Hello Hikers!
Wednesday June 29
Edwards Lake Cliffs Preserve, Lansing
Great morning in this small and interesting preserve that runs along the lake in upscale Lansing. It was a beautiful day, and we got to see a very satisfying variety of scenery.
The high point here is always the stream bed carved out by Gulf Creek — it’s extremely picturesque in general and it was really fun this time because of the lack of rain — the floor of the stream bed is basically flat and it was mainly dry, so we were able to walk a long distance upstream — there’s a big waterfall upstream that people were hoping to see — but it was further than they thought and they turned back without reaching it. (The scene right below is a sheer drop the creek makes close to the lake — it gives you an idea of what the stream bed looks like.)
There’s also some high cliffs here that you can walk near the edge of, but we didn’t have time for that. Instead we dropped down toward the lake level to visit a look-out. It was full of sweet pea flowers in bloom and everyone went gaga over that.
This is a big birding spot, and there was a lot of very melodious singing going on — several of our birding ladies said it was wood thrushes, out in unusually large numbers.
Official head count: 27H, four D
You can see Jack V’s photos online here, including a number of shots of the stream bed.
Saturday July 2
Woodard Road NW to Hines Road, Enfield
Really lovely morning, on the cool side and with a great breeze
An alarming amount of poison ivy along the first stretch of the trail …. a number of hikers were wearing shorts — I suspect I was the only one wearing both long pants and long underwear — I have neuropathy and my legs and ankles always feel cold — I believe this double layer of pants will protect me from getting PI.
Hines Road — we have to cut the outbound walk short here now because the next stretch is on private property and the landowner withdrew permission — this is the spot where you can bail out and take a very quick and easy shortcut back to the cars
Even those of us who retraced our steps through the woods got back to the cars early because of the trail closure — What to do next? walk a bit in the other direction to make it a full two hours, or cut the hike short and head home
Fishkill Creek — an extremely nice spot along the obscure CCC Trail in upper Treman
One benefit of the drought for us — no insects have been pestering us on our walks so far this summer — also, seems like there are more fragrant flowers or tree blossoms or whatever along our trails this year ….?
Official head count: 24H, four D
Check out Jack V’s photos online here.
Sunday July 3
Jim Schug Trail east into Cortland County on the FLT, followed by a get-together at Ann and Carlton’s
This walk takes us up and over a small hill — there’s a fantastic look-out on top — I like to pose the hikers against the beautiful distant valley that spreads out before us — unfortunately the angle of the sun was bad — so here we are in a compromise pose — lighting poor, background dull and overgrown, but the hikers don’t look too horrible
Here’s a shot I took by turning entirely around, with my back to the panoramic view — the hikers emerging from the very dark woods — much better lighting
Official head count for the hike: 35H, three D
Get-together at Ann and Carlton’s
This is a wonderful property — delightfully shady and cool on a warm afternoon — in fact, a couple of us were actually feeling a little chilly under the trees on the patio
Great pool but no one but Nico wanted to go in — I wasn’t feeling warm enough to try it myself — that’s Carlton’s art studio in the background, which he and Ann built themselves
View from the back yard showing the shady patio — I didn’t get an official head count for the get-together — some people who hiked didn’t come, but a number of people who skipped the hike did show up for the food, so we had quite a crowd
Check out Jack V’s online photos here