This report is by regular hiker Mary, who organized and coordinated a float trip on Monday:
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On Monday, April 25th a group of eight Ithaca Hikers traveled 93 miles SW to Pine Creek Outfitters in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania to float (paddle) the creek.
Pine Creek gorge, often referred to as The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, is part of the Pennsylvania Scenic Waters system and designated a National Natural Landmark. However, the creek is typically only floatable March through May. Water levels on the creek fluctuate and paddlers have to be flexible about what they expect of their Pine Creek float experience.
This year, unlike last year, we were unable to float the canyon area. Instead, we were shuttled to the Upper Pine Creek area where we experienced class I and II rapids. We put-in at Galeton and floated to Ansonia. It was a beautiful day, 70 degrees and sunny. Though it wasn’t as dramatic as last year’s canyon float, we still enjoyed being on the water.
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As happenstance would have it, a group from Trumansburg (organized by a woman named Mary G.) floated at the same time we did. The PCO staff explained that they were initially confused as to whether they had only one group, organized by Mary, or two–silly because we did give our last names.
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Two groups meant more paddlers, so we used several types of crafts: kayaks, canoes, and a two-person rubber canoe and two of the guides used paddle boards. The variety of crafts on moving water created some real fun moments.
Very soon after we got going, an Osprey flew overhead; it had a small fish in its talons! I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture of it. We also saw many ducks, a few geese, kingfisher and other small birds.
We stopped about halfway and had a very rustic lunch along the creek bank. Then got back into our boats and finished up about 3:30 p.m. We traveled about 3.5-4 hours on the water, much shorter than last year.
We (six of the eight Ithaca Hikers) stopped at the Wellsboro Country Club for dinner before heading back to town (a recommendation and reservation made by PCO staff). Little did we know that they offered only an abbreviated menu because their season hadn’t yet started. Our group however, sat on the large porch in chilly dining chairs that rocked gently, and ate our mediocre food, served with good drinks, by a cheerful and talkative waitstaff. We floated above any tug to complain about things that were less than what we hoped for, and rode small waves of time well spent–back home.
Mary
W Seneca Road and Burdick Road – Seneca County – road walk Our new Tuesday road walk program is only three weeks old and it’s already a huge success in my book. Some people like to walk only in the woods — maybe they like to see certain trees or flowers or birds or whatever — I don’t care about any of those things — what I like is to be out in the country — I care most about the mood and the feelings that a walk creates — a country road can be just as satisfying as a forest. I would certainly never have come out to this deserted area of mostly abandoned farmland right across the border in Seneca County if we didn’t have an organized walking program. We saw a handful of cars and a couple of working farms, but basically there’s nothing out here except empty fields, some still clear, the others filling in with brush and brambles and scrubby trees. This area is officially on the eastern edge of the Finger Lakes National Forest but it doesn’t at all resemble the parts of the FLNF we’re familiar with. The land rolls a little but it’s pretty much level, and it has a great deserted and slightly melancholy feeling to it. **
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It was chilly, grey, surprisingly raw and drizzling a bit when we got to the meet-up, but once we got moving the drizzle ended and we all warmed up. It was fun to come upon the few active farms, but the expanse of empty land was very pleasing too. Toward the end the sun came out and the clouds piled up into a really dramatic formation and it was just gorgeous.
Fischer Old Growth Forest, Newfield This woodland preserve is advertised as a place of uniquely special character, and I imagine most of the people who come here are really into trees and plants. This typically means walking slowly and stopping a lot and looking at everything. Now, it’s a fact that, if you walk slowly enough, you can manage to get up even the steepest trails without too much effort. I once got my overweight and out-of-shape younger brother up the Buttermilk gorge trail by walking almost at a crawl — it took forever, but we succeeded.
But I’m much too impatient to go inching along here with our hikers, no matter how great the trees may be — so we always do this trail at our usual somewhat fast shuffle — the only stopping we do is to catch our breath. And this time I realized clearly that the walk is an official ass-breaker — several of the ups and downs are genuine killers. So it’s going on my list-in-progress of our toughest hikes. **
That’s not to scare anyone away — the woods here are exceptionally beautiful, and the terrain is wonderfully varied, with probably the most rapid and extreme changes in grade that we do anywhere. The forest is owned by Cornell, and they recently bought an adjacent area of old fields, which makes a pleasing contrast to the shady gloom of the forest. Official head count: 15 hikers and Yoda.
