Chestnut Lean-to, Danby SF Click here to see a copy of this photo online
I’m posting this report on Wednesday’s hike ahead of time in order to get the ball rolling on our hot dog cook-out coming up next Sunday. We did the hike in to the lean-to for our midweek hike so we could collect enough wood for the fire, which I’ve learned from experience is the most important item in a winter cook-out. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
At the first cook-out we had, two years ago, the fire was too small and we were a little chilly. Last year we had a big fire but we started it too late and it didn’t get really blazing until we were wrapping up. This year I’m advertising a fire guaranteed to be five feet high, and we’re going to start it early so it will be just right when we gather. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
We thought we might have to do some extensive foraging for firewood, but the state DEC has done a great deal of tree-cutting in the area near the lean-to in the last year, and a lot of the wood has been left lying around, so there was actually a tremendous supply for us, though it required sawing. We had a number of saws with us and we managed to produce a huge amount of good-sized logs. We hid most of the cut wood a ways off in the woods to be sure no one camps out between now and the cook-out date and spots our logs and burns them. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
If your idea of a great outdoor get-together is to sit alongside a pool while a waiter hands you a drink, you won’t like the cook-out. But if you like a little challenge mixed in, this event is fantastic. The hike in from the cars is short, about 20 minutes, but there are several lively ups and downs along the way that will get you warmed up. If the snow is deep, we’ll have our snowshoe team walk in at the front of the line to pack the trail down into a solid base (we did this last year). We’ll have a two-hour walk as usual for those interested, but if you just want to come for the cook-out, by all means do it. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
The lean-to’s in an idyllic setting and it’s especially pretty with snow. You can get inside the open part of the lean-to if you want shelter, though no one has done this to date. There are rustic benches around the fire, and we cut some large stumps to use as stools. With the fire blasting away, it’s really quite pleasant. I’ll give details about the food next week — there’s no need to pre-order anything — just show up and you’ll find a hot dog waiting for you. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
We had a lot of fun cutting and gathering the firewood on Wednesday’s hike. It didn’t seem like work with everyone pitching in.
Official head count: 16 hikers and Yoda
It was so horribly cold and windy at the trail head I briefly thought we might have to abandon the hike, something we’ve only ever done once or twice before. But then we reached the shelter of the trees in a minute or two and the wind was blocked. Still unpleasantly cold for a while until we got warmed up.
The snow cover wasn’t very deep and it was nice and powdery, but we hit a surprising amount of slick ice underneath, and the terrain was generally bumpy and choppy, which made walking a little tough, especially for those with knee or ankle problems. Tiger’s knee swelled up when she got back home and it was hurting in bed; she had to take Aleve several times.
This walk is a very pleasing mixture of woods and fields — we hit some windy areas out in the open but by then we were steamed up and it didn’t feel so miserable. Extremely beautiful sky with big puffy clouds and a lovely sun.
There’s a large pond along the way that was covered with snow. I asked if anyone wanted to test out the thickness of the ice:
That’s Eckhart, our #1 daredevil. If you look closely, you’ll see he was up on his toes jumping up and down, and grinning. So we learned the ice could support one person.
Official head count: 18 hikers, two dogs. Everyone came out a bit small in order to get them all into one long lineup. I have another version of this shot online broken in two so everyone appears larger and you can see their faces better.
Six more people came to the party afterwards — we had NY-style cheesecake baked by Diane, shrimp and pizza, and lots of beer and wine — plenty of that left over for our hot dog cook-out coming up Jan 31 in Danby.
Click here to see a copy of this photo online
Sometimes a hike comes across as more than just a string of different scenes. Several of us were talking about music, and it occurred to me this walk unfolded like a beautiful tone poem — fantastic saturated subtle shades of brown and grey — pale mist hanging on the hillsides — dim light than got lighter and darker — wet tree trunks and logs gleaming Click here to see a copy of this photo online
The start was a little disconcerting — parts of the parking lot were a sheet of treacherous ice — but it was fine once we headed down the hill into the preserve. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
Supposedly the rain that passed through a few hours before we set out was finished, but then we got a 10-minute burst on the trail — one of the hikers who was wearing a down coat got soaked and had to turn back early. For those of us wearing water-resistant gear, it was fun.
