Charcoal Burners Trail

Bridgie was going out with her book club for lunch, so I decided to take another walk with the dog. I finished my chores and should have been out the door at 10 am, but I needed to free up some space on my phone. This turned into a small nightmare and I didn't get on the road till noon. Bad Omen!

I had passed this trailhead many times but never hiked this corner of Clarence Fahnestock State Park. The first 2.1 miles was a nice easy walk an took me past mountain laurel and bucolic Jordan Pond.

My Route

Jordan Pond

My problems started after I passed the Therapeutic Equestrian Center.

 The trail was following open fields and the markers abruptly stopped. I followed the road down hill towards another farm, but it was obvious that the trail must have taken a sharp left. Bailey and I took a drink and pondered the situation. At this point I realized that my phone was out of memory! This is the last photo I took.

I found a marker on the dirt road to Bailey's left.

Now things got interesting. The trail took me through fields and open forest and continued downhill. I knew where I was from the electronic mapping program. I realized that I had no option to bail out of the hike and must continue forward. One section of the trail parralelled a lovely rock strewn stream where Bailey splashed a bit.

I came to a private road and knew I would be late to pick up T. I called her and discussed the situation. I passed another long lake when disaster hit. I was looking over my shoulder at the lake when my boot caught a rock. I did a windmill run that must have looked hysterical! I just missed the dog when I finally hit the ground in a lump. Ouch. Knee hurt and I still had almost 3 miles to go.

Both of us were running out of steam, but we finally hit the red trail that we started on. We passed one more pond and arrived at the car.....exhausted. It started to drizzle as I drove home. (7.6 miles)

Today my knee is really aching. I've been icing it all day.....time for a hiking break.