Road Trips and Hike Reports

This hike was from a different starting point than another hike we did previously, the Erie-Attica  trail but it connected back to the far point of that trail.  I didn't have a published guide for finding this starting point but I looked closely at Alltrails maps and it looked like there was a trailhead for something labeled 'Genessee Valley Greenway State Park' which I think, technically, is the entire 90 mile trail but I wasn't sure if maybe there was a special facility at the spot Alltrails shows... I  In hindsight I don't think there is anything special where that map marking is but it was still a rewarding adventure.  There was a small parking area along W River road.  From there we headed south along the trail.  A lot of it was very typical generic greenway stuff..     But later it got a lot more interesting with 2 good sized bridges. One of them was fascinating because the level we walked on (which is level with the trailbed) was actually t...

The weather today wasn't terrible.  Mild temperatures and, at least this morning, dry.  But it's been REALLY wet here the last week with lots of swollen streams and standing water in fields.  So I thought this was the perfect day for the kind of 'hike' we would normally avoid, the all-paved trails hike.  This State Historic park is about 1/3 the way between our house and Ithaca and we've driven by it many times but it's pretty flat and other than being on the shore of Lake Seneca doesn't have a lot of obvious appeal. The park turns out to be over 2000 acres and part of the site of a former military base, Samspon Air Force Base .  Walking around the park was very strange because there are DOZENS of miles of old roads paved going all over in a fairly tight grid pattern and a few roads that go at odd angles.  Most of the roads are not blocked off exactly but are in marginal condition.  And there is almost NOTHING standing along almost all the roads. ...

 All of this road trip is just me (Chris). When my grandmother died at the end of 2021, it had been a long slow process that included her moving into assisted living care etc.  At the point she moved into assisted living, almost none of the things she had for years (except maybe some clothes) went with her.  Most of her furniture and other personal belongings didn’t make sense in her small apartment at ‘the home’ and for the family that was most involved in her finally years, dealing with all the practical and impractical aspects of her end of life stages had dulled much of what otherwise might have been sentimental about her belongings.  The bottom line is there wasn’t much saved and even if there was I’m not sure what I could have really made use of both because we don’t have a lot of space and also because I live 2700 miles away in NY state. Thankfully, both my site-mother and my mother had held onto two small hope chests that were Grandma’s.  One was a gift ...

In my continuing hunt for things to do and places to visit, I identified 3 somewhat under the radar minor parks which, in broad terms, could all be considered ‘in the Syracuse area’.  This was the day to visit them. First up was Nichols Pond which was really an afterthought because it was mentioned on the website for Delphi falls since both are run by the same county parks department.  This was slightly farther away from home than the other 2 parks so we headed to this one first.  It also had the least information available so I had low expectations.   It turns out this was the site of a historically significant battle involving Samuel deChamplain in 1615, Samuel generally more associated with Vermont and the lake Champlain named after him.  There were 2 modest loop trails that went around part of the pond which was very scenic And another that went down a hill to a natural spring which was significant to the history of the Indian settlement which was here. ...