EXPLORING CHENANGO
COUNTY BY HIKING – MARCH 2016
Donald A. Windsor
The best way to
explore Chenango County is to walk it. I lead hikes every Sunday
morning, year around, for the Bullthistle Hiking Club and report them
on our Yahoo group site. Here are my reports for March 2016.
6 March 2016 –
Pitcher Springs State Forest, Pitcher
What a grueling hike! After a
post-hike, 45-minute well-deserved power nap, I stood up, and could
hardly walk.
On a glorious Sunday morning,
6 March 2016, we had 10 hikers in the Pitcher Springs State Forest:
Anne Altshuler, Joe Angelino, John Briglin, John Carhart, Peg Fuller,
Art Sandberg, Sharron Sandberg, Carol Smith, Maryann Weiss, and Don
Windsor. We covered 6.0 miles in 4.4 hours for a speed of 1.4 miles
per hour. Vertical ascent was 1160 feet.
We parked at the intersection
of Kinney and Hakes-Calhoun-Davis roads and hiked west on Hakes. We
paused at the Soper cemetery to pay our respects and then went
northerly on a snowmobile trail. When that trail went east, we
continued northward, following an old stone fence. At the northern
border of state land we followed the DEC blazes west, then south,
then west, and then north. We paused for a well-deserved break and
then continued following the blazes west, observing the deep gorge as
we bushwhacked. When the DEC blazes went south, so did we, up a very
steep long hill. Upon reaching Hakes Road, we headed east to our
cars.
This hike involved trudging
through snow-covered hemlock swamps and crossing several streams. We
encountered the frozen, partially eaten corpse of an unfortunate
coyote. The sun was shining; the sky was bright blue, the snow cover
was brilliant white, and the hike was quite pleasant. I had never
hiked in this area before and I certainly intend to do it again.
13
March 2016 – 5-Streams State Forest, German
A very interesting hike on
Sunday morning 13 March 2016 when we had 9 hikers bushwhacking in the
woods around Rabbit Path Road and Shingle Street in German: Anne
Altshuler, Joe Angelino, John Briglin, John Carhart, Bruce Coon,
Joyce Post, Sharron Sandberg, Maryann Weiss, and Don Windsor. We
covered 5.7 miles in 4.0 hours for a speed of 1.4 miles per hour.
Vertical ascent was 825 feet.
We parked on Hollow Road and
hiked northerly on Rabbit Path Road to the state land. We then turned
northwest on a grassy road to an old stone foundation and along
“roads” in the forest. We bushwhacked northerly to Shingle Street
and took our well-deserved break. Refreshed, we followed Shingle
Street easterly past Rabbit Path to a large beaver pond/meadow. After
observing thousands of snow fleas in the water flowing on the
“street”, we turned back west and took the snowmobile trail
southerly to the mysterious stone structure. We then followed the DEC
blazes west to Rabbit Path Road and took it southerly to our cars.
We did find at least 5 stone
piles. We found a huge burl on a black cherry tree and a small one on
a beech. On the east side of Rabbit Path we encountered the carcasses
of a dead mother coyote with her fetus and 4 skinned beavers. This
was a grisly sight, but a good way to recycle flesh and bone.
20 March 2016 –
Ludlow Creek State Forest, Smithville
A very productive hike on
Sunday morning 20 March 2016 had 14 hikers:
Anne Altshuler, Joe Angelino, John Briglin, John Carhart, Bruce Coon,
Steve Ellsworth, Peg Fuller, Joyce Mosher, Joyce Post, Art Sandberg,
Sharron Sandberg, Carol Smith, Maryann Weiss, and Don Windsor. We
covered 5.9 miles in 5.1hours for a speed of 1.2 miles per hour.
Vertical ascent was 1225 feet.
We
parked at the FLT trailhead on Stone Quarry Hill Road, on the lawn of
our gracious benefactor, and hiked northerly on the FLT. Upon
reaching the DEC boundary, we hiked east following the yellow blazes
until we reached the Ludlow Creek. Whereupon we took our first
well-deserved break among the huge rock outcroppings. Refreshed, we
followed the Ludlow northwesterly looking for stone piles. We found
14 (one for each hiker). When the Ludlow reached the FLT at the
leanto, we took our second well-deserved hike. We then ambled along
the FLT southeasterly to our vehicles.
Just after we started hiking,
two young wild tom turkeys came over to us and strutted. I have never
been this close to wild turkeys. I suspect someone is feeding them.
This was a rough hike and I was tired after. However, no power nap
because of interfering duties. Bushwhacking requires the use of
muscles that ordinary hiking does not. Exactly which ones will be
apparent tomorrow morning. Finding these stone piles was a real
delight. This area was logged and the loggers did a great job
avoiding the piles. See photos.
27 March 2016 –
Coventry State Forest, Coventry
A glorious Easter Sunday
morning on 27 March 2016 had 10 hikers in the Coventry State Forest,
mostly in the Oxford portion: Anne Altshuler, Bruce Coon, Peg Fuller,
Joe Jackson, Warren Johnsen, Joyce Post, Carol Smith, Dale Utter,
Tina Utter, and Don Windsor. We covered 3.7 miles in 4.2 hours for a
speed of 0.9 miles per hour.
We parked on North Road, just
south of Dunn Road, by the DEC kiosk. The handicapped trail we
intended to take was obliterated by logging. The most logs I have
ever seen in one place are neatly stacked in multiple massive
stashes. Undaunted, we hiked northeasterly through the logged forest,
taking advantage of the soft muddy ruts. The widespread, deep
upheaval of the logged plantation floor and the opening of its canopy
should result in a vigorous surge of biodiversity.
Upon reaching the northern
border, we followed the DEC boundary east to a bright yellow corner
stone and then followed the DEC blazes north to Brown Road. We took
our well-deserved break and then bushwhacked southwesterly through a
large spruce plantation to the same DEC boundary we came on and
backtracked to our cars.
After our hike, we drove to
the nearby cemetery in Coventryville to view some gravestones carved
by the famous Coffinman. We were guided by Dale and Tina Utter,
notable experts on old cemeteries. They are in the attached photo
with the historical marker they recently obtained with a grant.
Tina's book, Meet Me In Heaven, is a collection of epitaphs
from local cemeteries.
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