hikethe115
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Long post...sorry...but it was 10 total on the list and 1628 miles to get the finish (and be number 1)!!
I started out planning to do 1 views and brews hike over the weekend. I contacted my Krazy friend to do Lyon Mountain on Saturday and visit the pub in Plattsburgh. Then I thought I could get another one done on the way if I left work a little early. This got me thinking....maybe I could get in a few more. Hmmm....the planner in me started working. Things were looking along the lines of even being able to finish if I took Monday off. I still needed 10 on the list. It would mean a lot of driving by myself. Although, if I could just find someone else Krazy enough....
So, I left work a little later than I had hoped but still with enough time to get 1 on the list in Schenectady and visit the pub in Plattsburgh. My plan was then to hike Lyon on Saturday and head out from there. I went to Plotter Kill Preserve and had a nice short hike in the rain (it somehow seemed fitting) and then went to Van Dyck's. It's a nice pub. My goal was to get a sampler at each place. So I tasted their 6 brews with their Dopplebock being my favorite. I headed North for the next stop. On the way I started thinking that perhaps Poke-O-Moonshine would be a shorter hike and would let me get moving faster on Saturday. I called the Krazy Kanadian who suggested we hike it in the dark Friday night which would mean an even earlier start on Saturday. Well, that sounded good to me! So, we met and hiked up with our headlamps. We had some nice views of the lights in Plattsburgh and Burlington. It was a fun hike with the ominous rock walls. We then headed to Bootleggers for the brews. I have to say I was much less than impressed with their brews. There were only 2 (one light and one stout) and neither were really worth drinking. So, that took care of day 1. On to Canada oops, I mean Kanada, for the night.
KrazyK agreed to go along for at least one pub. I was happy to have company so we headed for Chaumont Barrens for the Sackets Harbor hike. Not really any elevation, although there was one summit rock for a picture
The requirements for these hikes are pretty light. The primary goal is to hike for at least a mile and then visit the pub. We drove into Sackets Harbor which is a beautiful little town. The pub was very nice, with a great menu and very nice people. Their Scotchtoberfest was excellent!! Leaving Sackets Harbor, KrazyK agreed to continue on with me to Syracuse. Now if I could just Kidnap him for the rest of the trip......
We went to Onandaga Trail for Tinker Falls. There were quite a few fishermen at Spruce Pond, but they didn't seem to be catching anything. It was fairly cloudy and not much to see so we did our hiking requirement and headed into the city to the pub...Syracuse Suds Factory. My favorite brew here was the Pale Ale. It had a taste similar to (but not as good as) Lake Placid's Frostbite.
Okay, it was either time to part or time to Kidnap. Kidnapping sounded better to me so I got KrazyK to ditch his car and come with me for the rest of the road trip. Yes!! It was much better riding together than having to follow each other around trying to find these places.
Next stop: Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen State Park had been listed as a hike for the pub in Corning, but once the pub opened up in Watkins Glen it seemed like the more likely link. So, Tom had added Watkins Glen to that pub and we hadn't changed the hike for Corning. So, we decided to hike at least 2 miles in Watkins Glen so it could count for 1 mile each for the 2 pubs. It was certainly easy to do. This place was fantastic! The trails are limited in the off season so keep that in mind if you want to go there. It is really a great place to visit though...even if you aren't working on the "list". This was to be the last hike for the day, although we still had 4 pubs to go to! We went to the Roosterfish Brewery where they had 3 brews on tap. The Butternut Pale Ale was very good. Now on to Market Street in Corning. Another great pub. I loved their D'Artagnan. KrazyK tended to prefer the reds at most of the places we went to.
Now for the long drive....off to Buffalo. The goal was to get to the pubs before closing since they were both opening late the next day....Easter Sunday. We were pretty tired by the time (about midnight I believe) we got into town. We hit the Buffalo Brewery next. They had a lot of brews on tap but not many of their own. We both liked their red the best. We then went to our final (6th!) of the day....Pearl Street. I liked their stout but I would have to vote for the Lake Effect Pale Ale as my favorite here. Although, by this time I was so tired, I couldn't wait to get some sleep. It was well after 1 AM....again.
