EXPLORING
CHENANGO COUNTY BY HIKING – AUGUST 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, BullthistleHikers,
where the many photos posted by our hikers can be viewed.
Here are my reports for August 2016.
7
August 2016 – Charels E. Baker State Forest, Columbus and
Brookfield
Baker
State Forest covers 9414 acres of woods punctuated by ponds, laced by
streams, and knit together by several miles of horse/hiking trails.
On Sunday morning 7 August 2016 we had 9 hikers in the southeastern
chunk: Anne Altshuler, John Carhart, Warren Johnsen, Joyce Post, Art
Sandberg, Sharron Sandberg, Carol Smith, Maryann Weiss, and Don
Windsor. We covered about 5 miles in 3.5 hours for a speed of 1.4
miles per hour.
We
parked in the lot on County Road 24 (=Shawler Brook Road) and hiked
northerly to TT-1. We then trekked on T-17 to T-16 to Morrow Road,
where we enjoyed our well-deserved break. Refreshed, we embarked
easterly up a hill on what appeared to be an unmarked logging trail,
but turned into a bushwhack through a horrific stand of vigorous
blackberry canes growing up through the very coarse woody debris of
cut off tree tops. In here I suffered a painful fall when a log I was
clambering over suddenly snapped and I landed on more large branches.
Score was now bush = 1, bushwhacker = 0.
We
continued stumbling through until we reached T-15 and took it south
and west to Morrow Road. We then went south to T-14 (=Pope Hill Road)
back to our cars, posing for some group photos at the new kiosk and
sign.
14
August 2016 – Beaver Meadow State Forest, Smyrna
The
Beaver Meadow State Forest in Smyrna on Sunday morning 14 August 2016
was soaked from the storm the previous evening. Nevertheless, we had
4 hikers: Anne Altshuler, John Carhart, Peg Fuller, and Don Windsor.
We covered 6.8 miles in 3.6 hours for a speed of 1.9 miles per hour.
Our elevation gain was 1071 feet.
We
parked in the quarry on Bliven-Coye Hill Road, east of Boos-Law Road,
and hiked westerly to the state land. We then took the abandoned
road, now snowmobile trail, south to George Crumb Road. We hike that
west, but saw a lot of activity at the Y camp, so we took our
well-deserved break on George Crumb and then took it northeasterly to
our cars.
Rain
held off until after our hike and the woods seemed almost bug free.
Mud puddles were ample but not too daunting. Actually, it was a
rather pleasant hike.
21
August 2016 – Pitcher Springs State Forest
A
nice, bright Sunday morning 21 August 2016 progressively deteriorated
into a gloomy, rainy one as 8 hikers ambled through the Pitcher
Springs State Forest: Anne Altshuler, John Carhart, Peg Fuller, Tess
O'Brien, Joyce Post, Art Sandberg, Sharron Sandberg, and Don Windsor.
We covered 5.9 miles in 2.9 hours for a speed of 2.0 miles per hour.
We
parked on Calhoun-Davis Road, just east of Kinney Road, and hiked
west, pausing to pay our respects at the Soper Cemetery. Upon
spotting an inviting snowmobile trail on the south side of C-D road,
we yielded to the urge and took it. Good choice, because it was a
dandy hiking trail. It veered southerly and then easterly and then
formed a loop with the trail we had been on. We then returned to C-D
and took it east to our cars.
The
easterly snowmobile trek was on an old abandoned town road that once
stretched between Mott Cook Road and Kostenko-Sutton Road. It appears
as a dotted line on the 1944 topo map. We will investigate this
stretch the next time we hike here, because it might afford a
splendid loop.
28
August 2016 – Genegantslet State Forest, Smithville
A
cool morning became hot as the sun beat down on 6 hikers in the
Genegantslet State Forest in Smithville on Sunday 28 August 2016:
Anne Altshuler, John Carhart, Joyce Post, Carol Smith, Maryann Weiss,
and Don Windsor. We covered 7.2 miles in 3.8 hours for a speed of 1.9
miles per hour.
We
parked on Stone Quarry Hill Road near the snowmobile trail and hiked
east to Waldon Road. Whereupon, we ambled up Waldon north to the
second creek, pausing for our well-deserved break. We then
backtracked on Waldon south to Art Lake Road and took that to the
snowmobile trail. We then trekked back southerly to our cars,
gingerly sidestepping the numerous pesky mud holes.
We
paid our respects at two cemeteries, the Eddy west of Waldon and the
Perkins south along Art Lake. A dead Star-nosed Mole on Waldon
provided a splendid photo op and John Carhart's close ups of the star
tentacles are thought provoking.
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