Reminder: Finger Lakes Trail Hike Sat. May 25, Cortland County, all welcome

Just a reminder note about this Saturday’s upcoming Wally Wood hike. The weather reports seem promising for a great hiking day!

Wally Wood Spring Hike: Date: 25 May 2013

Leaders: Alex and Michele Gonzalez. gonzalez@cortland.edu (607) 844-8912

Title of Hike: Rainbow Hike – FLT Map M19 – Cortland County

Hike Description: The Rainbow Hike (thus named because the route follows trails of five blaze colors, yellow, green, white, orange, and blue) is 9.4 miles. The hike will take in the following trails: Lithuanian Loop, Irish Loop, FLT, Dabes Diversion, Kuzia Cutoff, and a portion of Cortright/O’Dell Road (scenic dirt road). No car shuttling will be necessary. The hike will also honor Joe Dabes’s contributions to the FLTC, since the first and last few miles of the hike will be on land that Joe owns, while the rest of the hike will be on trails that Joe maintains. The hike will take us past Foxfire Lean-to twice, providing shelter (maybe for lunch) if the weather should turn out to be rainy. This will be a dog-friendly hike (only for well-behaved LEASHED dogs), but hikers who may be nervous around dogs can join part of a separate group that will be hiking dogless and that will start either earlier or later than the main group. Because this hike will involve a good many trail junctions, the leaders will be gathering up the hikers for a head count a little more often than is usual on FLTC hikes. We prefer to err on the side of caution.

Meet: Babcock Hollow Rd. parking area, which is also the trailhead for the Lithuanian Loop, Map M19, at 10:00 a.m.

Directions to Meeting Point: From Dryden’s four-corners: Take NY Rte. 392 to Owego Hill Rd. Turn right at this three-way. Go to the end of the paved portion of this road at a four-way stop sign. Turn left onto Babcock Hollow Rd. and continue until you start seeing a pair of long ponds on the right. The large gravel parking area is on the right. From I-81: At the main Cortland exit for NY Rte. 13, turn right off the ramp and follow NY Rte. 13 through Cortland. When Rte. 13 becomes Tompkins St., look for NY Rte. 215 (also called Owego Street) on the left. Turn left at this three-way junction. Follow Rte. 215 all the way to Virgil. Proceed straight through at Virgil’s four-corners and follow NY Rte. 392 for less than a mile until you see Owego Hill Rd. on your left. Take it and follow it until its paved portion ends at a four-way junction. Turn left and follow Babcock Hollow Rd. until you start seeing a pair of long ponds on the right. The large gravel parking area is on the right.

Bringing a light headnet is encouraged, just in case black flies linger or deer flies make an early appearance.

We hope to see you out there on Saturday!
Alex Gonzalez

Plea for Trailbuilding Help June 3-7 near Cannonsville Reservoir

This is a “plea-mail” for help on this upcoming Alley-Cat to move 9 miles of trail off road over two separate Alley-Cats. This Alley-Cat will be clearing brush and downed trees from an abandoned railbed and building three small foot bridges. We will be staying at Rick Roberts’ luxurious house with our favorite cook Jacqui Wensich providing all the delicious food.

Work will start Monday, June 3, and continue through Friday, June 7, provided there is still work to be done. Rick’s house will be open Sunday, June 2, for those of us who travel.  The work is located on M28 near Cannonsville Reservoir.

There is need for a couple more certified sawyers and swampers (sawyer helpers) as well as bridge builders.  You don’t have to commit to the entire project; you can pick and choose any partial or full days that fit your schedule. I know how precious time is and yours is greatly appreciated by me and everyone who hikes the trail.

Contact Matt Branneman at, 607-220-7812 or mattbranneman@gmail.com

Call for Entries: 2013 Erie Canalway Photo Contest

2012 Photo Contest winner “Sunset at Lock 33″ by Gary Eisenhart

Entries for the 8th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest are being accepted now through September 6, 2013 . Winning photos will be displayed in the 2014 Erie Canalway calendar.

Keep your camera clicking all summer long. Amateur and professional photographers are invited to submit prints and digital images in four contest categories: Bridges, Buildings and Locks; For the Fun of It; On the Water; and the Nature of the Canal.

The contest captures and shares the beauty, history, people, and distinctive character of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, which is comprised of the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga/Seneca, and Champlain Canals, and their historic alignments, and surrounding communities.

