6/18/13 Trolley Trail Temporary Closed Section: High Water

Due to high water and muddy conditions, a portion of the Trolley Trail in Lehigh Crossing Park to NY251 has been closed. The high water is a combination of heavy rain and beaver activity in the area. This has caused water to back up onto route 251. The state DEC and DOT are working together to correct the situation. The trail will be reopened as soon as it is safe to do so.

Note that other park trails in the area may be is similar situations.

6/14/13 The Summer 2013 VHT Pathfinder Newsletter is now available.

The newest Newsletter is available. It and past issues are available from the link in the left hand column.

• VHT Challenge Hike III
• Another Great National Trails Day® Hike
• HIKES FOR 2013
• Half-marathon Trail Race
• Past Hikes
  • April 13, Braddock's Bay
  • May 4, Historic Village Walk and Bike Ride
  • May 11, White Brook Nature Trail
  • June 1, National Trails Day
  • June 8, Bike ride on the Ontario Pathway
• Connection to Crescent Trails
• Adirondack Adventure — Spring 2013
• Eagle Project provides picnic tables on the trails
• Picture Pages
• VHT Sponsors

6/9/13 Visit Griffis Sculpture Park and Zoar Valley with Victor Hiking Trails

On Saturday, July 13th, Victor Hiking Trails will lead a hike at the Griffis Sculpture Park, south of Springville and then a creek walk at Zoar Valley Multiuse Area, located partly in Cattaragus County and partly in Erie County, south of Buffalo.

Meet at the Victor Town Hall rear parking lot, 85 East Main Street, at 9:00 a.m. to car pool to the park.

Bring water shoes for the creek walk, a bag lunch and drinks. The group should be back in Victor around 4 p.m.

6/2/13 National Trails Day: (Surprise!) A Big Success!

The day threatened with thunder storms, but we didn't see any rain at all. Nearly 100 people participated in the hike along the Auburn Trail from Farmington's Mertensia Park across Victor to Powder Mills Park. 40 of them doing the full route. We welcome the new VHT members who earned membership by doing the full length. (From 6-years-old up!)

And a big Thank You to the all the Volunteers who led the hike, did the food service, provided rides back for those needing to doing part way, and for maintaining the trails in such great shape. (And arranging the weather.)

As always, the trail was being used by lots of other people, too. Walkers, runners, bikers, dogs (on leashes); in ones, twos, larger groups and families.

5/28/13 Seneca Trail Completion!

Victor Hiking Trails' Seneca Trail is now complete! From the connection with the Crescent Trail System at the Perinton Town / Monroe County line (Lasalle Parkway) all the way south into East Bloomfield and through Boughton Park. (Boughton Road). It is approximately 14-miles long. Click for Detail Map of the Seneca Trail.

The last link, through an open meadow, under the high power lines across NY 96 from Eastview Mall, from Turk Hill Rd to the top of High Point, was mowed and blazed by VHT Volunteers on Memorial Day. This section has only been mowed once so it will still be rough, but it is most definitely open and usable. And, it has some great views, too, thanks to the power line corridor.

Thank You Volunteers! Thank you land owners for giving us permission to use your land. Also Thank You VHT Members for the funding for the equipment, repairs (one of the Billy Goat mowers did stop working during this project), and fuel.

The Turk Hill Rd. crossing is at the signal light. Be very careful there: Drivers are not used to seeing pedestrians at that intersection. There is not yet any special pedestrian traffic signals or controls. (And as of May '13, the crosswalk lines on the pavement have been worn to near non-visibility.)

This follows the great work our Volunteers did on the section from Turk Hill Rd. to the town line earlier this season.

Note: Parts of the Seneca Trail are closed during hunting seasons. Spring Turkey season lasts through May. The southern section of the Seneca Trail remains closed until June 1. That section also has had no mowing yet, either.

Still needed on the Seneca are two bridges. One is currently a ford, just south of Valentown, the other is a temporary narrow low board bridge just north of Boughton Park. These will be constructed as funds become available.

