Browsed by
Category: 2012

Hike #6047 – HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL ART TRAIL – May 26th, 2012

Hike #6047 – HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL ART TRAIL – May 26th, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

We carpooled down the Thruway to exit 21, regrouping at Cedar Grove, the home and studio of Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School of Painting.  From there we proceeded over the Catskill Creek and through the Kaaterskill Clove up to the Kaaterskill Falls.

The trail starts with the beautiful Bastion Falls and proceeds upwards one half mile to Kaaterskill Falls, the highest falls in New York State , as if climbing a natural staircase. It was nice to see so many young people and families out in nature.

Next we stopped at  North-South Lake State Park.  We parked in the South Lake Parking Lot and walked along both lakes through the woods to the shores of North Lake where we had lunch.  From there we took the trail up to Artist’s and Sunset Rocks.  The shaded forest felt cool as we  climbed steadily to our destinations.  The views of the Hudson River, the twin lakes, the farms in the valley, the mountains in the distance were wonderful in spite of slightly hazy skies.  When we checked out this hike a month before, the mountain was encased in fog and we saw nothing but white mist.  On our way back to the cars, we took a short side trip to the site of the Catskill Mountain House for more spectacular views.  The Catskills differ from the Adirondacks in several respects but the most important on this day was NO BLACK FLIES!!!!!!!!!

By:  Nancy Coleman

Hike #6045 – GULL LAKE – May 19, 2012

Hike #6045 – GULL LAKE – May 19, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

Gull Lake is one of our favorite hikes.  Given the time of year we worried about black flies, and they were out and biting, but not as bad as we sometimes have experienced.

The weather was almost perfect, but a little warm if you were wearing a full bug shirt.  Most of the spring flowers have ceased blooming but we did see a number of painted trilliums.

The hike proceeds in a clockwise direction beginning at the Bear Creek parking lot and extending for a short distance along a truck road before bearing left onto the lower foot trail.  There are still a few blowdowns on this trail although they are not nearly as bad as in past years.  The puddles, however were extensive, wide, deep and muddy and required quite a few detours.  The trail turns right after a little over a mile and begins a steep ascent.  This part of the trail is deeply eroded making footing a bit difficult, and we encounterd even more water as we neared the top and the lake came into view.  Turning left we took the trail to the lean-to.  The sign said 0.4 miles but the many ups and downs made the distance seem much longer.   Soon we saw the lake on both sides of the trail, indicating that we were on the point where the lean-to is situated.  This is an ideal spot because a fresh breeze eliminated any black flies.  We quickly kindled a fire and began the roasting of hot dogs.  As usual, two loons and a pair of seagulls occupied the lake and we rejoiced in the music of the loons.  Several people waded in the shallow water off the point while others just relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of the place.  Deb Robert’s little grandaughter, Chloe, was overjoyed to find that someone had suspended a rope and log from a tree and spent most of her time swinging back and forth.  Reluctantly we extinguished the fire and turned homeward.

We backtracked until we reached the trail to the Chub Pond intersection.  This trail follows an old tote road for most of the way narrowing to a foot path only a short distance from the intersection.  Here there were even more puddles to circumvent but fortunately the water at the first crossing of Gull Lake Outlet had receded and we were able to cross on a bridge that had been submerged when we made the trip in 2009.  The remains of the crude bridge we had constructed and crossed on were still there.

The Chub Pond trail had a few wide puddles near the intersection but then became an easy, mostly downhill jaunt to the parking lot where ice cold watermelon awaited hikers who were hot and thirsty after an 8 mile hike.

By:  Harold Pier

Hike #6036 – FLOYD TOWN PARK – April 15, 2012

Hike #6036 – FLOYD TOWN PARK – April 15, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

It was an overcast day in the 60’s when 12 of us arrived at the Floyd Town Park. We quickly realized that we had a major problem; Carol Dippolito could not find her sneakers. She forgot to put them in the car. Luckily, she spotted an extra pair in the back of Bill Wilson’s car. Carol asked Bill if she could borrow them and he said they would be a little big, but go ahead and try them. They worked fine. The first three miles were quite comfortable and even the last mile, with a light drizzle falling, was refreshing. After the hike, we were off to the Okey Dokey Restaurant for sandwiches and beverages.

