O What A Beautiful Morning and Hiking Overland Trail

6:50

Overland Trail

Woodpecker 

Up at 6:30, the far sky beginning to lighten, the sun not yet peaking over the horizon.  It's warmer today, 35 degrees, a high in the 50's as the weather really does seem to be changing, as spring seems to be  arriving.    Am I tempting the weather gods by saying this?  The lake looks as though it's beginning to break up, as the mottled surface suggests pockets of either ice of water.  We did seem a lone fisherman out off of the Pavilion at Long Point, a brave soul.

What kind of animal made these tracks? Two legged I assume.

Yesterday we went for another hike on the Overland Trail beginning at the parking lot, about three miles out of Mayville, towards Sherman.  We headed north and west, towards the beginning of the trail on Hannum Road, at the entrance to the Chautauqua Gorge.  It was another great day to walk, woods and ground snow covered, though there were lots of ravines to manage, as we continually went up and down small hills, crossed streams (bridge covered) and walked for almost two hours.  I brought my GPS with me, to see how it worked, and at one time, we were at 1600 feet above sea level.  Our house at the lake is about 1281 feet, to give you some idea of the geography around here.

Entrance to Sheldon Trail, home of some of Oldest Maple Trees and The Braver Swamp

We then stopped at a Chautauqua Creek East Branch Preserve, the site of the headwaters of Chautauqua Creek.  We parked just off the road, walked in a bit to a gas well and were not sure of where to go, as there was not a clear trail.  Off to the north, there appeared to be a small lake, perhaps the beginning of the creek, though most of the property looked to be boggy so we did not go much farther and will wait to later to explore it more fully.

For lunch, Evie had made one of my favorites, Turkish lentil soup, and we had avocado sandwiches on her homemade bread.  We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing and decided to attend the Randolph/Salamanca regional final girls' basketball game at Jamestown High School.  We had seen Randolph play volleyball the past two years and loved watching the Maycock sisters, the stars of the team.  They easily defeated Salamanca in a gym about three quarters full.  The sisters were easily the best players.  The local paper had an article about Marah, the senior, on Sunday.  The previous day, Saturday, she had been in Cleveland in the morning/afternoon playing volleyball, came back to Jamestown to play in a regional game on Saturday night, scored 37 points on 7 three pointers, then headed back to Cleveland to continue play for her volleyball team Sunday  Amazing.

Jamestown High School Gymnasium

We overcame the temptation to stop at he Seezurh House for their seasoned french fries after the game, came home to popcorn and watched the election results, listening to the speeches by Gingrich, Santorum, and Romney, the three stooges.  Sorry.