ithacahikers

Report to Hikers: week of Oct 3-Oct 9

Hello Hikers!

Fair warning: No more slack in the time we start our hikes

I’ve always been lenient about delaying our start so people running a little late can join up with us — especially when it’s a hike where the trail we’re going to take isn’t obvious. And, possibly because everyone knows I’m lenient, we always get a few stragglers who pull up after the advertised start time.

But due to chronic dissent in the ranks, we’re now going to leave at precisely the time specified in the hike announcement. I keep my watch synched with the official US time and we’re going to step off on the dot. So be advised.

Wednesday Oct 5

Shindagin Hollow SF, various bike trails off of Braley Hill Road

I always hope I can get enough usable photos to make a little narrative of our walk — failed this time — all I could manage was the beginning ….

…. the middle ….

…. and the end.

Both our nature photographers were with us and they managed to get photos along the way — too dark for me

Annie

Jack V

Official head count: 21H, four D

Saturday Oct 8

South leg of the Abbott Loop from Michigan Hollow Road toward The Pinnacles, Danby SF

Another lucky morning for us in the face of a poor forecast

The rain held off until we reached the turn-around point, and then it was just a heavy drizzle, mostly blocked by the trees

I think this trail’s at its best when there’s rain nearby, and it was fantastic this time — wonderful gloom under the trees, mist, yellow leaves glowing — the trail was a little slippery, though. I’d hoped to get a sense of whether I still love this walk so much, but I was talking too much and I failed to pay enough attention to the surroundings.

Official head count: 15H, two D

Sunday Oct 9

Kennedy SF, Virgil

Official head count: 40H, seven D

Report to Hikers: week of Sept 26-Oct 2

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday Sept 28

Layen Road to Bruce Hill Road and beyond, Danby

Official head count: 26H, six D

More photos — by Annie

Saturday Oct 1

South Danby Road west on the FLT to the Abbott Loop, Danby SF

Official head count: 22H, two D

Sunday Oct 2

Stevens Suspension Bridge west to the Cornell golf course and horse barns, Forest Home

Official head count: 26H, eight D

Both our nature photographers were absent — you can see eight more photos by me online here.

****

Several hikers who have subscribed to receive all the postings on the web site as e-mails mentioned that they recently stopped getting the postings even though they had not unsubscribed to the web site. I’ve no idea why this happened — it’s all handled through the widgets that are incorporated into the hikers’ site. I’ll start trying to figure it out; if anyone has any ideas, contact me.

Meanwhile, if you suddenly stop getting the hike e-mails, you can:

Go to the web site home page and enter your e-mail address into the Subscribe widget. You may get a message prompting you to manage your subscription. Try that.
If that doesn’t work, enter a different e-mail address into the widget, if you have more than one e-mail. It’s extremely easy to create a new e-mail for yourself if you want to do that. I have five.
If all else fails, you can always visit the web site directly and stay up to date that way.

Report to Hikers: week of Sept 18-Sept 25

Hello Hikers!

Tuesday Sept 20

Our oldest hiker, Eckhart, turned 85

That’s Eckhart on the left walking on the girder during a hike last May at Monkey Run. About 30 regular hikers showed up at his house Tuesday afternoon for a surprise party organized by his wife Dorothea.

Annie took some photos — here

Wednesday Sept 21

Road walk — Marsh Road and Deputron Hollow Road, Danby

We had a first meeting with yet another new dog who’ll become a regular, ZaZa — extremely sweet and well-behaved

Official head count: 19H, three D

More photos:

Annie

Saturday Sept 24

Finger Lakes National Forest — Potomac Road Campground area trails with Jack V

This is a fantastic walk and I’m going to put in on our Top 12 list.

Official head count: 24H, three D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

Sunday Sept 25

YMCA, EcoVillage and Coy Glen trails, West Hill — with Virginia

We actually walked through three separate and distinct areas — two large shady woods, each with its own character, and the big overgrown fields east of Ecovillage — too dark in the woods and I didn’t attempt any photos there.

The trail network is so convoluted and confusing that it’s comical — Virginia lives extremely close by so she’s mastered it over the years — without her we would have immediately gotten hopelessly lost. She plotted out and timed the three loops the day before — another trail guide with excellent pacing — back to the cars in just a few minutes over two hours. The two wooded tracts were extremely parched-looking — big fields looked vibrant and beautiful to me, full of asters and goldenrod and some shrubs starting to turn.

Official head count: 27H, seven D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V

********

Regular hikers Jack V and Mark went on a short camping trip in the Adirondacks during the week. You can see Jack V’s photos of this trip here.

Report to Hikers: week of Sept 12-Sept 18

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday Sept 14

Upper Treman SP, mixed woods walk and road walk

Official head count: 19H, two D

Review of the walk from Sabine: “Ten out of 10!”

You can see Jack V’s online photos here

Saturday Sept 17

Connecticut Hill WMA with Dave B — The Wedge

Another great walk in this big wilderness area — some of the time, there didn’t seem to be any discernible footpath at all and it seemed like we were just walking through trackless woods — but it turned out Dave did have a plan and we had a delightful time

Very shady under the trees and I didn’t bother trying to get any shots in the woods

Somehow I managed to get this chiaroscuro shot on one of he dirt roads — I like the drama of it, and the variety of expressions

As some of you know, I like to wrap up our hikes in two hours — precisely, if possible — this has given me a little bit of a reputation as a cuckoo but I don’t care — Dave is on board with this concept in general and I’m always curious to see how close he can come on these Connecticut Hill walks — it’s a great challenge in timing and pacing because his hikes are always loops, not in and out

….. One hour 58 minutes and 15 seconds

Official head count: 21H, six D

Sunday Sept 18

Six Mile Creek, north side, Mulhollard Wildflower Preserve to Potter’s Falls

Official head count: 32H, four D

I felt some pressure to get back to the cars very close to two hours in light of Dave’s great hike timing performance the day before — made it back in 1:58:45 — but most of the group chose to push on beyond Potter’s Falls, our regular turn-around point, and walk up the very exciting narrow cliff-face trail to the upper dam — no way to do that and finish the hike in two hours.

You can see eight more photos by me online here

You can see Jack V’s online photos here

You can see Annie’s online photos here

Report to Hikers: week of Sept 6-Sept 11

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday Sept 7

Railroad right-of-way from Dryden to Freeville — road walk

We tried out a new walk, northwest from downtown Dryden toward Freeville on an abandoned railroad right-of-way

Very pleasant and interesting overall, though it was a little warm to be out in the sun

Lots of good scenes off the the side along the way, and we made a couple of brief side trips

Norm got a new camera the day before and he resumed his habit of shooting video of us as we shuffled along — you can see his latest here (it’s the item on the far right)

Official head count: 18H, two D

You can see Jack V’s online photos here

Saturday Sept 10

Shindagin Hollow SF, rim trail along Shindagion gorge

Fantastic dark and sultry morning … a little rain on the windshield driving to the trail head, rain nearby showing on the doppler radar — these are ideal conditions for hiking along this picturesque trail, but it was much too dark for photos in the woods

So here we are on our way back to the cars — it turned sunny at the very end

We had the first appearance of a dog who will become a new super-regular, Sophie