This section will be part of the 0 SPF Trail 1/2 Marathon Trail Run on July 20th. from Valentown through the Crescent Trail and back. And also the VHT 3rd Annual Challenge Hike: The full length of the Seneca Trail on September 29th.

5/20/13 Seneca Trail

On Saturday, a crew of volunteers from trailsRoc was out cleaning up the trash along the newest section of the Seneca Trail: From Turk Hill Rd. to La Salle Parkway and the Crescent Trail system. They took out 14 large bags of trash! Thank you from all users of the trail.

Here is a 7-minute video of a walk through this new section. There is considerable traffic noise at each end, but also continuous birdsong. Video. Thank you Ron Heerkens Jr.

trailsRoc will be using the Seneca Trail, from Valentown and the Crescent Trail System for their 1/2 Marathon Trail Run on July 20th, with a portion of the proceedings going to VHT.

5/19/13 Great Day on the Trails

For those of us unable to go to the Adirondacks for VHT's spring weekend, it was a wonderful day on our local trails. I took a short ride on the Auburn Trail to check out the newest section to Powder Mills Park. The trail was being used by bikers, hikers, and runners. Individuals, couples, and families. From youngsters to oldsters as myself. Some I talked with are very familiar with the VHT trails, others were on it for the very first time.

The most common question: "When will it be extended into Pittsford?" The only answer is that that lies with the Pittsford government.

One 7-year old was riding with her mother. They live near Powder Mills Park. They were on their way to Papa Jack's for ice cream. They are regular users of the Auburn Trail. Shows trails are a good business investment, too.

I was also able to pick up a couple bags of trash from the new construction zone. The rest of the trail was looking very good. You too can help by taking a trash bag when you use the trails. It is an important way of volunteering to make Victor' trails -- the trails you use -- the very best.

Also this beautiful weekend, volunteers were out installing 5 picnic tables near trails; were working on the new Seneca Trail near Perinton; widening some trails in parks to allow larger mowers to take over from smaller ones so the smaller ones can do better on the narrow trails; and of course the normal mowing and trimming work that goes on all season. It takes thousands of volunteer hours to make and keep the trails we all use. You can contact our Volunteer Coordinator to help.

5/18/13 Kentucky Police Chief: Trail Likely to Deter Crime in Hopkinsville

This Rails-to-Trails blog entry consists mostly of quotes from a Kentucky New Era, the local paper, piece (that requires a subscription), Police chief expects safe rail-trail. It is an interview with Chief of Police Guy Howie, who has had professional experience with trails in prior positions. Hopkinsville is considering their first rail-trail. He is all for trails as a safety feature for the community. The increase in adjacent property values is just a side effect for him.

A couple of extracts from the extract:

"What's there now, it's already being used by some for both legal and illegal purposes. Once we improve that and it's being utilized by law-abiding citizens, and it's maintained and kept up, the people who are using it for illegal purposes now aren't going to want to stay because they don't want to be discovered."

"Every place that we looked or I talked about, or had personal knowledge of, any time those facilities are used, there's generally not a problem. Nowhere could we find where crime went up along those areas to any significant extent. ... There are projects like this all across the country. Nobody has come up with any research that we're aware of to the contrary, or to the negative. It's just a perception, and where it comes from, I don't know."

KNE: "Do you think people who have property that abuts the trail should be concerned?" Howie: "No. I think they should be ecstatic. Right now, it's already being used by those people. ... It's deserted and that's why they're using it. If I owned a piece of property and it backed up to the rail-trail, I would be excited that it's going to be improved."

This mirrors the experiences of Victor, as well. Prior to establishing the Auburn Trail, there were a couple of local "party hangouts." After being cleaned up and the trail being used by the "good guys," there has been no further problems.

The comments in the blog article all are equally as positive, from many different viewpoints.

5/10/13 Seneca Trail Extension
Connection with Crescent Trail

Once again the Seneca Trail is being extended northward. This time to the Perinton town line and a connection with the Crescent Trail system at Lasalle Parkway! This link has been anticipated by both groups for many years. Together they make for one of the longest foot travel paths in the area. It stretches from Fairport to Boughton Park in Bloomfield.

