2008

Monroe County Parks Public Meeting – The Genesee Valley Chapter was well represented

The Master Plan under consideration: 2008-11-25_Ellison Park Updates.pdf

For more information, see the Conservation page.

Trip leader - Dave Mundie

October Local Hikes - Photos by Ken Reek

Letchworth Loop, October 11. Trip leaders Ken and Margaret Reek.

Wesley Hill Nature Preserve on October 18. Trip leader Bob Krenzer.

Rattlesnake Hill on October 19. Trip leader Dan Wilson.

Santanoni Range - Photos by Jim Fetten

Six hikers (Doug, Sue, Jim, Chuck, Aaron, Joe) met at the Santanoni parking lot at 1 PM Friday. The weather was superb and the mud was tolerable as we backpacked to the Santanoni lean-to, arriving about 4:30 PM. The lean-to was unoccupied and five of us claimed it with Joe electing to use his tent to spare us his snoring. After supper, we retired around 8 PM to be ready for an early start in the morning.

After a cool night with the temperature in the 40's, we got up at 6 AM, had breakfast, and were on the trail shortly after 7 AM to climb the three trailless peaks of the Santanoni Range. The weather was again perfect and it took an hour to reach Panther Brook and another hour to Herald Square. We summited Panther (4442 feet) in another 15 minutes. The views of the mountains were superb. After picture taking, we hurried on to Times Square and then in 1.5 hours arrived on Couchsachraga (3820 feet) where we ate lunch. We were back at Times Square by 2 o'clock and on Santanoni (4607 feet) at 3:10. The views were great and we could see the beginning of the fall colors.

We had all successfully bagged the three peaks and proceeded to return to camp via Times Square, forsaking the recently reopened route down Santanoni. We arrived back at camp at 6:40 having hiked about 10 miles and climbed about 3000 feet in 11.5 hours. Tired, we again retired by 8 PM.

We awoke to an overcast day. After breakfast, we broke camp and hiked back to the cars, arriving at 11:15, and drove home. It was a fully successful outing with all objectives met (everyone got 3 peaks and no one got lost in the mud).

Trip leader - Doug Smith

Owls Head Mountain

Twelve women traveled to Lake Eaton Campground near Long Lake for a weekend of relaxing and hiking. We arrived in time to set up tents and enjoy a wonderful potluck dinner! Unfortunately the park ranger busted us after 10:00 PM for being a little too noisy. Some campers retreated to bed but others stay up another hour. All was quiet. The last camper preparing for bed, accidently activated her personal alarm device. Not wanting to wake anyone, unable to switch the devise off or pry it open, she heroically sat on it in her van until the batteries finally ran down around 2:00 AM.

The next day in spite of light rain, we enjoyed a beautiful hike up to the fire tower on Owls Head Mountain. Because of the cloud cover, there was no view. On the way down hikers had a choice of continuing the route we came, back to the cars, for a 6.4 mile round trip or an alternate route along the lake, which lead directly back to the camp site for an 8 mile hike. The longer trail was extremely muddy and the sudden torrential downpour did not help conditions.

That evening we enjoyed a fine meal at the historic Adirondack Hotel on Long Lake.

The next morning we packed up and breakfasted at the Long Lake Dinner. After visiting the beautiful Buttermilk Falls we headed back to Rochester.

Trip leaders - Judy Immesoete and Donna Dinse

Panther Gorge Backpack

Gordie, Jim, Sikandar, Dan and I headed to the Elk Lake trailhead 7:00 AM Friday morning. After a lunch stop in Schroon Lake we arrived to start our hike at 1:00 PM. There was only one other car in the lot, so we hoped it might be lonely at the lean-to.

It was hot and muggy, and many of us were soon drenched in sweat. The backpack in was nearly nine miles with some hills and challenged many of us. It provided a good lesson in hydration and nutrition. The days leading up to the trip had lots of rain, but it held off the whole way in and through the evening. But we were definitely not lonely at the lean-to. It was full, and there were many other tenters in the area the whole weekend. The location was very popular with backpackers who do not come in from Elk Lake.

Saturday morning started damp after a shower overnight. We hit the trail for a day hike loop intending to summit Skylight, Gray, Marcy and Haystack. We hoped that things would clear while we were climbing the first mountain. That didn't happen for Skylight or Gray. We were still fogged in during a very wet bushwhack between Gray and Marcy.

We stopped for lunch after exiting the tree line on Marcy but had to look around for a sufficient wind break. This was near the marked trail between Four Corners and Marcy. A ranger hiking by brought us up to speed on the success of the bear canisters required in the Eastern High Peaks. Unfortunately the bears near Lake Colden have figured out how to open the clear polycarbonate BearVault canisters. The company is trying some new lid prototypes, and some may be available for trial overnight at the interior outpost near Lake Colden. Is there a better way to debug the problem than by challenging these very clever bears! The smartest might be Double Yellow, a sow with two yellow tags on her ears. The rangers want to know whenever canisters are being breached, so they can develop alternate strategies.

By the time we reached the top of Marcy there were some breaks in the clouds, which continued over and down Haystack. But when we reached the top of Haystack a 50 mph wind greeted us. It shortened our stay, but at least it was dry.

Sunday morning we broke camp and started our hike out. Within seconds it started raining. It rained heavily the whole way out, making the trail treacherous if not flooded. We arrived at the trailhead soaked to the core, but no one was injured by the many slips and falls. We were in heaven changing into dry clothes at the car. I wonder what the waitress thought about the soggy money we used to pay for our lunches in Saratoga?

Trip leader - Joe Roth .

One rainy Outdoor Expo! [All about Expo 2008]

Photos by Steve

Photos by Sally

Photos by Karin

National Trails Day

A big thank you to our volunteers who helped refurbish the trails at Webster Veteran's Memorial Park on Saturday, June 7, 2008. The following volunteers helped in the hot, humid weather for nearly three hours as we raked out chips, trimmed weeds, and generally, made the trail around the back pond a bit more hospitable: Denny, Jeanne, Karin, Jim, Barb, Lydia, Korey, Mary, Dave, Michael, Terry, Carolin, and Dick.

A special thanks to Denny Tripp and Jim Britt who, as members of Penfield Trails, organized the event. We appreciate everyone's help!

- Mary Norman, Trails Co-Chair