NCT: Bardeen Road to Rowley Hill Road

With the madness of the holidays finally behind us, Frankie and I set out for a hike on the Onondaga Trail, just the two of us.  In order to earn the patch for completing the Onondaga Trail, the entire trail must be hiked within five years.  Since Frankie hiked several sections in 2016, this would be his last calendar year to complete the trail, if he wanted to count those sections.  This is not something he has been actively pursuing over the years.  However, the realization made him want to hike a new section today, and I wasn't about to complain about that.  We got a late start, not heading out until after lunch, so I picked a short section, parking in the NYSDEC lot on Bardeen Road and hiking west. 

After a very short roadwalk, the trail enters private property, passing through a spruce plantation and then zig-zagging along field edges, where old crusty drifts of snow had blown through a hedgerow.

Then we came to a section of bog bridges, which I remembered from my first hike through here with Erwin, and knew Frankie would enjoy.  He managed to avoid merely walking on them, deploying various alternate techniques such as army crawling and frog hopping -- always the path of most resistance. 

Same thing when we came to a small patch of blowdown blocking the trail along a creek crossing.  It was simple enough to go around/over the down trees, much too simple for Frankie.  He decided to slide down the little hill, going under the blowdown.  Why didn't I think of that?  Ha!  He had so much fun with that he had to re-enact it over and over, while I admired the funky ice formations in the stream. 

We finally pressed on, crossing more bog bridges and following more field edges, until we eventually crossing into Morgan Hill State Forest.  It had been overcast at home and snowed most of our drive to the trailhead, so the blue sky that emerged briefly was a welcome treat. 

The sun was getting pretty low when another cloud bank re-engulfed the blue sky and we reached Rowley Hill Road, which was our planned turnaround point. 

Rowley Hill Road, looking north

Rowley Hill Road, looking south

After turning back, we just had to retrace our step back the way we came.  It should have been quicker, being mostly downhill on the hike back, but all the same distractions attractions were present.  Frankie had to cross and re-cross this creek multiple time, just for fun. 

And then he acquired some stick friends... always a trail hazard. When he realized I wasn't going to be enlisted to carry them for him (solid nope) he decided to find a good spot for them to have a party, remembering a specific location from our hike in, next to a fallen log he enjoyed climbing. 

stick party

hill rolling

This was a perfect Sunday afternoon hike for us.  MapMyRide tracked the out-and-back hike at 4.8 miles roundtrip with over 800 feet elevation gain.  It was such a treat hiking just me and my boy!