2024 HIKES
We had a great evening to enjoy the cloud veiled glow of the "Snow Moon" on our moonlit hike last night. 10 hikers and 1 dog convened at the outlet of Perkins Pond. The hikers were Jeanne Peters, Holly Crouch, Sue Ellen Westbrook, Melissa Tworkowsky, Steve Ellsworth, Chris Gregoire, Kirsten and Dustin Spear with daughter Emily, Rebecca Hargrave and myself with our dog Apollo. Fortunately, the clouds were high and thin enough for enough moonlight to produce shadows and silhouettes throughout the woods, but the woods were still dark enough to require headlamps.
We started out about 6:38pm down Plank Road but soon turned east onto the snowmobile trail, aka the red trail. The hill provided a steady climb to get our hearts pumping, taking care of any complaints about being chilled on the pleasant, warm for February, evening. We followed the snowmobile trail up and around to the short cut trail to take us over to the main FLT. Now on the main trail we turned north and headed towards Clarence Church Rd. The woods were pretty quiet and there were not many tracks besides deer and red squirrels to be found. But as we neared Church Rd two barred owls were heard calling in the distance. We called back, but they did not take the bait. Rebecca signed us in to the trail register where Guy Forden was the lone sole who had documented his presence in the past month.
Upon reaching the road we followed it westerly until we located the service path to access the lean to. We took this path back north and found the lean-to clean and in good condition. We stopped here for a well deserved break and snack. I did not succeed in finding a snow themed hiking treat this year, but in honor of the night sky, this hike's snack featured limited edition "Space Dunk" Oreos featuring "5 galactic designs and cosmic cream with popping candy". What a mouthful. Not exactly gourmet, but definitely a nice little sugar spike to energize us for the last mile.
Before a chill could set in, we left the lean to, crossed the creek, and turned right onto the other red trail heading westerly once again. This trail is quite rocky, so there was a bit of stumbling across the hillside. Along the way we did find a couple nice sets of deer mice tracks to appreciate. At the end of the red trail we re-emerged onto Plank Rd and turned south. Once again we were walking uphill. Did we ever go downhill? I don't recall. Along the way there was much discussion about the old sawmill that once resided somewhere in the ravine off to our right, the reputed owner of which who also once owned the Spear's house, nearby.
We reached the cars at 8:34pm, having covered varied GPS estimates of between 3.4 and 3.6 miles with +/-216 feet of elevation gain. On the way home, it occurred to us that perhaps Plank Road was so named because slab wood from the sawmill once paved the way. Dustin has already done quite a bit of research of his own but would be very much interested in learning more if anyone has information about the old sawmill across from the outlet of Perkins Pond.
There are some poor quality photos of the hike attached as evidence, but please share other photos if you have something of better quality.
The next opportunity for a moonlight hike will be a window of time between March 21st and March 25th.
Hope to see you there,
Chris
Hike Report Ludlow Creek SF, Stone Piles / Passport rubbing
.JPG)
Today (Sunday) we met at the Ludlow Creek SF kiosk and hiked to the Lean-To after visiting the one lane wooden deck bridge over Ludlow creek.
There were 6 hikers who showed their grit on this hike.
Holly Crouch, June Granz, Anne Altshuler, Gwen Wehbe, Melissa Tworkowsky, Steve Ellsworth.
There is a nice path along the creek for a ways and then it becomes a bit of a bush whack to the stone piles.
We followed deer and coyote tracks that seemed to show us the way.
There was a deer blind where Holly tried out her antlers and a couple tree stands that we came across.
When we got to the top of the hill and thought that was it, there was another hill waiting for us ahead.
After finding the stone piles that we knew about, we walked the State Forest boundary and came out right at the bridge on the FLT.
Heading South we came to the Passport station and the FLT register.
Exactly where a landowner rescinded permission to hike on the trail. Trail Closed signs reminded us.
It was North on the FLT back to the cars at the kiosk.
This was such a fun hike... you should try it.
