Hello Hikers!
Tuesday Feb 23
Abbott Loop from Michigan Hollow Road east, Danby SF
We hiked a day earlier than normal to beat the big rainstorm moving up from the south — delightful morning in a beautiful woods, but it left me a little disoriented for the rest of the week. We almost always do our midweek hikes on Wednesdays — very rarely, on Thursdays — I can’t remember ever doing one on a Tuesday before — I kept finding myself confused about what day it was — realized I orient my mental weekly schedule entirely around a Wednesday hike without even thinking about it
The photos I’ve used in this hike report, and Jack V’s nature shots as well, will make you think this is a level trail. In fact, it’s one of our steepest. I was thinking about this afterwards and I decided I might try making up a list of our 10 toughest hikes. I sent out an e-mail to our regulars asking for their thoughts — turned into possibly our biggest discussion thread ever.
This is one of several walks we do where you climb up one side of a hill and then go down the other, so you end up having uphills on both legs of the walk. I like the far side of this hill because it’s quite wet, with several picturesque streams and soggy areas that are fun to navigate.
We were right around the freezing mark and there was a nice mix of soft snow and a little left-over ice — hard to know whether to wear foot traction or not — the trail was a bit choppy in spots and the traction can make it worse on your ankles
Lovely sunshine effect in the pine woods that cover the first half of this hike — it’s really a first-rate stretch — if you’re not too out of breath to appreciate it.
Official head count: 12 hikers and Yoda. Our super-regular hiker Good Dennis should have hiked with us but he chose to go skiing instead — took a bad fall — broken collarbone — surgery, with a plate in the chest — he’s hoping to rejoin us fairly soon.
More photos online:
Second great hiking weekend in a row — mild Saturday, spring-like Sunday
Saturday Feb 27
Carter Creek loop, Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area
Wonderful morning — nothing special to report
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Official head count: 18 hikers, three dogs. I want to give a special shout-out to Dave G for leading us around.
More photos online:
Sunday Feb 28
Shindagin Hollow SF, east from Braley Hill Road on the FLT
First time we ever did this trail — now I’m wondering why I never scheduled it before — it’s not like it’s hidden away in some obscure part of the county — we’ve been hiking right nearby for years — in fact it couldn’t be a more obvious walk to do
I’m sorry it took so long for me to wake up to this one — it’s an excellent trail, above average in general, and part of the walk is quite stunning
The trail takes us right along the edge of an extremely steep, deep and dramatic precipice for quite a long stretch. We were walking in a mix of soft snow and slippery dirt, and the path is slightly tilted toward the drop-off for part of the time, so it was a little more exciting than I like, and I had to bushwhack extensively to keep back from the rim. I wish I’d gotten a photo of the ravine but there was no way I was going to walk up to the edge and then spend time fiddling with the camera to get a shot that captured the scene.
There was some question before we started out whether people should wear foot traction — I said no — then, when it was so slippery along the ravine, there was a bit of grumbling that I’d given bad advice. Possibly ….
A very satisfying number of stream crossings along this trail — I always enjoy these, the need to hop and jump and the constant risk of getting your shoes wet ….
Official head count: 25 hikers, five dogs
More photos online: