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| Trail Marker |
It's another beautiful day and I am not getting tired of saying it each morning, as each day is like money in the bank, enjoyed because you know the gray of winter is coming but not yet, so enjoy and live with mindfulness. For me this is quite a trick, as I always focus on the arriving, rarely on the travel: my new mantra...to travel is better than to arrive. Easier said then done.
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| Angie, Eileen, Evonne, Evie, Dave |
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| The Woods |
Anyways, we had a great walk/hike yesterday with five others from various hiking clubs. Eileen, the head of the Chautauqua Hiking Club drove from Buffalo, Angie, a real estate broker and widow, from Erie, and Dave and Evonne, from Ashville, literally are our neighbors, living just south of #86. We met at Topps in Mayville, on a chilly morning, and were hiking by 10:30 on the Frank J. Cusimano Trail, just off of RT. 430. This was only one part of a trail that goes from Lake Erie to Panama, NY, not Central America!
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| Lunch at the Lean To |
It was a beautiful day for a walk, probably in the high 40's or low 50's. It was eight miles total, four in to the lean to, four back out, through forests, occasional creeks, with a trail of leaves, the only sound being that of crushed leaves as we walked. We would group in two's, getting to know each other, then break off, if you wanted solitude, then pair up with someone else, so by the end of the walk, you had gotten to know about everyone. Angie had just gotten back from a hiking tour of the Amalfi Coast in Italy, hiking from one section to another, her bags taking ahead by van. It sounded amazing, fairly rigorous, though she had no trouble. Eileen, the leader, walks two or three times a week, meets friends every Tuesday at 6:00PM for a five mile walk, in the dark now, so they stay on bike paths. Dave and Yvonne are also hikers; they have been all over, are heading to Kentucky for backpacking during Thanksgiving. Yvonne is from Great Britain, works for a biotech firm in Jamestown, travels quite a bit, spending the next two weeks in Kansas City. Interestingly, neither Angie nor Yvonne and Dave have a TV, which we found interesting, giving you some idea of the kind of people who spend most of the day in the woods...they don't care about missing Saturday or Sunday's football games, shows, etc. It was neat to meet people who can live without the tube...I couldn't. In our defense, we don't watch it much during the day, just at lunch, then after dinner.
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| Dave and Me |
As you can see, we got to know each other pretty well; during our lunch, we ended up telling them all about our experience living in Turkey and hopefully, we did not bore them too much...they did seem interested. In fact, Yvonne had been on the southern coast of Turkey to Fethiye, where we had been with our friend Hasan.
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| Trail Paths are Well Kept |
Neither Evie nor I had any problems walking this distance, which was our only worry, just tired legs by the end. Everyone had brought their poles but us, which was a slight disadvantage only when heading up or down a hill. It felt good to be out in the woods, no sounds of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, just the leaves rustling and surprisingly, no birds, either heard nor seen except for one turkey we rousted.
We felt really good about the hike, that we had finally done something we have been wanting to do, and hooked up withe other people. Eileen told us about a hike next Saturday, in Buffalo, along the Gorge of Niagara Falls. At this time of the year, they regulate the water so it's 25% lower than during the summer, thus you are able to walk along the river and falls in areas that were underwater. I guess it's amazing to walk it. One of the things that stuck out was the fact that two of the hikers were from Erie and Buffalo, yet jumped in their car and drove at least an hour for the hike. They mentioned how most people end up not hiking much because they balk at a drive to the hiking spot. For them, it was not a problem, which I admired. Let's see if Evie and I can be so bold, so willing to take up an entire day to hike. We are tempted by the walk along the Gorge, one also along the Niagara River that Eileen talked about which sounded amazing as well. The starting point is right across from the Hard Rock Cafe, so we hone in on it with our GPS.
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| 7:20 |
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| 6:50 |
Today we have little if anything planned; Evie was up early despite the change in time and is upstairs organizing our bedroom. I assume we will go for a walk or kayak or both, now that we are full fledged hikers! It's supposed to warmer the next couple of days, with highs in the 60's, very un November like for Chautauqua.
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