Day 16 (Aug 29)

A glorious Buffalo morning. Then consternation again as we discover that the bus to East Aurora doesn't run until 4pm... of course, it's an outbound commuter route. Rather than further dallying downtown we decide to ask an affable cabbie named Picardo, who carts us down there for a fare that all parties find agreeable. Better still, he drops us off right at the trailhead, saving a few miles' highway walking.

Ahh... that's more like it: A trail. In the woods. Nice.

The Conservation Trail is a major spur maintained by the Finger Lakes Trail Conference that stretches from near the western end of the Finger Lakes Trail north to the Buffalo area (and all the way to Niagara Falls, they'd have us believe, though I'd beg to differ.) It gives us our first taste of what the next phase of our hike through western New York State will look like. And we like the taste: the weather is fine, the trail is good, and we're happy hiking along the beautiful Hunters Creek ravine. It's very good to be back in the woods.

Sadly we're spit back out on the road before too long... the FLT and its spur are cobbled together from bits of state land, county land, land trust preserves, and generous private landowners who allow the trail through their forests and fields. (Not unlike the Bruce Trail, but even more so.) Connecting theses are bits of bike trail, old railroad right-of-way, forest service roads, and in a pinch, regular automobile roads, even short bits of highway. Road walk always looks intimidating on the map. Dodging traffic can be scary; rarely there's the good fortune of a sidewalk. But at least it offers some nice views that we don't often get in the "green tunnel." A classic barn:

At one home we pass some summer squash, free for the taking:

The provider of this squash, a spry retiree, emerges from his garage and eyes us with curiosity, and we speak about our journey. Strangely, he's heard of the Bruce Trail but never of the Conservation Trail, even though it runs literally right in front of his house. He asks worriedly if we had to go through the "black section" of Buffalo... Um, yeah, it was all very colorful. Thanks for the squash. Back slowly away...

Returning to the woods after a couple miles, I have the misfortune of impaling my right eye on a young tree branch. Ouch. I can still see out of that side so I guess the eyeball's still there, but wow, that hurts.

Here's a much older, gentler tree:

On the positive side, we are approaching an official Conservation Trail "bivouac area", i.e., a place we're allowed to camp, thanks to the generosity of an unknown landowner. Thanks, landowner! There's even a picnic table for us to use. After a delicious dinner of CVS jerky with a side of summer squash, we tuck in for the night, and I try my best to weep my troubles away.