn-around point the snow had stopped.
The return trip to the cars was under the baleful watch of a weak sun obscured by cloud cover. The clouds parted for a single incident, allowing the suns rays to brighten the path around us for barely an instant.
The surrounding natural grays, browns and tans of grasses and tree bark stood out in sharp contrast to the fresh snow.
The return trip was a few minutes quicker than the outbound leg
Overall it was a good hike despite the weather conditions.
Photo by JimPhoto by Nancy HPhoto by Nancy
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Sat Jan 23
Hike report and photo by Jim
Black Diamond Trail from Kraft Road north
Nine people and two dogs met at the Kraft RD parking area for the Black Diamond Trail.
Winds were fairly high, with buffeting from various directions being a constant through the early parts of the hike
The group proceeded Northerly on the Black Diamond Trail. The trail surface had a fresh layer of snow from the overnight snowfall; with other trail users at a minimum, the trail walking surface was actually quite enjoyable. The group passed through the many areas of open fields and residential areas that make up the trail through that neighborhood.
By the time the group got to the bridge connecting the North and South trails at Taughannock Falls we were fairly dispersed from each other. The water going through the upper chasms above the falls were quite impressive, both due to the volume of water flowing under us as well as the visual effects of the snow and ice coating the surrounding stone faces.
Once beyond the falls and on the Northerly Taughannock trail, hikers finished out the outbound hour and turned around.
The group slowly reconnected on the return leg of the hike. The winds we had faced on the outbound part of our journey were nearly gone by that time, and the return leg seemed much more conducive to conversations as the group walked back to our cars.
7 Hikers and 2 dogs met in Virgil for a hike of the Dabes Diversion loop.
There had been some fresh snowfall during the previous evening, in addition to small daily accumulations over the preceding days.
The total accumulation was not horrendous however, and the most recent overnight addition to that total was still powdery light snow that was not terribly hard to get through compared to some past hikes we’ve done.
The day started out calm and overcast, although by mid-hike the sun was out and casting a brilliant blinding flood of light across the field that marks the intersection of the FLT and the Diversion Loop. By the end of the hike the wind had picked up, as if to encourage the group of us gathered around our cars to leave the area and return another day.
On the outbound leg of the hike a solitary skier had at some point in recent days been kind enough to break trail for us, although the overnight snowfall and blowing winds had partially eradicated that benefit for our group.
Snow clung to the pines, both trunks and limbs, as if they were all wearing white woolen sweaters. This was particularly noticeable in the areas of the trail that pass through large stands of monoculture evergreens
Despite the broken trail and fluffy snow, it still took the group considerably longer than normal to reach the junction of the FLT and the Diversion Loop. Breaking from our normal routine, we turned to the right on the FLT and visited the near-by shelter. Rather than continue North on the FLT the group opted to do an out-and-back and return to our cars over the broken trail that we had hiked in on.
As we were starting the return leg of the hike, we encountered another four hikers and one dog who had arrived at the parking area a little later than normal. The late arrivals chose to continue on to the field overlook themselves, while the main body of hikers resumed the hike back to the vehicles. The late arrivals were soon behind the main body of hikers for the return leg.
Eleven hikers and one dog met on the parking lot for the Texas Hollow portion of the Finger Lakes Trail
It was an overcast day; the sun tried to make an appearance later in the hike, but that effort was not greatly successful.
The group struck off in a Southeasterly direction on the FLT. The initial portion of this trail runs more or less alongside Texas Hollow Rd for a short period of time. Eventually the trail comes out into some open meadow areas and the northerly end of a small lake that I don’t believe has an actual name. From there the trail swings away from the roadway and the real hike begins.
After that directional change the next quarter mile of trail runs through some gently rolling hills. Eventually the trail hits a portion where hikers are climbing the hillside through a ( thankfully empty ) streambed. A few flat areas along this part of the route give a hiker some respite from the climb, but otherwise its more or less an almost seemingly straight climb upwards. It wasn’t long before the group passed me by and I was climbing the hill in the relative peace of my own labored breathing. Ironically, the hillside has in some recent time been logged, as the treetops and other remnants of the logging operation still littler some portions of the trail. Through those sections of the hillside have been cut some fairly appealing looking ( to me anyways, as I ascended on the FLT ) switch-backed logging roads.
