Category: hike reports

 

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

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday Dec 20

Diane’s Crossing SE on the FLT to the Abbott Loop, Danby SF

Official head count:  15H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Sunday Dec 24

So Danby Road E to the Tamarack Lean-to on the FLT

Official head count:  35H, 10 D

More photos:

Jack V

Brunch at Hobit’s

People were in different rooms and coming and going, so I didn’t even try to get an official head count  —  it was definitely crowded  —  good variety of food  —  but no beer  —  fun holiday vibe

 

Monday Dec 25

Hike cancelled  —  roads icy

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Monday Dec 11

Two sawmill reports:

 

  1.   We had a group tour at Double Aught Sawmill, Candor, today

I assumed I’d visited my last sawmill when we toured the big ultramodern mill in Owego in November  —  but a number of hikers who’d intended to go that day had to cancel at the last minute  —   so Casey used his many connections to line up one more tour so everyone who wanted could get to see what an up-to-date sawmill is like.

Everyone who had to miss our Nov 20 tour made this one, and we had several non-hikers with us too.  A few of us had also done the Owego tour and the setup was familiar to us  —  for the others, it was novel and pretty impressive

This is where the logs are debarked  —  the mill manager Pat warned us if we heard a sudden beeping, jump for it  —  the machine sometimes throws out a log that’s defective, like the one lying in the foreground

This is a modern mill and most of the process is automated ….

….  but not all of it (I was up on a catwalk when I got this shot)

On the Owego tour I wasn’t wearing ear protection and I found the noise unbearable  —  this time I was wearing earmuffs like these workers and it was fine

The guys with the sticks have to walk backwards on a constantly moving belt  —  they use one stick to flip a board over so they can see the other side, and the other stick to mark the lumber grade.

Even though I wasn’t seeing anything new this time, I really enjoyed the whole experience.  I liked the setting too  —  very gloomy and atmospheric

You can see Jack V’s photos here

Randy made four very short videos of various sawing operations:

1. Main saw
2. Assembly line overview
3. Nearing the end of the line
4. Final step

“This shows red oak planks being graded for quality. This is a thirty year old mill, and it’s not fully automated. You can see some manual labor being used to remove poor quality lumber for further trimming and processing.”

 

 

2.   Coincidentally, a portable sawmill came to Mark and Ellie’s place in Trumansburg on the same day

Info and photos from Mark:

Saw It Coming is a one man outfit, run by Mike Grover. His main use of the sawmill is to mill up white pine for his log house that he is in the process of building in the Newfield (Alpine) area. My neighbor and I hired him, on the recommendation of a friend of mine, to saw up some walnut trees we had taken down in May. We have to stack the wood with spacers, and let it dry for a year or more before we can use it. Now we have to think of lots of projects so we can use up our wood.

Mark also made a short video that demonstrates the operation

 

 

 

Wed Dec 13

Cornell scenic areas along Fall Creek near the campus

A bit grim at the meet-up  —  14, snowing a little, wind around 25 mph gusting to the mid-30s  —  you really have to push yourself to get out of the car

Once we got moving and warmed up, it was fun to be out on such an atmospheric morning

Official head count:  14H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Sat Dec 16

Cayuga Lake flood plain from the Fuertes bird sanctuary to the farmers’ market

We intended to walk out to the lighthouse for a photo op, but the jetty got very icy as we got near so we had to turn back

Fabulous atmospherics  —  great walk

Official head count:  25H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Sunday Dec 17

Upper Treman SP  —  CCC Trail and nearby country roads

Official head count:  24H, eight D

More photos:

Jack V

 

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Join the Cayuga Trails Club!

In last week’s hike report I urged everyone to join CTC on the grounds that the club’s activities benefit us tremendously, and membership isn’t that expensive.  A couple of days later I got a mailing from the club announcing the dues for 2018 are going up to $30 a couple, from $20.  Then I got a note from Gary M, the CTC president, asking me what I thought of the increase (Gary’s aware I’m a bit of a tightwad).

