In-town walk — Cayuga Heights and Cornell Heights — look-outs and grand houses
Lake View Cemetery — West Hill and the lake (as advertised) in the background Mausoleum — this is a nice building to look at, but I’d much rather be buried than stuck in one of theseSunset Park — the Cayuga Heights DPW does a great job of keeping the view open and unobstructedCayuga Heights Road approaching Carl Sagan’s former house — fantastic views straight down into Fall Creek gorgeMore fantastic views — Sagan’s house in the background — crossing this bridge in a car doesn’t give you anything like the same experience as walking across it Pedestrian bridge over Fall Creek gorgeIn the sprawling fraternity neighborhood — definitely the least impressive frat house we sawThe hikers were captivated by some sculptures of storks — and a large blue heron that flew up onto the roof of the big houseHeading down to gawk at the beautiful mansion of the late Roy Park
I got a new camera earlier this year that has a flash, so now for the first time I can get a few shots inside at out get-togethers — this is Iris, our hostess — she’s a long-time art teacher, and her top and her house both reflect a classic artist’s taste, IMO, a liking for decoration and ornamentation, patterns and bold strong colors. My own taste is dull, and I enjoy the vivacity of hers.Maybe you can see from the photos some of the food we had — though I’m not sure it’s recognizable — in any case, there was a good deal of itI brought six cans of beer — once again, no one but me drank any so I brought it back home — our hikers just don’t drink beer — but they do love wine, as maybe you can tell from noticing the cluster of bottles here
And here’s something a bit different — Randy borrowed my camera for a few minutes and came back with some Andy Warhol-style flashbulb-type party shots — I didn’t crop any of the shots because I like the details in the backgrounds
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Sat Nov 30
Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek — Varna
We had a special first-time hiker with us, Ellie (right front) — it turned out that some years ago she was in Puerto Rico and she brought a number of starving and homeless dogs back to Ithaca, and managed to find them homes — among the dogs she rescued were our regular weekend hiking companions Ruby and Diego
Did you notice the guy on the right with a gun slung on his shoulder? I really enjoy it when a hunter appears while we’re at the trail head waiting to start — reminds me that I need to pay extra-close attentionOur regular hiker Katharine has been laid up for more than a month recovering from surgery on a severely torn shoulder. She must keep her arm completely immobile, but she’s managed to learn, for instance, how to put on her yellow slicker with one hand. She can now accompany us on road walks, but it’ll be quite a while before she can get back into the woodsThe atmospherics were fantastic — misty, drizzling, very dark, a little raw but not excessively so
The steep stairs at each end of the rim trail are closed for winter — using the road isn’t as picturesque, but it’s actually easier, and a little quicker too
Maybe you noticed our snowbird couple I said would be heading south earlier in the week ….. their furnace broke at the last minute ….. forced to stay around to deal with it
Lands belonging to the YMCA, Coy Glen and EcoVillage, South Hill
The last time we did this hike we had to cut it short when a thunderstorm abruptly started rumbling nearby, and it started to rain hard. Couldn’t have been more different this time — a really beautiful morningWe came upon a small house on a grassy lane surrounded by overgrown fields and seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The owner spied us walking by and invited us to come into his front yard and admire his view to the east — very nice indeed
Shindagin Hollow SF — Shindagin Hollow Road to South Road and beyond on the FLT
I’m pretty sure this was the first time we’ve done this trail stretch with snow on the ground. Normally it doesn’t start to snow until hunting season is under way — by the time hunting ends in mid-December, Shindagin Hollow Road is iced in uuntil springIn fact, even though this was the first real snow of the fall, and we came the next day, the access road was already a little icy in spots, and some of the hikers found the ride down the steep hill disconcertingOur two regular dogs who ran away last weekend were well behaved this time — Diego, who is the instigator, spent the whole walk on the leash — Ruby generally doesn’t bolt on her ownOnly a couple of the hikers wore foot tractioin — I was betting the trail didn’t have time to ice up yet
Official head count: 19H, two D
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Sun Nov 10
Danby SF — Loop trail from Bald Hill Road to Diane’s Crossing and back
Last hike with us until next spring for our snowbirds Judith and Dick, in the lead here — they head south this weekDiane’s CrossingHere’s the scene Leigh Ann was photographing — looking south over Michigan CreekThis is always a fun spot to stand around for a few minutesAt the Chestnut Lean-to — we’ll be having our popular hot dog cook-out here in late January
If you haven’t been here in a while, the main entry area has been completely redone. What used to be a big parking lot has been transformed into a very pleasing landscaped area that sets a much better mood for entering the gorge. This is an overview of what it looks like now.Coming here so late in the season really cuts down n the crowds — we had it almost, but not quite, to ourselvesMany visitors pay extra to get bused to the top of the gorge, so they can skip any uphill stairs. We always walk up the gorge and come down the Indian Trail, which runs along the north rim. This charming cemetery is just a few steps off the Indian Trail.
The small black dog and the brown and white dog in this shot, Diego and Ruby, dashed off into the woods chasing an animal just as we were getting back to the cars — Roger, who’s been bringing them to the hikes for many years, spent two extra hours in the woods searching for them — as the search dragged on, five of us drove back to the trail head from Hopshre, where we were drinking beer, to help — the search effort was hampered by very poor phone reception.Otherwise, we had a great walk — wonderful atmospherics …. dark brooding clouds, snow off and on, a few sprinkles of rainWe ran into other people hiking on the trail more often than usual — but by the time our lost-dog rescue squad got back to the parking lot after 1 pm, there was no one else around and the woods seemed bleak and a little ominous
