Report to Hikers: Week of Dec 25-Dec 31

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed Dec 27

Michigan Hollow Road up toward the Pinnacles look-out on the southern leg of the Abbott Loop

One car thermometer said it was 1, another said 3  —  but it actually was not bad at all

It takes the sun two hours from official sunrise to emerge over the hill right here  —  a nice gloomy touch

There were lots of stream crossings and they were all tricky for those of us not wearing foot traction

It was quite beautiful with the pale sun lighting up the woods

Official head count:  12H, three D

 

Sat Dec 30

Lindsay Parsons Biodiversity Preserve, W Danby

More great wintry weather  —  the roads were a bit slippery on the way, but once we got to the parking lot it wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t that windy
As soon as we dipped down the hill into the preserve, the atmospherics became fabulous  —  light snow, fog, mist, gloomy light

If you like stark and bleak winter scenery and you didn’t shape up with us, you missed a great one

Official head count:  13H, five D

 

Sunday Dec 31

Shindagin Hollow rim trail along Shindagin gorge

Much colder, snowier and windier than Saturday  —  we were in a long line of cars crawling down Route 79 at a very slow speed on the way ….

But as usual, once we got going it was great

The really spectacular scenery on this walk is along the rim of the gorge  —  unfortunately, this is the only shot I got  —  the trail is narrow and bumpy  —  we were whizzing along so it was too hard for me to spin around to take any photos  —  also, my hands were still freezing and I can’t work the camera buttons unless I take my bulky mittens off

My hands finally warmed up just as we finished the gorge trail (I had unopened Hot Hands in my pocket but I didn’t use them …  maybe I should have)

I broke through the ice right here  —  you can just see my footprint in the frozen stream to the right of Dave  —  luckily I have new waterproof shoes and the waterproofing really worked

It was still just 1 degree when we got back to the cars and a good bit of snow had accumulated while we were walking

Official head count:  17H, three D

Get-together at Mary’s

It was so much fun to pile into her house after such a raw morning  —  here’s a fire right outside her dining room window she set up for us to look at

a large number of people showed up who didn’t hike and it got quite crowded  —  great variety of food and snacks  —  under the circumstances, this was infinitely better than trying to have a tailgate party outside