— Please note that Saturday, September 5th, 2015 is Labor Day holiday weekend. —

Perhaps you have an interest in hiking the Bare Hill State Unique Area (SUA), as Springwater Trails has not yet hiked this area.  And perhaps you have an interest in the annual Bare Hill Ceremonial Fire.  Well, if either be the case, you have an option to hike with Victor Hiking Trails (VHT) at Bare Hill SUA on Saturday, Sept 5th, 2015 in the evening. This evening hike starts during daylight hours, and will finish after dark!

⇒ Hike Meet Time and Locale:  Approximately 6:15-6:30PM at the cul-de-sac (deadend) of Van Epps Rd (which is very near the Bare Hill trailhead).

Arrangements of a VHT arranged carpool, are:   VHT designated Carpool will form behind Victor Town Hall, located at 85 East Main Street in Victor,NY (GPS = 42.9821448,-77.4087837 ), with intended leave time of 5:30PM on Saturday 9/5/2015.  PLEASE NOTE, THE 5:30PM TIME IS FOR THE CARPOOL IN VICTOR!!  THERE IS AN ETA OF 6:15PM-6:30PM AT THE VAN EPPS RD CUL-DE-SAC PARKING AREA. (The cul-de-sac is adjacent the gated haul road and trailhead that lead to the top of Bare Hill).  Please note, further down in this hike event announcement are carpool arrangements for Springwater & Naples environs S/T area hikers.

Part parcel of this hike event is supper, ceremonial festivities including viewing lighting of the annual Bare Hill Ceremonial Fire, and viewing of the annual Canandaigua Lake Ring of Fire.

Lay of the land:  Bare Hill, lands publicly owned and held as a NYSDEC State Unique Area (in the nw quadrant of the Town of Middlesex, Yates County), is situate off the eastern side of Canandaigua Lake (about 2/3rds down the distance of the lake from the northern end), and is situate high atop a hill between the lake and NYS Rt 364. Note – because much of the hills’ elevation is reached when driving uphill on roads to reach the trailhead, the trails themselves do not have any steep ascent/decent but are gradual in elevation change and hold relatively little elevation gain/loss.

⇒ Hike Routing and Groups: More adventurous hikers (suitable for S/T Climbers) on this guided hike will hike to Bare Hill via a herd trail (as some would say “rough it”), while the more tame routing (suitable for S/T Naturalists) will be on the haul road which is essentially an old farm road.  Many years ago Bare Hill was farmed as pasture lands.  Hike distance is suitable for S/T Naturalists.   The return hike off Bare Hill will be after sunset, so BRING A FLASHLIGHT OR HEADLAMP for this part of the hike.

⇒ Supper and other details:  What’s for supper while on Bare Hill? is up to the individuals who show up.  Bring what you like, and if you wish to bring enough for sharing that’s fine too.  Don’t forget a beverage, and bring something to sit on as this is a gathering (not just a hike).  There are no picnic tables or facilities of any type here.  Bare in mind (pun intended) this is a VHT planned hike, not a S/T planned hike, so some facets may be a bit different than S/T hikers are used to.   ΟΟ Roll with it, please. ΟO

Of note, a Labor Day weekend Saturday evening Ring of Fire hike on Bare Hill has been on a “hike to do list” for S/T for well over 1-2 years, and being that one of our sister hiking groups facilitated the planning of a hike much as was envisioned for S/T, “seize the opportunity” to join for this hike seemed to be a logical thing to do.

Please consult the VHT website for further details and updates, and/or check the VHT message line for updates (585)-234-8226.

All are welcome to hike with VHT (with no VHT membership required and with no fee, much the same as S/T hikes are set-up). Should you and any other S/T hikers decide to join VHT for this hike and as result gain some expertise in the area, perhaps in the future you could lead a S/T hike at Bare Hill.  Something to consider for sharing with fellow  hikers.  In fact three S/T hikers already have hiked Bare Hill with an eye toward a future S/T hike here.

What vista views will I see while on Bare Hill, you ask?  Well, from the summit of Bare Hill looking directly across the lake (westward), lakeside for the south to the north will be Hicks Point, Seneca Point, Bristol Harbour Marina and Resort.  And higher up from the shoreline directly across the lake, the ridge you will be looking at is the east side of Stid Hill (approximately the northern area of the southern NYS DEC Stid Hill parcel) .  You will see part of one or more of: Hicks Rd, NYS Rt 21, Bills Rd, Stid Hill Rd.    No, you can not see Bristol Mountain Ski Resort even though it is on a westerly line from Bare Hill, because it is on the next hill to the west of Stid Hill and thus is out of view.  (But, maybe at night in season when Bristol Mtn Ski Resort is ablaze with lights you might see the glow of the lights.)  One other view from a trail on Bare Hill a distance away from the summit affords a view looking to the northwest diagonally across Canandaigua Lake. This one is left totally up to you to identify landmarks, albeit one note – possibility that in the distance you may be able to see Fort Hill in Victor near Ganondagan (distance viewing oculars of some variety will be helpful for this one).