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There’s a big pond here — not clear from looking whether the ice was weak or not — that’s daredevil Bud checking it out — evidently still solid but he didn’t venture any further out from the shore into the flooded areas
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Later, Bud found a garter snake in the middle of the trail, something we haven’t seen before in cold weather — you can see him lifting the snake in the bottom of the photo — the dogs ignored it
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On the hike I was trying to think of an arty women’s designer who created a very successful clothing line in the mid-80s using a palate of muted woodland colors — couldn’t think of her name but Tiger knew it — not that our ladies do much hiking in stylish sportswear. Tiger thought the scenery looked like a rich and subtle tweed.
Official head count: 20 hikers, four dogs More photos online:
Click here to see a copy of this photo online
Delightful grey morning along a very low-key and easygoing trail well off the beaten track. Click here to see a copy of this photo online
This walk resembles the Jim Schug Trail in Dryden in that it’s an old railroad right-of-way running through a swampy floodplain — it differs because there are some lovely woods and rolling fields to see along the way — and because you get the strong feeling hardly anyone walks here Click here to see a copy of this photo online
In winter, the right-of-way becomes an official snowmobile trail — it would definitely be fun to roar along here on a frigid morning — as long as the big puddles were frozen over Click here to see a copy of this photo online
The walk takes us across Ridgeway Road up to the edge of a very large pond Willseyville Creek has formed — couldn’t manage to get a shot showing some of the extent, but the views to the east into the hills are beautiful too Click here to see a copy of this photo online
The creek passes under Ridgeway Road at the low point in the background of this shot — quick walk back to the cars —
A minute or two after we set off for the trail head, Tiger noticed a “low tire pressure” warning light on the dashboard. It took a lot more time than we expected to resolve this, thanks to a series of semi-comical mishaps, and so we had to miss the hike. I regret this, because from the photos by Annie and Jack V, it looks like it was a really good one. Annie prepared a report for everyone, and Brenda added more info. I asked Annie and Jack V to send me their two favorite photos, and a blurb explaining why they especially liked the shots they picked.
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Annie’s report: Today’s hike started out with a bit of a surprise. Several cars lined up on Level Green but no Hesses were to be found. We then got the word that they had car trouble and would not be hiking today. We were on our own! The first challenge was finding the trail. What I learned later was, if you were using Google Maps and its dropped pin for the meeting place, and if you stopped right where the pin dropped, you were precisely at the trail head. Of course, we were parked hither and yon so we did scramble back and forth until we got it right. Jack V. led the way through the snow covered woods, which were filled with shafts of sunlight, tall tree shadows, crunchy snow and ice. It was beautiful and we all knew that Steve and Susan would have loved it.
Photo by Jack V. He chose this shot because ‘Here is the trail head! How did I drive past it without seeing it?’
Crossing Blackman Hill Road, we noticed a state trooper parked near the Hidden Driveways sign. (Of course, in my photograph, I would have liked to change the sign to read “Hidden State Trooper” but the sign was too small in the photo for a quick change by yours truly!). We were very careful to hike to the left of the power poles and driveway (especially aware of the watchful eyes of the state trooper) and up the field we climbed, entranced by bright blue skies, streaks of white clouds, and bright sun that warmed us up. The views were lovely and we were told that we were seeing Pennsylvania mountains on that clear morning.
Photo by Annie: “I enjoyed all the vistas we saw today but I particularly like this photo where I zoomed in on the view. I like seeing the various hills and mountains in the distance, with varying shades of blue, streaks of white clouds, with the red barn in the foreground.”
We walked through some more woods and then returned to the pasture and walked up even higher for more views. It was definitely worth the short climb and we lingered there for a while. We all enjoyed the hike back. I, for one, also like to observe things that I hadn’t seen going the other way. Those of us at the end of the group were interested to see that hikers hung around the cars for a little while before departing.”
We all noticed, on our way in on Level Green from Route 79, that the trees were covered with ice and they glistened in the morning sun. The beauty of the ice was gone on the return trip but definitely worth remembering.”
Photo by Annie: “I like this one because it captures the bright colors of our hikers as they move through the trail and the garland of brown beech leaves that hang tenaciously on their branches. I wouldn’t have known what they were if I hadn’t been for walking with Jim Rundle on a fall hike when he told me about those beech trees. I love learning things from my fellow hikers!”
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And from Brenda: “A few additional comments: Jack V. did his best to keep us off the private driveway off Blackman Hill Road and directed us to walk in the parallel field. He reinforced this by pointing out the State Trooper waiting (lurking) to arrest non compliant hikers.
This worked and the hikers complied until our return trip when Yoda decided to walk on the driveway. Jack tried his best to inform Yoda of the error of his ways but Yoda ignored him. Due to Yoda’s small stature the Trooper probably did not see him and he evaded arrest.