The next morning the plan was to get 2 hikes for the 2 Buffalo pubs. We first went to Reinstein Woods. The access is limited here. It is a great spot for birding. We saw a big wild turkey and a Great Blue Heron here. I was really looking forward to the next hike. It had sounded interesting. This is a place where there is a gas fissure. Once lit, it stays lit until a heavy wind or rain comes along. It was lit when we got there. It is nestled in behind a water fall. In one of the pictures we took, the flame actually looks like the hiker symbol you see on signs...I swear it does! I have lots of pictures...for those of you who know the Krazy Kanadian, I'm sure that doesn't surprise you.
Okay, it was now time to head to the last town of the trip....Rochester. We wanted to do the hikes first and then relax at the pubs. According to the voice messages...one pub opened at 4 and one at 1. We had to go by the pubs on the way to the hikes, so we stopped to check. Yep, one opened at 4, but the one that was suppose to open at 1 said they weren't opening until 5 since it was Easter. Oh well, it would be a late night getting home. So we went to Ganondagan for our first Rochester hike. This is a Native American historical site with a Longhouse and some informational material. There are several trails with commemorative signage. We saw a garter snake here. The last hike for the trip was along the tow path of the Erie Canal. The Krazy Kanadian tried to hitch a ride. I think he was trying to escape, but it didn't work. Now it was time to finish up with the pubs. It was about 4 so the first pub should be open. We drive to Rohrbachs only to find nobody there!!! Oh no!! They were closed for Easter! There were no signs or messages on their phone (with the listing of hours) or on their Web site about closing. How can this be????!!!!????!!! This meant I couldn't finish today. But wait...could we find a place that sold their growlers or perhaps they bottled some of their beer and we could find it? We could get the beer, take it back to the pub and drink one there. No, that just wasn't going to work. We tried to find some but we couldn't. I was bummed. There wasn't much we could do so we went on to the last pub....The Distillery. They only had one of their own brews on tap. It was a pretty good beer at least. It was time to let my captive go. We drove back to his car in Syracuse. I was sorry to see my partner in all of this head home and not be there for my finish. Oh well, he had to get back to work, and he was there for the majority of the effort.
I got back in my car and drove back to Rochester. After all, you have 48 hours between hiking and getting that beer, and the pub was scheduled to open at 11 AM on Monday. So, I found myself a hotel and went to Rohrbach's for lunch on Monday. It was a great place to finish. They had 8 beers on tap. It was a toss up between their wonderfully smoky porter and their x-pale ale. The food was great too. I hung out for awhile and made sure I got a couple of pictures (following orders).
Then came the long drive home. I made it to about .25 miles from my exit off the thruway and got a speeding ticket. Oh well, it was still a successful weekend.
Thank you so much to the Krazy Kanadian....I don't know many other people who would have been up for this trip. I really appreciated the company....it was a blast!
Time to order the patches! I know there are a few more people who will finish within the next few months. See the link below for more information. It will be updated within the next 2 weeks (in time for TAP NY) to take care of a few items discovered from the trip. It will also have a forum like this for specific Views and Brews events.
Sorry for the long post...thanks for reading...
I started out planning to do 1 views and brews hike over the weekend. I contacted my Krazy friend to do Lyon Mountain on Saturday and visit the pub in Plattsburgh. Then I thought I could get another one done on the way if I left work a little early. This got me thinking....maybe I could get in a few more. Hmmm....the planner in me started working. Things were looking along the lines of even being able to finish if I took Monday off. I still needed 10 on the list. It would mean a lot of driving by myself. Although, if I could just find someone else Krazy enough....
