ithacahikers

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday April 4

Stevens Suspension Bridge to the bluffs on the north side of Fall Creek in Monkey Run

It was supposed to rain but Tiger and I studied the hour-by-hour forecast and it seemed like we could get in a nice hike with minimal rainfall  —  the idea was especially appealing because it was supposed to be very mild until later in the afternoon

Unfortunately it started to rain pretty hard before we got very far.  It was also muddier than I expected

Two hikers weren’t having fun and called it quits

I like hiking in the rain and I don’t mind a bit of mud, so I was enjoying myself.  But it started to rain even harder and the path got even wetter.  Five more hikers soon turned back.

Gopi is a daredevil but she was unwilling to go the last five feet out to the slender tree on the edge like I wanted her to do

The temperature started to drop, although that wasn’t supposed to happen for some hours.  It was definitely getting chilly.

Then the rain eased off and we got some great atmospherics

My hands were quite cold by the end, but unless we take a chance and venture out on a day with an iffy forecast we can’t hope to see any of the wonderful effects you can get during bad weather

Official head count:  14H, three D

 

Saturday April 7

South Danby Road east to the Tamarack Lean-to on the FLT

Official head count:  23H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

Me

 

Sunday April 8

Lindsay Parsons Preserve, West Danby

Official head count:  22H, four D

More photos:

Jack V

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed March 28

Road walk in Enfield and Newfield  —  Woodard, Stone House, Van Ostrand and Burdge Hill roads

The storm that dropped a half-inch of rain overnight ended just as we got to the trail head

It was exceptionally nice in the aftermath  —  calm, misty, a lovely mildness to the air  —   the ditches were full of runoff and there were blackbirds singing in the abandoned and overgrown farm fields  —  it felt like spring had suddenly popped

We were in a very quiet area tucked in the SW corner of Treman SP  —  a very pleasing mix of occasional houses, woods, overgrown fields and actively maintained fields

After a while the terrain starts to rise and we began to get some great distant views

Without comparing notes or talking about it at all, Tiger and I both decided we would love to live on Woodard Road amid the raggedy old fields

Official head count:  11H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Saturday March 31

Road walk in Brooktondale  —  Braley Hill Road, Chestnut Road and Bailor Road

Official head count:  21H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Sunday April 1

Lick Brook from Town Line Road, Danby

Official head count for the hike:  28H, eight D

Easter party at Hobit’s

A few people who hiked couldn’t make it to the get-together  —  but quite a number of people who didn’t hike showed up  —  Hobit solved the  problem of congestion in the kitchen by moving the food down to the living room

Very nice festive vibe

More photos:

Jack V

Me

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed March 21

Six Mile Creek  —  wildflower preserve toward Potter’s Falls

Official head count:  18H, four D

More photos:

Jack V

 

Sat March 23

Treman SP on the FLT starting from Route 13

The steepness of the climb up to this clearing where I always feel compelled to do a group-shot tends to separate the hikers pretty widely  —  one-third of the group had fallen behind us and isn’t shown here

There was considerable snow on the upper part of the walk  —  but it wasn’t too slippery

Official head count:  19H, six D

 

Sunday March 25

Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector  —  Chicken Coop Road and snowmobile trails

Lots of snow up here  —  we started out on a nice trail through the woods but it quickly started to get harder and harder to walk comfortably

Frozen footprints, holes, churned-up surface  —  my knees and ankles really started to feel stressed  —  the snow off to the side of the path wasn’t stiff enough to walk on top  —  so we left the woods at the first opportunity

This is Chicken Coop Road  —  it’s not plowed in winter but it gets heavy snowmobile use and it’s nicely tamped down

This led us to a set of huge fields that get lots of snowmobile action

We kept going on the snowmobile trail until it was time to turn back  —  very nice scenery all around

Official head count:  18H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Thursday March 15

YMCA and Ecovillage lands, West Hill

We postponed this hike for a day because of the midweek snow storm, and there was a nice lively sense of venturing out into a sparkling fresh scene and coping with a little snow hardship at the meet-up

In no way is this one of our most scintillating woods settings, but it seemed extremely pleasant to me this morning because of the soft snow draped on everything, the lovely sun and the light winds

We were sternly warned beforehand not to mess up any skiers’ tracks on the EcoVillage fields

Plenty of room for skiers and walkers both

Dave R got to the trail head late but he managed to find us  —  I was impressed but he said it was easy to follow our tracks

Official head count:  9H, three D

I put nine more photos online

 

Sat March 17

Stevens Suspension Bridge, Cornell golf course and Cornell horse facilities, Forest Home

Official head count:  17H, seven D

More photos:

Jack V

Me

 

Sun March 18

Upper Buttermilk Falls SP

Official head count:  21H, seven D

More photos:

Jack V

Me

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed March 7

Snowmobile trail from Fisher Settlement Road east to Travor Road, South Danby

Official head count:  19H, three D

 

Sat March 10

Deputron Hollow Road and Gilbert Road, Danby

You get a wonderful sense of driving out into the country when you head up E Miller Road from 96B to this meet-up  —  the road climbs steadily past picturesque farms and broad fields, and the view to the south and west gets steadily more sweeping and dramatic

Deputron Hollow Road gets hardly any traffic, and I was very surprised to see  a churned-up mess of slippery ice, mud and frozen puddles when we arrived at the junction of Marsh and Deputron

At first it seemed like we would have to abort our walk  —  then people began to pick their way ahead carefully

We began to see extensive signs of logging and we realized the mess was created by this logging operation

This is the junction of Deputron and Gilbert  —  we were beyond the logging area and the footing was fine

There’s a really beautiful deep gorge that runs along the south side of Deputron for much of the way  —  it looked spectacular with the snow cover

This is what churned up the road  —  it’s called a skidder and it’s quite a big piece of equipment

Aside from the messy conditions underfoot, the walk was great

Official head count:  23H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

Me

 

Sunday March 11

Potato Hill SF, Caroline  —  Level Green Road SW toward Old 76 Road

This was the first time we walked for more than a short distance on this trail.  It’s a decent stretch for a hike, though a little tiring  —  there are significant uphills in both directions  —  made even worse by having to plow through the snow.  There’s a lovely stretch of uncluttered hardwood forest, and a lot of low scrubby growth that clearly used to be fields, and has a distinctive atmospheric feeling.  A good bit of mud and water, both streams and little rivulets running down the middle of the footpath.  The walk through Potato Hill SF on the other side of Level Green Road is easier and more varied  —  there are several areas of beautiful dark pines, for instance  —  but this direction has its charms too.

Official head count:  22H, six D