South Danby Road west to the Abbott Loop, Danby SF Chilly grey dark morning — great atmospherics for this piney trail **
We turned around at the little swampy area just beyond the junction with the Abbott Loop — I directed the hikers to walk across the planks and then immediately turn and walk back so I could get a candid-looking photo — you can see how Susan L appreciated taking my directions Official head count: 21 hikers, three dogs More photos online:
Virgil Creek Dam, Dryden Spectacular morning for walking around this odd flood-control earthworks project, This is a pretty minimalist place and you sometimes need some imagination to make it lively. So, for example, on the way out to the dam, we walked up a side hill and then back down the side hill. It happens to be private property and the farmer saw us and asked us to leave. (I generally have mixed feelings about high tension lines, but in this specific spot I find them very attractive on a sunny day when the sun is gleaming off them.) I myself love mud in the spring and we hit a good patch. I did get my feet wet navigating — no matter, mild morning and I had good socks on so my feet felt fine.
Not everyone appreciated our morning’s agenda. One hiker said it was boring to climb up a hill and then back down. “It’s a Zen thing,” I said. “No,” she said, “it’s like Sisyphus.” I thought that was funny, but the reality is, there’s not all that much to do here except to stretch things out with dumb little amusements. We came upon a seasonal pond with a bit of a racket coming from it. Sunday regular Jack B-2, who’s an animal behavior expert, said it was toads mating, which occurs only very briefly every year. Interesting sound. Here we are on top of the main berm, which is about 90 feet or so above the level of Virgil Creek far below — on a gorgeous morning like this one, you actually feel a bit like you’re on top of the world On the way out I challenged our resident daredevil Roger to touch an electrified cattle fence. He grew up on a farm so he knew how to proceed — he used a piece of grass. Very slight shock, he said. I was hoping for something more dramatic.
Our nature photographer Annie came out late and met up with us as we were heading back to the cars. She continues to have plantar fasciitis so she had to do a very truncated hike. Official head count: 27 hikers, seven dogs
More photos online:
Me Jack V
Annie took some shots but she wasn’t able to get them online. I’ll send the link on Thursday when I announce next weekend’s hikes. If you can’t wait, you can check the main home page of our nature photographers in a while — click here — the photo albums are sorted by date.
Bald Hill Road from Station Road to Michigan Hollow Road, Danby — road walk Another unusually lovely morning in the woods, just three days after our fabulous hike at Taughannock Falls SP in falling snow — this time it had rained heavily a few hours earlier and the trees and shrubs were still wet and sparkling in the bright sun, and there was a lot of moisture in the air — I’ll now generalize and say that most of the very best hikes I’ve done over the years have involved rain or snow, either during the walk or just before, or a storm very close by This was our second road walk in our new Tuesday morning series — this road runs north-south through Danby SF parallel to Michigan Hollow Road — we cross it when we take the Abbott Loop up to The Pinnacles but I’ve never spent more than a few minutes on the road itself — I was a little surprised at how good a walk it is, generally a smooth and level surface, and the scenery is first-rate. Evidence of logging here and there. You get the sense there’s rarely a vehicle passing. As many of you know, I love dark pine woods — we came upon a really beautiful stretch here — I can never resist trying to pose the hikers against such an atmospheric setting — we tried a group shot …. though half the group wasn’t in the shot — Sabine took this and you can see me if you’re interested (no more complaints I never use photos of myself)
I took the opportunity to try a few mug shots against the pines too — that’s Good Dennis, who was doing something with his jaw that made him look extremely masculine — Jim R — our nature photographer Jack V — and, without pines, Katharine in a new hair style Annie reappeared on the trail for a little while after being laid up with plantar fasciitis but she had to turn back quite soon
