Considering the fact that our state has thousands of miles of public hiking trails, you can’t make the claim that there is nowhere to hike. Knowing when and where to go can be a little tricky though.
I was contacted a few weeks back by Peggy Fuller, a member of the Bullthistle Hiking Club. She had some wonderful information on hiking, its benefits, safety precautions, and how our area became part of the Finger Lakes Trail. She was responding to a column written a few weeks back about state property not having adequate shooting ranges. I had been talking about how it could be dangerous to hike because people may be shooting or hunting. She wanted to get the word out that there is a safe way to go out hiking and that hunters and hikers tend to get along just fine. Like anything else, having the right information can make all the difference, so if you plan on hiking in the future please do some research.
I first would like to thank Peggy and all the members of The Bullthistle Hiking Club for inviting myself and my girlfriend on a hike this past weekend. We had a wonderful time and learned so much about hiking and the outdoors.
We arranged to meet this past Saturday at Jackson’s pond to take a short hike and get to meet some of the group members. On the way to the pond, I mentioned how I had been involved in our local archaeological group and I expected, as with that group, that youth involvement would be almost nil. I wasn’t surprised on arrival to see not a single child. I want to make the point that groups such as this encourage youth involvement, but the kids just aren’t as interested these days. I have read several times that today’s youth have less participation and understanding of the outdoors than they used to. The technological age has created a world of expediency that clouds childrens' perceptions of what real fun and accomplishments are all about. When asked why youth involvement was so low, electronics quickly became the topic of discussion. Not one of us was able in some way to not point the finger at modern technological devices. So what can be done?
