Charlie Major Nature Trail

Mottville Arch Bridge

Today since the weather is Indian Summer perfect, I decided to use Rich & Sue Freeman's Take Your Bike! Family Rides in the Finger Lakes Region as a guide and walk the Charlie Major Nature Trail. Using the converted Old Short line rails, this trail is a 45-minute hike runs from Old Crow Road right behind O'Neil Lane in Mottville to the east side of Mill Road just north of Old Seneca Turnpike.

This land was donated to Town of Skaneateles by Jack and Irene Bryant who were both murdered while hiking in North Carolina. Jack was Skaneateles town attorney for 26 years.

There are 4 geocaches ( GC17Z7B - GCPVKM - GCNRRF - GCG3F4 ) to be found along this path. Actually found the Mottville Arch Bridge cache (GC17Z7B) after walking the trail.

Using the the coordinates below I drove to the parking area.

Location - N42° 58.386 - W76° 26.640

Parking - A parking area on Crow Hill Road near the corner of Railroad Street and Skaneateles Creek, marked with a wooden "Charlie Major Nature Trail" sign.

Note - clicking on photos enlarges them.

The trail sign at the trailhead.



From the parking area on Crow Hill Road, headed southeast on the trail.



The Skaneateles Creek was on my right running parallel to the trail. Skaneateles Creek flows northward from Skaneateles Lake into the Seneca River.



Crossed a wooden/steel bridge over the creek.



There is a deep water hole to the right of the bridge.




Before coming to a brick shed took a side trip on a trail to my left. This trail heads uphill to O'Neil Lane, passed a dam, and crosses the old mill race of Mottville Woodworking Factory.

The dam in the creek to my right.



This is the original site of saw and grist mills. In 1857 the Earll Tallman Distillery was built to produce cologne and alcohol. In 1882 the distillery was converted to a paper mill and became known as Lakeside Paper Company.

The spill way at the Lakeside Paper Mill.



This paper mill (the Little Mill) was connected by a railroad to the Big Mill and concrete supports that once supported huge steam pipes between the mills still stand in the creek.



Returning to main trail passed the brick shed and reached a "Y" intersection.



Went right on another side excursion. This brought me to the remains of the dam and headrace from Mottville Woodworking Factory.



View of Skaneateles Creek.



Crossed a third bridge.



Reached the end. Location - N42° 57.777 - W76° 26.464. Turned around and hiked the dirt and crushed stone trail back to my starting point.

The serene Skaneateles Creek.

Leaf-Peeping 2008

Camp Michael

Note - clicking on photos enlarges them

Yesterday Joan and I arrived at Camp Michael in mid-afternoon.



The drive up was most pleasant. There was a variety of colors on Rt. 81. We stooped at the Tug Hill trailhead and ate lunch on a picnic bench. Once in Lowville we treated ourselves to a McDonald hot fudge sundae for our dessert.

The ride up Number Four gave us our first true Autumn leaf color.

Turning into the camp driveway we noticed that Wally's trees had been removed.



And our Christmas trees had been topped.



Wonder who was the Fairy Woodsman. He must have mowed the grass too because it did not need cutting.

After settling in, we took a walk to Francis Lake. Joan gathered some pine cones.



After checking the geocache, we made our way to Moshier Dam and Sunday Creek.





Completing a short walk to the bridge and the canoe portage launch we returned to camp.

View from the Beaver River canoe portage.



Using the Erie Canal road we drove to Brantingham for supper at the Pine Tree Inn. Heather, our waitress, was most efficient and cordial while serving us our Chicken Parmigiana dinners.

After watching the Presidential debate on television we retired for the evening.

Today after eating our breakfast sausage egg and cheese served on an English muffin by Renee at the Sawmill, Joan and I traveled to Stillwater. The reservoir appeared to be quite low.



Went back to the Big Moose Road and made our way to Eagle Bay.

Stopped at a pond on the Big Moose Road.



Another stop on the Big Moose Road.



Another stop - Big Moose Community Chapel



Yet another stop - Big Moose Lake



Turning left at Eagle Bay we motored to Inlet. After using the restrooms at the town park,



we walked out on the Fourth Lake boat dock.



Then we drove on the South Shore Road intending to visit Holl's Inn. But to our disappointment it was gated shut. Retracing our route back into Inlet we pulled over and visited with an elderly couple who were planting Spring flowers. The woman whose voice had a touch of German accent stated that the owner of Holl's Inn did not come up this summer because she was ill. However, the cottages were rented and look after by a caretaker.

While on the South Shore Road one more side trip was in order. We pulled into Loomis Road.



While Thelma and Loomis' are a distant memory, (where is Red-on-the-Head when you need him?)



the ball field lives on.



We could not leave Inlet without entering the Rochester Bar.



Upon reaching Old Forge we parked and strolled through the Old Forge Hardware and a few other shops before having lunch at Slickers. Amy, the only waitress on duty, was overwhelmed by the crowd of leaf-peepers, nevertheless, Joan's Balboa and my Chicken Supreme were excellent.

The ride to Utica provided more splendid color especially around Forestport. At which point we took a right on a whim.



After circling the Black River we ended up in Boonville. This gave Joan the opportunity to shop at Persnickety.

Back on the road upon entering Utica we pulled in to BJs for gas and artichokes. Glad we did since we may have missed an accident on the Thruway near Westmoreland. The tragic tractor trailer collision tied up traffic on Thruway for over an hour. Once freed to continue we drove trough a rain storm and arrived home safely.

Thanks to the Colonel we had chicken wraps for dinner.