Since the dues haven’t been raised since 1998, and the increase isn’t big, I think the increase makes sense.  Most importantly, I don’t know what we’d do without CTC to keep the trails clear of debris and overgrowth, and to repair damage.  We really need this group to remain strong and healthy, so by all means do join up now.

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Danger  —  The Lick Brook trail will be closed for gun hunting in January

The Finger Lakes Trail Conference is going to include the Lick Brook trail from Route 34-96 up to Town Line Road in the special Tompkins County deer hunting season that starts in January.  The FLTC feels the trail is being over-browsed.  You can get the details at the “Notices” page at the CTC web site.

 

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed Dec 6

Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve

Official head count:  25H, six D

 

Saturday Dec 9

Stevens Suspension Bridge to Monkey Run North bluffs

Jack V has put together a photo compilation of the best of 2017 for our group  —  he brought it to the trailhead today and gave it its first showing  —  there are 22 full-page photos  —  he’s selling copies for $15 (his cost)  —  contact him if you’re interested

vanderzeejack@gmail.com

Official head count:  31H, six D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Sunday Dec 10

Taughannock Falls SP

Official head count:  26H, eight D

More photos:

Jack V

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Pinnacles Look-out, Abbott Loop, Danby SF

I got an e-mail the other day from our hiking pal Gary M, head of Cayuga Trails Club, reporting that a DEC work crew has pruned and cleared a lot of the vegetation that has been blocking the view from the look-out.  Gary and David P, head of the CTC trails maintenance operation, had recently contacted the state asking if the view from The Pinnacles could be opened up.  The DEC responded extremely quickly.  I want to give a shout-out to Gary and David  —  they’ve built up a very good relationship with the DEC and they obviously made a compelling case for the clearing operation.  We owe their group a huge debt of thanks for keeping the trails open and clear  —  if they weren’t so active, our hiking options would be greatly diminished.  I urge everyone to join CTC  —  it’s inexpensive, and you’re supporting a really good cause.

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed Nov 29

Road walk  —  Fitzgerald Road and Bergen Road, Odessa

This is one of our best farm-country road walks, IMO  —  we’re midway between Mecklenburg and Reynoldsville, up on a hilltop with rolling terrain stretching away in three directions  —  almost no houses or traffic

Up near the top of the hill is a large dairy farm (over 1,000 cows), Bergen Farms  —  it’s obviously a major operation but there’s not a lot to see from the road  —  couple of manure lagoons behind the hikers in the photo above  —  didn’t smell all that bad, actually

We saw just a few cars and trucks until the very end, when we had this mini-congestion as we approached our cars  —  the farm vehicles on the right were impressively huge

Official head count:  17H, three D

More photos:

Annie.  One lively moment:  We were standing outside Bergen Farms when an enormous farm vehicle pulled up ….

“On the matter of the giant tractor, I had waved at the driver and he was so curious about us.  He came right down from his throne and asked us if we were nature lovers and where we were from.  He said that the last time he had seen so many people on Fitzgerald Road was years ago when deer hunters would gather there.  Apparently, they don’t any more. At any rate, I very politely asked him if I could take his picture and he agreed only if he could take my picture. It was fun going up there!”

Jack V.  He and Mark found an enormous leg bone near the farm  —  Jack got a fun shot of it

 

Saturday Dec 2

Jim Schug Trail, Dryden

Several of the hikers called for Tiger and me to pose romantically in this lovely setting ….

(Photo by Margaret, using my camera)

Official head count:  27H, six D

More photos:

Annie

 

Sunday Dec 3

Buttermilk Falls SP

Official head count:  36H, 12 D

More photos:

Jack V

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A formerly active Ithaca Hiker sent me this note to publicize:

As a former hiker as well as a NYS Hunter Safety Instructor, I am appalled that some hikers are not wearing blaze orange during deer season. If a hunter can shoot a pickup truck believing it was a deer, why on earth do you assume you are safe?

Wear a blaze orange hat; wear a blaze orange vest!

Best,
Gerry Cox