For the first time, Springwater Trails visited Cumming Nature Center on Gulick Road for our hike yesterday.  Although Saturday was frigid cold, with a blizzard out east, 21 hikers came.  It was a relatively warm January day and a very pleasant hike.

There are a multitude of trails set up around the center, with additional ski trails available during the winter.  With only an inch of snow on the ground, the trails have not been opened for skiing, but that just made hiking easier.

Our first trail led to the beaver pond. The beavers have left, now that the trees are too large for the little guys to cut down, but the pond remains.

After the pond, we followed the red trail up to the wilderness trail. These woods are being logged, so several new logging trails were open.  This confused our route, resulting is several group discussions on the right way to go.  Fortunately, with the help of a compass, the maps regularly spaced on the trails, and simple signs pointing toward the visitor center, we enjoyed a hike and arrived back at the center at 3:59.

The yellow Beaver Pond trail passes through a beautiful grove of Red Pines, reminding us of the Cathedral Pines on Katherine’s tree farm. Please indulge me, if I think they are worth two pictures.

Following the hike, 15 of us enjoyed dinner at the Vallley Inn in Honeoye.

Over 25 hikers attended the Springwater Trails hike on the old railroad bed between Becker Road and Depot Road in the southwest corner of Springwater.  This hike was followed by our Holiday Social at All Western Evergreen Farm.

The Rochester Branch of the Erie Railroad ran from Corning to Rochester, through Wayland, Springwater, Livonia and Avon. The map above is from Atlas of Livingston Co. New York published by F. W. Beers & Co., 1872, and shows the route of the railroad through Springwater. You can click on the map to see a higher resolution image.

We started on Becker Rd and hiked through section 187 on the map and the north end of Lawrence Gull.  The old railroad bed is on private property, and Rick was able to get permission from the various land owners, making this a very special hike.

The railroad bed runs along the side of the hill between Lawrence Gull and Harpers Ferry Roads.  The bed is on a level route about 1400ft above sea level, but the land is much more interesting, with gullys filled in for the railroad and cuts through the hill.  With no leaves on the trees, the forests were open for us to see.

This rail bed would definitely make a wonderful part of the Springwater Trail.  This hike has encouraged us to pursue this possibility. Any landowners interested in allowing Springwater Trails, Inc. to mark a trail open to the public, please contact us for more information.

The Climbers started hiking at the McTighe pond, and climbed out of the valley to the rail bed. The McTighes have graciously allowed our group to hike on the rail bed in the past, and they remember freight trains passing through Springwater. After hiking to the northern-most point of the hike, the climbers turned around and met the Tourists.  The dogs were excited to say hello.

Join us next Sunday at Harriet Hollister Spencer Recreation Area. Days are getting longer already, so next Sunday sunset is 4 minutes later than this past hike (note that the day is only 1 minute longer, because sunrise is also later).

Thanks to John’s hike planning and his influence with the weather, we enjoyed a great hike along the  top of the Letchworth Gorge and in the forest and gulleys above the gorge.

The hikes were mostly on well maintained dry trail, which was newly blazed and marked with mile markers.  Near the end of the tourist’s hike, we did run into some wet mud, which Duffy thought was great.

The Climbers carpooled from the Mt Morris Dam parking area to Access Pt D on River Rd.  From there, they hiked about 5 miles back to the Dam.

The Tourists carpooled to Hog’s Back Overlook, and hiked south to Access Pt D.  At the halfway point, we met the climbers and got the keys to their cars, for the ride back.  The Tourists started with a good view of the gorge at Hog’s Back, and then went by four more vantage points, with each view getting more interesting. Duffy was very good about not chasing any animals over the edge of the gorge, because Pati said she wasn’t going down to rescue him.

Meanwhile, the Naturalists left from the Dam and hiked out past Hog’s Back and then turned around and returned to the cars.

This was definitely a winter hike, with no undergrowth or leaves blocking our views.  We all enjoyed the various trees that we passed, including this old man’s face taken by Char. Be sure to look at Tony’s pictures posted in the Springwater Trails group on Facebook..

Following the hike, ten hikers met at the Charred American Grill in Mt Morris for burgers and beer – including a delicious Black Bean Burger that Pati enjoyed.