Report to Hikers: week of March 28-April 3

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday March 30

Mundy Wildflower Garden along Fall Creek to Cornell Dairy Bar

Mundy Wildflower Garden 199Never hiked in Europe but I gather they have many hikes that terminate at a picturesque café or pub — this is our version — gorgeous walk through some very bucolic areas along Fall Creek — not sure if the new Dairy Bar qualifies as picturesque, but it’s definitely a fun place to sit around for a little while

Mundy Wildflower Garden 060**

Mundy Wildflower Garden 072The Cornell lands along Fall Creek as it approaches and sideswipes the campus are surprisingly lovely — you really get the sense you’re out in the woods, or at least on the edge of some lightly settled area

Mundy Wildflower Garden 108**

Mundy Wildflower Garden 175**

Mundy Wildflower Garden 181But the delightful thing is that you can then make a turn or take a side path and you’re at a fantastic place like the observatory or the botanical gardens — where large amounts of money have been invested over many years to create fanciful, sophisticated structures — and there’s typically no one else around you need to share the scene with

Mundy Wildflower Garden 041Official head count: 19 hikers, two dogs

You can see more photos by me online here. Both our nature photogs were absent.

 

Saturday April 2

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

Tamarack Lean-to 070It was raining a little when we got to the trail head — stopped just before we set off —beautiful mix of overcast and sun-and-clouds for the walk — started to rain hard about two minutes after we got back — couldn’t have been timed better!

Tamarack Lean-to 171**

Tamarack Lean-to 147This is such a beautiful hike, the way the light comes between the trees, the springy soft carpet of pine needles, the rows of lined-up tree trunks stretching away

Tamarack Lean-to 136Randy (left) really likes to cook, and he announced he’s going to grill chicken for our July 30 cook-out.  We were all happy to hear this  —  it makes the cook-out more festive, and it’s very good news  —  assuming you like chicken.  But we tend to have a picky group  —  Randy brought a dish made with wheat noodles to our Easter get-together — not grasping just how many of our hikers won’t eat wheat  —  he was disappointed more wasn’t eaten until he caught on  —  gluten!

Tamarack Lean-to 159Those are tamarack trees behind our hikers sitting at the lean-to table — I always mean to try and look at the trees closely to see what makes them special — never can remember to do it when I’m actually there — I do like the effect they make as a backdrop for this shot

Tamarack Lean-to 051Official head count: 25 hikers, five dogs

More photos online:

Me
Jack V

 

Sunday cancellation

The high wind gusts kept blowing over 40 mph until at least 10 AM, according to the weather station at the airport. Tiger and I walked up the hill from Fall Creek to the arts quad at 10:30. Streets completely deserted. We walked along the middle of the roads just to be extra careful and stay way from the overhanging branches, though the tree crews from the city have been very active in the neighborhood recently, trimming and cutting extensively. Nice out, not too cold, but definitely unusually windy on the libe slope. I looked online trying to see what wind speed becomes truly dangerous — info not very consistent, but it sounded like gusts over 47 mph can definitely bring branches down.

Report to Hikers: week of Mar 21-Mar 27

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday March 23

Six Mile Creek, south side rim trail
Six Mile Creek, south rim trail 028I’m not bragging, just stating a fact, when I say that, if you start hiking with us, even if you’ve lived here for a long time, you’ll soon find yourself on trails you’ve never seen before. Everyone comments on it. If you like seeing new sights, this is a big benefit of hiking with our group.
Six Mile Creek, south rim trail 071This trail along Six Mile Creek is maybe the most striking case of all — so close to downtown and so surprisingly wild — you’d never know it’s there unless you’re unusually curious, or someone shows you. It runs parallel to the very popular and attractive South Hill Rec Way, which is a groomed, wide and gentle walking and jogging boulevard that gets heavy use — if you turn off this in several unmarked spots, you immediately find yourself in the kind of rugged deep woods setting we find in the state forests far out of town — rocky streams, narrow bumpy paths, sheer drops, mysterious trails branching off to the side

Six Mile Creek, south rim trail 083**

Six Mile Creek, south rim trail 104Sandra was making her first hike here on Wednesday and she really got a kick out of it

Six Mile Creek, south rim trail 117Official head count: 17 hikers, one dog

More photos online:

Me
Jack V

No photos from Annie  — couldn’t hike at all this week  —  plantar fasciitis

 

