Sunday October12 we will once again visit East Hill Farm in Middlesex, home of the Rochester Folk Art Guild (RFAG), for their annual Apple Festival. The Guild will present their usual line-up of craft demonstrations in the studios, home cooked food, live music, and craft sales at the Gallery, plus an architectural tour of the RFAG resident-designed buildings. The Festival is from 11 to 5 both Saturday and Sunday; come for our hikes starting at 2, or come earlier to take in the demonstrations, feed the alpacas and have lunch. Beginning at 2pm we will offer 2 hikes of different lengths through the Guild’s 350-acre hilltop farm and woodlot, then return to enjoy the festival and our optional social (see details below). RFAG is a 50-year plus community of craftspeople, producing fine quality handmade products in wood, pottery, fabrics, paper, toys, books and more. For more information about the Guild and the Festival see https://www.folkartguild.org/events/open-house-and-apple-festival/
Please arrive by 1:45 to join our hikes hiking starting at 2 PM. Park on the road shoulder at 1445 Upper Hill Road, Middlesex (directions below). We will convene at the side of the East Hill Gallery, the first building on the left as you come in the driveway. If you wish, feel free to spend the afternoon enjoying the scheduled RFAG programs instead of the hike, and join us afterwards for the social.
Climbers will head south through the Guild’s farm and neighboring properties, looping through woods and mowed fields to the Golden Valley, named for its fall color and views to the east across Italy Valley. We will return through the woods past a pond and sauna and pass the eclectic array of residential buildings, studios and gathering places, designed and built by community members over their 50 years of occupancy at the East Hill Farm. Total distance is about 2.5 miles to allow time for hikers to visit the workshops afterwards. Tourists and Naturalists will make a shorter loop of about 1 mile. Trails are gently sloped and well cleared. As a hunting season precaution, please bring some bright colored outerwear, along with water, poles and good hiking boots.
Social: We will convene after the hike for the social on the grounds of the Guild’s main farmhouse. Instead of the usual dish-to-pass social, this will be a bring-or-buy-your-own-meal social, with the option of buying from from the Guild’s kitchen, which will be selling soup, salads, quiche, homemade cider and other beverages, local apples, and desserts throughout the day until supplies run out. To ensure you get your preferred food choices, we recommend that you come early, no later than 1:30, and place an order in the dining room for food to be picked up after the hike. Benches and tables are provided, but bring a lawn chair if you have one, as a precaution.
Directions: from Springwater/Naples: Take Route 15 south to Wayland and Route 21 east/north to Naples. Turn right on Route 245 opposite Bob’s and Ruth’s Restaurant, at the north end of the village. Follow Route 245 north to Middlesex, about 8.75 miles. Turn right on Route 364 and go up the hill, one mile. Turn right on Upper Hill Road and go 1.5 miles. East Hill Farm will be on your left, at #1445. Park on the road shoulder and walk in the driveway to the Gallery building, the white house on your left.
From points north: Head to Routes 5 and 20 via Bloomfield or Canandaigua. At the east edge of the City of Canandaigua (first light after Wegmans/Post Office), turn south on Route NYS Route 364 (a.k.a. East Lake Road). Follow Route 364 south 12.5 miles to Middlesex, where 364 turns to the east and you will make a left onto Route 245 and then an immediate right to continue on 364. Go up the hill, one mile. Turn right on Upper Hill Road and go 1.5 miles. East Hill Farm will be on your left, at #1445. Park on the road shoulder and walk in the driveway to the Gallery building, the white house on your left.