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Hike #6123 – OTTER CREEK HORSE TRAILS – January 13, 2013

Hike #6123 – OTTER CREEK HORSE TRAILS – January 13, 2013

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Write-up by Mary Pat Connors

Twenty-three tramps snowshoed in the Otter Creek Horse Trails of the Independence River Forest.

A January thaw warmed temperatures to the mid-40’s, forcing lots of stops to shed clothing.

Despite the melt there was still plenty of snow and at least in the forest, snowshoes were very helpful. We followed Proceeding Trail to Frost Pocket through some peaceful pine forest.

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Payne Lake was our destination for lunch; too warm to skate, too cold to wade but very pretty nonetheless. Continuing on the loop clockwise, the trek  followed established snowmobile paths along Old Number 4 trail, so this portion of the trip went quite swiftly.

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Hike #6005 – OTTER CREEK HORSE TRAILS – January 7th, 2012

Hike #6005 – OTTER CREEK HORSE TRAILS – January 7th, 2012

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This has been a disappointing winter for skiers and snowshoers with a snow-free December and only a few flakes falling in early January.   Because of this we were grateful to Mary Misek, who lives in the area and graciously informed us by phone that the Horse trails had 6 inches of powder.

When we checked out the ski on Friday we found she was right; and that the trails were almost unspoiled by snowmobiles.  Unfortunately, by Saturday warm weather and Snowmobiles had moved in, exposing sticks, mud and the occasional rock.

As a result most of the six non-skiers were able to negotiate a five mile circuit up the Old Number Four Trail, across the Cleveland Lake Trail and back by the Frost Pocket and Proceeding trails without even using their snow shoes.

The rest of us skied the Payne Lake Loop, taking the Beach Mill Trail and straddling the esker above the Lake before skiing down the Frost Pocket.  Four skiers, not wanting to make that climb, and in a hurry to watch Syracuse defeat Marquette in basketball took a shorter way back via Beach Mill Road.  As a result, we arrived at our post hike destination, the River Valley Inn, at different times, and the late comers discovered that earlier arrivals had eaten all the chicken noodle soup.

By:  Harold Pier

In spite of all the obstacles, everyone enjoyed one of our favorite winter outings.