ithacahikers

 

Hello Hikers!

I’m very sensitive about not using too many photos in these reports to hikers because I don’t like to be boring  —  but I’m hearing from a number of people that they had a really good time Saturday, and I do have more photos that I don’t think are repetitive or dull.  We had a lot of people and I’d like to try and let you see more of them having fun.

I’ll start with a few overview shots and then move in

If you’re into photography, maybe you noticed I used two lens lengths (two different lenses actually)  —  the top three shots were with a wide-angle lens, the others with a short telephoto lens

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday July 26

Diane’s Crossing to Hill Road, Danby SF

Official head count:  19H, four D

 

Saturday July 29

Lick Brook

This hike was led by Jack V, who took the photos

Official head count:  20H, one D

You can see Jack’s photos from the hike and the cook-out afterwards here.  I chose the shots to illustrate the hike report from this album.  I had to crop the shots to use in this report  —  Jack just got a new camera and it produces such large files (24 MP) that I wasn’t able to upload them to the web site without cropping them.

Update on the Saturday afternoon cook-out

It broke up sometime after 10 pm.  A large amount of baked clams were eaten toward the end.  Our food coordinator Liz asked me to post this comment from her:

Hello Hikers!

What a wonderful day we had at our annual summer hiker’s picnic!  The weather was perfect, the venue was amazing, the food preparation went on without a hitch.  A big thank you to all who helped, including the set up crew, the cooks, the clean up crew, everyone who provided a dish-to-pass, Roger and Gunilla for hosting us, and of course Steven and Susan for being at the helm.

Because of everyone’s generosity, All the bills were paid, and we have $120 extra.  Last year, about that amount went to pay for the annual fee to maintain the hiker’s website.  Since Mary already collected monies for that during a previous event, this year  I will present Steven and Susan with a gift certificate to a restaurant of their choosing. They are so generous in their time and efforts that this meant to be a little thank you, from all of us.

It is a pleasure to coordinate this event.  I look forward to seeing everyone on the trails, in a kayak, or at another of our social events throughout  the year.

Sincerely,

Liz Kyle

Here are two final shots from the cook-out that I didn’t have room for in yesterday’s photo report:

Liz and Roger

Randy managing the chicken fire

 

Sunday July 30

The Wedge, Connecticut Hill WMA, with Dave B

Official head count:  30H, eight D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday July 29

Our food coordinator Liz

The Cornell chicken team Bud and Randy

It was a gorgeous day but Roger’s pond was just 67 and only a few very hardy people went swimming

This was our eighth cook-out here and the property gets more and more beautiful every year  —  all the gardening is done by Gunilla, who’s a skilled artist and has a very artistic eye

The setting is so bucolic and serene, it takes on a slightly surreal quality every year of peace and relaxation

The chicken does give off a bit of smoke for a while during the grilling

I brought along a second camera with a portrait lens and this let me get some shots I couldn’t with my regular hiking camera

Do you remember Liz promised that I’d be making an appearance “squeezed into my bathing suit?”  This is a display I agree to undergo every summer to make up for never using photos of myself in the weekly hike reports.  I didn’t go into the water this year but I did pose for a candid shot:

My waist circumference, measured across my belly button and without sucking in my gut at all, was 33 3/4″ on Friday and Saturday morning.  Your waist measurement compared to your height has actually become a very important health indicator for older people.  My height is 70 1/2″ so I’m doing OK ….. for now ….

Our cook-outs are always wonderful  —  this one seemed especially nice

Our nature photographer Jack V got some shots of the cook-out but I’ll hold off linking to them until tomorrow because he’s bundled in the picnic shots with his shots from Saturday’s hike, and I’ll report on the hike tomorrow  —  stay tuned

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday July 19

Woods road walk:  Bald Hill Road, Danby SF

Official head count:  15H, three D

 

Saturday July 22

Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna

Official head count:  21H, seven D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

After the hike, I got a message that one of the hikers had found a nymphal tick on himself, as small as a sesame seed, so tiny he could barely make out the legs through a 20-power magnifying glass.  I passed on the news  —  one of the other hikers suggested there was a good chance such a small tick had never bitten anything yet  —  another hiker sent me this excellent info on ticks from Penn State U

 

 

Sunday July 23

Kennedy SF, Virgil

Official head count:  21H, five D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

The trail in Kennedy SF is always challenging, full of roots and snags and small rocks, and rutted and eroded in spots  —  but the area had clearly suffered extremely heavy rain runoff flows since the last time we were here, and the trail condition was worse than we’d ever seen  —  I caught my foot in a snag near the end of the walk and went crashing straight down face first —  when your foot is suddenly trapped, there’s no way you can break or soften your fall  —  landed on one knee  —  couldn’t tell how bad the damage was  —  iced it at home and took an Aleve  —  it really stiffened up as the afternoon wore on  —  but when I got up, I felt amazingly OK

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Our nature photographer Annie spends part of every summer on an island in the Thousand Islands.  Tiger asked her to put some photos from the island onto our hiker photo site.  Here they are.

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday July 12

Shindagin Hollow SF bike trails

Great dark and sultry morning  —  there was rain in the area and it hit us slightly hard about 20 minutes before we wrapped up.

Official head count:  14H, three D

 

Saturday July 15

Tamarack lean-to, South Danby

We changed our plans at the last minute and hiked in the opposite direction out of concern the originally scheduled hike would be too muddy after all the rain

Lots of big succulent-looking Chanterelles growing in the pine needles, and a number of hikers took some home  —  shortly after Tiger and I got home we got a flash message from Norm, our native plants guy  —  Notify everyone these are false Chanterelles !! —  Mushroom people online don’t seem to agree whether these are safe or not

Official head count:  16H, three D

 

Sunday July 16

Lake Road, Dryden, east into Cortland County on the FLT

Official head count:  18H, six D