(Hiking Patterson Trail in Allegheny Forest)

6:45

Up later than usual, 6:45, as the sun has already risen, filling the living room with light.  It's 33 degrees outside though I just heard on the radio there was a frost warning,  perhaps in Buffalo but not here at at the lake.  It's supposed to be partly cloudy today and it's already quite windy.  I assume I will go to yoga this morning, Evie will work out, rather than hike.

Trail Map

Enjoying the hike

We Discover the Trail is Not a Loop

Mostly leafless Woods at 2200 feet, the Start of our Hike

Yesterday was one of the great spring days here at the lake, sunny, clear, just a bit of crispness in the air.  We had decided on Saturday to hike the Allegheny Forest Sunday because it was supposed to be a beautiful day.  We left at 9:00, drove for about 40 miles, to the Cross Country Ski Area where many of the trails begin.  We seemed to be the only one's around surprising us, and during our two hour hike, we never saw a soul.  We decided to walk the Patterson trail, supposedly 3.2 miles but I did not look at it very carefully, just assuming it was a loop.  About 2.5 miles out, there was a sign to the Patterson/Bova parking area which made me take out my map and realize that this trail was not a loop but a route from one parking area to another.  We had walked 2.5 miles at this point, all a gentle downward slope, perhaps 600 feet total in descent.  So, we reversed out course, and spent the next hour walking back to our parking area, all up hill, alas.  Actually, it was  gradual enough that we made it easily though we both had a good laugh at what would have happened if we had not realized the Patterson Trail was not a loop. The trail itself was great, about 15 feet wide, as it wound it's way down going, up returning.  Lots of branches and small trees were down and when we could, we moved them.  When we started out, the trees were just buds, little if any leaves apparent, just as they seemed to be a month ago when we hiked this area.  Spring had hardly begun as we at an altitude of 2200 feet.  As we wound out way down the trail, the woods became a bit greener, as we descended to about 1600 feet, thus it was warmer and spring was further along.  We saw no animals, heard hardly a bird, and saw no one until we returned to the parking lot when we talked briefly to another couple who was heading out.  It was a great morning for our five mile, two hour hike, well worth the drive.

We took a different route home, driving down to the Onoville Marina, on Kinzua Reservoir since we had never driven down there before.  It's a huge marina, with a couple of hundred dock spaces for boats though it was not yet open.  It would be a great lake to boat on or fish.  We want to come back and hike this area later in May, perhaps when spring has sprung.  We drove back past the Nic L Inn, to Jamestown, then took the Baker Street extension to Ashville and home.

First Sighting of an Evening Grosbeak

We got home around 1:30, had a spinach and feta cheese omelet for lunch, then Evie worked in the garden some, and I read then went for a kayak ride down as far as Sandy Beach.  It was windy on the lake, and I had to fight my way back.  The reeds I mentioned over a month ago, which were sprouting near Giarizzos',  have disappeared, probably as a result of the snow and freezing nights.

We had the left over chicken and rice for dinner, some raspberry pie a la mode for dessert, watched a couple of episodes of The Good Wife, then Mad Men till 11:00 when we went to bed, a great day.