August 25, 2024 - Seventh Day Hollow hike (Bucks Brook State Forest) - Chenango County NY - 5.4 miles, about 725 feet elevation gain

We tried to do a good hike on Friday the 23rd, part of my Birthday get away weekend up near the Canadian border.  Unfortunately, the recent rains and more poor trail maintenance meant we were only able to go in about 1.2 miles before getting to a stream crossing that we couldn't realistically do without prior preparation and had to turn around.  So it was about a 2.4 mile walk but not long enough for us to count as a 'hike'.









Today's hike was a revisit of a hike we did last year in July.  Knowing how this loop was laid out from our previous experience, we opted to start with the sizable road walk (about 1.5 miles?) instead of ending with it.  The road walk was downhill and part of it has a beautiful stream next to it.  The road is so quiet and scenic it really isn't a big demerit to the hike overall.  Unfortunately, the trail conditions today were  a demerit.  There were several trees down with awkward bushwhacks required to get around them.  At least 1.5 miles of the hike were overgrown enough that there were prickly bushes and tons of potentially tick filled brush at our feet.  If it was a crisp fall day it might have helped but it was a little humid and warm too.  It all combined to somewhat sour my mood during the hike but I was the one that really wanted to make sure we got out for a hike today and when it was done I was glad we did it.








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