The new VHT section from Lasalle Parkway to Turk Hill Road is in a wooded valley with a small stream.

Like most new trails, this land has a lot of junk on it right now. It will take many people many trash bags before it looks as good as all our other trails. YOU can help. Go look the new trail over, but take a shopping bag or two and pick up the litter along and near the trail. This is a very important volunteer job for VHT. You can report your activity and/or learn of other ways of volunteering by contacting our Volunteer Coordinator.

The Turk Hill Road crossing is at the signal light. Beware of turning cars; drivers are not used to seeing pedestrians at that corner.

The section from High Point to Turk Hill Road will be opening by June. It is mostly open meadow under the high power lines. It is still unmarked & unmowed and closed for now.

5/10/13 Two Events Scheduled to Use the Newly Extended Seneca Trail

The newly opened (and to be opened) sections of the Seneca Trail are scheduled to be used by two markedly different events this season.

The first is TrailsRoc's 0 SPF Trail 1/2 Marathon on Saturday, July 20th 2013, presented by: The North Face – Victor. This 13+ mile trail race will start and end at The North Face, Valentown. It will be run over the Seneca Trail and the Crescent Trail. Volunteers from TrailsRoc have been helping in opening the new Seneca Trail sections, and VHT is to be one of the recipients of the funds raised.

The second is VHT's own 3rd Annual Challenge Hike on September 29th. This has always been an end-to-end hike on the Seneca Trail, and each of the years has seen a longer hike as the Seneca Trail has been extended each year. This year will be about a half-marathon length, somewhat over 13 miles, but will be hiked, not run! More information will be published on this event later.

4/10/13 Temporary Trail Closure: Seneca at Auburn Creek

Due to construction the Auburn Creek section of the Seneca Trail is temporarily closed. The detour is along NY251 and the Trolley Trail (or Auburn Trail). Map.

3/15/13 VHT Venture Crew Volunteer Opportunities

In an email today to all current and past VHT members, Chairman Dave Wright wrote:

Victor Hiking Trails, Inc.

March 15, 2013

Dear Friends of Victor Hiking Trails,

We have been invited to be a chartered organization for a new Boy Scouts of America Venture Crew. This program is designed for young men and women, ages 14 to 20, in the Victor- Farmington area, who would like to plan and participate in outdoor activities, such as hiking, camping, backpacking, canoing, kayaking, mountain and road biking, skiing, snowshoeing, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, etc.

We would also encourage the members to work on trail-building and trail improvement projects. Educational hikes, both local and regional, are also a possibility.

In order to make this happen, we need a few adults, male and female, to prepare a kick-off meeting to present the program to interested candidates and then help the new Venture Crew members get started for the first 3 to 6 meetings. The youth will elect a president and a committee to run the meetings, plan and schedule their events.

Chris DiGiacomandrea, the Scouting Executive for West Wayne and Ontario Counties, can be contacted at cdigiaco@bsamail.org or 585-330-9362 for any questions.

If you would like to help make this happen for the youth in our area, please call 585-234-8226 and leave your name and phone number. You will be contacted with additional information.

Sincerely,

David Wright

Chairman, VHT

10/15/12 Poison Ivy News

NPR has an article on a new invention, not yet on the market, that makes poison ivy oil visible. Caution: nasty picture! It also has immediately useful information on some of the best ways of cleaning the oil off.

"So, OK, [inventor and poison ivy expert and sufferer] Braslau's spray lets you know you've been exposed to urushiol [the oil in poison ivy]. Then what, I asked her?

"TecNu," she replied.

TecNu is a water-free cleanser. There are other soaps that work getting the oil off — for example, that stuff called Goop car mechanics use to degrease their hands, Braslau says, and some dish-washing detergents. But she relies on TecNu."

There is plenty of poison ivy in the Victor area including on and near our trails.