Central & Western NY Outdoors  
September 

 

~~~ IN THIS ISSUE ~~~                                 

Spafford Forest – A Welcome Surprise

Where in the World is Rocky Today?

Hiking in New York’s Finger Lakes Region

Sea Turtle Patrol

A New Shelter Opens

 

           Spafford Forest - A Welcome Surprise

We pulled off the road into a grassy parking area before the sign reading ”Spafford Forest ” and began unloading our bikes from the back of the van. I was a reluctant unloader. In front of us was a steep hill with a rutted dirt road leading up it. I wasn’t in the mood for another tough mountain bike ride. My energy stores were waning.

But, we were south of Otisco Lake, a fair distance from home, and we had to research this trail for possible inclusion in our new “Take Your Bike” guidebook. Who says guidebook writing is all fun and games?

As Rich pumped his pedals up the steep hill, I walked my bike up, hoping the entire ride wouldn’t be hilly. The information we had been able to gather on this trail system was minimal. We had an old sketch map but no information on what to expect.

Fortunately, I was in luck. After a short push, I reached the top of a plateau and a junction of trails – nice hard-packed old dirt roads that were mostly flat. Yippee! Rich selected the trail to the left, so I turned right and glided down the trail on my bike. I was enveloped by a deep woods of old trees that had stood here a long while. These woods were all mine today. Mine, and the woods critters’. I slipped away from civilization, out of my funky mood and pedaled easily through a green tunnel.

The double track took a sharp left turn then a series of trails headed off the right, leading to private property. I saw evidence of ATVs use in this section. I kept left at each junction and eventually hit the edge of a steep cliff. A left again put me on a hard-packed woods trail parallel to the cliff. I had turned a full 180 degrees with my series of left turns and was now heading back toward my starting point. When the woods path met the double track I turned right to continue heading back.

At the major trail junction I turned right and followed an old dirt road toward the cliff. The road ended at the cliff – at a precipitous drop off used as a launch point by hang gliders. It afforded me a panoramic view of the green valley below. I was converted. From a reluctant unloader I had metamorphosed into a joyful biker, enjoying a pleasant ride and savoring a gorgeous view. Now I want to return in the fall and view this valley in flaming colors.

Editor’s note: Spafford Forest is one of the many new trails included in the new edition of “Take Your Bike – Family Rides in New York’s Finger Lakes Region.”

 

           Where in the World is Rocky Today?

 

We are starting a new feature called - Guess Where in the World Rocky is. Win a $50 gift certificate from Pack Paddle Ski from a random drawing of correct responses within 1000 miles of the location. 

We'll even give you some clues (see below). Send us an email with your guess of  this exotic location to: info@packpaddleski.com

 

Oh my head is so cold!  They told me there were Arctic char down here but I don’t see any.  I passed a reindeer herd today though.  They were skittish and ran off the glacial moraine. Yesterday we were able to buy both reindeer, seal and whale meat in the grocery store.  Not a bad price either.

Tomorrow we will land in Brattlhid. From here, around 1000 AD, seafaring people set out to “discover” the new world. According to the sagas, they did not stay long as the Skraelings chased them off.  Every time they would come home to here, they would bring back grapes so my ancestors could make wine.

I have never seen such jaw dropping scenery.  From the second largest ice cap in the world to the steep fjords there is a natural sculpture to look at every minute.  The beauty of the floating icebergs, and the transitions they pass through with the 18 hours of day light is amazing.

Except for the long round-about plane flight it was easy to get here.  I have seen few Americans.  Not sure why?  This fantastic travel land is at the perfect point of development for adventure travelers.

Where in the world do you think this place is? Send in your guess.

 

 

           Hiking in New York’s Finger Lakes Region by Sue Freeman

I had never hiked in a rich shrub fen before. Heck, I didn’t even know what a rich shrub fen was. Fortunately, as I headed down the trail at The Dorothy McIlroy Bird Sanctuary south of Lake Como in Summerhill, I passed an informative kiosk with diagrams and descriptions explaining exactly how a fen differs from a bog. You know; the technical stuff.

Armed with this new found, if not totally digested information I continued down the trail into a magical wonderland. Elves and pixies should have popped out from behind the trees. The trail was covered in a soft duff, padding each footfall. Beyond the trail, the woods floor was lumpy with the slowly decaying remnants of old tree trunks. I tip-toed on (not wanting to disturb any sleeping elves or pixies) and reached the shore of Lake Como Outlet. Gazing past the sedges and dead trees I discovered why this is called a bird sanctuary.

Such is the joy and diversity I’ve found hiking trails in New York State’s Finger Lakes Region. I’d progressed from pixie-land to bird-land in one short hike. The Finger Lakes Region is better known for its long, slender glacially gouged lakes. But, among the hills and valleys surrounding these lakes is a day-hiker’s paradise.

Another joyful surprise was the Sandy Bottom Nature Trail. OK, why should a place called Sandy Bottom be a surprise to anyone? Well, for starters, I didn’t see a sandy bottom. Maybe I just didn’t look closely enough. I was spellbound by the loon paddling a flooded wetland where Honeoye Outlet Creek leaves Honeoye Lake. I associate loons with pristine northern waters, but here was this little fellow paddling away in the spring run off from a Finger Lake. He was enjoying his world of extended wetness and I was enjoying being high and dry on a raised boardwalk that wound through the marshland where plants poked their heads above ground in recognition of spring. We were both happy.

On a hot summer day I hiked the trails at Wesley Hill Nature Preserve in South Bristol, one of the many newly preserved lands with hiking trails compliments of the very active Finger Lakes Land Trust. I wandered through a pine forest enveloped in the aroma of fresh pine, then descended to the depths of Briggs Gully. Here my impish side took over and I frolicked in the stream where water slides gracefully over scallops of shale, then slows in deep pools. I couldn’t resist the urge to splash in the pools. A hike and a dip on a hot summer day – life doesn’t get any sweeter.