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⇒ Driving Directions:   For those who wish to drive directly to the trailhead of Bare Hill SUA, and not carpool in either the VHT or S/T arranged carpools :  The trailhead is directly adjacent the cul-de-sac of Van Epps Road.  The cul-de-sac is utilized as a parking area.  Given sufficient number of vehicles that may converge on the area for a hike to the “ceremonial fire event” some parking may also be necessitated along the shoulder of Van Epps Rd.

Van Epps Rd runs west off Bare Hill Rd.  Bare Hill Rd can be accessed via Town Line Rd at the northern end, and via Co Rd 10 (aka N Vine Valley Rd) at the southern end.   Both these roads run westerly off NYS Rt 364.   {In reaching Bare Hill expect most roadways to be paved, but expect gravel surface (dirt road) on Van Van Epps Rd.}

For those drivers who do not do well with compass directions for routing and turns:   From the north (Canandaigua & environs) on NYS RT 364 as you are heading southbound, turn R onto Townline Rd, turn L onto Bare Hill Rd, & turn R onto Van Epps Rd.   From Springwater area.  S on 15 to Wayland, N on 21 thru Naples. R on 245 to Middlesex, L on 364.  On NYS RT 364 as you are heading northbound, turn L onto Co Rd 10 (aka N Vine Valley Rd).  Be careful not to make this left on S. Vine Valley Rd., which comes first. Turn R onto Bare Hill Rd, & turn L onto Van Epps Rd.   >>>The trailhead parking area is at the cul-de-sac (deadend) of Van Epps Rd.

{For edifice history appreciators, and as point of reference, the historic red brick one room schoolhouse “Overakers Corners Schoolhouse”, located in the Town of Middlesex, Yates County, is situate on the NW corner of NYS Rt 364 & Co Rd 10 (aka N Vine Valley Rd). The schoolhouse has now been restored for utilization as a heritage museum, albeit admission dates and times are very limited.}

⇒ Carpool arrangements for Springwater & Naples environs, as arranged by S/T hiking folks:  This is a progressive carpool, Wayland carpoolers will stop at Naples carpool locale to coalesce a larger carpool and then ultimately head to Bare Hill.

Wayland – Large parking lot behind fire station.  From Springwater, R at light in Wayland.  Entrance is on right, right after 7-11.  Departure time 5 PM.

Naples – Parking lot behind Bob and Ruth’s, N of town.  Departure time 5:30 PM.  Meet and join hikers from Victor at Bare Hill lot.  We’ll probably arrive there before them because if we arrive after, they won’t wait for us.

(Directional Travel Note: It is not difficult to lose your trail of bread crumbs in this remote hilly & windy road area off NYS Rt 364.  So a suggestion, … pay attention to directions and turns, and keep conversing in the vehicle to a minimum once you have turned off NYS Rt 364 and start the hilly and sometimes winding ascent, and be aware there are “blind areas” that come up quickly as result of hills in the road.  The same advice goes for the return trip out to NYS Rt 364.  Note: There really are not many wrong turns that you can make before eventually getting back to NYS Rt 364, so do not fret too much about losing your way, but paying attention when driving in this area definitely can cut down on uncertainty, as can keeping your speed down to increase time for reaction to road changes.  A detailed map of the area and a good (human) navigator is helpful, as well.

GPS Coords:  Van Epps Rd cul-de-sac parking area: Lat/Long coordinates are: 42.746746, -77.302622  This is in the nw quadrant of the Town of Middlesex, Yates County.  ( It is possible if using a GPS unit for directions, you may not want to blindly follow the GPS unit.  You should have some semblance of where you are going, in case your GPS Unit is “confused” in this area (“confused” is to be read as “possibly unreliable in this area”.  Thus, this GPS directional aid section is placed nearly at the bottom of this hike event announcement.)

√ Hike Checklist:  beverage, supper, something to sit on, flashlight, warmer clothing to don after sunset, perhaps distance viewing oculars, perhaps a map to determine what you are looking at in the vistas, perhaps a backpack to carry the aforementioned items.

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[ Also of note – other upcoming VHT hikes of interest to some area hikers:  Saturday, October 10th, 2015 (Columbus Day holiday weekend) is a VHT hike at Keuka Lake Outlet Trail (Penn Yan to Dresden).  Saturday November 14, 2015 is a VHT hike at Boughton Park (this one is figuratively if not literally in VHT’s “back yard”); and Saturday, December 12, 2015  is a VHT hike at Ontario County Park’s new north trails (this one in S/T home range).  All three of these hikes meet for carpool at 9:00AM Saturday morning at Victor Town Hall (rear) parking lot.    VHT Message Line , phone (585)-234-8226 includes info about the next upcoming VHT hike.  note: 234 phone number exchange is a Rochester area exchange. ]