Map:
Photos:
Nick Nack Bush Whack,
Steve
Hike Report M22 Truman Hill 02/15/24
Three of us, Christine Gregoire, Guy Forden & Steve Ellsworth parked at the Otselic Fishing Access / FLT trailhead and headed up the dark side of Truman Hill and made it to the 'Bench' for our group photo about 200' above the Otselic river.
Branches and sticks were thrown off the trail and one tangle of a blowdown needed sawing. We had two saws so we worked from both sides until we met in the middle.
The microspikes that we had, helped us with our footing on the steep trail that emerged at the road of many names, Truman Hill, Raider Hill, Flannigan Rd ??? The trail crossed and a short distance we signed in at the FLT trail register.
We crossed the summit and headed down the other side and came to the same road that we previously crossed and looped back around toward the trail crossing.
On the NW side of the road is a stone wall that I have always been curious about. So if you see a chance, take it....
bushwhacking to the wall, finding it in really good shape and extending quite a ways and then it suddenly stopped.
Rather than walking back up the hill to the road we continued the bushwhack to the trail that we came up on.
It was all downhill from there to the car.
The hike was 3.4 miles with a 547' elevation gain.
Map:
Photos:
No hi
lls,
Steve
] Hike Report M24 Preston Rd. - Berry Hill Fire Tower O&B Sunday 2/11/24
There were 8 hikers this Super Bowl morning who wanted to pay before they played.
Melissa Tworkowski, Jeanne Peters, Holly Crouch, Anne Altshuler, June Grantz, Gwen Wehbe, Guy Forden and Steve Ellsworth.
We met at Bowman Lake SP then truck-pooled to the McDonough SF up the seasonal section of Preston Rd. praying for traction on the icy road.
From the trailhead North to the Breslin Bridge the trail was in good shape but 4 blowdowns will need attention.
An agile hiker can straddle these with no problem.
There was a pile of fur on the trail that looked like opossum that may have been previously eaten and upchucked.
We made it to the tower and some of the group went to the top to take in the view and photos. We were wishing the tower Steward was there to show everyone the observers / caretaker cabin.
There are a number of stone walls that are in good shape.
The walls make you wonder who lived there and what life was like then.
With some research more foundations could be found on the historical maps.
There were fan and flat branched tree club mosses on the trail as well as Parmeliaceae lichen.
(waiting for the spring beauties)
The hike was 4.2 miles with an elevation gain of 182'
Berry Hill Fire Tower information
Photos:
Map:
(zoom in there is a bug in gaia)
Just movin' along,
Steve
Hike Report 2/9/2024 Nathaniel Cole Park
.JPG)
Five hikers (Janet S, Anne A, Jeanne P, Karen & Steve) took a scenic drive through the countryside to Nathaniel Cole Park in Harpursville. The weather turned out perfect for a winter hike. A few quick sprinkles in Oxford ended and stayed away, a bit of sun poking through the clouds at times, and 40 degrees, couldn't ask for more in February.
We arrived at the parking lot and looked out over the lake, the park buildings and grounds. Chatting, we walked right past the sign indicating the start of the Lake Trail and headed down to the lake. A short bushwack up a little hill got us back on track. We followed the trail around the lake, over the dam, through some woods and back through the picnic area.
We noticed some disc golf baskets in wide grassy areas up the hill a bit. In the picnic areas were numerous grills, some shelters, and picnic tables. It looks like a great place for a party. The beach was wide and sandy. From the main picnic area by the park buildings on a hill looking out we noticed that we could see windmills out in the distance in Windsor. Steve was able to zoom his camera and get a good picture of this. Through the woods, we did have to dodge a bit of ice in spots, we also went over a bridge, and saw some interesting tree and ice formations.
It was a nice day and worth the drive. On the drive back, we spotted a bald eagle in a tree near a brook and pulled over to take a look, We also noticed a parking area in the Coventry State Forest on North Road. Turned out to be ATV access for the disabled. Interesting. There was also a snowmobile trail nearby and a couple more parking areas. No hiking trails though.
