Road Trips and Hike Reports

After a disappointing weekend (weather, work etc) I made the unusual request to take Monday off suddenly as a mental health day.  I just wouldn't have been at my best and thankfully I didn't have any deadlines that day so it was relatively low impact.  I contacted our friend Fred to see if he would like to join me on this walk.  Ontario county park is near Fred's house and a good place for extra fall colors since it sits at the top of a very steep good sized ridge.  The drive up is actually one of the steepest roads by far in the entire Finger Lakes area. The fall color was good and we enjoyed semi randomly wandering the extensive trail network.  Initially I hoped to follow the Finger Lakes trail down to the lean-to that Fred has never seen but there are some hunting season trail closures so we couldn't get there. Compared to being at home cranky, this hike was a good move for both Fred and I.

 This was just a basic little hike near home to put a good finish off to our week of travel and hiking.  We modified our route slightly compared to previous visits by walking the inside short line of one pond instead of around the outside of the pond.  There are two ponds in the park near each other if that makes the inside path concept make more sense.

This trail loop passed within a few hundred feet of the cabin we were staying in.  The trail weaves its way around a central cross section of the park arae and at the end (at least the end as we hiked it) a thin needle of trail goes up a gorge and comes back. Other than the short (but steep) link trail that connected the cabin road to the main Central Trail, this was a perfect loop. Scenery, solitude and trail conditions were all supreme.  It was still humid but it was so early in the morning that temps were very modest, under 65.  The trail doesn't pass near any major park facilities and we didn't see any other hikers at any point.  It's just there for scenic enjoyment.

West Virginia. and Connecticut...  One is known for high incomes and higher education, the other for rednecks and coal.  But who has the better state park facilities?  To be certain, these 2 facilities are not apples to apples comparisons.  Both represent their particular parks' version of a '2 bedroom cabin' but one of them is over 2x as expensive as the other.   I doubt many people would choose the cheaper one based on the 'great value' it offers. Contestant 1:  We had to arrive before 5 pm or make prior arrangements with the office to have our cabin setup with a passcode to get in the door.  We arrived late so we were told to come in the next morning (at 9 am or later) to leave a cash deposit to protect against damage of this cabin we already paid for online. The cabin itself was adequate.  It had plenty of power outlets and a few bleak halogen light fixtures and a queen size mattress pad on a frame in one room and 3 or 4 bunk beds with pads i...

After spending our no hike day Wednesday at a casino in the Poconos, we wanted to make sure we got in a qualifying and worthy hike today.  Our overnight last night was in York, PA.  This hike, just across the border in Maryland wasn’t a lot of distance but the elevation change rate was pretty high per mile. The rock formation that makes up ‘the seats’ is very impressive and seemingly an unlikely location.  The first third to half a mile of the trail was very steep uphill and got us to the most flashy element of the hike quickly.  My favorite part was more of the ridge line rambling and the portion that was at the very top of the knob we were hiking on and around.  It was another warm and humid hike but we had a handful of trail mix and some water at a low spot near an interpretive loop and surprisingly, we felt less taxed after that, even on the climb back up that was ahead of us. After finishing this hike we continued on towards our last stop on this road trip,...

This is basically a ‘bonus’ hike.  Too short to count on our ledger but a remarkable piece of work.  At least 1 mile of the 1.7 miles for this trail are actually raised boardwalk over pond.  So pretty and a unique chance to feel like you are in the middle of a pond, not just looking on from the shore.