Hiking Zoar Valley, Joining The Gowanda Slovenian Club

Hiking In The Zoar Valley

Joining The Gowanda Slovenian  Club

Amish Clothes Dryer (to telephone pole)

7:50

It's still dark as I start my blog earlier than usual because I have breakfast at 8:00.  I can hear the rain hitting the roof, the swing of the bird feeder from the wind.  It's 36º and I assume in some areas, they may  get some snow.  I know that it got down to 28º in the Ellington area yesterday because the apples were frozen at a farm stand where we stopped.  It looks like a miserable day outside, a good day to get some things done inside.

Yesterday we had a plan, to drive 50 miles to the town of Gowanda, near Persia, and hike the Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area, which surrounds the Cattaraugus River.  We left around 10:00, thinking we would get there by 11:00 but we decided to take our time on The Amish Trail, and stopped a couple of times, for some vegetables, than at a quirky antique shop, with one room after another, across from a huge mill.  Evie was looking for a cookie jar but we ended up with two paintings, on wood, one of a rooster, the other a farm scene.  I am sure you can find the same picture in antique shops all over New York.  In other words, they are not originals but we liked them.  And we did not find a cookie jar as the proprietor told us a woman came in last week and bought 8 of them.

Fall Colors

Along The Amish Trail

It was a lovely day for a ride, through a part of New York which we had never traveled so we enjoyed it, going through towns like Leon, Ellington and Persia.  When we got to Gowanda, a fairly prosperous looking town, we stopped at the Greek diner on the corner, the Olympia, thinking we might eat there later.  It was a the center of the town, across the street from the solid stone Persia Bank.  We were going to hike the Deer Lick Conservation Area, a few miles out of town, and as we headed out, we passed a brick building with a sign that said The Slovenia Club.

Our Club

Inside The Club

Slovenia

Well, we had to stop to see what it was, talked with a couple standing outside (he was the local judge), and they encouraged us to go inside when we told them Evie was Slovenian.  So we did and found a bar filled with patrons at noon, a couple of women sitting at a table selling some kind of gambling tickets.  We struck up a conversation with them, and ended up joining the club for thirty bucks.  We got a token for a free drink for joining and said we would be back after our hike.

Trees Entangled With Vines

More Vines

Looking At The Top Of A Tulip Tree

Tulip Trees

We found the parking lot of our hike, and there were multiple trails.  We decided to take the White Trail, out to the tip, overlooking the Gorge and the Cattaraugus River.  I thought it would be a round trip of six miles but it ended up only being around four.  It was, however, a great hike, much of it along a ridge line overlooking the Gorge.  The trail was covered with leaves, of course, the colors of the woods still striking and the trail was fairly easy to follow.  Some of the oldest trees in New York State are found in Zoar Valley, one is a 156 foot tall Tulip Tree.  We saw many trees like it but were not sure where it stood.  We ended up at the end of the ridge, overlooking the river, with only a partial view because of the trees.

Lunch At End Of White Trail, Deer Lick

We had walked over an hour before stopping for our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and we were hungry because it was around 1:30.  The trail is shaped like a lasso at the end of a rope, a long walk, then a loop and we ate our lunch mid way on the loop.  We were tired when we  got back to our car and it was good to sit down.  Just as we were leaving a couple, an infant, and another woman were about to start a seven miler.  We wondered if they would get back before  dark but they did not seem worried, having hiked it before and they had a head lamp just in case.

Cattaraugus River

Photo From Hog's Back

We then drove to another trail, about two miles from Deer Lick called the Valentine Trail.  It was a half mile hike through woods, taking a right where the trail diverged, out to Hogs Back, with spectacular views of the Gorge and river.  It was, however, walking out on the hogs back, perhaps six feet wide, over tree roots, just to get a photograph.  I had to literally crawl out it was so scary, with shear hundred foot drops on both sides.  Next time, we will take the trail to the left, which I have heard leads down to the bank of the Cattaraugus River.

Valentine's Point

We then drove into town and stopped at the Slovenian Club, to get our free beer.  We sat at the bar with ten other patrons and talked with the bartender, a woman who has worked there for 28 years.  She told us all about the club, the town, how when the tannery and glue factory closed, many in the town lost their jobs so its been tough going the past decade.  Lots of Slovenians settled in this area sixty or seventy years ago but there are not many left.  The board has to be Slovenian but anyone can join, so there are lots of other nationalities, mostly from Europe.  They serve dinners on Wednesday and Friday, bar food on Saturday and Sunday, an a polka festival and picnic the first weekend in August. We don't want to miss that.  We sat there for an hour sipping a beer and enjoying some hand cut fries. According to Evie they were an A plus.

Good Night In Slovenian

We then drove through Fredonia, then home and we drove into our parking area just as it was getting dark, the end to a really great day.  Who would have thought we would end up with two paintings and a membership to the Gowanda Slovenian Club.  Fortunately, we had chicken parmesan leftover from Tuesday, so Evie heated it up and made a salad and we had a good dinner.  We watched some of the Indians game  but switched when it looked like they would lose and watched the rest of THE CIRCUS on Showtime before going to bed.

Tomorrow, we are driving to Bristow, VA, to spend the weekend with our daughter Jill and her family, so today we will be busy, getting ready for our trip.  And I need to get the oil changed on my Subaru and a safety check, so I will do that after yoga, a busy morning.