After today's program, I went back to the hotel, changed into hiking gear, and set off for the north end of the trail on the west side of the Raquette River in the Stone Valley Cooperative Recreation Area. I found the trailhead and the no-parking areas, and tried parking in an unmarked section.
It looked promising at first, and then steadily less promising after I missed the official trail turn-off and ended up on the service road next to the pipeline.
But still, the service road went through a bit of forest and field with some wildflowers and wild raspberries (yum!). And it was scenic enough if you looked only to your left.
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| Butterfly |
I kept going, hoping against hope that there would be an option to turn off into the woods. Meanwhile, the flies were buzzing constantly in my ears, which was maddening. Flailing at them didn't help. Moving faster didn't help. Staying out of the shadow of the pipeline didn't help. How I wished for bug repellent! But I eventually discovered that if I raised my arms over my head, so that my backpack blocked the back of my neck and my arms were sort of covering my ears, the buzzing stopped. This is a tiring position to hold for any length of time, unfortunately, even if one rests one's forearms atop one's head. But every time I stopped, the flies came back. Sigh.
Eventually, the service road petered out. It was before my timer went off, but I was very grateful to turn around by then!
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| The unappealing trek back to the parking lot. |
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| Meanwhile, the clouds grew ever more dramatic |
But it was a good thing that I'd gone the wrong way and cut my trip super-short, since the sky opened up as soon as I was inside the car!!! I had time for a shower and some catch-up on email and voicemail before meeting my colleagues for a late dinner at Jake's, where I indulged in the pork carnitas taquitos and a kale & watermelon salad.
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