We hoped to go across the Stevens suspension bridge into the woods — but the trail was so rough we had to fall back to Plan B and head into the arboretuIt was quite cold — 9 at the meet-up — but it didn’t feel cold and it actually seemed very nice outLike so many other places we hike, the arboretum’s at its best on a snowy morning, IMOHalf way through the hike, Dave announced it was his 70th birthdayStarted to snow — we headed east into the natural areas maintained by money left by the late media mogul Roy H Park — here’s the commemorative photo for Dave’s birthdayAnother morning of great winter atmospherics
Official head count: eightH
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Sat Feb 2
Road walk in Danby: Comfort Road from Bald Hill Road to Gunderman Road
Not our most appealing morning for a walk — at 8 am it was still just 4 degrees, and I suspect some hikers decided to skip this one — though it did warm up to 13 by 9 aThe real action was with the work crew that walked in to the Chestnut Lean-to to get ready for Sunday’s cook-out — Tiger worked on packing down the access trail with snowshoes; Gopi brought her splitting maul. Jack V was part of this group — you can see his photos by following the link belowThere’s a lot of nice scenery along Comfort Road but it’s a bit subtle, and I didn’t feel like trying to make the effort to capture it in photos. I especially like the open areasOur hiking group is often weighted toward people with higher education, but I think this hike may have taken the prize — there were six of us …. one MD, three PhDs and two masters degrees — but you shouldn’t assume we talk about egg-head topics as a resultI love this bleak look. It hit 20 degrees as we wrapped up, but the wind was blowing a little briskly right in our faces.
Official head count for the road walk: 6H
Official head count for the work group: 8H, three D
The weather forecast got it exactly right this time — the long cold wave ended abruptly Saturday and we had a lovely mild morning for our cookoutWe didn’t have a whole lot of time to get this ready, since no one was willing to walk in and handle all the prep even as late as Friday, because of the horrible cold. But everything worked out great despite the last-minute rushWe were able to collect enough wood in a rush for probably three cookoutsThe people in the work crew felt the wood looked decent when they gathered it in freezing weather the day before, but it had thawed by the time they started to light the fires, and they realized the wood was actually very wetIt was such a pleasure to stand around in 40-degree temperatureThis was our sixth winter cookout. For the last few times, we had a very successful second fire going in the rear of the lean-to, and a number of people sat around on the log benches and sipped drinks. This time the fire wouldn’t really get going, apparently because of the wet wood, and the hikers stayed up in the front area. I helped smash the iron-like ice coating off the benches, and I was a little disappointed no one sat on themThe sun came out after a while and it was really lovely — 45 when Tiger and I got back to the carOne of the hikers arrived late and tried to save time by parking right at the trail head, but she didn’t realize there was a very deep ditch and her car slid into itWe tried repeatedly pushing from the front and the back — no luck — AAA came out and pulled the car right out in less than a minute
I was happy to see we were able to have such a good time even with such a short lead time. For the last four years attendance has been steady in the low 30s, which I think is pretty decent given the somewhat rugged setting. This time it was 32H and seven D
Fisher Settlement Road west toward Curtis Road on the FLT, Danby SF
The snow on the FLT was a bit rough and choppy, but we decided to try it out, rather than just walk on the roadThis trail is at its best in winter, when you can clearly appreciate the rolling terrain and the interesting plantingsAfter a while, I decided the trail surface was actually not that much fun — it was very slow going, and for those of us with hip or knee or ankle problems, a challenge. It took us a long time to reach this stream — we didn’t want to attempt a crossing, so we turned back even though it was earlyGot back to the cars 20 minutes early, decided to walk down Fisher Settlement Road a bitA great classic country-road look — rolling terrain, the road meandering a little, dark brooding woods along the edge — love itThere are almost no buildings along the length of Fisher Settlement Road as it passes through Danby SF, but those few that have been built have a surprisingly upscale feellng — this is not some backwoods country area
Official head count: 15H, one D. One additional hiker drove out but went to the wrong spot and so missed the hike.
It was in the low 30s and it snowed vigorously a few times, but it felt surprisingly mild anyway — you can see that Casey (shirt and suspenders) shed his bright yellow coat
Official head count: 20H, one D. We saw one bow hunter, at the meet-up, who promised not to shoot at any of us
Shindagin Hollow SF, bike trails in the northern sector
I don’t like to be too cautious about scheduling hikes just because the weather might be messy — so we headed up into Shindagin Hollow SF while a weather advisory for snow and ice was in effect — it was smooth sailing until we reached the edge of the forest — the access road, Braley Hill Road, hadn’t been sanded yet and it was a sheet of ice — the car was sliding around as we crept up the hill, and Tiger, who was driving, was afraid it would slide into the huge ditch along the edge. I thought it was great fun
The trail was a mixture of snow, ice and standing water — the footing was a bit tricky but some people managed to proceed without foot tractionThe early part of the trail has some fabulous pine forest actionWe were almost back to the cars when we realized two hikers weren’t with us any more. Turned out they missed a turn and kept going in the wrong direction. Luckily they both had smart phones with Verizon service so we were able to speak to them (there was no AT&T reception). But they didn’t have a map and they couldn’t figure out the extremely confusing trail situation without one, despite our coaching. They finally emerged from the woods 90 minutes late, after one of the hikers went home and then e-mailed them a map.