Being curious about the terrain we covered on the hike I found out (googled)
that Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps worked to plant trees on Potato Hill.”
South Danby Road west to the Abbott Loop, Danby SF
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Here’s a rhetorical question. It’s supposed to be a drizzly morning, but when you step out the door to leave for the hike, it’s raining briskly. Do you: a) push ahead, or b) go back inside and plop down on the couch? Click here to see a copy of this photo online
I always make Tiger push ahead, of course, but it can be a dilemma for others. In this case, it obviously worked out, but you never can predict. Halfway to the hike, the rain stopped, the sky cleared and the sun burst out — then, when we reached the trail head, it was another typical dark and gloomy winter morning …. but not raining Click here to see a copy of this photo online
There was a thin coat of slushy snow, and the trail was quite wet and muddy in spots. So I want to give a shout-out to some new shoes I just got at EMS — other hikers were slipping and skidding but my shoes were extremely grippy, and I didn’t get my feet wet — list price a bit steep but Tiger got them for 1/3 off. Click here to see a copy of this photo online.
Ever smash the top of your head on a log that’s fallen across the trail high up that you failed to notice? I did it once and it was very upsetting, quite painful and I briefly wondered if I’d gotten a concussion. I was talking to to a hiker behind me about Trump when he abruptly cried out — I turned around to see him rubbing his forehead and looking at a fallen log at head height. This is actually a bad trail for these head-smashing logs — this same hiker hit his head here once before, on a different log. It’s not hard to let your attention relax and bash into one of these menaces. Click here to see a copy of thi photo online
Otherwise we had a great hike. Official head count: 22 hikers, three dogs
I hate to have to cancel a hike because of rain — half the time it ends up that we could have hiked — but this time it probably was the right decision — according to the various rainfall loggers at the Ithaca Climate Page, we got just about 1/4″ of rain between 9 and noon — hard enough to make hiking uncomfortable for those of us who don’t love getting soaked — and one hiker told me it was pouring at her house on West Hill a little before 10.
Bald Hill Road to Thatcher’s Pinnacles, Danby SF Click here to see a version of this photo online
For years I thought it was completely wimpy to park 2/3 of the way up the long hill to this great look-out, rather than do the full hike from the valley below — well, I’ve seen the light — now I love being able to bypass all the intermediate huffing and puffing, and just zip straight up to the Pinnacles Click here to see a version of this photo online
There’s too much vegetation blocking the full view from the top for much of the year now, but it’s fabulous in winter, especially with a little snow on the ground — I really like the effect of the distant hills in the background — looks a bit like a stage set to me — this is our senior hiker, Eckhart — I have similar shots of two other super-regulars, Steve S and Jack V, in my online album Click here to see a version of this photo online
Our walk had a nice bleak quality — some nasty frozen spots on Bald Hill Road that were quite slippery — otherwise, the snow cover was fluffy and we had an easy time of it. Click here to see a version of this photo online
The trail between Bald Hill Road and the Pinnacles is part of the Abbott Loop, and the scenery along much of the way is among the most atmospheric we see, especially with fresh snow on the pine boughs — but pretty much too dark for good photos — I’ve never been able to get a shot that came anywhere near capturing the beauty. Click here to see a version of this photo online
The weather was pleasant and we were in good spirits — this was a crew mainly of super-regulars and the conversational level was quite loud. Click here to see a version of this photo online
Official head count: 17 hikers, two dogs
Texas Hollow SF Click here to see a version of this photo online
This is a decent enough walk on a nice summer day — but the hike’s really emotionally satisfying when it’s nasty out, cold with rain or snow — the woods here have a great brooding and somber quality that bad weather strongly brings out Click here to see a version of this photo online
I never attempt landscape or nature-type photos — I try to let you see the hikers, having fun or not — the downside is that I don’t convey much sense of what the bigger picture looked like. That’s an integral part of any hike that I ignore — but our nature photographers do a great job of documenting that. Click here to see a version of this photo online
We were supposed to have just some minor snow flurries in the morning, but it snowed pretty much the whole time, and it was wonderfully dark. I loved the lighting — as long as the hikers were out in the open. Click here to see a version of this photo online
In fact, most of this walk is under the trees — but I’ve pretty much given up trying to get shots there on dark winter days while I’m wearing multiple mittens and it’s almost impossible to make camera adjustments while stumbling along on slippery ups and downs. Click here to see a version of this photo online
You can see that no one walked on the boardwalk in this shot — this is where the bees were living that stung several of our ladies last summer — people have now created a path off to the side and I guess no one trusts the boardwalk now even when the bees aren’t around.