Download official contest rules and an entry form:
http://www.eriecanalway.org/get-involved_photo-contest.htm

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor spans 524 miles across the full expanse of upstate New York, encompassing the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain canals and their historic alignments, as well as more than 230 canal communities.  Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission and the Erie Canalway Heritage Fund work in partnership to preserve our extraordinary heritage, to promote the Corridor as a world class tourism destination, and to foster vibrant communities connected by the waterway.

Aurora Borealis In Adirondacks

Keep your eyes skyward – you never know what you’ll see next. Click here to see the Aurora Borealis photo taken May 18, 2013. I’ve seen the northern lights from Rochester NY.

Creative Reuse of Old Hiking Boots

Riverfront Committee: time to expand Black River trail system in Watertown NY

By CRAIG FOX, Watertown Daily Times, Link to original post

With Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo pushing to promote tourism and Upstate New York, Dr. Jason F. White said he believes now is the time to go after state funding to complete the city’s hiking and biking trail system that runs mostly along the Black River.

In the past couple of decades, the city has finished almost 2½ miles of trails. Now, Dr. White and the Riverfront Committee are eyeing an addition to the system. And state funding could help pay for new trails, he told members of Advantage Watertown on Thursday. “I don’t think we should miss this opportunity,” Dr. White told the group of business and community leaders.

Last week, Gov. Cuomo held a tourism summit in Albany and announced what he called the largest tourism campaign in decades, committing $60 million to promote the industry. His proposal included a major advertising campaign in New York City to promote upstate tourism.

Dr. White and Advantage Watertown Chairman John K. Bartow Jr. will attend Monday night’s Watertown City Council work session to push for the city to apply for a grant from the North Country Regional Economic Development Council for trail funding. The Riverfront Committee is a subgroup of Advantage Watertown. “As a group, we can get the momentum going,” Dr. White said.

Almost all of the system is on the river’s south side. The trails mainly snake through the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, Veterans Memorial Riverwalk, Factory Square and the Marble Street, Whitewater and Waterworks parks.

Last year, more trails were added in Marble Street Park and Bicentennial Park, along the river at the fairgrounds. They were added when overall park improvements were completed there. The first set of trails was completed in Waterworks Park, across from Huntington Heights, during the 1980s.

So far, the city has completed 21 projects along the Black River, Dr. White said, adding the city could use in-kind services by Department of Public Works crews as a matching grant for the state funding. Dr. White suggested applying for $100,000 to $150,000 to complete additional trails.

The city has worked to increase public use in and around the river. Besides the trails, a handful of companies now operate rafting trips along the river, Mr. Bartow said.

Senior City Planner Michael A. Lumbis, a member of the Riverfront Committee, said the city still has about $47,000 remaining for Black River funding that could be used for trail improvements.

Mr. Bartow said that other communities, including Wilna, Carthage and Lyons Falls, have made recent improvements along the river or plan to do so.

Advantage board member Peter W. Schmitt, who is also executive director of the Watertown Family YMCA, suggested that the group would be more successful in lobbying for funding if it can prove how much the trails are used by the public.

While the city does not track such data, rafting trips attract about 40,000 people a year. The City Council’s work session starts at 7 p.m. in the third-floor council chambers at City Hall, 245 Washington St.

Make 2014 a Year of Happiness – Take an Adventure You’ll never Forget

Pack, Paddle, Ski wants to make 2014 a year of happiness.  In order to do that they’ve filled up next year’s schedule with trips from their staff’s bucket lists. Click here to view a selection of awesome world-wide adventures. If you find a trip that is on your bucket list, sign up before the end of 2013 and they will give you $50 off the trip. Just mention the code word HAPPINESS. So, go on, pull out your bucket list and see what you can cross off this year!

But you don’t have to wait until 2014 to let your happiness begin. Join them this year for one of their happiness retreats, spend a some time in the outdoors and find out where real happiness comes from.  Find out more at
http://www.packpaddleski.com/index.php?page=adventures&cat=North+American+Multi-Day&course=330622

I have been on Pack,Paddle, Ski trips to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and hike to visit tribes in Africa, paddling in Glacier Bay Alaska, and many others. They get you off the beaten path to experience real cultural adventures. They make a difference in the world. Take a trip with them in 2014 and change your life.