February's hike of the month - the collected pictures

I already posted a little bit here - it was the last Saturday of February.

So,a slight miscalculation by the Jeanne Marie/Tom team. We expected a relatively easy 4 and a half mile stroll through the woods in Fahnestock Park going from north to south on the School Mountain Road trail.

And it would have been a nice, easy fun walk for the seven of us (Tom, Brigid, Jeanne Marie, Karen, Kathy, Maria, Rich) except for us not figuring in all the rain the prior couple of weeks. And the fact that the walk was a gentle descent ... (water flows downhill, mostly). So even though JM and Brigid and I had walked part of this trail last August - it was a dry August. And we got a surprise.

This is the old farmhouse which was about at the 2 and a half mile mark. We stopped for tea. We had been here as part of a last August hike.

That's my butt, as I brew the tea.

Hot Mamas pictures -

Heading south, and we're starting to hit the water. In August, this had been a tiny stream. In the foreground is my red trekking pole that I stuck in the ground to take this picture. I either left it there, or more likely further along when I took some other shots.

See the ice?

Now things are starting to get really dicey, with large portions of the trail under several inches of water. But everyone still in good spirits.

At this point I'm starting to think about the bridge, about a quarter mile from the south exit of the trail. But I'm sure it will be well above the water. When we'd crossed it in August there's been a good two feet of clearance. And it was right about here that I realized I'd left my trekking pole behind! Sentimental attachment - I'd been using it for a year. So I backtracked a bit while everyone else headed south.

While I'm going back everyone else gets to the bridge and WRONGO! by Tom - bridge is under water.

Picture by Brigid - you can see Karen (who'd taken her shoes off) and Rich (who'd left his on) having walked/waded across.

Meanwhile I'm still behind unsuccessfully looking for my trekking pole. And fielding phone calls from Brigid and Jeanne Marie. Here's the Kathy and Maria wading sequence. Note different technique - shoes on /shoes off.

And I was the last to cross. Everyone else was over and I felt bad about holding people up, so I just went across as quick as I could. With about four people photographing. ...

Yeah the water was cold, but the cars were less than ten minutes away, so not too bad. And glad nobody got injured while wading. just unfortunate that we hadn't calculated for the rain creating a flood problem. Everyone seemed pretty pleased the way things had worked out, and raring to go for the next one. Or so they say.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Karen]

David says there is mud or blood for a good hike. This fit the bill!

[tom faranda]

Hahaha. Glad it was mud and not blood!