Two minor news items:
1) There’s a big coyote den right off the trail — I can never remember where it is but regular hiker Bud does — he reported seeing something furry moving around — we decided not to tell everyone for fear they’d cluster around talking excitedly and scare off whatever coyote was living inside
2) Dave B, our Mr Connecticut Hill who’s been on the injured list for months, made his first serious hike with us since he had a major ankle repair surgery — he made it pretty far before turning back — he sais he has two months’ more rehab work to do. Click here to see a version of this photo online
Official head count: 27 hikers, five dogs
If you’ve been waiting for Annie’s photos from New Year’s Day, click here
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I want to give a special shout-out to a former hiker, now inactive, who came to our New Year’s Day tailgate party. She hasn’t hiked with us in some time, and she doesn’t know many of our current regulars, who joined us after she’d left the trail. She’s Marjorie O, who was part of the nucleus of the Ithaca Hikers when Tiger and I got involved in mid-2004. The group was very small, and there weren’t very many really avid hikers among them, so the turnout was often quite small (we did just one hike a week then, on Sundays). I would have given up trying to organize hikes if the attendance had continued so low for very long, but Marjorie began a very effective campaign to recruit a large number of people to at least try out the group from among her huge circle of friends and acquaintances. Tiger and I had moved here without knowing a single person in Ithaca, so Marjorie’s effort was invaluable. She pumped a large number of people into the group — most didn’t last, but there was a sense of momentum and growth — word of mouth began to spread — we started to catch on — today we’re surviving without her help, but she single-handedly kept us from closing down prematurely because of a lack on interest.
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Our winter hot dog cook-out at Chestnut Lean-to will be Sunday Jan 31, after our regular hike. This isn’t our biggest social event of the year but it’s the most lively, IMO. We plan to have a major fire this time, guaranteed five feet high, so no one needs to worry about being cold.
It’s always pretty along this stretch of the creek but I thought it looked a little more lovely than normal because of the muted overcast light, and some scattered flurries of light snow that fell periodically
I’ve hiked here many times but I never can remember how to proceed through the marshy area along the creek, and we ran into some flooded areas and obstacles that forced us to improvise and venture into the brambles
Most but not all of us made it to the turnaround spot at Potter’s Falls — coming back we got really separated and there were hikers all over the north side of the gorge, from the stream bank all the way up to the Commonlands development. Somehow we all converged back at the cars at almost the same moment.
I wear a very tight-fitting glove and mitten combo to keep my fingers warm while I take photos — it’s impossible to pull them off quickly — as the tailgate party got going, Brenda came over with a shrimp for me in her hand — she stuck it in my mouth until I could laboriously peel the gloves off — new hiker Casey liked the look and called for my camera to get the shot — those of you who complain I never use photos of myself, here’s one for you
Pretty revealing light — looking my age — how long before I sometimes need help with feeding?
Official head count: 41 hikers, six dogs
More photos online: Me Jack V
Annie didn’t post her shots yet — link coming Monday
Wednesday Dec 30
Shindagin Hollow SF, bike trail B1
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We don’t get fog on a hike very often, so I view it as a great treat — it really amps up the gloomy mood on a dark damp morning and makes the woods seem even more inviting — assuming you like that kind of thing ….
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Those of you who hate the winter cloudiness here, I’m sure that’s a huge negative, of course — I think maybe I like a brooding forest setting because I have a suppressed death wish ….?
….for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die, 55
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
Recognize that? Ode to a Nightingale — I regard a lot of poetry as unnecessarily hard to understand, but this one is worth the effort.
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There was no way to tell on the drive to the trail head that there’d be fog, or snow cover, so it was a nice surprise — we started out walking along the hugely picturesque edge of the Shindagin gorge, but the slushy snow was too slippery and we had to turn around and walk on a safer path
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I’m always on the lookout for a challenge event on our walks, and I especially like limbo trees — from the photo it looks like Dennis R was up for the idea — Go Daddy!
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Aww, very bad show, Daddy-O — you’re not allowed to touch the ground — I didn’t see everyone make the effort but at least two of our ladies, Mary and Irene, got under without touching
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As many of you know I’m a big fan of dark pine woods — this is a great example — it wasn’t really as dark as the photos suggests — I fiddled with the camera so the faces wouldn’t be washed out, and that meant darkening the background
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Click here to see a copy of this photo online
Click here to see a copy of this photo online
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Click here to see a copy of this photo online
Click here to see a copy of this photo online
