Letchworth Park Spring Hike

I received a GoPro from my family and am enjoying its simple interface, and how easy it is to edit. Charlie offered a Letchworth explore, so naturally I engineered a “hike or die” for a sunny spring day.

This hike is seven miles long, starting at the south end of the park and heading north. We left bikes at the end of the hike to get back to our cars. The views from the edge remain lovely the entire hike, and the craftsmanship of WPA stone fences, picnic tables and bridges inspires the challenging walking path.

Buttermilk Falls — See Why Ithaca is Gorges

When tourists come to upstate New York and want to see the unique geological wonders carved out by the glaciers, they usually head to well-known Watkins Glen. However, there are several other gorgeous gorges — one of them right outside of Ithaca, known as Buttermilk Falls State Park.

Braddock Bay — Kayaker’s Delight

It’s hot, really hot, where can you go to cool off when it is miserably hot?

Braddock Bay.

“The Braddock Bay Fish and Wildlife Management Area is a shallow water bay-marsh complex existing in five units along the Lake Ontario shoreline ranging from two to six miles west of Rochester. ”

“Braddock Bay is renowned for being an excellent bird-watching location, as raptors and other birds congregate when migrating north in Spring.”  — Wikipedia

Cool Great lakes breezes, alongside gorgeous wetlands loaded with wildlife makes for an awesome adventure on a hot summer day.

Locations where you can launch your kayak along the edge of the bay

I put my kayak in furthest north and explored right out onto the lake. If you put in further downstream you can travel way back into the wetlands, full of Herons, Kingfishers, Puddle ducks, particularly mallards, blue-winged teal and wood ducks all nest in this area.

Beautiful spots to kayak

Shy herons

Great Blues

Perfect haven for wildlife

Finger Lakes Find: Discovering Beechwood State Park

The state bought the land from the Girl Scouts for $600,000 in 1996. Unfortunately, before the State could upgrade and open the newly acquired park, a budget crisis got in the way. The park’s purpose became a manageable “preserve” and it opened with no improvements in 1999.

The park contains 250 acres of pine and hemlock groves, wooded hills and marshy ravines, plus over 1,500 ft. of pebbled Lake Ontario shoreline with access to the west side of Maxwell Bay.

Forever Wild: Finger Lakes National Forest

At the highest spot between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes is a patchwork of 16,212 acres, known as the Finger Lakes National Forest. This area was all farm land 100 years ago and was then bought back by the government early in the 20th century, who returned it into forests and pasture land.

Filmore Glen, Moravia’s Treasure

The Finger Lakes region has several awesome parks with waterfalls. Little-known Filmore Glen is another example of the beautiful work of the glaciers that passed through 10,000 years ago and left us the “gorgology” the makes the Finger Lakes region so special. The park has five waterfalls, several miles of great trails and 60 campsites plus a natural stream-fed swimming hole.

Abraham Lincoln Park — Hidden Gem on Irondequoit Bay

A “diamond in the rough” might be used to describe our 16th president, as well as this lovely gem of a park along the bay. Not only are the trails fun to hike, the views they provide are wonderful and the stream bed I explored was full of colorful gems.

Ithaca — Come Visit in the Winter

Taughannock Falls, higher than Niagara Falls, just outside of Ithaca

Great article in the Albany Times Union about winter fun in the Ithaca area

Ithaca may be best known as the home of both Cornell  University and Ithaca  College, but the city offers a cornucopia of attractions for  outdoors enthusiasts.

Situated in a valley on the southern tip of Cayuga Lake, about a three-hour  drive from Albany, the city’s streets slope steeply toward the water. There are  more than 100 waterfalls and gorges within 10 miles of Ithaca, leading to the  local slogan, “Ithaca is Gorges.”

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/living/article/A-gorges-place-for-winter-visit-2751638.php#ixzz1kxDK56Jv”

Besides great food, beer and gorges sites, Ithaca has a great music scene.

Webster: Trail all over town

My idea of a GREAT day is to be able to run two hours of solid trail. That’s not always so easy to find in the suburbs, but Webster New York, is definitely Trail Town. A joint effort between Friends of Webster Trails, The Town of Webster, The Genesee Land Trust, and the Monroe County Parks has created a huge network of connected trails and my perfect run

Rob’s Trail joins Canadice and Hemlock

View from Rob's Trail towards Canadice Lake

Two of my favorite spots in the Finger Lakes are Canadice lake and Hemlock  Lake. Hemlock and Canadice are the only Finger Lakes with undeveloped shorelines.

Icey shoreline of Canadice Lake

The City of Rochester spent over 100 years acquiring all lakeshore properties to prevent development of the watershed and to safeguard its primary source of drinking water. When you hike, bike or ski along these shorelines you feel like you are in total wilderness.

View looking west on Rob's Trail

When I saw that there was a trail connecting Hemlock Lake to Canadice Lake, I had to check it out. Rob’s Trail starts just off 15A, on the southern end of Hemlock. The trail is part of the newly designated Hemlock-Canadice State Forest.

Who is Rob? Rob van der Stricht was an avid naturalist, especially fond of the Finger Lakes. The Nature Conservancy officially dedicated this trail to his memory. Thanks Rob, this is an awesome piece of land.

Map of Rob's Trail and spur to Canadice

The 1.75 mile circular trail takes you up over the ridge between the two lakes. Despite the altitude,  this is a very wet area. Fortunately it was cold enough to keep the ground hard, but I noticed a lot of board walks for navigating the muddy trails.

Hiking the winding and sometimes steep spur trail to Canadice

As the trail starts to head east, over the top of the ridge and into the woods, there is a spur trail .75 mi. long, that winds down to the Canadice Lake trail.

I was on the look out for black bears, eagles, deer, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, weasels, but all I saw was some Chickadees and Juncos. However, on the drive back into Hemlock, A gorgeous pheasant sauntered across the road.

Ice sculpture, au natural

I was most impressed by the variety of ice formations in the hundreds of little creeks that wind down the hill to the lake.

I recommend if you hike during cold weather that you wear good hiking shoes or Yak Tracks. The trail can get very steep in parts.

View of 15A from entrance to parking lot

To find Rob’s Trail:  15A south, and through the Village of Hemlock. Continue to top of hill above Hemlock Lake, veering left onto South Old Bald Hill Road. Parking on left.

Other great posts on this topic:  New York Outdoors Blog.