Today I happened to be passing through my hometown of Oneonta, New York, so I took the opportunity to make it the location of my weekend hike. In addition to my travels down memory lane, I took two short hikes: around a hilltop on the west side of town, and then around a wooded park in my old neighborhood on the east side of town.
For my first hike, I visited Table Rock – a set of hilltop trails above Hartwick College, where I enjoyed a two-mile loop through the forest, past their solar farm, and culminating with a cliff-top view at the western edge of Oneonta, looking back along the interstate highway. It was a nice opportunity to spend some time in the woods, with few other people on the trails.
Later, after driving past my childhood home on the other side of town, I parked at the edge of Wilber Park and walked a quick loop through the upper section, down across the creek, and back along the lower section.
I then clambored down to the creek itself, and followed it upstream to the location where my brother and I had spent many hours building dams and other projects when we were young boys. It has changed a lot, as the creek meanders and periodic floods rearrange the streambed. Although the creek today was somewhat low on water, it is nonetheless full of memories.
Hike stats: 44th consecutive weekend hike
Distance: about 4 miles
Time: a couple of hours
Gain: 354 feet at Table Rock; negligible in Wilber Park
David Kotz 