NORWICH GREENWAY TRAIL -- NORTHERN STRETCH

NORWICH GREENWAY TRAIL -- NORTHERN STRETCH

Donald A. Windsor

Although Norwich is a city, it has a woodsy hiking trail, our Greenway, with stretches that seem to be far away in the boondocks.

On Wednesday evening, 27 July 2016, we walked the City Wells section. The photo shows three hikers examining the plaque on the 113 year old DL&W railroad bridge over the Chenango River. The plaque carries the date 1903. From left to right are Dave Gorman, Cathy Cruz, and Deena Cady.

The graffiti vandalism is an unfortunate eyesore, but is not permanent.

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JAM POND -- LEGACY OF THE GLACIERS

JAM POND, GERMAN -- LEGACY OF THE GLACIERS

Donald A. Windsor

The most precious botanical resource in Chenango County is Jam Pond in the Town of German. This bog is a remnant of the glacier that melted here about 16,650 years ago (1). Jam Pond was formed by an iceberg mixed in with churned up glacial rubble, a so-called “kettlehole bog”. When the glacier retreated, the iceberg melted and left a deep pond. The water was nutrient poor, so bog plants moved in and remained. (2)

I visit Jam Pond every Fourth of July, or thereabouts, to check on it. Most of the plants are blooming at this date. I usually take several colleagues along. This year (2016) five of us went. In the group photo taken by Connie Tedesco are, from the left, Anne Altshuler, Loma Wilkins, Maryann Weiss, and Don Windsor.

Connie appears in the photo taken by Maryann.

We found these notable plants.

Blooming	Not blooming
Calopogon	Cotton Grass (buds forming)
Rose Pogonia	White-fringed Orchid (buds forming)
Small Cranberry	Snowberry
Large Cranberry	Bog Rosemary
Bullhead Lily	Huckleberry (berries)
Lotus Lily	Three-way Sedge
Pitcher Plant (most blooms ever!)	Round-leaved Sundew
	Highbush Blueberry with Witch's Broom
	Cinnamon Fern (No fertile fronds yet)
Looked for but not seen
Southern Twayblade
Dwarf Mistletoe

References cited:

1. Cadwell, Donald H. [Retreat of the glacier 16,650 years ago] In: Late Wisconsinan Deglaciation Chronology of the Chenango River Valley and Vicinity, New York. Dissertation. State University of New York, Binghamton. 1972. Page

2. Windsor, Donald A. Kettlehole bogs. In: Souvenirs of Yesteryear. Exploring Chenango County, New York. Norwich, NY: Self published. 2010 May 14. Volume 3. Pages 35-36.

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EXPLORING CHENANGO COUNTY BY HIKING -- JANUARY - JUNE 2016

EXPLORING CHENANGO COUNTY BY HIKING – JANUARY - JUNE 2016

Donald A. Windsor

We explored 14 towns in the first half of 2016, covering a total of 121 miles.

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 is a summary of my reports for January - June 2016.

In the first 6 months of 2016 I led 25 hikes in Chenango County. We were in 14 towns. Some hikes were in two or more towns. I prefer hiking in the woods, so we tend to go to towns where state forests are located.

Town	Hikes	Miles	Hikers
Afton	17 Apr Stone piles, Melondy SF	3.6	5
Columbus	7 Feb Skinner Hill SF	4.0	11
Coventry	27 Mar Coventry SF	3.7	10
German	28 Feb Forty Brook, 5-Streams SF 13 Mar Stone piles, 5-Streams SF 26 Jun German roads	3.0 5.7 6.6	9 9 7
Guilford	15 May South Hill SF	3.0	6
McDonough	3 Jan FLT, Tower – Bowman Lake SP 17 Jan CCC Camp 21 Feb FLT	5.2 6.3 6.0	5 8 18
New Berlin	24 Jan Ambler SF 7 Feb Skinner Hill SF	3.9 4.0	10 11
North Norwich	3 Apr Whaupaunaucau SF 5 Jun Whaupaunaucau SF	3.5 4.9	4 3
Norwich	1 Jan Greenway	3.0	9
Oxford	24 Apr Buckley Hollow, logging FLT	7.1	8
Pharsalia	1 May Pharsalia Woods SF, Coy St 29 May Huggaboom Road, Pharsalia SF 19 Jun Grouse Gorge, Pharsalia WMA	5.0 6.1 3.1	4 8 10
Pitcher	6 Mar Pitcher Springs SF 12 Jun Pitcher Springs loop	6.0 4.7	10 8
Plymouth	8 May Frenchmans Road 29 May Huggaboom Road, Pharsalia SF	5.7 6.1	6 8
Smithville	31 Jan Ludlow Creek SF 20 Mar Stone piles, Ludlow Creek SF 10 Apr Snowmobile trail + DEC blazes 24 Apr Buckley Hollow, FLT 22 May Long Pond SF, Red Brook	4.1 5.9 5.1 7.1 5.6	11 14 15 8 12

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