I could go on and on. I hiked 68 different trails systems recently while researching my new guidebook “Take A Hike – Family Walks in New York ’s Finger Lakes Region."  Now it’s your turn. Grab a copy and head into the hills and valleys to discover your own surprises and joys.

 

         Sea Turtle Patrol by Sue Freeman

As most of you are aware, Rich and I moved to Florida last fall. It was time for a change and change is what we got. Hiking here is OK, but without hills it can quickly get monotonous. What we do have is beaches – miles and miles of Gulf shore beaches. But, walking the beach can get monotonous too if you don’t have a purpose. So, we found a purpose.

 We joined the sea turtle patrol. Every year, beginning in May thousands of 200 lb. female sea turtles haul themselves out of the sea, crawl up the beach, dig a hole 2 to 3 feet deep and deposit about 125 eggs. The eggs incubate in their sand nest for 45 to 60 days, at which time, tiny turtles break through their eggs, climb to the surface and head toward the lightest area (generally the moonlit horizon over the sea) to swim out to sea.

It will be 30 years before the females come back to the beach to nest for the first time. The males never come ashore again. The chance of survival for the eggs and baby turtles is minuscule and their success rate is falling precipitously. The eggs fall prey to predators (armadillos, raccoons, coyotes). The nests get washed away by high tides and hurricanes. The hatchlings get eaten by fish and birds. The nesting beaches get hardened by sea walls, docks and condos. That’s why volunteers such as us try to assist and increase their odds.

We walk the beach early each morning looking for the tracks that signal a female has come ashore. On our gulf shore the sea turtles are predominately loggerhead turtles that leave 3-feet–wide tractor-like tracks. Then we determine if the turtle dug a nest. If not, it’s called a "false crawl". Either way, we record data in a log book to identify the date and location of the crawl or nest. If she laid eggs, we assign a nest number and mark the nest with a yellow stake. Then we watch it each day for evidence of predators and eventually hatchings. If anything changes, we log it in the data book.

By July the hatching begins and by August the adult turtles stop nesting. We continue monitoring the beach through October. So far this year, our one mile stretch of beach has had 92 nests and 114 false crawls. We’re having a problem with predators – especially coyotes who are patrolling our beach each night. They dig up the nests and eat the eggs and hatchlings. If we find a nest disturbed by coyote, we dig down to see if any eggs or hatchlings remain in the nest. If we find any, we put wet sand in a bucket and place the eggs or hatchlings on top. Then we cover it with a damp towel and take them home to incubate. 

A few weeks ago we took home 57 eggs – in one heavy bucket. After a few days, a hatchling emerged. The next morning, Rich checked on the bucket and called me outside to look. Overnight most of the eggs had hatched and the bucket was crawling with at least 6 inches of tiny (2 inches long) hatchlings. We prepared a few more buckets with wet sand and spread the babies out so they wouldn’t crush each other. Then after dark, we took the buckets to the beach and set each baby gently on the sand.

At first they sat there dazed. Then, tiny flippers began to move. The hatchlings moved in circles for a while, trying out multiple directions. Then, one by one something clicked in their tiny brains – instinct took over and they began to make a bee-line for the water. In the surf line, the water washed over them, carried them out and back again a few times. After a few waves the babies swam underwater. We watched for their tiny heads to poke above the surf for a breath of air, then knew that they’d survived the first leg of their arduous journey. Now they had to swim out to a floating mass of vegetation called the Sargassum to get their first meal. We cheered them on and hoped they will make it back in 30 years.

Sea turtle patrol can be as fun as releasing baby hatchlings and as disheartening as finding a predated nest. But, it’s also a chance to commune with nature each morning. We watch the sun rise and walk barefoot as billowy pink clouds build over the gulf. We often see gorgeous rainbows arching across the sky. Each day, even without storms, the sea shore changes dramatically. We’re learning to identify the shore birds such as the pair of yellow-crowned night-herons who regularly patrol our stretch of beach. We certainly got our change. Florida is very different from New York – each has its own beauty and intrigue.

         A New Shelter Opens

In August, an AlleyCat crew and other volunteers built a new shelter and outhouse along the Finger Lakes Trail. Called the Buck Settlement shelter and outhouse, they’re now ready for visitors. Both are located at the edge of a meadow dotted with tall black walnut and ash trees, 0.7 miles northeast of the trail crossing at Templar Rd (FLT map M14). These facilities "replace" the Van Zandt Lean-to which the FLT now bypasses and are the only trailside facilities between the shelters at Sugar Hill and the Village of Watkins Glen.

This brings to mind three thoughts. First, if you're not already a member of FLTC, consider joining. And give serious thought to joining an AlleyCat crew some time to participate in trail maintenance. Each crew is assigned a specific task in support of the trail. It’s a great way to spend a few days or a week where you work hard and play hard with other like-minded volunteers. Call the Finger Lakes Trail Conference at 585-658-9320 or email information@fingerlakestrail.org for details.

Finally – shelters. They’re a blessing along trails. They offer a respite from bad weather by providing a dry rest point for a day hike or a dry sleeping area for overnight camping. Shelters often become points of social interaction – it’s where you’re likely to meet other hikers. Trails in central and western NY that offer shelters include:

-The Finger Lakes Trail 

-Finger Lakes Trail Branch Trails:

-Bristol Hills Branch

-Letchworth Trail

-Onondaga Trail

-Westside Overland Trail

-Allegany State Park

Information on hiking each of these can be found in the booklet "Backpacking Trails of Central & Western NY"

 

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