We made it back to Oxford before noon.
Total Miles 1.8 according to GiaGPS
Hiking time 1 hour 10 minutes.
photos:
Karen
Hike Report Bucks Brook SF M22 020724
We met at the Bucks Brook SF sign on Bucks Brook Rd. just off Old State Rd 26 at 8:30AM
Three of us carpooled from the Bullthistle Bridge crossing on RT23. There were the Four Musketeers
or perhaps the Mouseketeers. Lisa Wolf, John Nesbit, GuyForden & Steve Ellsworth
Up the initial incline there were two blowdowns that needed some trail maintenance (sawing)
There was a blue Nalgene bottle left on the trail if you forgot where it was.
This initial incline was a reward on our return. There was patchy snow and frozen trails for the first half of the hike.
There were human tracks in the snow and dog tracks the whole way.
All along we did trail maintenance without tools.
Several screenshots of the compass will reveal the locations of the blowdowns that we were not prepared for.
Down in the saddle was an old foundation (Homestead?) and some old stone fences.
After the saddle and rising to the next hill the woods were totally snow covered and a little deeper than the beginning.
We remembered a hike in this same area that we declined our snowshoes because it wasn't too deep.
Oops.. that area had 3' of snow. Luckily not today.
We heard a branch fall on the Lean-To roof and turned to realize we had reached our destination.
We took a nice break there, hydrated, snacked and got the obligatory group photo.
(which is not a requirement if you want to stand aside.)
The hike back was much quicker with the trails in better shape and the fact there have been less uphill.
We spotted an old truck in the woods and wondered what year it was (photo)
Thanks to John and Guy for the trail work as usual.
Oxygen deprived,
Steve
Photos:
Map:
Hike Report Pharsalia SF Fred Stewart & Blue Loop 01/31/24
One of the few hikes we've had this winter with snow although not enough for snowshoes.
Three hikers, Rich Breslin, Guy Fordan, Steve Ellsworth headed North from the Fred Stewart trailhead.
The snow was stuck to the branches from last Sunday's wet snow and we were glad there was no wind to send it down our necks.
This was a snow, for tracks. We followed a coyote track that was large (photo with quarter comparison) but there were also deer, fox, squirrel, racoon, grouse, mouse tracks too.
We saw a deer circle behind us and on the return the deer had been scraping the ground for food where we had walked earlier.
There were plenty of branches to pick up or dragged out of the path along the way. Guy sawed one pine blowdown.
There are several larger trees that will need chainsaw attention.
Stopped by the Sidote Bench and signed the trail register and continued on the FLT to the picnic table and the blowdown bench.
We took a right (East) on the blue spur and continued around the loop until we came back to the FLT, retracing our steps back to the Fred Stewart trailhead.
We hiked 7 miles and it was time for lunch!
Slow strider... take it easy, ............(wasn't that a Foghat tune?)
Steve
Map:
Photos:
Hike Report Bullthistle Bridge - Lower Pond - CCC Camp
We met on RT 23, cool and damp but warm for January.
5 hikers were ready, Guy and Janel Forden, Jean Peters, John Nesbitt, Steve Ellsworth.
We could see snow in the woods from the road. It was a little slippery on the hills if you didn't have microspikes, we didn't.
The recent winds had done its pruning and we picked up the litter along the way, only one had to be removed with the Silky saw.
The trail was wet in spots, snowy in some and bare in others.
The only ice we encountered was on Elmer Jackson Rd but for the most part it was still a little slushy and not a problem.
There was a section on Elmer Jackson where there seemed to be an inordinate amount of trees with burls.
These did not seem intact but rather like a disfigurement??? See photo.
We made it to Lower Pond which still had a lot of ice.
Just past there we turned at the creek toward the old CCC camp.
After seeing old photos after the fact I wish we could have looked for the barracks foundations.
It is hard to fathom how many camps there were just in NY State.
