Another Walk

 This is another favorite trail a few miles from the house and the main reason for the refuge to be here are large hemlock trees, some that I estimate to be 200-300 years old. It is not a long trail-maybe 2 1/2 miles-but crosses the stream a couple of times (often called a "run" around here) and switchbacks up and down a steep slope on top of which live the oldest trees....I followed  these coyote tracks for 1/2 mile of the trail before the animal bushwacked off into the woods. It obviously had discovered that a human trail made for easier walking and incorporated it into its boundary by pausing to mark its territory at several stumps. As anyone who walks in snow can attest to, unseen ice or roots or branches can be treacherous, but the path was surprisingly firm despite the steep slopes.... Cornplanter is the common English name giver to a Dutch-Seneca Indian chief born near here. His history is too long to repeat now but when the Kinzua Dam was built in 1965 the government seized and flooded most of the 1,500 acres that had been given to him and his heirs "forever".  As always, click on the pics to enlarge them if you are so inclined.