Winter is a great time to hike. When wetlands are frozen, it is possible to hike places that you can’t visit in warm weather. With all of the undergrowth buried under snow, you can see new views under the trees. And, of course, there are no bugs.
It is time to plan our winter hikes. First, we looked for a hike coordinator to collect the hike plans and track them through the season. This position earns the coordinator a full year membership in Springwater Trails, Inc. Rick Henchen has volunteered to be our Winter Coordinator. You may contact him at [email protected].
Everyone is invited to plan a hike. There are 13 Sundays this winter.
January 18 is the date of the Mendon Ponds Winter Fest. Don is working on plans so that Springwater Trails will have a presence at the park and Melissa will plan a hike for that same afternoon. Lots of fun winter activities so you may want to plan to go early, look around, and help Don man the Springwater Trails display. Send Don a message if you can help out that day.
Gene has offered to plan a winter hike on the Ontario Pathway in Canandaigua. Melissa will do a similar hike/ski/shoe on the Greenway Trail in Mt Morris or in Avon on February 15th.
On March 15, we will be holding our Springwater Trails, Inc, annual meeting at the social after the hike. The Springwater Trails, Inc. officers will plan that hike based on where we decide to have the annual meeting.
March 22 and 29th are the two weekends of New York State Maple Weekend. We will have our regular 2:00 hikes on Sundays, even if Springwater Trails is serving a pancake breakfast for Maple Weekend.
Please note that the schedule below is still preliminary. If you would like to plan a hike but all dates you can do are taken, please contact Rick in case he can adjust the schedule.
| Date | Description | Planner |
| Jan 4, 2015 2:00PM | Boughton Park | Douglas |
| Jan 11, 2015 2:00PM | Canadice Outlet | Pam |
| Jan 18, 2015 2:00PM | Mendon Ponds – following Winter Fest | Melissa |
| Jan 25, 2015 2:00PM | Burning Springs, Bristol | Char & Linda |
| Feb 1, 2015 2:00PM | Hike, snowshoe, ski – Ontario Pathways, Canandaigua | Gene |
| Feb 8, 2015 2:00PM | Liberty Pole Rd | Katherine, Carol |
| Feb 15, 2015 2:00PM | Hike, snowshoe, ski – Greenway Trail, Mt Morris or Avon | Melissa |
| Feb 22, 2015 2:00PM | A family hike at Letchworth winter lodge | Rick |
| Mar 1, 2015 2:00PM | Harper’s Ferry and Devil’s Slide | TBD |
| Mar 8, 2015 2:00PM EDT | Day hike Niver Rd to Canadice Lake via Rob’s Trail | Mark |
| Mar 15, 2015 2:00PM | Springwater Center followed by ST Annual Meeting | Don |
| Mar 22, 2015 2:00PM | Erie Canal Towpath – Macedon, NY | Gene |
| Mar 29, 2015 2:00PM | Wheaten Hill Trails | TBD |
So, check your calendar, pick a date, select a hike and make a phone call or send an email to [email protected]. The winter hike coordinator will then put together a schedule.