Note the letter designation after the project number:
-C = colored
-V = veteran
We walked around the CCC camp to the foundation, steps near a bivouac. and cut back through a field where I think the barracks were.
The field was covered with snow and John stepped in a hole to his knee before recovering.
The hike back to the cars was much quicker after the trail maintenance on the way out.
We took the group photo on the Bullthistle Bridge where the Canasawacta was roaring.
A tree had washed down to the center support that will need to be removed.
We got back before noon and totaled 4.6 miles.
Map:
Photos:
On the level,
Steve
Hike Report Greenway Conservancy Quarry 1/21/24
We arrived at the parking lot off of Upper Ravine Rd at 10AM
The temperature had risen to about 15 and 6 hikers were anxious to get moving.
Yusuf Harper, Pat Bonnell, Tom Monday, Beth Stewart, Guy Forden, Steve Ellsworth
We headed to the Pondering Pool and then the Little Quarry.
The water was frozen into ice needles coming out of the ground under the snow so part of the trail was not too flat.
No new mail at the Keepers mailbox and no warmth at the Fire Wall.
Onward to 'Two Ponds' and then to the 'Face' overlooking Norwich where the group shot was taken.
Then to Dimross, signing the book and looking at the poems. A photo of Beth in the Maidens Chair. (not a hot seat but rather cold I imagine.)
At Dimross there is an encryption challenge to decipher (see photo of the partial puzzle.)
Yusuf pointed out 3 oak trees that were at least twice the size of the surrounding trees.
Interesting because they had spreading branches down low. Which indicated to me that they were in the open at one time.
Along the way we met a guy who lived on Jones Ave who had hiked up from the cemetery with his coat in his arm.
He had taken it off for the uphill climb but soon put it on after getting to the top.
The Lonely Oak was our last stop before heading to the parking lot.
As we approached the parking lot a group of about 6 guys were heading in.
There was only one car in the parking lot besides ours and wondered how they all fit in that van.
On the way out it was obvious that they had parked at the plow turn around and walked in.
Thanks to Yusuf for sharing the knowledge he has of his 'backyard' and for basically leading this hike.
The hike was 3.4 miles and an elevation gain of 265'
Map:
Photos:
Hike Report Dorchester Park 1/19/2024
Two happy hikers (Christine and Karen) braved the cold for a trip to Whitney Point Reservoir and a hike over the dam.
It was about 19 degrees and calm with flurries. Actually pretty good weather for a winter hike. No wind on the dam either. Yay! We saw a few other people out walking with their dogs and enjoying the outdoors. We did get hot and had to take off the neck warmers and loosen the clothing; better to be prepared for the worst than to be cold!
Heading south from the parking area there were numerous tracks of dogs, cats, and rabbits. The cats must have come from nearby houses along the perimeter of the park. Dorchester has numerous picnic spots and some pavilions as well as a swimming area and a boat launch area. It would be great to visit in the summertime too.
We walked along a trail that was mostly dirt but paved in spots, and it went through the trees in some areas. The microspikes helped and made the hiking quicker. We went up on the top of the dam going out to the Keible Rd parking area and took a lower trail (snowmobile trail) coming back. There was a view of the elementary school and a bit of the town from the dam. After returning to the start, we then headed north on the trail to see the rest of the park and trail, and then turned around when we reached rt 26.
I am enjoying this Broome County Challenge and exploring new areas.
Karen
total miles 4.24
time 1 hour, 40 min
2.5 miles/hr
--
Hike Report Wiley SF to Basswood LT Out & Back
Sunday 1/14/24 we went where winter was happening.
Anne Altshuler, Jeanne Peters, Christine Gregoire, John Nesbit and Steve Ellsworth
We arrived at the Wiley SF kiosk and headed approximately North to the lean-to.
There was still some snow in the woods.
Before we arrived at the register box there were two blow downs, nothing that was impassable.
The register box was frozen so it was pried open with a screwdriver to sign the register. (a small hand plane could reduce the width of the door.)
