Hello Hikers!
Wednesday March 23
Six Mile Creek, south side rim trail
I’m not bragging, just stating a fact, when I say that, if you start hiking with us, even if you’ve lived here for a long time, you’ll soon find yourself on trails you’ve never seen before. Everyone comments on it. If you like seeing new sights, this is a big benefit of hiking with our group.
This trail along Six Mile Creek is maybe the most striking case of all — so close to downtown and so surprisingly wild — you’d never know it’s there unless you’re unusually curious, or someone shows you. It runs parallel to the very popular and attractive South Hill Rec Way, which is a groomed, wide and gentle walking and jogging boulevard that gets heavy use — if you turn off this in several unmarked spots, you immediately find yourself in the kind of rugged deep woods setting we find in the state forests far out of town — rocky streams, narrow bumpy paths, sheer drops, mysterious trails branching off to the side
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Sandra was making her first hike here on Wednesday and she really got a kick out of it
Official head count: 17 hikers, one dog
More photos online:
No photos from Annie — couldn’t hike at all this week — plantar fasciitis
Saturday March 26
Robinson Hollow SF, Tioga County
I wanted to be a farmer when I was a boy — I’d like to live on a farm now (provided someone else did all the work) — so I really enjoy it when there’s a farm right at the start of one of our hikes, as we have in a couple of cases — these two beautiful work horses live just a few hundred feet from the Robinson Hollow trail head, and Sabine walked over without me prompting her — there’s also a cow and chickens — really creates a great feeling of being out in the country
I’m still thinking about a list of our most strenuous hikes — I think our people would agree this is one of them
We managed to get pretty far into the hemlock forest part of this walk — it was fairly dark under the trees and I forgot to adjust my camera so none of my photos came out — I realized that the trail under the hemlocks is is quite rough and bumpy and now I’m working on a theory that hemlock groves tend to produce poor quality walking conditions, too many roots and snags
Beautiful morning, no signs of spring but a lovely dazzling sun and nice temps
Official head count: 24 hikers, six dogs
More photos online:
Easter Sunday
Lick Brook, followed by a get-together at Hobit’s
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Gorgeous morning on a great trail, and a wonderful holiday party
Official head count for the walk: 28 hikers, six dogs
A handful of the walkers couldn’t make it to the get-together, but a number of additional people who weren’t able to hike showed up, and we had a big crowd. We got a chance to catch up with Hobit’s teenage son Jake, who’s into tumbling
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At one point on the trail we found ourselves right across the street from the home of super-regular hiker Sabine — you can see her house and pond in the additional photos I put online
As announced, I didn’t do the whole walk — but the parts I did do were completely satisfying and beautiful
More photos online: