Leader: Sue Williams
Co-Leader: Eric Vander Bogart
Write-up: Sue Williams

We hiked the Isaac Walton League Pitch Pine Bog trail in Rome, NY.
This is urban hiking at its best. Walmart is probably 1-2 miles away!

The weather was balmy until we got into the woods, where we found the air comfortable. It had not rained for sometime and we found the trail very dry with only an occasional presence of mud. Mosquitoes started to come out toward the end of the hike when we stopped for someone to catch up.

Of the 21 people that hiked, 3 were new to the group. One of the three hobbled out with sore ankles.. It was a bit more then she anticipated.

Snakes, cherry blossoms, pitch pine, white pine, tamarack, and a cousin to skunk cabbage were spotted. The cranberry bog and the thought of finding cranberries next fall intrigued the group.

Cindy McCormack, our newest member, as this was her fifth hike, wants to return  to look for cranberries and the white puffy flowers that seem to float just above the bogs’ surface in the fall.

It was a good…low stress hike.