Schuylkill Banks - a New Direction

Today I learned that the riverwalk along the Schuylkill River in Philly is actually called Schuylkill Banks. A new section opened in the last year.

This section took so long to complete because it needed a bridge. They built one of those suspension bridges where the cables are all connected to one post.

Got a nicer picture of the skyline.

You might notice the older railroad bridge in the foreground. It's still in use!

Marie, Dave and I took this nice walk, but Rachel had to work. The afternoon was more relaxing with a few household tasks and some visiting. I even crocheted a bit. In the evening we watched a Miss Marple movie.

I traded the white puppy of a couple days ago for Casper the white cat. With only four of us in the house instead of six or more, Casper is much more calm. He's never disliked me, but he's been more than happy to be my friend on this visit.

Miles walked in 2026: 60.2

Schuylkill Banks riverwalk, David's house via South St to Wharton Ave and back. 4.1 miles.

See Philadelphia Riverwalk

Onward to Philly!

Marie and I packed up the car this morning and went to take a hike on a newly-paved rail trail near her. It was an Ontario and Western connector line. Nicely plowed and the sun had melted it clear. No snow pants needed! We wore jackets and gloves, but no extra layers on the legs. It was a welcome hint of a warmer season.

At one point we could see this other railroad bridge over Esopus Creek. I think it used to be New York Central, but I wasn't able to verify that just now.

Then we continued on our way. Most of my Philadelphia skyline pictures aren't good because they were taken from moving vehicles on the expressway. This one is no exception, but it proves we made it.

And here we are! Rachel, David, Marie and me. A smaller than usual gathering at flower show time, but that's OK!

We are doing the show on Monday so there will actually be a couple of calm days here. I'm ready for that.

We did manage to get in a decent walk. 3.7 miles.

Miles walked in 2026: 56.1
Kingston, NY, Ontario and Western Connector Trail, Washington St to Rt. 209 and back. 3.7 miles

See 1.4 Miles, 2 Counties

1.4 Miles, Two Counties

I was determined to at least put a foot on the Finger Lakes/ North Country Trail on this trip. It will be the first year in a long time that I won't get my 50-mile FLT patch, but I don't want it to be ZERO miles.

I had hoped to get on the trail between Irene and Elaine. No time. I marginally thought I might do so between Elaine and Diane. No time. Today, I made it happen. It wasn't much of a hike, but it counts.

On the way to Marie's, I crossed the trail on NY 79. Neither FLT parking was open. The snow was pretty deep on the trail. I put the car on the edge of a trailer park with a note on it because no one seemed to be home that I could ask for permission.

Then I basically hiked the road piece in both directions. I did post-hole in to the kiosk at the west end.

This pretty swale is called Mallow Marsh and it's part of the Cornell University natural area. However, you may be able to tell that the snow is deep, it's not clear that there's not standing water underneath, there is about a six-foot dropoff that may have steps under the snow, but who can tell?

So I walked back on the road.

This is West Owego Creek, the boundary between Tioga and Tompkins Counties. So I hiked in two counties.

I won't even bother showing the other end where the trail goes back into the woods. It was straight up a hill in unbroken snow. But, hey, I was on the trail. And, hey, no one towed my car away.

Just after leaving Interlaken this morning, I passed the house where I grew up that my grandfather built. It's being taken care of nicely, which makes me happy.

Other scenes on the way across the state include the Susquehanna River.

And the New York hills that you know I love.

I am safely at Marie's and here is the sunset out her back door. Pictures with her tomorrow.

Miles walked in 2026: 52.4
Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 11.6

Finger Lakes/ North Country Trail, New York, Tompkins/Tioga county border, 1.4 miles.

See Did You Guess Diane?

Did You Guess Diane?

I would suspect that you had prior information if you guessed Diane because she hasn't been part of my regular circuit until recently although we knew each other as children. We have so many interests in common that we became instant adult friends.

We packed the day just about as full as possible. It began with a puppy fix for me. The white puppy is Nola and the black lab is Tula.

Their owner is a man I also haven't seen since childhood. His name is Gary. He is younger than I am, but I was quite good friends with his older sister. We are no longer children as you can probably tell. (I think the last time I saw him, I was taller than he was.) He treated us to coffee and homemade lemon cookies. Yum!

Next up was a little hike. Diane has been able to up her mileage quite a lot since last summer. She gave me local choices and we walked to a place I've featured on the blog quite often, but I think the last time I did this particular hike was around 1970.

We walked up the Taughannock gorge. It's hard to get a sense of the perspective, but those rock walls are about 500 feet high.

This trail takes you to the base of Taughannock Falls. This is 215-foot free fall drop, considered the highest free drop east of the Rockies.

The walk in to the falls and back was 1.9 miles.

All the pictures I've shown on the blog before today were taken from an overlook that is along one of the edges of the bluff. I took another of those today, but I won't post it. The one I will share is that if you walk a short way along a different trail from that upper overlook you can get much closer to the falls. I think this shot gives you a better sense of the power of the water. It was really noisy from this vantage point. All the sound of the falling water and ice was rising right up the rock walls!

Then we went up to the museum. Diane is Village Historian. I gave them the quilt made by Frances Leary.

And she wanted to show me this. It's an accordion that was donated. I've never seen one like it at all, so I wasn't very helpful. But it was fun. A few of the buttons still play notes.

The day was not done, but I didn't take more pictures except the selfie. We listened to a web seminar about trails, we got chicken wings for dinner from the local Sportsman's Club (honey mustard), and then we looked at some more of my family's genealogy. She has discovered a few more things that I didn't know. She's amazing!

There is no clue for tomorrow, because it's so obvious it needs no clue except maybe this- who is my best friend in the universe? I'll head out first thing in the morning.

Miles walked in 2026: 51

Taughannock Falls SP, New York, gorge trail and part of north rim trail, 2.3 miles.

See Did You Guess Elaine?

Did You Guess Elaine?

This clue wasn't bad if you've been around a while. The next person on the New York rotation is Elaine, and we always play a lot of games. The game I showed you last night was called Master Labyrinth. We think it would be fun with three or four people, but with the two of us both playing defensively, we decided to give up on it about halfway through. She was ahead at the time, but we were both tired of it. Here's Elaine cogitating her next move.

This morning, we started in again. Upwords is possibly Elaine's favorite. She beat me smartly. (But I beat her last year.) Sorry for the weird angle on the board, but you can see the words.

Elaine had asked me if I had a game I could bring, so I brought one of my very favorites which no one will play with me. Elaine liked it, but the learning curve is steep. We played about five rounds, but in demonstration mode, just for fun. I'll bring it next time so we can compete.

Then we played another that belongs to Elaine that we both like, Carcasonne. The biggest problem was that we didn't have a large enough flat surface, and the paper we tried to cover the slat tables with created too much topography for the map. But we successfully completed one game. I won this one.

This is part of Elaine's rock collection. She loves geology. I love plants.

Here we are, the "Bobsey Twins," so nicknamed by our high school gym teacher, and it has been an apt comparison. We are 364 days apart in age, like many of the same things, etc. (Except that she's six feet tall and I'm not.)

We had grilled cheese sandwiches with smoked cheese for lunch. Yummy!

Now, here's your clue for where I am now. This will be about as much help as the computer memory board was, but tough nuggies. It's all I have. I'll tell you that the ferret's name is Pebbles.

No walking occurred. I had high hopes, but it just didn't happen. Tomorrow should be more active.

See Did You Guess Irene?