journey up the hill

With blue skies, abundant sunshine, and temperatures hovering around 80 degrees on this early autumn day, Sunday, 14 people and four dogs climbed to the top of Clark Gully, beginning from Sunnyside Road. Waterfalls had slowed to light trickles and the gully floor had scant hydration, but the views of the surrounding hills were exquisite. About three-quarters of the way up, however, a different kind of adventure began.

portion of winding gully

Newton, one of our canine hikers, took off in a flash, down the steep embankment to the gully. After getting no response from Newt, to his calls, Douglas quickly climbed down into the gully to begin a search which would eventually reunite the two in a place located in the middle section of Clark Gully. His search was up and down, back and forth, covering just about the entire gully area, focusing on places the two had previously been to.

area, down below, where Newt was found

Newt was finally located down a steep embankment located between two large waterfalls, where most hikers dare not to tread, and, perhaps that may now include Newt, as well. Luckily for Newt, his owner works for an area fire department and is well-trained in rescue as well as endurance. Upon locating his dog, Douglas climbed up the left then down the right side of a ridge, then was able to coax Newt up the right side, then carried him on his shoulders for a while, back to his car. Newt survived the journey with a sore right front leg but, luckily, nothing worse. Apparently, Newt gets bored if his fellow hikers are going too slowly, and since the two have hiked most of this area many times before, he went off on his own. His owner said Newt preferred the stream/gully hike and just didn’t want to wait for us slow-pokes…so a doozy of a hike for both of them and a happy ending to boot.

black snake

Meanwhile, back on the trail, the rest of us came to rest after an exhilarating (or exhausting – depending on one’s perspective) climb. We had a nice campfire with our social, thanks to Linda, who found some nearby branches to keep the fire fed. Bob, Char and I hiked up to the South Hill parking lot to get food from the cars and on the way saw a large – about 3 foot long – black snake.

Mark, Pam and Mac taking in the view of Naples hills

One of two women, walking near us, that spotted it, mentioned that she’d seen one about 6 feet long, earlier, in the gully…hmm, joining us for the social, perhaps? We then ventured back, meeting creek-walkers Pam and Mark on the way. By that time, sitting down on the cool stone chairs in the Flintstone living room felt wonderful and that glass of wine did, too.

Thanks to all who attended, braving the Naples Grape Festival traffic along the way.

We set up a big challenge for Sunday, with almost a mile of new trail to be cleared and two hundred feet of trail to be leveled. The entire trail was through the woods with very little undergrowth needing to be cleared.  However, there are always branches and small trees to be removed to make are clear trail  And we fully expected the portion that needed leveling to be littered with rocks and roots which could easily require more tools than we had.

Twelve volunteers came Sunday at 2:00.  The sun was out with lots of blue sky and we knew we could get lots done.  Two groups were formed – Linda’s Loppers ready to climb the hill and create a new trail, and Ricks Rakers who wanted to see what could be done to level the existing trail.

Before

Rick’s Rakers got right to work. Rakers first removed the leaves and sticks and stones on the trail.  Then, using a small power cultivator, Rick loosened the ground. Straight logs were found and placed on the down-hill side of the trail and then the soil was raked flat.

After

Now, some gravel or mulch will protect the soil and make a very pleasant trail.

Meanwhile the loppers headed toward the top of the hill to work on the new portion of the trail.  As they approached the new trail, the front came through and the rain started.  Rather than move farther from safety as the rain seemed to be strengthening, the loppers turned around to work on the older portion of the trail.  The rock bridge across the creek was improved and extended across the swampy area near the creek.  When the group connected with the rakers, they pitched right in to complete that task.

So, the trail leveling was very successful but the trail extension will need to wait for better weather.  Thanks to everyone who helped, the Springwater Trail continues to be developed. Gene says that’s worth celebrating!

Kudos to Dena on an exhilarating climb, full of adventure.  Her review of the hike was very colorful. She is quite a good reporter.  Congrats to all who braved the journey.

On a crisp pre-autumn day Sunday,  sixteen people and three canines hiked Stid Hill. Four hikers, led by Gene and Georgia, selected the Naturalist non-climb hike, exploring the fields, replete with lovely wildflowers – but, alas, no mushrooms, down below. The rest of us, including 80-year old Katherine (if I live to that age may I be just like you), hoofed  it all the way up – about 1000 feet – to the hang gliding launch atop the hill. There was a stunning view of downtown Rochester which we got a closer view of thanks to Doug’s binoculars – we could clearly see the downtown Kodak building on State Street. There were plenty of oohs and ahhs amongst the group, and rightly so – in addition to the city view there is an awesome view overlooking Bristol Mountain and the adjoining hills and valley. Several years ago, while sitting with my friend in a hospital room at Strong, he told me that one could see somewhere in Bristol from Rochester. It was always foggy and overcast then but we could see something way off in the distance – I finally found the view from the other direction. As I sat on a bench and glanced around the group I was happy that they were so awed, too. There was something for everyone – the find of the day for one canine hiker was a deer skull with one antler (?) which Newt chomped away at – yummy, apparently.

As we began our descent we were surprised (actually bordering on shock, but since there were several new members with us our fearless leader tried not to come totally unglued) to see that the hot pink blazes on the trees, visible several weeks ago, had vanished (stranger things have happened, really) but thanks to Melissa’s good sense of direction and some recall from a previous hike, combined with Doug’s GPS on his phone, we were soon on our way down the proper trail. Nothing like an added challenge to enhance the experience…All told, it was 5 miles roundtrip of rugged terrain, even climbing on all fours and grabbing onto tree roots for a short time but we all finished with smiles on our faces (or maybe delirium).

Meanwhile, down below, unbeknownst to the rest of us, Gene and Georgia had some time to kill after their hike finished, before our troops arrived down from up above. Luckily, Joan, Bob  and Tippi arrived around 4:30 and Bob called me to make sure we hadn’t decided to spend the night up there. Once at ease, he rested, after a grueling day of taking down some trees, and Joan and Tippi did some hiking up the hill.

Our well-deserved and delicious beer and brats were very welcome at the after-hike social which was held at Brew and Brats, down the road in Bristol Springs. We sat outside, to dine alfresco, possibly for the last time this year…

Welcome to a few new faces and welcome back to some whom we had not seen in quite a while. It was a great hike, a fun group and the best-attended Stid Hill hike to date. Thanks much to all who attended and thanks, Douglas, for your lovely photos. Cheers!