ithacahikers

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday Dec 2

Cornell natural areas along Fall Creek in Forest Home — Mundy Wildflower Garden, Botanical Garden and Beebe Lake — and the Cornell Dairy Bar
We regularly hike when there’s rain in the area that might or might not hit us (usually not) — but I think this was the first time we stepped out when it was 100% clear from the radar that we’d definitely get hit — the only question was when, and how hard
I was curious whether hikers would come out when we were guaranteed to get wet, but no one seemed to mind a bit. A couple of them didn’t even wear real rain gear.

It was a lovely dark mild morning and we were able to walk for well more than an hour along Fall Creek and look around leisurely at the beautiful plantings and the delightful scenery.
You’ve probably been to the botanical garden, but how about the Mundy Wildflower Garden? it’s quite low key and somewhat tucked away …. nice atmosphere … sounds like it’s very big among native-plant types — that’s not me — I don’t pay the slightest attention to the plantings but I do really like the feeling the place has.

Tiger and I walk around Beebe Lake all the time but it seems like most of our hikers are not that familiar with it — it has an amazingly bucolic feeling for an attraction right in the middle of a university campus.

We went into the Cornell Dairy Bar for treats — started to rain while we were sitting around — it wasn’t very far back to the cars, so we didn’t get seriously wet or chilled even though it was then raining a little briskly.

Official head count: 17 hikers, one dog

You can see seven more shots byt me online here.

You can see Annie’s shots here.

You can see Jack V’s shots here.

Saturday Dec 5

Jim Schug Trail, Dryden, with a stop at Hopshire Brewery in Freeville on the way home
Another mild morning, and an amusing break from our normal routine of ups and downs through the woods on lumpy paths.
This four-mile long rail trail has a wonderful open feeling, especially when the leaves are down — water on at least one side for most of the way, and deep views into the rolling fields and hills and farmlands that make this part of southeast Dryden so distinctive.
Dryden Lake takes up a lot of space — seems almost like it could be a resort with this little viewing platform here. There’s also beautiful swamps and extensive streams running through brushy areas — I wish I’d been a kid with such a fabulous place to play in.
The prospect of a completely flat walk brought out two regulars who’ve been on the injured-hiker list for a while, Steve S and Dave, and it was fun to have them back with us — they managed to finish about half the hike — both reported they were a little fatigued afterwards. For the rest of us, the walk was a piece of cake — I took the photo above at the end of the walk — do you see any signs of fatigue in the group?

Official head count: 27 hikers, three dogs.

Hopshire is midway between Dryden and NTSEG on Route 13, just right for a stop-off on the way back from hiking in the eastern part of the county — it’s very low key and relaxed — the dogs can come in, and they hover under the table eagerly badgering everyone for crackers and pretzels.

You can see nine more photos by me online here

You can see Annie’s shots here.

You can ee Jack V’s shots here.

Sunday Dec 6

Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek
Gorgeous sun-drenched morning along one of our most beautiful trails
Some picturesque frost and frozen mist on the way to the meet-up, but the temps rose fast and it was in the balmy mid-40s when we wrapped it up
There’s a few spots along the trail that are shady even when the leaves are down, like this dramatic pine grove on the high bluffs
…. but generally this walk is bright everywhere on a sunny day without leaves, especially when the sun’s so low in the sky
We had a special hiker with us — you may remember Boomer, who fell off the cliff here a while back and had to be rescued from the creek 100 feet below by the fire department — this was his first time back to the scene of the accident — he stayed on the leash the whole time on this walk — I didn’t notice any signs he had any bad memories of the accident when he arrived at the spot
Official head count: 37 hikers, seven dogs — one hiker arrived after we’d set off — tried to catch us but went in the wrong direction — didn’t connect until the last 15 minutes — but she said she’d had a great hike anyway looking for us

You can see eight more photos by me online here.

We’re having trouble with the photo-sharing page where our nature photogs Annie and Jack V post their hike shots — neither one put anything up — I’ll send a link to their photos from this hike next time.

Hello Hikers!

Thanksgiving Day

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

I think the ideal Thanksgiving morning for a hike is cold, dark and threatening — so when you walk into the house afterwards you truly are thankful it’s toasty warm and smelling deliciously of food.
I guess the next best thing is a 50-degree morning where half the hikers finish up with their coats off and you can sit outside on the deck afterwards in lovely sunlight drinking a beer, like I did at Katharine’s

It took a bit of back-and-forth about who was coming, who wanted what and who was bringing what, but it ended up a wonderful party  —  huge amounts of food and lots of people who weren’t doing anything better after the hike.

The slightly disheveled little dog in the left foreground of this shot is Mimi, who lives with Katharine.  She’s quite old and blind, and she has a huge lump on her back that’s probably a tumor  —  clearly, she’s in her senior years and probably on the down slope  —  but she lives in a delightfully lively household with two other dogs and two cats and Katharine and Scott to take care of her  —  here’s hoping we hikers who are all aging along with Mimi can do as well  —  that’ll be something to be thankful for.

