More Empire State Trail Connections

Marie was tired today, but she spotted me to walk two more little sections of the Empire State Trail. The first was a roadwalk from where we turned around two days ago down to Rondout Creek (really a river). There was sidewalk for most of the way, so it wasn't a big deal but not very scenic until I reached the creek. This is Rondout Creek leading to the Hudson River.

The bridge carries Road 9W, and there was a barge coming down the river just for me!

Then we skipped a piece because I had walked it previously, although more interesting things made it on the blog when I did that (two years ago, I think). The link below is on Rondout Creek when we toured a tall ship, and saw the steamboat Mathilda. These are right along the trail.

So we drove to the top of the hill near Marie's church, and I also walked the next little piece. Marie walks this section a lot, so she didn't care if she missed it today. It's actual trail, off road although not too picturesque.

The best part of that section is a tunnel. It is much older than the trail, and delightfully cool inside. The temperature this afternoon got to 78° and I'm sure not used to that yet!

I wanted to walk a little bit today after our 6 miles yesterday. I hate to admit it, but at 77, I have a harder time building up my stamina in the spring. But I feel good about doing even a little walking today after the longish warm walk of yesterday.

Marie has flowers in her garden! Snowdrops...

...and crocus.

Don't worry, you'll eventually get to see lots of Flower Show. But when I'm hiking new-to-me trails, I want to share them. I've now hiked continuous pieces of the Empire State Trail from the Walgreens in Kingston to the east side of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, about 8.5 contiguous miles.

Miles walked in 2026: 82.6

Empire State Trail, two disconnected pieces in Kingston, NY. 2.0 miles.

We are going to try to hike a piece in the morning, but it's supposed to rain in the afternoon.

See Bits and Pieces

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?

Slightly Out of Focus?

Mentally, I was very focused today, but the foggy, misty weather made all the pictures a little bit fuzzy.

My "new" position with the Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA is Land Protection Specialist. So... I'm no specialist yet, but I'm learning a lot really fast. We didn't think there were hardly any landowners to deal with on our section of trail. So far, we've identified quite a few. The Forest Service knew about most of these, but the Chapter didn't. Some of what I did today related to a meeting with a landowner I had on October 27.

But first, the hike.

Six of us met at the north Highbridge access to the trail and hiked east along the Manistee River (which is actually trail west- because if you keep going in this direction you end up in North Dakota). They were looking for suggestions of where to hike, and I needed to get to this location before real winter sets in, so I asked if we could do this. Yup.

This is the picture everyone takes of the Manistee River in this section. Mainly because with the power line cut you can actually see the river.

I just like this because it shows how the bluff falls off pretty abruptly down to the river.

The valley was all foggy today. That's pretty too!

I'm pretty sure these are tiny yellow mushrooms and not a slime mold.

I walked part of the way with Loren and little Koa. This is on the esker, a favorite feature on this piece of trail.

So, back to my "purpose" for the hike, other than just a nice hike. We now have an agreement in writing that allows the trail to cross a small bit of private property. Because this is the end of a switchback on a steep hill, we really need this access. The owners agreed to put the agreement in writing, and we promised to get the blazing spiffed up yet this fall. We will get the correct signage up in the spring. The government shutdown meant we couldn't get the signs until just a few days ago anyway.

So, all I did was to freshly paint the non-standard arrows at the corner, touch up and add to the standard blazing near that turn. But the minimum hike in is two miles, and it's an hour from my house, so I hadn't gotten there yet. Now it's done.

This picture shows the uphill leg of the switchback. I added the "confidence marker" blaze- circled on the right- just after the turn. A confidence marker is an extra blaze soon after a turn that lets people know they have made the right choice. The circled blaze farther up on the left was already there, but I freshened it.

This shot is coming up to the turn on the lower leg. Those arrows have been there a long time. They aren't standard, and we will try to replace them in the spring. For now, I brightened them up. And the circled double blaze on the tree, I added. I also added a turn blaze coming from the other direction.

