Friday, September 4
Seneca Lake
Hike report by Mark Sussman
Our usual Wednesday hike was modified into a planned paddle. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate on Wednesday, so I rescheduled for Friday September 6.
Six paddlers met at the Watkins Glen Paddle Launch for a 10:33AM push off. I discovered that the formerly free parking was now $8 requiring lots of cell phone effort – but nobody seemed to mind.
The weather was perfect and we soon crossed the south end of Seneca Lake, and arrived at the Lucky Hare Brewery/Marina. There is a very easy take out right next to the restaurant.
The food, drinks and view were all very enjoyable. After lunch we took off and paddled down the Watkins Marina channel where we were hoping to spot an eagles nest, but we didn’t locate one before we decided to turn around. We paddled back to our put-in, loaded the boats on the cars, and all agreed that it was a fun outing.
Saturday, September 5
Logan Hill Nature Preserve, Candor
Hike report by Nina F.
Nine hikers and three dogs met in the parking lot of the Candor, NY junior-senior high school to hike the Logan Hill Nature Preserve on a really gorgeous September day. The hike is beautiful, crossing the 348 acre nature preserve through fields (filled with stunning golden rod), forests and wetland. This hike has it all! Fun wildlife sighting: Towards the end of the hike we flushed a woodcock (which was especially exciting to the two bird dogs on our hike).
History of Logan Hill follows. One of the hikers personally knows the Darlingtons, who donated the land.
Betsy and Dick Darlington bought 300 acres of land atop Logan Hill in 1972, and in 1990, donated the first ever conservation easement held by the Land Trust. Betsy, Dick, and their daughters, Lois and Jean, wanted to ensure the permanent protection of their family’s property and generously donated 285 acres to the Land Trust in February of 2015, creating the Logan Hill Nature Preserve. The remaining 15 acres are still owned by the Darlingtons and are protected through a conservation easement. The Land Trust added an additional 63-acre parcel in 2020 which includes hilltop forest and steep north- and east-facing slopes above the village of Candor.
Sunday, September 6
Hill Road and Curtis Road, South Danby
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Thirteen hikers met at the corner of Curtis and Hill Roads for this 4.2-mile road and woods hike. After the week of often heavy rain we’ve had, no walk through the woods was mud-free this weekend, but the weather was very nice for today’s hike. We headed south on Curtis to the FLT, headed west on the FLT to Hill Rd., and took hill Rd. south to the Abbott Loop. Then we headed east on the Abbott Loop until we returned to the FLT, and then retraced our steps back to the cars.