I’m putting this uphill walk from Route 13 to upper Treman on my forthcoming list of our toughest hikes. It was perfect weather for a hike but we had some grumbling as the climb went on and on — then I got word that our super-regular Brenda had thrown in the sponge — she sat down on a log and said she wasn’t going any higher — Brenda has a chronically very bad back but she generally soldiers on no matter what — so for her to drop out means this one gets a rating of five for steepness. **
It’s really beautiful all the way up, and at the top, which makes the tough climb more bearable. And coming back down is great. Official head count: 20 hikers, two dogs That’s our newest photographer Sabine wearing the camera around her neck — she takes the photos but she doesn’t know how to download them or edit them, so she uses my backup camera and I take it home and choose and crop her shots — so if you see something you don’t like, blame me, not her
Something different this time — I’m using five shots by Sabine and three from Jack V but none of my own to illustrate this report — I put some shots of mine online you can check out if you want; they’re technically OK but I think they’re a little dull compared to the photos I’m using here
“This is the nicest day of the year so far,” one of the hikers said as we turned into the woods — maybe not everyone would agree, but it certainly was beautiful out — no signs of spring but the setting had a gorgeous sun-drenched quality that was delightfully spring-like
I don’t want to sound treacly but I think this shot of Sabine’s captures the springy mood, with the hot colors and the smiling faces lined up like a row of flowers blooming in the sun
Generally terrible conditions for taking photos — sun too blindingly bright, harsh shadows, confusing sun-and-shade effects, very poor contrast between the people and the backgrounds — you can see in this shot that the ladies in the shade look good but the hikers in the background are seriously melted and bleached out.
I was very curious how we’d make out crossing the deep ravine — we brought a rope and trowel as advertised — four of us in the group had handicaps — two significant spine problems, one broken collarbone still not healed, and me — I now have a condition called ataxia that causes me to feel like I’m always going to fall over.
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Here’s the ravine, as captured by jack V. As you can see, it’s pretty deep and the walls are steep — luckily the ground was a little muddy and soft and it was possible to just slide down gracefully on your ass. No rope or trowel needed.
Maybe I look a little dazed climbing up the other side but in fact it went very smoothly for me and everyone else.
One group of hikers decided to venture upstream rather than try the deep ravine, and they found an easier crossing, though it involved some bushwhacking. (Photo by Sabine.)
Official head count: 23 hikers, four dogs
Regular hiker Bad Dennis is recuperating from minor leg surgery — he shaped up anyway but he turned back quite early and walked back through the woods alone. He called me in the afternoon to say he’d seen what he was sure was the paw print of a small bear — “what if it was a cub and the mother was nearby and attacked you?” I said — this is why I never want to hike alone around here.
Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna Wonderful morning on the trail, wildflowers and green shoots everywhere, creek sparkling and shimmering, just a great day to be outside.
Official head count: 36 hikers, two dogs Here we are where the trail emerges from the woods and you find yourself abruptly on top of a high bluff that drops precipitously down to the creek more than 100 feet below — our nature photogs always have shots that sort of suggest the scene — but you really need to be there to get the full stunning effect, it’s quite extraordinary At the big Cornell fields — I herd everyone over here every time because I love the views — but sometimes the hikers are so busy schmoozing they don’t even look up — this time they were good, they actually walked out into the open a little and seemed to be looking around This isn’t the darkest pine grove we do on our hikes but it’s one of my favorites — I love the atmosphere — the timing of this hike is such that we invariably have to turn back and head for the cars here — I realize I haven’t said anything for a while about precisely how long our hikes have been lasting — don’t think I’ve lost interest in this topic — the little group I was walking with got back to the parking lot in exactly two hours flat.