Auburn - Fleming Trail

Photo - Thursday, November 20, 2008




Photo - Friday, October 03, 2008

The Auburn-Fleming Trail

Map

This afternoon I decided to use Rich & Sue Freeman's Take Your Bike! Family Rides in the Finger Lakes Region as a guide and walk the Auburn-Fleming Trail. Using an abandoned railroad bed, this trail runs from the east side of Dunning Avenue to Route 34. There are 5 geocaches ( GC8E8E - GCK7EG - GCK7EQ - GC15ERB - GC163GY ) to be found along this path.

Using the the coordinates below I drove to the parking area.

Location - N42° 54.824 - W76° 35.024

Parking - on the east side of Dunning Avenue, south of Clymer Street.

Note - clicking on photos enlarges them.

The trail sign is missing from the trailhead.



After a rough start over buried wooden railroad ties, I approached a bridge.



This metal grate bridge has been topped by a wooden bridge.



Before reaching the next bridge there was a marsh on my left.



Approaching the bridge.



After crossing this bridge I passed unmarked posted trails.



I then came upon a farm lane crossing.



A third bridge crossed over a creek.



A trail on the right heads toward a farm. This appears to part of a snowmobile trail system.



Five horses were grazing in a pasture to the east of the trail.



The trail ends at Route 34.



After pausing to take a photo of the Snow Panther sign, headed back to the car.



Revisited - Thursday, November 20, 2008

Today revisited the trail in search of a geocache - Tribute to Local Musicians! (GC1J9BJ)

During the morning hours two to three inches of snow fell, making the entrance to the trail quite wet.



Proceeding to the cache passed the meadow on my left.



Reached the cache site. This photo was taken from above the hidden cache ammo box.



Retracing my steps took this photo of the meadow which was now on my right.



Before recrossing the first bridge stopped to chat with the owner of the posted lands adjacent to the trail. He was clad in camo and orange carrying this shotgun. He informed me that the trail was safe to venture down since he and the other owners never shot in the near vicinity. The reason for his afternoon walk was to discourage poachers from using the area.

Had to navigate around the puddles on my way to the trail head.



Successful hunt. MaMa Bear, the cache owner, left CDs as a reward for discovery. Took a CD.

Mets vs. Marlins

View from our seats
Today (08.08.08) at 11 AM Ryan, Michael and I ventured forth via Onondaga Coach to Shea Stadium. Arrived at 4 PM. For some reason we made no bathroom stops. Guess this is why there is a rest room on the bus and bus drivers have ironcast bladders. Rained the entire trip down as if we expected the weather to different on this day of crazy eights. Miraculously the skies cleared and bright sunshine showered us as we were ushered to our seats in Mezzanine section 27 row box A by Joel L.

Once seated we immediately went into the concourse for food. Joan told us to take something to eat. Did we listen, of course not. Michael was a bit taken aback having to pay seven dollars for a Nathan’s hot dog, but his Coke came in a commemorative cup. Ryan purchased a classy souvenir to go with his free blanket compliments of MasterCard.

Just before the national anthem, Ralph Kiner peeled off the number marking how many games left in the old stadium.

David Wright hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Carlos Delgado homered in the late innings. Both times I neglected to photograph the apple coming out of the hat.

Oliver Perez pitched two-hit ball for seven innings. He left after 120 pitches to the cheers of an appreciative crowd.

Upon leaving and walking toward the bus it registered just how many people were at the game. It was not Falcon Park.

Before boarding the bus for our return, many of us pleaded with the driver to consider a half stop. He said he would. At 1 AM he did. MickeyD's.

Terry in an email offered a summation of our trip with this equation - bus seat (time siting down) + stadium seat (time sitting down) + bus seat (time sitting down) = butt-worry (sore).

A little after 4 AM drove into the driveway at Perrine. Before falling into bed, I think I saw Ryan, Michael and myself stepping off the bus in front of Citi Field.

Time's a-wasting

To paraphrase Bob Dylan - Time's a-wasting.

According to Mary Beth Breckenridge, the average American wastes 55 minutes a day looking for things. Almost 25 percent of adults report they've paid bills late because they lost the paperwork.

More than 90 percent of people say they have an overwhelming sense of "time poverty."

These statistics come from Nancy McGarity, an owner of Real Solutions for Living in Canal Fulton, Ohio, and a residential organizing specialist.

Organization takes practice, she says. It's a set of skills that can be learned, and setbacks and imperfection are all part of the process.

Here's a baker's dozen of clutter prevention tips from McGarity.

1 Have a home for every item.

2 Always return items to their homes.

3 Store items where they're needed most.

4 Keep frequently used items in very accessible spaces and seldom-used items in places that are harder to reach.

5 Consider your habits when deciding where something should belong. That will make it easier for you to maintain your system.

6 Label shelves, containers (especially opaque ones), drawers, etc. to make it easy for anyone — even a visitor — to find and put away items. 1

7 Choose containers that appeal to you, so you will be more apt to use them.

8 Think realistically about items you are keeping "just in case" or because "someday I might need it." That "someday" rarely comes. Remove all those items, and stop yourself from accumulating more.

9 Don't believe you haven't the time to get organized. The time involved in searching for lost things or redoing tasks is always greater and creates unnecessary stress.

10 Take a few seconds to hang up clothes or put them into the laundry basket at the end of the day. It will save time that would be spent later on scooping up the piles, sorting, ironing and relaundering.

11 Don't make a habit of picking up after older kids. That only encourages them to rely on you to do their dirty work.
12 Sort mail as soon as you walk in the door and pitch junk mail immediately.

13 Impulse buying thwarts organizing efforts. Remember that even if an item is on sale, you'll save even more money, time and space by not buying it.