For this hike, Frankie and I ventured to a section of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT) that follows the Link Trail along the old Lehigh Valley Railroad. I parked at Nelson Road, and we hiked west and then south to the bench for a picnic lunch. From there, Frankie decided we should walk over to the railroad sign for a quick visit, and after that, we returned back the way we came. This route is a slightly shorter variation of a similar solo hike I did two years ago, when I continued on past the railroad sign to Quarry Road so I could enjoy the spring wildflowers in the forested section past the railroad sign. No wildflowers out there today! It's the winter that refuses to quit, which is actually what led us here: there is still snow in the hills south of Syracuse where the NCT follows the Finger Lakes Trail, and we've reached the point of being done with all that. Plus, Frankie has done both the adjacent sections, so this hike filled in a gap for him.
It was cold today, with high temperatures forecast in the 20s. I didn't want to make Frankie wear his snowpants in April, with no snow on the ground, so we settled for lined Carhartts with wool long johns underneath (wool long underwear for me, too) and warm winter coats for both of us. We were fine most of the time, but this hike is fairly exposed and the wind was blowing fiercely at times.
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| Harp Road crossing |
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| grape vine fun |
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| the sun almost came out, haha |
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| green! something green! |
As we approached the bench where we'd planned to eat lunch, the wind was roaring and we encountered the only big patch of snow. It suddenly felt much colder, and even started snowing. Not the best picnic weather, really.
Frankie is laughing here, but was getting too cold eating. After he snarfed down the sandwich, we decided to walk some more to warm up, and look for a more sheltered spot to finish lunch.
I was excited to find this benchmark on the way back, with a sign advertising its presence. I've never seen that before, despite having just walked by within the hour (and having walked this same route both out and back in 2016). In defense of my apparently weak powers of observation, it is not immediately next to the trail, and is quite near a residence, so I was likely focused on moving quickly when I passed through before. Or encouraging Frankie to do so. And yes... those are burdocks, and yes.... "we" did get into them. Shocking, right?
We did find a more sheltered scrubby area in which to finish lunch, complete with a log bridge that Frankie traversed to get to the seating area (and back to the trail again afterwards).
We haven't been out hiking much lately due to a cycle of plagues circuiting through the family, so despite the ridiculous temperatures and gloomy skies, it felt great to get out. This is a good hike for shoulder season, when there is no danger of encountering snowmobiles or their grooming. I'm definitely looking forward to spring though.
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