ithacahikers

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday Dec 7

Road Walk  —  Fairfield Road and Barden Road, Candor

This was the third road walk in a row I picked out sight-unseen, just by looking at Google Maps.  My good luck held  —   beautiful country scenery all along the way.

We also lucked out with some fantastic atmospherics  —  the snow that fell overnight had melted in town but it was piled deep out here  —  gorgeous dark grey dramatic sky  —  mist and fog on the hillsides

We passed some picturesque farms, and livestock standing out in the snowy fields

After a while, the sun came out and it felt almost balmy

Official head count:  17H, three D

We didn’t have either of our regular nature photographers with us, so I took some scenic-type shots myself  —  you can see seven here

 

 

Saturday Dec 10

Jim Schug Trail, Dryden

Official head count:  15H, three D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

 

Sunday Dec 11

Stevens Suspension Bridge, Forest Home, east into Monkey Run South

Official head count:  30H, seven D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Thursday Dec 1

Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve

Official head count:  19H, three D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

 

Saturday Dec 3

Rim trail, Taughannock Falls SP

Beautiful gloomy atmospherics, just like I hoped for  —  raining lightly on the way to the hike  —  rained lightly on the way home  —  misty, a little breezy in spots

Official head count:  21H, 10 D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

 

Sunday Dec 4

Treman SP on the FLT

I made everyone line up for a group shot on the way up the steep hill, but the result looked a bit stiff  —  I like this shot better  —  this is about half of the group as the line-up was breaking up  —  has a more relaxed feeling

Official head count:  29H, eight D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday Nov 23

Stevens Suspension Bridge and Fall Creek Natural Area

The snow became extremely deep in places up in the big fields, and the walking got so hard we turned back  —  Norm getting the snow out of his boots ….

Toward the end, the sun came out and we ended up at the arboretum look-out  —  lovely morning

Official head count:  15H, 5 D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Thanksgiving Day

Get-together at Katharine and Scott’s, Danby

Tiger and I had visitors so we were only able to drop by for a little while —  very cheerful warm vibe

Official head count  —  as per Scott:  33 people, four dogs and two cats

 

Saturday Nov 26

Road walk, Taber Hill Farms, west of Mecklenburg on Route 79

A bit raw at the meet-up ….  chilly nagging breeze and raining ….

…. but we managed to warm up pretty fast by walking briskly up the hill away from Route 79

…. and if you like bleak and melancholy late fall scenery (I do), it was a fantastic walk

My only complaint is that the slopes in this area are pretty gradual and I like it when the land rolls a little more vigorously

On the other hand, the long views are spectacular  —  at one point I looked around and there were distant hills visible around the entire 360-degree horizon  —  no way to capture that in a photograph, of course  —  it was really striking

Several of the hikers said they want to come back in early spring when the leaves are just coming out, and also in fall when the leaves are turning, to get a whole different color experience in the cyclorama setting

Official head count:  12H, four D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Sunday Nov 27

Lime Hollow Nature Preserve, McLean

Official head count:  23H

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Holiday events coming up

Christmas Day get-together at Iris’s  —  probably with a turkey

New Year’s Day tailgate party

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wednesday Nov 16

Road walk  —  Legge Hill Road from Honeypot Road to Lathrop Hill Road and beyond, Candor

First time we walked on this road  —  I decided we should try it without ever having been here  —  I picked it out just by looking at Google maps  —  I thought it looked really promising but it was far more beautiful than I’d hoped  —  it helped that it was a wonderful mild morning

I love to walk in the woods, of course, but when we can find a country road like this one, I like it on the road just as much

Official head count:  18H, four D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Saturday Nov 19

Upper Buttermilk Falls SP

Official head count:  40H, 12 D (a new record for us, I think)

You can see Annie’s photos online here

 

Sunday Nov 20

Upper Treman SP

We had a little bit of an adventure  —  we wanted to cross Fishkill Creek but the water was high and the rocks very slippery  —  one group made it across but the rest of us chickened out  —  some of those who crossed recrossed back, the others forged ahead on the other side and met up with us later  —  fun!

Those of you who fly around for pleasure have probably hiked in summer conditions one day and winter conditions the next, but for those of us stay-at-home hikers it was an interesting experience.  I was a little surprised to find that I enjoyed Sunday’s wintry hike just as much as Saturday’s balmy one  —  though of course it wasn’t truly cold Sunday, so it wasn’t a perfect experiment.

Official head count:  18H, seven D

You can see Jack V’s photos here

 

Hello Hikers

 

Wednesday Nov 9

Woodard Road NW toward Porter Hill Road, Enfield

Classic fall morning, drizzling a little, gloomy skies, upper 40s  —  not everyone’s idea of a great day but I really love these conditions

We’ve had to cut this walk short for the last few years because a landowner withdrew permission for access, but that was just recently remedied, and the new trail is lovely

Official head count:  14H, one D

 

 

Saturday Nov 12

Carter Creek Loop, Connecticut Hill WMA

This is an excellent trail with a number of very beautiful stretches  —  looked especially lovely with the bright slanting sunlight and the long shadows

Official head count:  26H, eight D

More photos online:

Annie

Jack V

 

 

Sunday Nov 13

Hammond Hill SF ski trails

More gorgeous weather  —  another great walk

Official head count:  32H, 11 D