Saturday, January 29, 2011

Mianus - Had to Get Out!

Mianus River Park - January 29th, 2011

I just had to get out (for a change)... 

It's been ages since I posted anything here on Mianus. I've been in the park a million times since the last posting but it's usually on a Trail Maintenance session or I am camera-less. I just had to get out for some fresh air in the woods—despite all the snow.

Being "snowbound" is relative to your perception (and frustration level!).
I have been cooped up; busy behind a desk (or at least hard at work inside) for over a month so I finally buttoned up and headed over to Mianus late afternoon Sat. for a quick hike. I was curious how the trails looked after so much snow. Too bad the sun disappeared and it was a bit gloomy and overcast by the time I got there. Nevertheless, the park was still beautiful with heaps of snow blanketing everything.

It's a popular park and you could see the evidence of hiking boots, snowshoes and XC skis in the footprints on the trails. All the trails were hard-packed and I met a few dog-walkers, snowshoers and a XC skiers on my hike. No bikers and no tell-tale signs of bike tread on any of the hard-packed trails. (I believe it would pretty hard to get much traction and the bike's weight might mess it for XC skiers.)

I headed north along the river on River Trail and Meander Trail, next headed up New Trail and circled back down by the river. I then wandered in on Inner Road and headed up to Peak Trail and Ridge Run before heading out,

Every trail was packed although the snow was really deep. By the time I left, darkness was creeping in and the white ground became gray and featureless in the fading light. I snapped a few photos but, as mentioned, too bad it was overcast.

[Slide Show Not posted]