Sunday February 27th, Hunter Creek Conservation area near Wales NY (Erie County near Aurora) - About 4 miles, 400 feet elevation gain

 This was a repeat of a hike we did in June of 2020.  Though there isn't a lot of snow here at home, it was cold and blustery and we came prepared for some snow on the ground.  It was VERY windy all the way to the park and I feared that it might be so blustery and cold that we would have no desire to actually do the walk. Thankfully, the actual park area is fairly protected and the wind was gentle and no bothersome during our walk.

There were anywhere from 3-6 inches of snow depending on where we were.  It was fairly fresh snow, very clean and white but a group of 6 winter mountain bikers had packed down a good path. We actually saw the bikers 3 times I think.  There are a lot of low boardwalk structures at this park to help with marshy conditions.  In the snow they were sometimes hard to see and distinguish from the surrounding ground but I always appreciate those types of structures as a sign of a thoughtfully developed trail system.  Today's hike was entirely linear, in and out on the Conservation trail.  Which reminds me I need to renew my membership with the group that maintains the Conservation trail.

We had Mighty Taco in East Aurora before returning home along US-20.  There was increasing snow falling as we got closer to home but it didn't impact driving.











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