Saturday March 26

Robinson Hollow SF, Tioga County
Robinson Hollow SF 007I wanted to be a farmer when I was a boy — I’d like to live on a farm now (provided someone else did all the work) — so I really enjoy it when there’s a farm right at the start of one of our hikes, as we have in a couple of cases — these two beautiful work horses live just a few hundred feet from the Robinson Hollow trail head, and Sabine walked over without me prompting her — there’s also a cow and chickens — really creates a great feeling of being out in the country
Robinson Hollow SF 081I’m still thinking about a list of our most strenuous hikes — I think our people would agree this is one of them
Robinson Hollow SF 107We managed to get pretty far into the hemlock forest part of this walk — it was fairly dark under the trees and I forgot to adjust my camera so none of my photos came out — I realized that the trail under the hemlocks is is quite rough and bumpy and now I’m working on a theory that hemlock groves tend to produce poor quality walking conditions, too many roots and snags
Robinson Hollow SF 138Beautiful morning, no signs of spring but a lovely dazzling sun and nice temps
Robinson Hollow SF 057Official head count: 24 hikers, six dogs

More photos online:

Me
Jack V

 

Easter Sunday

Lick Brook, followed by a get-together at Hobit’s

Lick Brook 060**

Lick Brook 208Gorgeous morning on a great trail, and a wonderful holiday party

Lick Brook 145Official head count for the walk:  28 hikers, six dogs

A handful of the walkers couldn’t make it to the get-together, but a number of additional people who weren’t able to hike showed up, and we had a big crowd.  We got a chance to catch up with Hobit’s teenage son Jake, who’s into tumbling

Lick Brook 213**

Lick Brook 158At one point on the trail we found ourselves right across the street from the home of super-regular hiker Sabine  —  you can see her house and pond in the additional photos I put online

Lick Brook 066As announced, I didn’t do the whole walk  —  but the parts I did do were completely satisfying and beautiful

More photos online:

Me

Jack V

Report to Hikers: week of March 14-March 20

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday March 16

Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve
Ellis Hollow NP 015This is one of our more attractive hikes, but it never comes out looking that way in my photos, for several reasons — try as I do, it always comes out looking like a blah walk — just be aware that’s not the case
Ellis Hollow NP 027For one thing, the nicest stretches are very dark — one of the few places with any light are the stream crossings — I’m always slightly hoping someone will fall in so I can get an action shot, never happens
Ellis Hollow NP 071Really the only other parts of the walk where there’s enough light for photography are the hardwood areas when the leaves are down — always comes out looking pretty generic to me
Ellis Hollow NP 043Besides above-average scenery, this walk is notable for some unusually steep ups and downs — they don’t last long but they’re a little challenging when you’re actually navigating one
Ellis Hollow NP 116We had a little bit of excitement — regular hiker Vicki has gotten a new puppy, some kind of German hunting dog named Sylvie — she made her first appearance on the trail with us — Yoda generally doesn’t like puppies so it was interesting to see how he’d respond — didn’t seem very interested
Ellis Hollow NP 048Official head count: 17 hikers, six dogs

After the walk we drove about a mile to the house of regular hiker Marianne for coffee and lemon cake — delightful place on two acres on a big cul de sac — Marianne laid out a very nice little spread — I was quite taken by a beautiful pond she created in her back yard

More photos online:

Me
Annie

Saturday March 19

Potomac trails, Finger Lakes National Forest
Potomac Road, Finger Lakes National Forest 051One thing I forgot to mention when I announced this hike is that there can be a lot of mud in springtime — in fact, it was very muddy — but in a big stroke of good luck for us, it was cold enough overnight and at hike time for the mud to freeze, so we were pretty much able to cruise over the top — given the amount of mud here, that made a huge difference.
Potomac Road, Finger Lakes National Forest 063I’ve walked before on part of the route we did this time, but a lot of the loop that Jack V laid out was new to me — both Tiger and I thought it was the best hike we’ve done in the national forest to date.
Potomac Road, Finger Lakes National Forest 082Really wonderful variety — ponds, a variety of fields, old country roads, great long views — not sure what we were looking at …. I usually don’t care exactly what it is, I just like the feeling of spaciousness — some very nice woods. Just one complaint — there were some boardwalks in the woods and they were quite slippery with old moss