-by Mike and Janice Huss

Hike #6032 – NINE CORNER LAKE – March 31, 2012

Hike #6032 – NINE CORNER LAKE – March 31, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

In a normal spring this would have been a late snowshoe, but even though  light snow dusted the ground and continued to fall fitfully during the day 29 Tramps had decent walking with the usual detours around beloved Adirondack mud.  We shuttled cars to the trailhead near the intersection of Routes 29-A and 10 and then began our hike where Snowmobile route 8 heads north toward Fourth Lake from Rt. 29-A.

The trail provides nice views of Burnt Vly and reaches an intersection after 1.1 miles of easy walking.  Here Snowmobile Rt. 82 branches off to the right toward Nine Corner Lake and proceeds gently upward between high hills on either side.  The  open forest is mostly mature maple ash and beech. Nine Corner Lake is a popular haunt of rock climbers  and soon we began to see large, erratic rocks..  After about one mile we skirted around a large beaver meadow and began the last climb to the lake.  A primitive campsite provided ample dry firewood and a sheltered spot for lunch.  After our three- mile climb to the lake the one-mile descent to Rt. 29-A and the cars seemed easy.  After this many of us retired to Arthur’s in Dolgeville for a light repast.

By:  Harold Pier

Hike #6029 – LAKE DELTA STATE PARK – March 18th, 2012

Hike #6029 – LAKE DELTA STATE PARK – March 18th, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

On a dazzling sun-shiny, blue-sky day, Jean Yost, Leader, and Kathy Countryman, Co-leader,  led a group of 34 Tramps on a 4 mile hike around the inside perimeter of  the lake.  There were two individuals making their first hike with the Club.

It was an unusually warm 78 degrees for March 18th encouraging a few to zip off the bottom half of their hiking pants.   Early arrivers were interested in seeing a Baltimore Oriole’s nest that Bess Bessey had found and brought to share with the group.

As we walked among the barren trees through the woods and heard some happy songbirds, one could almost see the ice melting away on the lake as the ducks hung onto the remaining edge.   After returning to the beach at the end of the hike,  the group relaxed at picnic tables enjoying conversation and cookies!

By:  Jean Yost

Hike #6028 – LEPRECHAUN HUNT PIXLEY FALLS – March 17, 2012

Hike #6028 – LEPRECHAUN HUNT PIXLEY FALLS – March 17, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

What was to be a Ski or Snowshoe ended up being a hike due to our warm 60 degree temperatures.

Twenty two adventurers walked the 5 mile Black River Canal Towpath avoiding some slippery and muddy spots along the trail.

With Saint Patrick’s Day spirit, we found gold candy and coins along the way and suddenly were accosted by a Leprechaun family of five. They joined us for spectacular views of the numerous waterfalls and enjoyed jumping out at us as we crossed the bridge to the picnic area.

We all departed with a smile on our face after eating shamrock cookies.

By Meg Higgerson

Hike # 6022 – CAZENOVIA PRESERVATION FOUNDATION, FEBRUARY 25, 2012

Hike # 6022 – CAZENOVIA PRESERVATION FOUNDATION, FEBRUARY 25, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

The hardest part of this hike was getting to Cazenovia from the Madison Central School meeting place. It was a rough trip up and down the hills of route 20 on very icy and snow-blown pavement. In spite of the road conditions, nine of us made it to the trail-head. It was white-knuckle driving all the way. After getting into the woods, we were protected from the wind and were able to enjoy the hike to the Lorenzo Museum. We did not need snow-shoes because the snow covering the trail was not very deep. We tried to eat lunch in the gardens at Lorenzo but the wind coming off Cazenovia Lake was so strong it pushed us back into the woods for protection. We were able to find a picnic table along the trail where it was more comfortable to enjoy our lunch. Hiking back to the parking area wasn’t a problem until we came to an open field. The winds were fierce, but everyone made it. Because of the poor road conditions, we decided that it was best to head directly home instead of stopping at the Tavern for a beverage.