It was gorgeous in the woods along Lick Brook  —  someone who’d never done the hike before when the leaves were down was exclaiming over the beauty of the terrain  —  I’ve been beating the drum for this stunning effect for years  —  glad someone noticed.

Official head counts:

Hike:  25 hikers, four dogs

Get-together:  35 hikers, six dogs

You can see 10 more photos by me online here.

You can see Jack V’s photos here.

Saturday Nov 28

Taughannock Falls SP, rim trail and lakefront

This was exactly the morning I hoped for on Thanksgiving  —  raw, brooding, mid-30s, raining when we left home and on the way to the trail head, though it didn’t rain during the hike

The Taughannock gorge and the woods and the lake looked fabulous in the gloomy light  —  unfortunately, I was using the camera while wearing gloves and I messed up the settings without realizing it and half my photos failed to come out  —  so none of the atmospheric shots I took worked out  —  instead, the best I’ve got is the hikers looking at the beautiful gorge from the lookout, and from the old railroad bridge that crosses the creek

It really is worth doing this walk after the leaves fall down  —  the views are exceptional.

Here’s the one semi-OK shot I got showing the trail along the rim.  Doesn’t do justice at all ….

The temperature actually dropped a little during our hike and it was chilly even for our own Mr Hot-Blood, Jack V, who’s always warmer than the rest of us  —  he took off his jacket for a minute at my urging, but then he put it right back on

Official head count:  18 hikers, two dogs

Sunday Nov 29

Lime Hollow Nature Preserve, McLean

We’re going to start coming to Lime Hollow more than once a year — it’s a wonderful hike, and a number of our regular hikers live midway between the city and McLean so it’s not a particularly long drive for them.
This will have one big benefit for us — we can start to learn our way around the trails better — the nature center publishes a very good map, but the trails network is confusing, and even when you’ve got the map in your hand it’s not always clear how to proceed.
So we did a bit of milling around this time — I’ve been out here a number of times myself but it’s always only once a year, and I can never remember what we did from year to year so I’m useless for finding the way.
The preserve is a great mixture of woods and fields — the wooded areas are often cleaner of scrubby underbrush that we normally see, and the trails go up and down and in and out of dark pine groves in a delightful way.
I’m a huge fan of rolling fields and the ones here are really beautiful — the fields area is used for cross-country skiing and several hikers who’d never been out here before are now eager to come skiing.

One downbeat note: Doug’s Fish Fry has raised its prices — food’s still fabulous but now it costs more than Tiger and I want to pay.

Official head count: 39 hikers

You can see nine more photos by me online here.

Hello Hikers!

Wednesday Nov 18

Watkins Glen State Park gorge trail

This is the main parking lot and entrance to the gorge trail. A couple of thoughts:

First, this is by far the most popular state park in the Finger Lakes — well over 50% more visitors last year than at Taughannock, the next most popular — since parking in this small lot and entering the gorge through a tunnel through the rock is the only way to get the full stunning impact ….

…. imagine the mob scene at peak season. But you can have this gorge all to yourself, if you wait until early November. In fact, most of the cars in the parking lot were ours, and we saw only a handful of other people. But don’t wait too late into the month — the gorge trail closed the day after we hiked it.

The other thought that the parking lot prompted in me is, what an absolutely fantastic benefit for us the 1930s federal CCC program has been! So many wonderful hours we’ve spent walking on the improvements constructed by the young CCC workers. The parking lot scene actually made me think of the ruins of Aztec construction you can find in Mexico — great public works from the past.

It turned out a number of the hikers Wednesday hadn’t done Watkins Glen in decades — a few people had never done it — the ride is only 36 minutes from The Commons, but somehow people never seem to get around to it.

There’s 800-some steps to the full trail — not too tiring if you hike
regularly like we do

Official head count: 23 hikers, one dog (who wasn’t supposed to be on the
trail but hiked under the radar — and he wasn’t the only dog there).
After the hike, 13 people headed a few blocks away for lunch at the Crooked
Rooster, a brewpub.

How popular is Watkins Glen SP? From the state DEC page about the park:
“In 2015, the park was chosen from more than 6,000 state parks across the
nation as a nominee in the USA TODAY Readers’ Choice Poll for Best State
Park in the United States, and won third place!”

You can see eight more photos by me online here.

You can see Jack V’s photos here.

You can see Annie’s photos here.

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Saturday Nov 21

Upper Treman SP, Enfield

Sunday Nov 22

Upper Buttermilk Falls SP

Great start to our 2015 hunting season — no hunter could ever mistake our chattering, noisy, colorful hikers for a herd of deer. In fact, I didn’t hear a single gun shot either day. This line-up was on Saturday’s hike.
This one from Sunday morning — for whatever reason, everyone seemed unusually cheerful both days, and we had a really good time.
A good bit of ups and downs and stair climbing both days. Saturday, descending the Red Pine Trail in Treman — slippery leaves and loose rocks — nasty combination, and much steeper than it looks in the photo.
Sunday — stairs at the outflow end of Lake Treman —
…. and stairs along the edge of the lake — you need to wear about a size 1 shoe to be able to walk up these stairs comfortably
We also did the massive super-steep staircase just below Lucifer Falls on Saturday — I was too stressed worrying about losing my balance to get any shots — but here’s a photo from a minute or two later, at the famous look-out over the falls — I had to bleach out the background to get any details on the hikers
Here’s the inflow end of Lake Treman — the state did a major flood control project here a few years ago — the results look terrible, IMO — I keep hoping the area will have started to recover its former charm every time we come here, but so far, still looks awful
If you’re into hiker fashions, I think hunting season’s the best time of the year by far, because of all the colorful coats and hats — at other times, our group can look pretty drab

