Snowshoeing at Clark Reservation

In terms of snow, this winter has been kind of a dud so far.  It was warm all through December, and while January finally brought colder weather, sadly, there was still very little snow.  A lake effect storm finally came through early in the week, closing schools Tuesday, and I crossed my fingers that the snow would hold up for the weekend.  Yesterday Frankie and I were outside for a few hours, sledding in the backyard and going on a "heffalump expedition," which was really just a walk through the neighborhood, winding through the playground and the woodlot up behind the house (we trapped several heffalumps, thank you very much).  Cutting across the ball fields at the playground, we discovered that the snow was, in fact, deep enough for snowshoes.  Hurray! 

Three Meadows Trail, Beaver Lake

This was another hike that Erin planned, and I was excited by her trail selection.  As I've mentioned before, there has been a lot of repetition in our hikes at Beaver Lake ever since Frankie became communicative.  He just loves the boardwalk so much it's hard to steer him away from the Bog Trail.  But the other trails are nice, too, and with hunting season still open, the nature center is always a safe bet.  So off we went.  The Three Meadows Trail is varied in scenery, passing through pines and hardwoods, and as the name implies, several lovely meadows. 

Clark in November

On Friday night, I told Frankie I wanted him to check the weather forecast and decide which day this weekend would have better weather for a hike.  This kid has always been obsessed with the weather, checking the 10-day forecasts not just for our area, but for distant places he's traveled.  Place names bookmarked in the weather app became some of his first sight words.  He makes up different weather forecasts for his various toys and imaginary worlds (bunny world, spaceship world, train land).  And he's just recently started writing up and illustrating his own weather forecasts.  Given all that, I suspected he would enjoy this assignment enormously, and he rose to the task, taking his new responsibility quite seriously.  First thing Saturday morning, he scrolled through the hourly forecasts for both days and determined today would be best.

Deep Woods Trail, Beaver Lake

 My mother Mary came to visit for Frankie's first birthday in 2011, and has made it an annual tradition, coming every fall.  She came a week earlier last year, due to a schedule conflict, and got to participate in Halloween festivities, including pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating.  That worked out really well, so we did the same thing again this year.  Obviously any nice visit must include hiking.  Of course!  We walked a portion of the Morningside Cultural Trail one day, at Frankie's insistence - he loves the "secret stairs" behind the community gardens and the water towers, and wanted to show them off.  That turned out to be a fine adventure, since neither Mary or Erin (or Alden!) had been up there before.  We also hiked at Clark Reservation.  Today we wanted to meet up with Erin and Alden again, so decided on Beaver Lake.  It is a good place this time of year, since we don't have to worry about hunters, and closer to her house than some potential destinations.

Camillus Erie Canal Park

When I found out Erin was planning to walk at the Erie Canal Park in Camillus, I decided Frankie and I would join in on the fun.  It was chilly and overcast, but we just layered up.  I've been to several different sections of the canal east of Syracuse, but never to the Camillus side.  The Erie Canal towpaths are flat as a pancake, and the scenery is generally pretty monotonous, so we don't go often.  However, this particular segment was appealing for its novelty, plus it includes a restored aqueduct about a mile from the parking lot that makes for a good destination.  Despite Frankie's protests that he wanted to keep going, we made the aqueduct our turn-around for this hike, as it started raining there.  Erin says the Sims Store Museum is another mile down, so perhaps we'll return another time for a longer out-and-back.  Maybe we'll even see a boat in the aqueduct!

Blue Mountain Fire Tower

After Frankie had so much fun on our hike of Kane Mountain a few weeks ago, I started looking around to find another fire tower we could climb together.  Unfortunately, most of them are too far away to reasonably manage as a day trip, or they are beyond Frankie's current abilities, or in many cases, both.  Blue Mountain seemed like the next logical climb for us, but even that would be a stretch.  The hike is 4 miles roundtrip, with approximately 1,500 feet elevation gain.  Frankie has done that distance several times with little trouble, but has never taken on that much ascent.  He wasn't remotely tired after Kane, so I knew he could handle something more ambitious, but I was still a little unsure about Blue, especially factoring in the almost 3-hour drive just to get to the trailhead.  I had almost decided it would be better to wait until next year, but then we had amazing weather this weekend.  Plus, Frankie's school is closed Monday, so I knew he'd have an extra day to rest if we got home late.

Clark in October

It is a long ways between Michigan and Maine, so when my Mom visits her brother, she'll often break the drive up into two days, stopping here for a brief visit en route.  We didn't see them on their way up this trip, but Mary and Keith were able to join us for dinner last night on their way back home.  Then, since I had the day off from work today, they stayed on for an extra day and we went for a hike together.  They suggested Clark Reservation, albeit somewhat hesitantly, out of concern that I might go too often, but that is never the case!  Plus, I actually haven't been there in a while and was genuinely pleased with the idea.