Hiking, Geocaching, and Ski Trail Scouting on a Very Warm November Day

November 9. Sunny. 73 degrees. Wait.....what? We don't get many days like this around here this late in the season. Holly and I headed off today for the short hike up Vroman's Nose, near Middleburgh, NY, and its outstanding views of the Schoharie Valley. It's less than an hour from home, and only a half hour to the top, but the views are stupendous. The trail follows an old road up the more gentle back side, and reaches the sheer cliffs facing south and east. Peregrine falcons nest here, and it's an extremely popular local hike.





After enjoying the views and eating lunch, we went off in search of a couple of geocaches known to be up here on the summit. Well, one was, and we found it easily. The other was downhill in a direction we chose not to go this trip, so we left it for another time.

On the way home, sort of, we stopped at Cole Hill State Forest to check out more of the XC ski trails and get in a little more of a walk. I had been here earlier in the week, but only scratched the surface, and only in a different part of the forest. Today, I GPSed (is that a verb?) the trails as we walked, and should be able to produce a pretty accurate map for the ECOS Ski Tips publication I'm helping to update and revise. We also picked off one more geocache in the forest, as long as we were there. It was just a wonderful day to be outside.