I also scouted out, by vehicle, another potential trail re-route that we just found out about. Can't say any more yet. But it was a very productive day at it relates to my new position.

Not much else happened. The morning was cold and damp, but not really raining. Hiking was a good outdoor use for a somewhat nasty day.

Miles hiked in 2025: 450.6
NCT miles hiked in 2025: 249.8

North Country Trail, Highbridge north parking to the esker and back. Total- 5 miles

A lot of these same locations in better weather are at the link below.

See A Test Along the Manistee

Spirit of the Woods Hike- November

Although the morning started out chilly, it turned into a perfect crisp day for the NCTA Chapter hike. We had 22 people, but there were 7 dogs who came along this time. (1 person and 2 dogs didn't make the picture.)

We started at Upper Branch Bridge which is where the trail crosses the Pere Marquette River.

Gary leads us off into the autumn woods with rich brown oaks and yellow beech.

Two of the hikers completed their 100 Mile Challenge today. I didn't get a picture of Peg, but here is Sue.

There are still plenty of little gems to see. Northern Maidenhair fern grows along the banks of the unnamed creek there.

We were discussing whether these are quaking aspen leaves or big-tooth aspen. I've decided they are big-tooth, even though the teeth aren't huge, because the trees are tall and straight with ridged bark. Quaking will get ridged bark if it gets old enough, but I just have a feeling these are big-tooth. Anyway, I took the picture because I like how the water beads up on wet leaves. This is because the leaves have natural plant oils. (I'm a dummy- didn't check to see if the stems were flat.)

The oaks are starting to get involved in the fall color. Even though they don't get the really bright colors, I always like how rich they look. These are white oak.

We did hike a little farther than we usually go from this trailhead. To go to the next road and back is only 3 miles. We did the half-mile roadwalk (a pleasant dirt road), and partway into Bowman Semi-Primitive Area, so that the total miles would be more. I did five.

This is the only section of the NCT that is along the Pere Marquette River. There is one place where you get an unobstructed view, and I almost always take a picture of it there. But today I decided to try to find another place for a glimpse of the water. This one through the trees isn't bad.

I managed to do some computer work before the hike. In the afternoon, I mostly worked on trying to get some computer coding to work. I've determined several things that DON'T work. I guess that is progress of a sort.

Miles hiked in 2025: 423

Miles hiked on the NCT in 2025: 241.3

North Country Trail, Lake Co, MI. Upper Branch Bridge into Bowman Semii-Primitive area and back. Total 5 miles.

See SPW Hike- October

Color Tour 2025- Part 1

Om and I did a color tour again this year, and we managed to make it happen on the one day in a string of about six when it isn't gray and rainy. I'll show you the second part tomorrow (with more actual color) because- gray and rain is expected.

I decided to follow the Newaygo County Tourist Bureau suggested color tour route. I'll give you my thoughts on that at the end. But you can find it at the link.

We did their loop clockwise, so early on we reached Hardy and Croton Dams. However, Hardy Dam is being repaved, so traffic is not being allowed on it. Huh. We pulled into the marina by the bridge to catch a couple of pictures. Nice colorful reflection.

Looking out toward the main part of the pond. Yes, the Dragon Trail goes through here (and then crosses the dam- one can hope they might be redoing the barely adequate pedestrian walkway, but probably not).

Well, I found an alternate way to get down to Croton Dam. Have to take yet another picture of the traditional view. This has been a landmark of the North Country Trail since forever. And we are standing on the trail while taking this picture.

The most colorful leaves there were... POISON IVY!

These dams are on the Muskegon River, and it was apparently a good day for fishing below the dam.

After that, the suggested route wandered a bit farther south, and then west. Tomorrow, I'll show you some of the great color we found there.

Here are my thoughts on the loop. I think this was designed for people who don't want to get out of their cars, or even to slow down very much. While only some of it was on state highways, it was all paved roads with significant traffic. It was a problem to be able to pull off and stop to take pictures.