Leonard Road and Bald Hill School Road, Brooktondale — road walk If you ever wake up on a hike morning and it seems horribly cold, don’t just say, OK, no hike for me today, and decide to do something else. Pay attention to the thermometer and be patient. It was an unexpectedly frigid 1 above at the airport at 7 AM — two hours later, it had shot up to 19 — by our 10 AM start time, it was plenty mild enough for a nice walk. This was the first road walk in our new weekly road walk series — we tried out two absolutely deserted deep-country roads in central Brooktondale. No houses at all, and from the tire tracks in the snow it looked like maybe 3-4 vehicles at most had driven on Leonard Road in the past 24 or so hours — on Bald Hill School Road, it was clear just one vehicle had gone by. We were in the middle of the woods the whole time. We had a delightful time. As a bonus, there was a picturesque farm on the corner of Central Chapel Road and Leonard Road where we parked — always the sign of a good hike. Official head count: 11 hikers and Yoda
Potato Hill SF, Caroline I was thinking about what to say about this hike and I had a vague sense there was something odd about it — then I realized it was the first time in our entire 2015-16 winter that we walked in snow up over our shoes. Having some real snow cover for a change was a lot fun — but I must say I also enjoyed all the many hikes we did without snow. **
This walk has a woods part and a field part — the field’s very dramatic, with deep views into Pennsylvania — the woods are more low-key …. sometimes they can seem a bit scrubby …. but there’s a lot of very atmospheric dark massing along the edges, and for some reason I find them satisfying. Official head count: 13 hikers and Yoda You can see more photos by me online here
Saturday April 9
Taughannock Falls rim trail This was our most beautiful hike in quite a long time. It was snowing on the drive from town to the trail head and for most of the hike, not hard but steadily. The lighting was very dark and it had a wonderful luminous quality. The snow stuck to everything and this really lit up all the fantastic details of the gorge and put a bright layer on the dark pine trees. A lovely mist hung over the whole park. It was an extraordinary scene. The snow stopped about 11 and the change in mood was striking. It was still a nice morning out but all the special qualities disappeared immediately.
A couple of personal matters: Regular hiker Robin turned 65. We sang her the special 65th birthday version of Happy Birthday, “Welcome to Medicare.” Occasional hiker Barbara was just back on the trail after a long period suffering from plantar fasciitis — a number of hikers have been badly plagued with foot and ankle problems recently. Official head count: 18 hikers, four dogs
More photos online:
Me Jack V
(Our regular hike and nature photographer Annie is still laid up with plantar fasciitis)
Sunday April 10
Michigan Hollow Road to Bald Hill Road and The Pinnacles on the south leg of the Abbott Loop, Danby SF We had a wonderful adventure hike today, the first in a long while — great fun! Let me get the official head count out of the way before I start the narrative: 32 hikers, eight dogs
The excitement began as we approached a big level area about 1/3 of the way up the hill, where several streams come together and the trail crosses back and forth across the water repeatedly.
We hit high water everywhere and lots of slippery rocks and submerged branches coated with ice on top. It may not look like much in the photos but the crossings were very challenging for many of us. A number of people slipped and slid a bit and got a touch of wet feet, including me. As I mentioned recently, my balance is now messed up (due to a nerve disorder) so crossing a stream can be surprisingly thrilling for me. I’m the bent-over figure in the bright green nanopuff hoody in the shot above — here I am again in the background as Brenda inches her way across.
It’s not very often that I use photos of myself in these hike reports — these shots are from a new photographer we had today, Sabine, filling in during Annie’s absence — Sabine likes to take photos of people but she takes a somewhat different approach than I do — I tend to crop in closely on the hikers, while Sabine takes a somewhat longer approach and shows the hikers in more of the setting. You can get a better idea of what the scenery looked like in her shots. It was very slow going for a lot of us through the wet area, and the group got extremely spread out. Most people turned around well before they got to Bald Hill Road — but a small group of speed demons pushed on and got all the way to the look-out — Barbara got an iPhone shot to mark the event (if the photo won’t load at the link, click “View Original” up near the top — that should work). I was urged to give a special shout-out to Carlton, who revealed a talent for improvising stream crossings with well-placed stones that made it possible for some of the hikers to cross spots they wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Carlton said he grew up playing in mud and water and he really enjoyed this walk. There was quite a bit of mud but it was semi-frozen so it wasn’t a major problem. I do take a longer-view photo once in a while myself — that’s Casey off the trail and taking a shortcut up the hill — I thought the scenery looked fabulous in general and I still love this hike just as much.
More photos online:
Sabine Jack V, who was really bowled over by the water and the ice
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More photos online:
Lots of red trilliums — but where were all the white ones?
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“Don’t let some little rainstorm scare you off from hiking”
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