Tramp & Trail

Write-up: Meg Higgerson
Leader: Meg Higgerson
Co-Leader:

The weather forecast was HORRIBLE!   Sleet, freezing rain in the morning and constant rain and high winds for the afternoon. By only 5 minutes, nine Tramps dodged it all !!!

We hiked up Pixley Falls trail in 1-2 inches of new snow and upon reaching the park, detoured to take a look at the beautiful frozen falls. When offered the option of cookies back at the car or additional miles, those with a sweet tooth (all of us) opted for the cookies!  

“A granular couple of inches of snow covered an icy rutted trail which made walking somewhat difficult. Meg gave us the choice of going further or back to the cars for cookies, no contest. Gnomes in and out of the wood pecker cavity. Thanks Meg and Pam for getting us on grey cloudy day.”

Jim Wazielewski

Write-up: Madonna Fellows
Leader: Madonna Fellows
Co-leader: Don Fellows

This year the weekend was off to a bad start.  The leader (Bobbie Scarpino) was in Pennsylvania recovering from a shoulder injury and the co-leader (Mike Huss) was with Janice as she was undergoing surgery to repair her shoulder. Our last report is that they are recovering well and luckily Don and I were able to step in and hope to keep things running smoothly. The only major issue was when the ceiling caved in on Meg’s bed. Luckily she was not occupying it at that time and we were able to move her to another room.

We had a wonderful group of fun loving tramps ready to start the weekend with dinner on Friday evening. After dinner some of us headed out for a walk while others enjoyed the comfort of the fire and conversation.

Following breakfast on Saturday we headed for the lake. Most of the group skied and a few snowshoed. We had to break through the icy crust but it was a beautiful day and no complaints were heard.

After lunch some snowshoed Oak Mountain, some went tubing on Oak Mountain and others chose to ski in different areas.  At the end of the day all shared their experiences and it appeared it was a good day overall.

Following our evening meal the normal laughing, storytelling, teasing, card playing, and shuffleboard was enjoyed by all. Sir Tom and Mike H. got real serious with ping pong rules. It appears they must have been champs at some time.

We woke up Sunday morning to a thick coating of ice blanketing every surface outside. Most folks decided after scraping ice from their windsheilds that they had had enough and were ready to head home. So 10 of us braved the crunchy, icy conditions and did a short snowshoe before calling it a day.

All in all a great weekend.

Write-up: The Fellows
Leader and Co-Leader: The Fellows

Ten of us skied and snow-shoed the trail to Chub pond today. 5 skiers and 5 snowshoers.
The snowshoers did 5 miles, 3 skiers did 6 miles and 2 skiers made it to the lake for 8.2 mi.
The wind had not blown the snow that we got Wednesday night off the trees which made for some beautiful scenery, plus the sky was crystal-clear. Stopped at Kratzy’s for refreshments.

More photos of this hike can be found in Photos, Gallery, January 2019.

Write-up: Kathy Countryman
Leader: Kathy Countryman
Co-Leader: Fran Roy

It turns out that an easy hike close to home followed by free pizza is the perfect combo to bring out a lot of hikers on a January Sunday afternoon. Fifty-four of us walked 4 miles or so on the 840 Trail.

Thirty-five of the group came back to my house afterwards for pizza and other assorted goodies.
A bit of exercise, some junk food, and time to mingle with friends — what’s not to like?
It was fun!

Write-up: Meg Higgerson
Leader: Meg Higgerson
Co-Leader: Sue Manier

Meg Higgerson was the leader and her sister, Sue Manier was the co-leader on this tramp through the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation trails off Burlingame Rd. The CPF has over 2500 acres with more than 15 miles of trails.

With not enough snow for anything other than a hike, we merrily proceeded until the leader took a wrong turn. Going twice as far as originally intended by going in circles on a segment line of the trails, some participants were more worried than others about ever finding the cars!!
We spun a few yarns about the sisters, continued on and eventually all returned to the cars after 4.2 miles.

This was the last hike of 2018 and the Tramps would not be meeting again untill 2019. To celebrate a successful finale to 2018 and to welcome 2019, on count down, Wes tossed our silver New Year’s ball into the air. We toasted the New Year with sparkling cider and noise makers.

Write-up: Madonna Fellows
Leader: Madonna Fellows
Co-Leader: Don Fellows

Twelve of us tramped 4.5 miles yesterday at Carpenter Road.  The snow was crusty so everyone snowshoed. We stopped at Snow Ridge Tavern for refreshments.

Write-up: Jerry Stewart
Leader: Jerry Stewart
Co-Leader: Bobbie Scarpino

Monumental hike Sunday with the tramps. With deer-hunting season underway, we try to work in a few urban events to keep us out of the woods. 38 came along as I led the group down the Utica parkway to learn about the statues most of us have driven past many times but never got to really check them out. Interesting people who made a difference in all of our lives. I read short informational clips in front of each of them. Most of the monuments are war-related, spanning from the revolutionary war to POW and MIA’s. Who knew some very high position officers called our area home?

Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben, George Washington’s chief of staff retired in this area. He trained our troops. James Schoolcraft Sherman served as vice-president under William Taft. He was a local man and actually the great-great-grandfather to Bobbie’s son in-law. She shared some family stories of him, history hitting home and coming to life as told by family. We stopped after at a local watering hole, Tramp tradition. As always, a good time was had visiting with each other along the trail and we learned a few things along the way. We have some awesome outings coming up, hop out of that chair and come along, you’ll be glad you did!

Write-up: Sally Steele
Leader: Jeff Steele
Co-Leader: Sally Steele

21 Tramps took advantage of a crisp but clear fall morning to enjoy a five plus mile leisurely trek around Eaton Brook Reservoir, starting and ending at the public boat launch. The lake was quiet as many camps were closed up in anticipation of winter.  The resident eagle did not make an appearance, but a heron acknowledged the group’s approach.

Write-up: Walt Pillar
Leader: Walt Pillar
Co-Leader: Madonna Fellows

Twelve of us, including one first time hiker, trekked 5-miles along the east ridge above Lake Otsego to Star Field where we viewed the autumn leaves, the lake and the village of Cooperstown.

The weather was cool and damp, but it had stopped raining and a little sun broke out as we viewed the lake. It started raining again just as we got back to our cars.