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By Bike & Boot
Woodhull Lake & Mtn, Remsen Falls
July 2, 2007
Sometimes it’s better if you don’t reach your goal because you have an excuse to go back. That’s exactly what happened when a friend and I were supposed to replace the logbook at the Remsen Falls lean-to Monday. When we arrived it was still pretty chilly-too chilly we decided to start the day out wet as our plan was to bike upriver and then wade/swim across to place the new book, return and continue biking. So we reversed our itinerary and checked out the new road to Woodhull Lake first.
The new road is narrow, but drivable but we had planned on leaving the car at the original trailhead bike to Woodhull Lake. A wise decision, as we were treated to innumerable ruffed grouse throughout the day flushing from alongside the road. Sometimes the young birds would fly off after Mom with their stubby wings and practically no tail feathers to speak of. Deer, one in velvet, browsed the edge of the new road. Bear scat, efts, thrushes all added to the ride in to the lake. The lean-to is the cleanest either of us had ever seen it, a pleasant surprise.
Leaving the lake we retraced some of our tracks and then broke off onto an old logging road until we intersected the original railroad bed to take us to Raven’s Run where we would ditch the bikes to climb Woodhull Mountain. The logging road and railroad bed were a nice change from the hard stone road. Many more ruffed grouse again flushed from the edges and one Mama along the old railroad bed entertained us with her broken wing act both in and out.
The climb up to the firetower gave us some nice surprises. The absolute hugest midden pile I’ve ever seen was near the beginning of the trail! Check out the pictures so you can see my hiking pole in comparison to the size of the pile. Again and again we saw large middens left by a thriving red squirrel population. A pair of accipiters scolded us both ways telling us to get out of there. I didn’t have my binoculars but I believe it was a pair of goshawks.
The views from the firetower were stunning on such a clear day. We spent a very long time up on the tower picking out features using the topos. The day was clear enough that you could see with the line of windmills over by Lowville.
Next on the agenda was Remsen Falls. It started to sprinkle up on the mountain and then as we traveled towards the falls the air temperature dropped dramatically. At that point we figured we’d have to abandon the river crossing. The first of two bike malfunctions slowed us down a bit but nothing that a little problem solving couldn’t take care of. We reached the falls around 7 pm and scouted out the river. The river was up and it would definitely be a swim if we crossed directly in front of the lean-to .The water was warm but the air was chilly so instead of rushing the lean-to we decided to enjoy the falls and shoreline and come back another day when we could relax and mosey around on the other side of the river.
It rained the last several miles back to the car but it didn’t matter. We were having fun and at a little after 9 we were driving back in a warm car. We’d ridden the bikes 18.3 miles and hiked 2.4. My seat was sore but I’d had a great day!
Woodhull Lake & Mtn, Remsen Falls
July 2, 2007
Sometimes it’s better if you don’t reach your goal because you have an excuse to go back. That’s exactly what happened when a friend and I were supposed to replace the logbook at the Remsen Falls lean-to Monday. When we arrived it was still pretty chilly-too chilly we decided to start the day out wet as our plan was to bike upriver and then wade/swim across to place the new book, return and continue biking. So we reversed our itinerary and checked out the new road to Woodhull Lake first.
The new road is narrow, but drivable but we had planned on leaving the car at the original trailhead bike to Woodhull Lake. A wise decision, as we were treated to innumerable ruffed grouse throughout the day flushing from alongside the road. Sometimes the young birds would fly off after Mom with their stubby wings and practically no tail feathers to speak of. Deer, one in velvet, browsed the edge of the new road. Bear scat, efts, thrushes all added to the ride in to the lake. The lean-to is the cleanest either of us had ever seen it, a pleasant surprise.
Leaving the lake we retraced some of our tracks and then broke off onto an old logging road until we intersected the original railroad bed to take us to Raven’s Run where we would ditch the bikes to climb Woodhull Mountain. The logging road and railroad bed were a nice change from the hard stone road. Many more ruffed grouse again flushed from the edges and one Mama along the old railroad bed entertained us with her broken wing act both in and out.
The climb up to the firetower gave us some nice surprises. The absolute hugest midden pile I’ve ever seen was near the beginning of the trail! Check out the pictures so you can see my hiking pole in comparison to the size of the pile. Again and again we saw large middens left by a thriving red squirrel population. A pair of accipiters scolded us both ways telling us to get out of there. I didn’t have my binoculars but I believe it was a pair of goshawks.
The views from the firetower were stunning on such a clear day. We spent a very long time up on the tower picking out features using the topos. The day was clear enough that you could see with the line of windmills over by Lowville.
Next on the agenda was Remsen Falls. It started to sprinkle up on the mountain and then as we traveled towards the falls the air temperature dropped dramatically. At that point we figured we’d have to abandon the river crossing. The first of two bike malfunctions slowed us down a bit but nothing that a little problem solving couldn’t take care of. We reached the falls around 7 pm and scouted out the river. The river was up and it would definitely be a swim if we crossed directly in front of the lean-to .The water was warm but the air was chilly so instead of rushing the lean-to we decided to enjoy the falls and shoreline and come back another day when we could relax and mosey around on the other side of the river.
It rained the last several miles back to the car but it didn’t matter. We were having fun and at a little after 9 we were driving back in a warm car. We’d ridden the bikes 18.3 miles and hiked 2.4. My seat was sore but I’d had a great day!