by Mike & Janice Huss

Hiking – A tribute to a life well-lived

Hiking – A tribute to a life well-lived

Comments 0 Comment

By Lu Blanchard

For those of you who have followed the Tramp & Trail (T&T) blogs you are very familiar with our President and prolific blogger, Harold Pier.  After a very short, courageous acceptance of a diagnosis that left him with two months to live, he died on October 19, 2012.

Harold’s blogs were like Harold, intelligent, observant and appreciative of life, nature and others.  A man of few words, when he spoke it was with consideration and often a subtle humor that cut to the core of the situation.  He was known for his “one liners” that would leave you chuckling hours later.  He loved playing Santa at the Club Christmas parties and with his twinkling eyes, round, elfin face and full beard he embodied the spirit of St. Nick.  His knowledge of birds and bird calls was amazing -as was his knowledge of music and trivia -and he had a vast repertoire of hikes from which he could pull to introduce others to his favorite haunts.

But with all that he loved writing.  Each Christmas he enclosed a poem with his card and it was one of my most anticipated gifts.   He wrote many poems as well as memoirs of his youth in the hills of western Pennsylvania.  This past year he started blogging and wrote beautiful stories about the hikes, memories of his youth and even tested the waters of environmental commentary in his blog on hydrofracking.  Harold had many words left to put on paper, many memories left to share and I for one feel cheated that we will never be able to read them nor hear them.  Harold, wherever your soul may now be, your memories will live on.  Thank your for your contribution to our lives.

 

Hike #6019 – HUMPHREY HILL, LOCK & DAM – February 18th, 2012

Hike #6019 – HUMPHREY HILL, LOCK & DAM – February 18th, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

The day was awesome; from sunshine to big snowflakes reminiscent of the winters of years past.  29 Tramps hiked, a few snow shoed, a few skied, the  figure 8 trail from Bisby Road to the lock and dam on the  Moose River.

John Gilbert offered up history of this site, where the steamboat came up the river to a stop at the dam.  We stopped for lunch under pines beside the river.  There was a long slow slope up and over Humphrey Hill to converge on the Nicks/Nelson Lake trail to head back to our parked vehicles. There were no mishaps and many met at Van Aikins in Thendara for a beer.  One tramp stated this was a good hike and she would bring ADKs here.

Hike #6017 – BLACK BEAR MOUNTAIN – February 11, 2012

Hike #6017 – BLACK BEAR MOUNTAIN – February 11, 2012

Comments 0 Comment

With the unusual weather we have had this winter, we did not know what to expect for our hike up Black Bear Mountain.  Ted and I walked the trail a week before the hike and it was a pleasant hike.  Watching the weather prior to the hike,, we decided to use crampons thus making the small stream crossing and bridges safe to cross on.

We met an interesting couple in the parking area, they were planning to climb the ledges to the mountain top.  Later on the mountain top they said the ledges were very difficult to climb up.

We “cramped” along the yellow trail without any difficulty.  Stream crossings and foot bridges were easy to cross.  (We did not go up the blue trail that is shorter but has ledges to climb).  We did not have any difficulty climbing the last 1/2 mile to the mountain top.  The views at the top were absolutely beautiful — for a short climb, the views on this mountain are breath-taking.

The Tramps expressed their enjoyment of this winter outing on a beautiful day.  The weather was pleasant; conditions were good and temperature comfortable.

Following our return to the parking area where our cars were, we decided to stop at the Hard Times Cafe for refreshments and conversation.  Everyone expressed their enjoyment climbing Black Bear Mountain.

By:  Barb Thomas