There were some wet spots but nothing that couldn't be traversed.
We did some trail maintenance along the way with a pruning saw and just moving limbs and branches.
There were ice needles sprouting out of the freezing ground. Puddles that must have frozen incrementally that left patterns that Anne described as a topo map.
It was cool and breezy today and a squall picked up after getting to the lean-to. The people on this expedition was covered with snow by the time we returned to the cars.
It was a slow and cautious drive back to Oxford.
About a mile from home near Tucker Rd there was a large blowdown across the road.
I called Karen to bring the truck down that had the chainsaw, chaps and helmet.
The tree was a >16" poplar totally across the road. (photo).
The hike was 3.6 miles.
map:
photos:
Snow Squall,
Steve
Hike Report 1/6/24 Round Pond - Red-9 Mile-Blue
.JPG)
.JPG)
A cool start this morning but as the barometer was falling the temperature rose a little.
We had 10 hikers and one canine. Anne Altschuler, John Nesbitt, Guy Forden, Janel Forden, Larry Chesbro, Holly Crouch, Robin Van Wegner ( & four legged Jack), Will Pryor, Pam Mennis, Steve Ellsworth.
There was an inch or two of snow on the ground which was great for seeing animal tracks. Foxes, coyotes, deer, squirrels, mice and bird tracks were spotted today. Many of the tracks were right in the path, where it is easy to walk.
We found hemlock reishi along the path, its latin name is ganoderma tsugae and grows on the dead and dying hemlocks.
We did not see any HWA (hemlock woolly adelgid) but there was still some snow on some of the hemlock needles making it impossible to spot.
Eastern Hemlocks are under pressure from the imported wooly adelgid, and insect scourge that slowly sucks the energy from the tree.
We headed South down the red trail to 9 Mile Truck Trail then back North at the clear cut on the red trail to the blue trail, red trail that crosses Reservoir Hill Rd. then back to the entrance to the observation deck.
It warmed up enough or we did, to chat in the parking lot for a half hour catching up on our life events.
A leisurely hike that totaled 2.8 miles.
Map: (zoom in)
Photos:
Happy New Year everyone!
The start of another Finger Lakes 50
Steve
All great hikes today
Hike at Rogers Environmental Center
Excellent turn out. A little over 100 people.
We had 4 hike leaders. David Carson (Director), Ellen Rathbone (Educator), Carol Smith (Friends of Rogers & BHC), and Peg Fuller (BHC).
Ellen took one group that wanted an easier hike to the channel trails around the pond. David, Carol & Peg went to theFarm Tower and Pine Ridge Trail and continued to the channel trails. Peg's group did 3 miles in 1.5 hours.
GPS of Peg's hike (GPS not turned on until about a fourth of mile into it) https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/afternoon-hike-e046ede-196?p=-1&sh=pb69an
The Quarry Greenway Hike:
Leaders: Yusuf Harper, John Killean, Jill Liberatore, Beth Stewart
Turn out: 85
We all hiked to Dimross site, with one group returning back by a different way for a shorter trip; and a second group went on for a longer journey.
Wide variety of people hiked from 80's down to 5 yo, along with some well behaved canines.
The short walk was close to 2 miles, and the longer route just short of 4 miles.
Bowman Lake State Park hike:
Another great First Day at Bowman Lake SP.
Another great First Day at Bowman Lake SP.
It looks like we had about 39 hikers and one canine.
16 people went with Nathan to Kopac Pond and then North around Bowman Lake 2.9 miles
15 people went with Steve, North around Bowman Lake to Whaley Pond to Kopac Pond 4.1 miles.
8 people went with Julie on the XC ski trail 2.75
Photos:
Whale-Kopac-Bowman map...
Pictures
It was great to have so many people out hiking today. And great we had so many BHC members out on the hikes.
This is a article from WBNG: https://www.wbng.com/2024/01/01/100-hikers-welcome-2024-with-first-day-hike-hosted-by-friends-rogers/
Gilbert Lake First Day Hike 2024
