Hiking NY: Backpacking the Letchworth Section of the Finger Lakes Trail

Last weekend I took Brad (and my hiking buddy Ken) on his first backpacking trip! We did a section of trail that I've done before, but this time we stayed in a shelter along the way. We hiked 8 miles on Saturday and got to the shelter around 4pm. Then on Sunday we got up early and hiked another 5 miles to the car. Everything went great!

I set up my tent for Bradley to sleep in, as well as for my changing quarters! The days were very hot and humid, and the night didn't cool down very much.

When we got the the shelter (which I had reserved), there was already a group of people there with tents set up and a fire going! They seemed nice enough, and didn't know you were supposed to reserve the shelter for use. Since they were going to sleep in their tents, we were fine with them staying. I told them the only issue might be with their car since we had to leave a parking pass on ours. If they didn't have permission to park overnight, their car may get towed. It turns out that was enough to scare them off, so they actually packed up and left!

We cooked hobo dinners in the fire, then roasted marshmallows as we waited for the sun to go down. 9pm is backpacker's midnight, so we hit the hay early and tried to get some sleep. Shortly after dinner, a police officer showed up on an ATV asking if we had seen a tree on fire. He came back again later on, so we aren't sure if there actually was a tree on fire somewhere.

We had hoped that starting early on Sunday we would beat the heat, but unfortunately that was not the case and even at 8am it was already mid 70s with high humidity again. An occasional breeze helped cool us off, and before we knew we were back at the car!

This weekend I am off for yet another adventure, so check back soon!

Hiking NY: Backpacking a Section of the Finger Lakes Trail

I took my first backpacking trip of the season last weekend with 2 friends and we had a great time! We did a section of the Finger Lakes Trail in central southern NY. We hiked through the Klipnocky and Bully Hill States Forests, staying one night in a lean to (my first time!)

Total of 14.3 miles and 1975ft elevation gain. We started at the top and headed south.

This is my gear for the trip (minus clothes). After I loaded everything into my pack for the trip--including 2L of water--I am VERY proud to say my pack weight was 23lb!! This is a new low for me, especially considering just a year and half ago on my very first trip my pack weight was over 40lb. On my last trip I believe it was around 28lb, and even just 5lb less I could tell a difference in how my body felt carrying it several miles.

There wasn't really any "parking" for the trail access points. I parked on the side of the road somewhere, and Courtney parked on the grass at the other end and climbed over an electric fence and started hiking through someone's farm fields!

We had perfect weather that day and great views of the hillside. Courtney signed us in at all the trail registers we came across. Evidently we were right behind "Mac" for our hike. He had signed in right before us each time, but was heading for a different lean to.

We didn't see another soul on the trail, and had the shelter all to ourselves! It was right next to a creek and that made for a very nice background that evening. We all 3 set up our beds in the shelter, then collected firewood to get a fire going.

We all brought our stoves, and cooked dinner together on our "table". Kate harvested some wild ramps (onions) that we diced up with our knives and added to our meals. Yum!

9pm is backpacker's midnight, so we enjoyed watching the fire burn while the sun set as we settled down for bed.

We took our time getting around the next morning and after breakfast and coffee we hit the trail again for another 7 miles. The trail started out with some major elevation gain!

Kate has a geology degree, and found this awesome rocks with fossil imprints to show us in a creek!

After a few miles we found a nice big fallen log in the forest for us to rest and get lunch on! Nothing better than a bbq pulled pork sandwich on the trail!

A couple of miles from the end, some rain moved in and a light showers cooled us off the rest of the way back to the car. It was neat to watch the clouds moving through the hills and valleys.

We had a great time and felt accomplished after finishing the trail in good time!

Check back soon...I have more adventures coming!

Mother's Day and Catching Up

This past Sunday was Mother's Day, and I was showered with gifts from my boys! Jacob's teacher helped him make a bookmark, card with a picture, an About Me, and a colored teapot with a bag of green tea. Bradley colored a frame for me with a nice picture in it. Nick got me some chocolates and 2 herbal bath salts!

I got my own little trinket to help with the impending warm days!

Spring is here, and that means gardening! I've been hard at work in my flower beds and rose garden trying to bring them to life and keep up with the weeds. I am also able to start harvesting some herbs! Here I have plantain and purple dead nettle drying to use in salves.

Here is my rose garden. The roses have all been pruned and are just now waking up. While they wake up, I get to enjoy the daffodils and tulips!

Lots of pretty violets from the yard.

And of course my Cuddles. He's such a cheeseball.

I haven't said much about it....but I am now officially unemployed! For a few weeks at least. In a nutshell, my ICU is closing and we all got divided up between different hospitals. Instead of continuing to commute 50+ miles each way to Buffalo, I opted to take a layoff/resign. That's where it gets interesting....

My original plan was to just enjoy the summer off then look for a more local job maybe in August. Well shortly after my job announced they were closing, I saw a post in a Facebook hiking group I'm in looking for staff for a summer camp in the Adirondacks. That included a camp nurse! How coincidental. Long story short I replied to the ad, and I am now the summer Health Center Director this year the Woodcraft Camp in Old Forge, NY. How exciting!! The camp is 8 weeks long, but I will miss 3 weeks in July for a family vacation we already had planned.

I had already intended to spend a lot of time this summer hiking and backpacking, so now I still get to do that, plus earn money! It will almost be a vacation since my room and meals are covered, PLUS the boys get to go to camp for FREE for 2 weeks! We are all very excited. I will of course take pictures and post updates.

Stay tuned, I've got a summer full of fun scheduled!