Thankfully there was no snowpack on the trail to impede our progress up the hill. At best there were some patchy areas of ice along the entire route, but everyone was equipped with foot traction that was up to the task.
The remainder of the group apparently made it to the top of the hillside before turning around to recover me. We descended the hill and started the return trip to our cars.
Upon coming upon the blue blazed trail that circles the smaller of the two lakes on the state forest, I made the spontaneous decision that we should explore that route over the more direct FLT. The blue blazed trail was a nice alternative to the FLT, although in some places I think they skimped on the blue paint…..we came out on an open area of the lake that gave us a nice vista of the surrounding area and me an opportunity to capture the moment with a couple of quick group pictures.
Because of our detour the group made it back to our cars a few minutes late, although I didn’t hear any complaints about that….
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Sat Jan 16
This report was written by Randy
Van Lone Loop, Catherine
Perfect winter hiking conditions greeted 8 hikers, 2 dogs, and 1 owl at the Gulf Road parking area. We started out going down the FLT along the creek, which had unusually high water. The trail wasn’t too icy due to a light coating of fresh snow. We saw no other hikers on this normally-busy section of the loop. But we did see plenty of icicles! We crossed the wooden bridge which someone said was on schedule to soon be replaced…good idea! One by one we made it safely across and headed uphill, gradually shedding layers of clothing as we went.
After passing through a vast sunlit field with a view of frosted Swan Hill we stopped to check out the foundations at the old schoolhouse, the namesake for the road we just traversed. Then it was back into the woods, and down to the creek, fording it with the help of some well-placed stones. The climb uphill along the old road offered views of former homesteads. We passed a festively decorated evergreen tree, and stopped briefly at the Chamberlain house to say “hi” (no one was home). Then, it was a downhill, mud-covered road walk for a rendezvous with our cars.
Post hike note: Two hikers, including new hiker Elizabeth, went to the cemetery at the junction of Routes 6 and 10 to visit the grave of Frankenstein… no kidding.
Photo by Elizabeth A
You can see Randy and Nancy’s complete photo album here
*****
Photos by Jack V
The owl is blind in one eye, so it couldn’t survive on its own in the wild. It lives with an avid hiker in Schuyler County, and it’s hiked with our group in the past, though not in a whileOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
12 hikers met at the end of the maintained portion of the Eastern end of Star Stanton Rd in the Town of Dryden.
An additional two hikers and three dogs arrived late and essentially did their own hike.
When the group assembled along the road a fresh flurry of snow was coming down, lending a very seasonal and “winter atmospherics” feeling to the morning.
My intention was to walk the Finger Lakes Trail as an out and back, for as far as we could get in our two hour time.
The group set off up the seasonal part of Star Stanton Rd. While the snow was not deep, we found ourselves walking in the tire tracks of a vehicle that had passed through that area at some recent time. While surface conditions were not terribly icy, using foot traction was a necessity today, and the group still had one hiker go down to the ground because of ice-covered road surfaces.
I knew from my previous section hike of this portion of the trail last summer that the FLT turn into the woods from Star Stanton Rd was easy to miss, and in fact the group did miss the turn. As a result, the group continued up Star Stanton RD, stopped at Time Square and came up with a plan to hike the yellow 4 trail until it met with the FLT.
Once we met that intersection we decided to continue on the FLT for another 15 minutes before turning around to take the FLT back to the cars, to account for the faster down-hill walk.
This in fact was what we did.
Once we turned back from the yellow 4 trail to the FLT, it was the best part of the hike. The group was passing through a canopy of fresh snow-covered trees that closed in around the single file of hikers for this portion of the hike. Walking through glades of evergreens that had a fresh mantle of snow , crossing small streams coursing their way down the hill, and the general atmosphere of this section of the trail made all of the earlier uphill hike well worth that effort
When we got back to the cars the earlier snow had stopped and the view down the valley was phenomenal.
We saw a total of two other hikers and two bicyclists on todays hike. There were no skiers encountered on our portion of trail
My intention is to re-do this hike during summer months. During that time of the year the group will be able to park further up Star Stanton Rd and have to do less road walking. It would mean that we lose our epic view down the valley at todays parking location, but I would rather woods-walk than road walk on any hike.