Here’s the official weekend head counts:
Saturday: 31 hikers, four dogs
Sunday: 41 hikers, six dogs
The lighting Saturday was especially lovely, and I had a wonderful time in the woods

More photos online:

Saturday:
Me
Annie

Sunday:
Me
Annie

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Hello Hikers!

Wednesday Nov 11

Edwards Lake Cliff Preserve, Lansing

Ever since Tiger and I moved to Ithaca 12 years ago, Lansing’s been nothing but a boring set of busy roads where you go to the doctor or the mall. Then, recently, we had occasion to drive around it a good bit on the local streets, and I’ve completely changed my opinion. Now I think it’s a delightful place. I love the mix of sweeping open fields and high-quality houses and the newer gaudy mansions. And now we have a great Lansing hike too.

It appears this preserve has some special natural and geological qualities that make it stand out — I actually don’t care about any of that — I just find it really beautiful and a lovely place to walk.

If there’s a way to get down to the lake front from the high ground, we haven’t figured it out. But it’s completely satisfying to walk along the top of the bluffs — there’s a hugely deep gorge at one point, and several very pleasing views out over the lake.

We had some great atmospherics for the walk  —  it was raining shortly before hike time, and there was mist hanging in the air when we shaped up  —  it started to drizzle near the end and a little fog moved in  — fabulous if you like that kind of stuff

Official head count:  11 hikers, one dog

There was one micro-burst of excitement  —  the others abruptly noticed my pants were festooned with stickers, I guess when I was wandering around through the underbrush trying to get photos.  (Photo by Mary.)  Tiger was a little distressed I’d messed up my pants so much  —  I said I’d pull them all off but Tiger ended up doing it because I was slow to get started on the chore.

You can see eight more photos by me online here.

You can see Jack V’s online photos here.

Saturday Nov 14

Roy H Park Preserve into Hammond Hill SF, Dryden

First official snow-on-the-ground walk of the fall season
Beautiful cool gusty morning, definitely with a touch of winter feeling. (Speaking of winter, here’s a somewhat ominous news article that’s just out.)

This was our second walk that took us into Hammond Hill SF within two weeks, but we took mostly a different route and there was very little overlap and repetition.  We did hit a little mud going this way and there was some grumbling from the peanut gallery, which I ignored.

We’ve done this hike a number of times now and all along I’ve thought that the gorgeous stretch of woods from the end of the boardwalk to Hammond Hill Road was part of the Roy H Park Preserve.  In fact, the Park Preserve ends right at the boardwalk, I now realize, thanks to our super-regular hiker Jack B.  So this greatly raises my already high appreciation of Hammond Hill SF  —  and lowers my appreciation of Roy H’s estate a bit, I’m sorry to say.  Love that stretch of woods!

Official head count:  27 hikers, five dogs

Here’s one more shot  —  I like the lighting

You can see nine online photos by me here

You can see Annie’s photos online here

Sunday November 15

Michigan Hollow Road SE to Curtis Road, Danby SF

Gorgeous morning on the trail after the weather flipped overnight from early winter to beautifully springlike
It was a little chilly at the trail head but by the time we got to the top of the big outbound hill, the coats were starting to come off — that’s Jack V, who’s very hot-blooded and is always among the first to strip down, and Margaret next to him with her coat off too — let me give a shout-out to the person on the far left, Julie — hasn’t hiked with us much in a while — she’s the one who created the Ithaca Hikers web site for me — for free — yay Julie!!
This trail is notorious for heavy sun-and-shade effects and we hit a good share of these even though all the leaves are now pretty much down. I like the effects in this shot, it has a slightly abstract quality and nice colors — if you blow it up, you can distinguish the details — Sue S is eating an apple, Roger’s looking at his phone, and June could be demonstrating how to strangle a snake while wearing gloves

On our way back to the cars the temperature was up over 50 and it was really lovely coming back down the long downhill stretch — only downside, it was a bit slippery because of dried leaf cover.

Official head count: 30 hikers, eight dogs

You can see eight more photos by me online here

You can see Annie’s photos here

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A quick word on our Thanksgiving get-together: We have enough people signed up for the hiker-roasted turkey, so that option is now closed. If you want turkey at the get-together, you can join in on a traditional turkey dinner from Wegmans that serves 10 to 12 people and will cost you $8-$9 for the turkey and a number of included sides. We have two people signed up for this already — I’ll send out a final call for this in a day or two. We’ll also push forward on our dish-to-pass option.