I know they want to get people into the communities in the county, but I'd rather have a slightly shorter loop that includes a lot more dirt roads where it's not a big deal to stop and take pictures. I think they could still steer people into the towns.

If you do the entire loop, it's 92 miles, not counting miles you drove to get there. (We bailed out coming up the west side which was closer to home, so we didn't see the very top portion). This seems a bit long.

Nevertheless, it was a good suggested route. I don't know the Newaygo County back roads as well as Mason, Oceana, and Manistee, so I was happy to have someone else make choices this year.

The color at the southern end of this loop could use a few more days to develop, so if the rain doesn't ruin everything, this should still be pretty this coming weekend or so.

The drive took all of the afternoon. I managed to do a few things in the morning, but this was the big event.

See Color Tour 2024- Part 1

Ice Age Trail

We mainly wanted to put a good number of miles under our tires today. But I had one planned wish, and that was to at least put my feet on the Ice Age Trail. We chose Janesville, Wisconsin, because it was on the way to where we were staying for the night.

I did a total of 0.7 mile. But my 20 minutes had just about everything a trail adventure can provide. Some was dirt, some was paved. A turn wasn't marked and I ended up at a dead end in a golf course. I needed a bathroom (but did find a porta-potty- Lon's Jons, actually). Once I went back and found the turn, I saw this. The Ice Age Trail has yellow blazes.

I followed the blazes down some beautifully made rock steps to the Rock River.

So now I have at least put a foot on 4 national scenic trails. Am I trying for all 11? Probably not; my chances of getting out west are low. But if the opportunity arises, I'll take it.

The day started with a fast look at a place called End-O-Line Railroad Park. We were not there when it was really open. That's probably good, or Diane and I would have seriously wanted to take the tour. It was much more than a village park with an engine. Basically, they are recreating a small village from the past. As far as I'm concerned, the key feature is an old turntable. I've seen some old ones, but never one that still has the rail down in the pit that allows the table to turn.

Here are some of the buildings in their historic village.

I was sadly thinking I was not going to see white pelicans on this trip. But we found some!

And just a quick shot out the window as we crossed to the east side of the Mississippi "where we belong."

Staying with friends for the night. Didn't have to set up the tents!

Hiked 0.7 miles, some of it on the Ice Age Trail.

Miles hiked in 2025: 350.3

See Dignity of Earth and Sky

Dignity of Earth and Sky

We enjoyed a breakfast with Bill and Bob before completely breaking off from all trail people. The Spillway Cafe got a nice amount of business this week from trail folks. We understand they support the trail, so that's great.

Morning light on the bluffs along the west side of the Missouri River was beautiful. The river divides two geologic regions. On the east side is rolling prairie, and on the west are the eroded plateaus of the badlands. They are higher farther west, but you can clearly see the change in geology.

The boys headed east, and we dropped south into South Dakota. Similar landscape, and yet different.

For sure I learned one thing. I had no idea the Missouri River got this wide so soon. I knew it is huge nearer to where it joins the Mississippi, but this is still far north from there.

Our big goal for the day was to see the "Dignity of Earth and Sky" statue at Chamberlain, SD. Apparently, this is not actually a statue of Sacajawea, although it gets called that a lot. It is to symbolize the interaction of earth and sky and people. She represents the dignity of the native people, the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota. (Nakota was new to me)

It's 50 feet tall, made of stainless steel and weighs 12.5 tons.

I thought the back nearly as interesting as the front. The star quilt is a common design used by the plains tribes. Each diamond is 4 feet from tip to tip. The diamonds have air space between them. This is to allow wind to pass through. It also sort of makes the quilt shimmer.

Here's a closer look at her face.

There was also a Lewis and Clark interpretive center there with some really good displays. Maybe you'll get to see some of that another day.

We are striving to get serious miles in each day on the way home. We continued to a campground and tented yet again, getting in just before dark.

See Western Terminus