Potomac Road, Finger Lakes National Forest 113**

Potomac Road, Finger Lakes National Forest 116**

Potomac Road, Finger Lakes National Forest 153Official head count: 25 hikers, three dogs

More photos online:

Me
Annie
Jack V

 

Sunday March 20

Shindagin Hollow SF, FLT to the lean-to and South Road
Shindagin lean-to 035I really like everything about this walk — except the footpath — it’s very bumpy for long stretches because of protruding roots and snags, and sometimes also extremely muddy. Nothing to do about the rough footing, but now I realize we can avoid the mud by hiking when it’s frozen — we had a generally easy time of it Sunday in the high 20s
Shindagin lean-to 107Now I’m also thinking maybe the walk is a little more strenuous than I believed — what I used to think was level, I now see is steadily uphill on the outbound leg — another good reason to come here when it’s on the cool side

Shindagin lean-to 143Our regulars who are accustomed to this walk all pretty much ignore the big cairn landmark when we reach it now, but new people generally show an interest — our first-timers Katy and Sandy actually jumped in and started to work on a tiny side cairn someone else had started

Shindagin lean-to 232Scenery always beautiful here and it looked especially lovely in a nice not-too dark overcast

Shindagin lean-to 225Official head count: 24 hikers, three dogs

More photos online:

Me
Jack V

Report to Hikers: week of Mar 7-Mar 13

Hello Hikers!
Heisey Road 028

This is a second version of the March 7-13 hike report, this time with embedded photos.  Thanks to the help of a support guy at the web site, I was able to get photos to load again.  This will save some of you from having to go online to see the hikers in action.

The top photo shows us on Wednesday morning starting our hike week with a steep climb.

Wednesday March 9

Heisey Road and Eastman Hill Road, Danby SF

Heisey Road 049

**

Heisey Road 068

**

Heisey Road 063

**

Heisey Road 081

Official head count:  22 hikers, six dogs

More photos online:

Me

Annie

Jack V

Saturday March 12

Buttermilk Falls SP, rim trail, Bear Trail and Lake Treman trail

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 016

**

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 094

**

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 118

**

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 126

**

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 129

**

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 138

Official head count:  32 hikers, six dogs

More photos online:

Me

Annie

Jack V

Sunday March 13

Hammond Hill SF, Star Stanton loop

Hammond Hill SF 223

**

Hammond Hill SF 243

**

Hammond Hill SF 281

**

Hammond Hill SF 321

**

Hammond Hill SF 331

Official head count:  25 hikers, six dogs

More photos online:

Me

Annie

Jack V

 

 

Report to Hikers — week of March 7-13 — stripped down version

Hello Hikers!

Buttermilk Falls rim trail and Bear Trail 094

Still having trouble getting photos up onto the web site, so I’m doing a photo-free report this week while I work on solving the problem.  Instead, you can see all the usual photos online.  Several hikers in the past have told me, almost defiantly, “I never click on those photos”  —  well, guys, maybe it’s time to try  —  I assure you, you won’t infect your computer by jumping to our online photo-sharing sites, which are run by Microsoft.

Wednesday March 9

Heisey Road and Eastman Hill Road, Danby SF

Head count:   22
Weather & atmospherics:   summer-like, bright sun
Quality of scenery:  average (which is actually pretty good)
Terrain:  steep uphill at the start, then level

Photos online:

Me

Annie

Jack V

Saturday March 12

Buttermilk Falls SP, lower rim trail, Bear Trail, and trail around Lake Treman

Head count:   32
Weather & atmospherics:  mild-springlike, bright sun
Quality of scenery:  excellent
Terrain:  very steep at first, then ups and downs

Photos online:

Me

Annie

Jack V

Sunday March 13

Hammond Hill SF, Star Stanton loop

Head count:  25
Weather & atmospherics:  cool-springlike, pale sun
Quality of scenery:  excellent  –  our most scenic walk here ever
Terrain:  steep at first, then mild ups and downs

One snafu:  I included a Google Map in the hike announcement but I failed to test out the “Get directions” feature beforehand  —  in fact, the map gave absurd directions on how to reach the meet-up  —  four cars with five hikers ended up in the wrong spot  —  we tried to coordinate over the phone but we weren’t able to run into each other, though we were all near each other.

Photos online:

Me

Annie

Jack V

Reminder  —  we’re having a get-together in Danby after our regular hike on Easter Sunday  —  details in due time