Lottsa Skiing

  Prior to the marathon I visited a few favorite places and some new ones.  On top is a trail in Hammond Hill, below that is the boardwalk at the Finger Lakes Land Trust Roy Park Preserve.  This is a nice addition to the Hammond Hill experience, one can park here on Irish Settlement Road and ski up to the trails above.  I did some exploring in the preserve to see areas normally not accessible due to beaver activity, and I wanted to see some large ash trees an the adjacent Cornell preserve but couldn't find them.  I somehow avoided being stung when I skied into a hornets' nest.  The bottom picture is from the Land Trust's Lindsay Parsons Biodiversity Preserve which I hadn't been to since it was established sometime in the 90's.  It's expanded a few times and offers great views of the Pinnacles in Danby State Forest.

  For a couple years I've been wanting to try skiing in Treman State Park, I finally got there over vacation but it didn't live up to the expectations I'd built up.  First, it was too icy to enjoy the FLT which is relatively flat in the park, but it's also quite narrow so some deep or fresh powder is needed.  Second, they plow one of the access roads that I hoped to ski on to get to the Rim Trail so I didn't get there either.  Maybe worth a try sometime after a storm.  The swimming area was cool, I'd never seen it in winter.