On the 3rd day of Spring 2002...
...We went for a hike at Old Fly Marsh
We had just the right amount of overnight snow. It was enough to see animal tracks but not enough to impede our hike. We're sure we recognized deer, fox, and turkey tracks, but we saw more that might have been from rabbits, squirrels, and other small mammals. We also saw lots of birds, including chickadees, cardinals, robins, Canadian geese, and still more we couldn't identify.
The Marsh...with farms in the background
The marsh is named for the middle European word "vlei" (probably pronounced like "fly") which means "wet meadow", according to a neat little book I found: Heartland: a natural history of Onondaga County, N.Y., by Mike Storey.
Old homesite in the woods
Then we headed up the road to Tinker Falls...
If you're not from New York State, then you probably won't believe this is New York, but it is...New York is more than just a big city. This little road is about 260 miles from New York City.
And here's the trail to Tinker Falls (also called "Tinkers
Falls")
Going up the creek towards the falls
The Falls
It's just a trickle now, but in spring it should have more water. The ice build-up makes it look a little shorter than it really is (though it's not a particularly large waterfall to begin with) and when the ice is gone, you're supposed to be able to walk under the ledge, behind the water. We'll be back to check it out again in warmer weather...