okay, so i haven't been too good about updating. it's not that we haven't been hiking - i've just been too busy the rest of the time to update this blog. so, here's an old post that should have been written three weeks ago:
7/14/2007
continued knee swelling and an unfortunate run-in with my cat made for a weekend of light hiking. my knee didn't want to deal with too many steep grades, and the flesh hanging from the wounds on my hand screamed "please! no! don't use your trekking poles!" so, we took a drive to pleasant valley wildlife refuge and did a little exploring.
the weather was lovely, and the scent of pine deep in the woods so inviting. we walked through feields, forests, along ponds and streams. with all the water around, the bugs were unbearable, but we survived with only a few bites.
we saw no beavers, but found evidence that they were living nearby:
and while we were taking photos along the pond, we scared a duck who took off into the reeds. you can't really see him, but he's there:
overall, it was a nice, light hike. wish we could have done something a little more challenging, but my knee needed a rest.
some more photos:
and the prize-winning photo of the week, taken by my hiking partner:
toad counter: 1
So, we were slightly cardboard on Saturday.
It was hot that day, and humid. We planned to attempt the full 6.5 mile loop of the Shaker Trail, but we only made it about 1/3 of the way before we turned around. The bugs were ferocious, and the humidity was a little too much - cardboard tends to get a little soft in high humidity, you know.
Once we got back down to the base of the mountain, we did a bit of exploring in the ruins surrounding the brook. Despite the heavy rains the night before, the brook was very dry. We were able to walk out on the top half of the lower dam and get a few nice shots of the brook:
Above is the silt filtration system on the dam (obviously non-functioning). The course of the stream is directed to a small holding pool that dumps the water into the filtration system.
The pool:
The support system for the pool (still intact):
Vegetation was thick, but I also got to climb out near the upper dam system. I couldn't really get any good shots of that, or the larger pipeline, but I was able to capture part of the mill foundations just below the dam:
We also discovered the foundation for the Carding and Fulling mill:
And here are the stone piers to which the wooden support beams were attached for the water wheel:
We saw some wildlife, too, on this trip. Here's a butterfly that was flitting around the top of the lower dam:
And we also saw some fantastic animal tracks. On the way in, we found deer tracks near one of the mud puddles:
And we also saw a piece of a robin's egg shell:
On the way out, not far from where the deer tracks were, we found the tracks of a family of turkeys. There are some large tracks, small ones, and then very tiny ones as well.
All in all, it was a fair hike. I think we had more fun exploring the ruins, though.
Next time we'll do the full loop. As long as it's cool, and dry, and those crazy bugs stay away...
Toad Counter: 0
i shall continue my theory that i'm not meant to be a hiker:
first it was the horrific downpour in which we were caught. the following weekend, we were a good mile into our hike when the thunder started.
then there was the nasty heat rash i developed (from hiking in high humidity and soaking wet clothes).
yesterday i woke up with my knee swollen and aching.
and today i find out that the access roads and summit of the highest mountain we'll be traversing in the fall are closed for two years. so, we either have to hike the entire range in one day, or learn to camp. i'm pulling out the map tonight to explore our options. maybe we can rely on some nearby friends to pick us up.
i keep thinking this all means i just shouldn't hike. but then everything i read from thru-hikers has them suffering much worse just on the first few days of their journey. i guess rain and rashes and swollen joints and altered routes are just part of the package, part of the thrill of hiking.
adventure's supposed to be...adventurous, i suppose. right?
it was a full weekend of hiking. one hike per day, to be exact. friday evening, i changed into my hiking gear at work, and we set out to do a short hike on the AT before sundown. it's amazing how the angle of the setting sun gives such vibrancy to the green surrounding you. it was just exquisite. we made it to the shelter, but there were quite a few hikers there setting up for the night, so we turned back and returned to the car. a nice little warm-up hike for the weekend.on saturday, we decided to revisit bash bish falls in mt. washington state park. it was a favorite of ours last year, and we hadn't visited yet this season, so we thought we'd check it out. we always park at the bottom outlet in NY because it's a longer hike to the falls, and we enjoy the scenery. too bad the place was a zoo. in the fall, we usually only shared the trail with a few others. but this time, we barely found a parking spot. it was just mobbed with teenagers and tourists and tons of children and dogs. hiking up was bad enough when we had people walking slowly four or five across, but once we actually got to the falls, we couldn't even enjoy it because there were people sprawled out on every rock surface available.
we did manage a few decent photos, though.
sunday was, by far, the best day of hiking. it was around 68 degrees, sunny, and breezy. we decided to hike the shaker mountain trail. that was our first real hike last year, and trust me - back then, we were in much worse shape than we are now. and since we were able to make it up the 700 foot change in elevation back then, i had no doubts about our ability to finish the 4 1/2 mile trail on sunday.
what i love about this trail is that it has that historical element to it. you get to pass by several ruins and archeological areas from the now-defunct north family shaker community, just up the hill from the hancock shaker museum. the sites and trail (once a cart-path the shakers used to get to their homes and mills along the stream, and up to their holy area on the summit of shaker mountain) were uncovered in the 1960's, and then the boy scouts helped clear and mark the area for a historic trail.
it's one of my favorite trails. and we made exceptionally good time getting up to the summit. unfortunately, since the last time we visited, the trail has become fairly overgrown (especially the 
archeological sites), and we were lucky the stream was pretty dry, because one of the bridges had collapsed (see photo to the left) -- and one area of the stream looked as if it never had a bridge to begin with. unfortunate also was the fact that there were several people on ATVs roaring up the trail. motorized vehicles are prohibited from the trails, but people ignore the rules. not only are they tearing up the trail, and spoiling the hiking experience for people like me, but they're riding those things over sensitive archeological sites.
still, though - it was a great hike.
the lower dam and pipeline system, used to pump water over to the hancock shaker village downhill:
a neat tree we found:
and a gift from mother nature inside:
the footings of the original bridge to the north family shaker residence:
the stone wall which separates the north family shaker land from the mt. lebanon shaker community:
spotted a lot of wildlife today. we came pretty close to a deer, and we saw two frogs and lots of birds. also a flock of moths drinking from a patch of mud. most flew off when we approached, but we managed to catch a few on film:
all in all, we had a great weekend of hiking. tomorrow we're off to explore a new section of the AT, hopefully. that is, if the weather holds out...
*n.b. - the bottom of each post will now be home to a brand-spanking-new feature from your neighborhood cardboard hiker: the toad counter. on almost every hike, we see a number of frogs and toads, and we figure we ought to keep track of that somehow. for some reason or another.
