Taking on a Different Trail

  

  I've got a different section of the Finger Lakes Trail to maintain now.  For many years, I drove out to Shindagin Hollow in Caroline, and while that is a pretty special section, this one is much closer to home and flatter.

  

  I found this jacket in a dumpster when the students started leaving town.  Gail thought it was too small and looked like I was going golfing.  I liked the material and the lightness of it.  However, it didn't stand up to the rigors of woods-work and I destroyed it.  It makes good rags.

  

 

I typically hike this section before going to the mountains in August because on either end of it there is some of the greatest elevation changes in the area (Buttermilk, Treman State Parks and the various preserves at Lick Brook as shown in the map at the bottom.  The red section is what I'm maintaining).  At that time of year, it's always extremely overgrown with roses, and I wanted to address that.  What I'd heard about but never witnessed, is how muddy it gets between those areas and that I now have to deal with.  I repurposed some scrap lumber and made short boardwalks to keep people out of the mud and water.  A local guy who sponsors a race through here built even more boardwalk before the race and it's pretty good now.

  This part of the trail passes South Hill Cider.  People were often missing some turns and going to the area where the orchard equipment is parked.  Steve, the owner, asked if I could do something to reduce that.  Besides widening the entrances/exits from the woods to make them more obvious, I added signs.  Thankfully, Gail came down to the basement just as I was about to paint the first one. 

  When he started the orchard, Steve bought a truckload of locust posts from a grape farmer in Westfield.  I got mine from a neighbor when his tree fell.