A Fun Fifteen - Day 164

  Today I hiked with two new friends. They wanted to come just to hike with me. Crazy people! But here are Sarah and Lisa at a major trail junction. This is where I left the Finger Lakes Trail system, and moved on to what is just North Country Trail.

We hadn't been hiking long before we found strange spray painted marks beside the trail. The were along a set of benched switchbacks, all on the uphill side. Finally it clicked in my brain- these are markings where this trail is going to be re-benched (fixed so it is cut into the hill better- this has to be redone every so often because... gravity works on dirt).

So then Lisa said, Oh! Mary Coffin (who organized the Adirondack work groups I've participated in) said she was bringing a work crew to this area some time this week. Just then, I saw people farther down the trail, and recognized Mary! How cool is this? They had a whole group of people working to rebuild this trail... in the heat!

Mary took a picture of us. Where we are standing has been cleared out and is ready to have the cut made for the new bench.

We saw this little guy today. Nothing special- just a toad, but it's the first one I've seen this year.

In the afternoon we went through the Stone Quarry Art Park. This is a private art park that seeks to bring artists and nature together. They have numerous trails in addition to hosting the NCT. Some of the sculptures are more traditional, like these horses.

Most are more modern, like these spirals against the vista. The displays change every so often.

We were pleased that there was off-road trail right into the Village of Cazenovia, with only the last mile of trail on streets. It was hot, but not quite as hot as yesterday. Or else I'm a little bit used to it. I also moved the trailer today, so it was a long day. And... I turned and backed the trailer into the hardest place I've done yet! I have to go to bed. I've been up since 5 am.

Miles today: 15.6. Total miles so far: 2122.1.

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