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Friday, April 22, 2022

A Halfway of Sorts - Day 143

  I made a fun discovery in the middle of the morning. I reached the southern end of the Bristol Hills Branch Trail (that Marie and I hiked in 2020). I took a picture of this sign then, but it wasn't particularly meaningful to me then. Now it is.

See that it's 191 miles to the Onondaga Branch? That's where I leave the main Finger Lakes Trail and head north toward the Adirondacks. And 186 miles ago, I was at the Pennsylvania border. These numbers have probably changed a bit since the sign was made, but essentially, I'm halfway across the main FLT. Not halfway across New York, but it's still satisfying. FLT sign

Today was gorgeous. Sunshine! Not too hot! Marie hiked out with me for 3 miles this morning. We made it past the Hickory Hills shelter, new since I was last here. Hickory Hills shelter

Then I went down to a valley and up the hill on the other side. This view is from Kershener Hill back across to Hickory Hill. New York view

The next treat was Mitchellsville Gorge. This is a special place, but it's nearly impossible to get good pictures. It's a deep gorge with a creek in the bottom, and the edges are covered in thick hemlocks, so it's always dark and cool. Mitchellsville Gorge

I managed to get one poor picture of one of the waterfalls down in the depths. Mitchellsville Gorge

By the time you get to the bottom, the trail and the creek meet, so I ate lunch here. Mitchellsville Gorge

The last climb of the day was a doozie. It's a 900-foot climb, and the hill doesn't even have a name. For that kind of effort, I want it to have a name. However, the treat from those heights is views of Keuka Lake, the first of the Finger Lakes that you can see from the trail. Photos just don't show it well because your brain is able to filter out the trees when you are there. But that big blue puddle is the south end of Keuka Lake. And it was blue today because of the sunshine! Keuka Lake

And, we were social again tonight. Irene drove down from her home to see us! friends

Miles today: 15.1. Total miles so far: 1890.9.

See Cochrane & Company

3 comments:

Ann said...

Looks like a beautiful day. I don't know if I would want to get close enough to the edge there to get the picture of that waterfall.

The Oceanside Animals said...

Lulu: "Keuka Lake! Getting closer to where Mama and Dada used to hang out!"
Charlee: "Dada says a lot of people don't realize just how big New York State really is. It's not like Connecticut!"

Sharkbytes said...

Ann- not a completely sheer drop on the side I was on.

Lulu- Where did Mama and Dada hang out? New York IS big.