Tramp & Trail

Write-up: Hugh Mason and Jan Fellenz
Leader: Hugh Mason
Co-Leader: Jan Fellenz

Thirteen Tramps and a helpful Carpenter Road loving non-Tramp spent several hours doing trail maintenance on the Carpenter Road ski/hike/snowshoe trails that the club has helped maintain for many years. The weather gods smiled on us, providing comfortable temperatures and no rain despite a bit of spitting encountered on the drive to the site. Two groups covered either 4 or 6 miles of trail, leaving them vastly improved via their efforts by tossing, trimming and sawing. Jan and Hugh will return and replace intersection maps before the ski season so that navigation is never in doubt.

We were especially lucky to have John Gilbert participate in the cleanup as he lead the very first Tramp and Trail maintenance at Carpenter Road and performed admirably as trail steward for many years. John’s encyclopedic recollection of past outings at Carpenter Road made a great day even more enjoyable.

Thanks to all who came out and enjoyed a productive day with us.

Jan & Hugh

Write-up: Dianna Morris
Leader: Dianna Morris
Co-Leader: Madonna Fellows

Popple Pond State Forest located in Boonville and Forestport was the original destination for this day’s outing – until I pre-hiked it, spoke with a DEC ranger who also happened to be out in the woods that day, and was informed that he would highly recommend we not hike the forest that close to hunting season as many new, young hunters use the forest to get used to their guns! I took his advice.
A group of about 30 Tramps met up in Mapledale and took off for the Trenton Greenbelt trails. Fortunately, Don Fellows and Mark Decker were more familiar with these trails than I was or we might still be wandering around! The logging that was done since I was last on these trails several years ago which resulted in what looked like trails going hither and yon would surely have succeeded in getting me lost.

It was a gorgeous, sunny, but cool day to be out hiking. Of course, one Tramp who was not willing to concede to the cooler temps showed up in shorts and might have had goosebumps as a result on his legs. It as much cooler in the woods than out in the sunny parking lot!
Don started us off by suggesting we reverse the normal hike on the trails, so we went down the steep hill we normally walk up at the end of the hike. There was much talk about the coming cross-country ski season and how nice it is to ski on the trails…until we came around a bend to find a tree across the trail at chest height and all were happy to not be wearing skis at that point! We meandered onward, eventually coming back to the road – and then were very thankful to allow Mark Decker to take over to lead us back along the trail and then back into the woods. Mark really knows those trails! We finished off the hike by then ascending the steep part of the trail we had started off on. It was such a beautiful day and the parking lot was so bright and sunny that many lingered a bit to enjoy talking, eating local- grown kiwis contributed by Lorrie Wasielewski and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies contributed by the hike leader.

Write-up: Dianna Morris
Leader: Dianna Morris
Co-Leader: Greg Sipp

Thirty-seven (!!!) of us took off on a nice autumn morning to hike the Woodhull State Forest trail. Since we walked along a groomed, two-way snowmobile trail, this made for easy hiking and socializing.

There is one steep hill on this trail, otherwise the trail is relatively flat. With only one minor incidence of exhaustion on the part of a first-time hiker (who recovered quickly after she got off the trail), we all had a pleasant walk in the woods. We made it out to our cars and enjoyed caramel apple oatmal cookies just before it began sprinkling.

Woodhull State Forest was acquired by NTS in 1955. There are unmaintained skid trails in the 567-acre forest that make me think this might be a nice map and compass/bushwhack forest to explore on another Tramp outing, but the snowmobile trail is the only maintained trail. This is a nice, easy trail to keep in mind for a close-to Mapledale hike, but I would not suggest using it for winter activity unless you want to constantly be dodging off the trail to avoid the snowmobile traffic. As far as I can find out, this as the first time the Tramps have hiked in this forest.