Official head count: 11H, one D
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Sat Jan 12
Buttermilk Falls SP, rim trail and Bear Trail
You get a great view of Buttermilk Creek from this lookout when the leaves are down We saw only a few other hikers — and this hunter — it was the first day of the special Tompkins County hunting season, and bow hunting is always permitted in season in the state parks — we don’t usually get such a vivid reminderJust enough snow to illuminate the terrain, but thin enough that walking was really easy — except where it was icyWe came upon two deer while we were walking down this stretch — they raced away — wonder if they knew who was looking for them ….?
Two hikes SE of Dryden — FLT east into Cortland County (hilly) and the Jim Schug Trail (flat) — followed by a stop at Hopshire Brewery
It was 6 degrees at the meet-up but there was no wind and the sun was lovely — so it was actually wasn’t bad at all standing aroundYou have to walk steadily uphill more or less steeply for the first one-third of the hike — great way to warm upThe snow was powdery but slippery — your foot slid backwards a little on every step — quite tiringThis is the start of the steep climb over the hill — always strenuous but it was much harder with the slippery footingEven our most rugged hikers found the going tough this timeThe trail ascends the front side of the hill on a series of switchbacks that seem to go on and on, though the straight-line distance from the bottom to the top isn’t all that greatWe’re now on the other side of the hill, looking into Cortland County — I find this such a serene and beautiful spotWe weren’t able to proceed much beyond this point because the slow going ate up the timeComing back down the switchbacks was extremely challenging in its own way — your feet skidded uncontrollably as you made the switchesBack down at the start of the hill — good chance to appreciate the terrain and contours of the Dryden Lake valleyThis marked the return to the trail of one of our most active and energetic hikers, Vicki, right front, who’s been out on disability since June — she suffered a sudden spinal problem that left her unable to sit or drive or walk more than a short while — surgery in the fall, finally recovering — she said she spent much of the time lying in bed — we were very happy to see her back — she could only handle the flat walk, though
Stop at Hopshire on the way home
A lot of hikers stopped off. The big room where we like to congregate was reserved for a brunch operation, so we had to squeeze into a small room next door — it’s a tight fit but it works and the small size of the room cuts down on the noise. It was a very cheerful mood — word leaked out that it was the birthday of one of the hikers, and that made it even more festive.
This spot, the corner of Hill Road and Curtis Road, is a great spot if you’re into road walking. There are three different walks, all excellent, that begin here. Two are woods roads; the one we did is paved.We began by walking east on Hill Road toward South Danby RoadI love rolling hills and old farmhouses nestled in hollows, so I’m a big fan of this stretch of the roadNow we’re on the way back from South Danby Road — great distant view — there’s basically no houses visible from here — you can really see why this is called “Hill” Road if you click on the pphoto and look at how the road undulates and risesThis one stretch past the farm houses looks equally great when you look at it from either directionBack at the starting point, first leg of the walk finishedThe group’s now walking north on Curtis Road toward Route 96BI love overgrown fields like this in winter, especially on a gloomy day Not the most prosperous-looking farm countryside, but very picturesque ….…. assuming you like decayed barnsThis little dome house is quite out of place — straight out of the Whole Earth Catalogue 1970
Stewart Park to the Farmers’ Market along the lake — followed by a belated New Year’s get-together
I was afraid we’d have to start the walk in the rain, but the storm (which wasn’t predicted) moved off shortly before hike time. One result was that the only people who turned out were hikers who don’t stay home just because they might get wetThe storm left behind some fantastic atmosphericsNot everyone shown ….
Get-together at the small pavilion in Stewart Park
The weather changed shortly before we got back to the pavilion — sun came out — wind picked up a littleThe breeze wasn’t all that strong but it was enough to feel really cold if you had your gloves off, which everyone did so they could handle the food. The nagging wind got oppressive and we broke up a little early.
Layen Road to Bruce Hill Road and beyond, Jersey Hill, Danby
Very bad weather was being predicted shortly before hike time — snow and rain likely, and high windsThis walk includes a long stretch through wide open fields — I was here once in the winter when the wind was so fierce we had to turn back after just a couple of minutesIt wasn’t bad at all this time.
Somehow, we never manage to get all the hikers into the formal portraits ….Notice the guy in the black shirt not wearing a jacket? That’s Casey — amazingly cold-hardy — though he suffers from cold hands so he wears fancy heated glovesMaybe the trees that surround the field were holding back the wind — in any case, it wasn’t particularly cold or miserable at alVery nice in the woodsThis is Bruce Hill RoadOnce we reach this point,time starts to run short — there are two attractions to be seen up ahead, a picturesque quarry and another large and dramatic field — unfortunately, if we stop for the quarry, there’s not enough time to reach the field ….We chose to go straight to the field — stood around for a couple of minutes, then had to turn backThere’s a very striking and beautiful gorge in the right side of the photo — too bad you can’t really discern it.
Didn’t rain, no more than a few specks of snow. Very nice walk
