I returned to Little Bennett Park to the second loop from the PATC Part A book, one that focuses on the southern portion of the park. It first does a loop east of Clarksburg Road, then a loop to the west. The eastern loop was more interesting, in my opinion, but it's solid exercise in both halves - 8.5 miles with 1,000 feet of elevation.
The schoolhouse, which is pretty close to the road, is one of the highlights.
A short section near the campground was set up as a Halloween attraction.
After Cranberry Lake, we wanted an easy hike, and T has been wanting to visit a fire tower. So we took in New York's easiest fire tower - Belfy. While it is uphill, round-trip it is less than a mile.
Views were great, aside from a little smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
At the end of September, T and I headed up to the Adirondacks to try to do the Cranberry Lake 50. Our plan was to start in Wanakena and head clockwise, taking five days. We ended up bailing out after four days, at Chair Rock Flow, due to a combination of issues with untested gear, as well as (if I'm being honest) fatigue on my part from not being in shape.
However, the trail was beautiful! The temperatures were perfect, and the leaves were beginning to turn. We really want to come back next year and finish it.
The first night, we stayed at Birch's Lakeside. The general store also has a campground, which is primarily used for RVs that stay for the season, but they have a few (paid) tent spots, which you need to reserve in advance.
The second night, we stayed at the Cranberry Lake Campground. It's a ways off the trail (definitely farther than the maps say), and again requires payment.
Our third night, we stayed at Curtis Pond. This gorgeous site barely fit our tent. If you're a hammock camper, I don't think there are trees here that work. We were really very relieved to get there and find no one already camped, since we didn't have the energy or daylight to make the next site - or to go back to the previous.
Our fourth and final night was spent at Chair Rock Flow. There is room here for quite a few tents, and it's also the last place the water taxi can pick you up. Luckily, it was the rare spot with internet, and we decided to call for a ride out.
At that point, we were ¾ of the way around the lake, but about 30 out of 50 miles complete - the last section takes the long way around the lake.
People talk about this hike being "flat," but it's only flat relative to the eastern Adirondacks and real mountains. It's not flat like the Batona Trail! While we did that in four days, I would want five or six for Cranberry Lake, at least at my current fitness level.
It is beautiful, however. There are not as many lake views as you might assume from the name - you're often far from the shore - but there are beautiful ponds and nice woods.
Next year, part two!
My pardon to any entomologists, but usually when a hike advertises "ants" as the big thrill, I don't expect much. So we went into this one not sure what we would get.
This hike was taken from the PATC book for DC area hikes, part A. Overall, it is almost 10 miles (we made it 10 with a slight add-on to the campground). As advertised, there are Alleghany ant mounds, but there is also varied terrain and a few other sights along the way.
However, the ants did turn out to be pretty cool. I like this photo for its sense of scale.
T and I returned to Riverbend State Park to join a group hike with the Venture Out Project. It's still a nice hike, with excellent views of the falls. (Which were flowing much better than the ones at Cunningham State Park.)
In early September, we visited Cunningham Falls State Park, in part for the PATC 2023 challenge. Well, I forgot that late summer is not a great time for water flow. The falls were nearly bone-dry.
However, we got there early enough to beat the hiking crowds. (We did have to wait in the entrance line.) And the hike was pretty, especially coming back via the cliffs. Overall, it was a short hike, but we got done before the heat got bad.