So, I left work a little later than I had hoped but still with enough time to get 1 on the list in Schenectady and visit the pub in Plattsburgh. My plan was then to hike Lyon on Saturday and head out from there. I went to Plotter Kill Preserve and had a nice short hike in the rain (it somehow seemed fitting) and then went to Van Dyck's. It's a nice pub. My goal was to get a sampler at each place. So I tasted their 6 brews with their Dopplebock being my favorite. I headed North for the next stop. On the way I started thinking that perhaps Poke-O-Moonshine would be a shorter hike and would let me get moving faster on Saturday. I called the Krazy Kanadian who suggested we hike it in the dark Friday night which would mean an even earlier start on Saturday. Well, that sounded good to me! So, we met and hiked up with our headlamps. We had some nice views of the lights in Plattsburgh and Burlington. It was a fun hike with the ominous rock walls. We then headed to Bootleggers for the brews. I have to say I was much less than impressed with their brews. There were only 2 (one light and one stout) and neither were really worth drinking. So, that took care of day 1. On to Canada oops, I mean Kanada, for the night.
KrazyK agreed to go along for at least one pub. I was happy to have company so we headed for Chaumont Barrens for the Sackets Harbor hike. Not really any elevation, although there was one summit rock for a picture
The requirements for these hikes are pretty light. The primary goal is to hike for at least a mile and then visit the pub. We drove into Sackets Harbor which is a beautiful little town. The pub was very nice, with a great menu and very nice people. Their Scotchtoberfest was excellent!! Leaving Sackets Harbor, KrazyK agreed to continue on with me to Syracuse. Now if I could just Kidnap him for the rest of the trip......We went to Onandaga Trail for Tinker Falls. There were quite a few fishermen at Spruce Pond, but they didn't seem to be catching anything. It was fairly cloudy and not much to see so we did our hiking requirement and headed into the city to the pub...Syracuse Suds Factory. My favorite brew here was the Pale Ale. It had a taste similar to (but not as good as) Lake Placid's Frostbite.
Okay, it was either time to part or time to Kidnap. Kidnapping sounded better to me
so I got KrazyK to ditch his car and come with me for the rest of the road trip. Yes!! It was much better riding together than having to follow each other around trying to find these places. Next stop: Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen State Park had been listed as a hike for the pub in Corning, but once the pub opened up in Watkins Glen it seemed like the more likely link. So, Tom had added Watkins Glen to that pub and we hadn't changed the hike for Corning. So, we decided to hike at least 2 miles in Watkins Glen so it could count for 1 mile each for the 2 pubs. It was certainly easy to do. This place was fantastic! The trails are limited in the off season so keep that in mind if you want to go there. It is really a great place to visit though...even if you aren't working on the "list". This was to be the last hike for the day, although we still had 4 pubs to go to! We went to the Roosterfish Brewery where they had 3 brews on tap. The Butternut Pale Ale was very good. Now on to Market Street in Corning. Another great pub. I loved their D'Artagnan. KrazyK tended to prefer the reds at most of the places we went to.
Now for the long drive....off to Buffalo. The goal was to get to the pubs before closing since they were both opening late the next day....Easter Sunday. We were pretty tired by the time (about midnight I believe) we got into town. We hit the Buffalo Brewery next. They had a lot of brews on tap but not many of their own. We both liked their red the best. We then went to our final (6th!) of the day....Pearl Street. I liked their stout but I would have to vote for the Lake Effect Pale Ale as my favorite here. Although, by this time I was so tired, I couldn't wait to get some sleep. It was well after 1 AM....again.
The next morning the plan was to get 2 hikes for the 2 Buffalo pubs. We first went to Reinstein Woods. The access is limited here. It is a great spot for birding. We saw a big wild turkey and a Great Blue Heron here. I was really looking forward to the next hike. It had sounded interesting. This is a place where there is a gas fissure. Once lit, it stays lit until a heavy wind or rain comes along. It was lit when we got there. It is nestled in behind a water fall. In one of the pictures we took, the flame actually looks like the hiker symbol you see on signs...I swear it does! I have lots of pictures...for those of you who know the Krazy Kanadian, I'm sure that doesn't surprise you.
Okay, it was now time to head to the last town of the trip....Rochester. We wanted to do the hikes first and then relax at the pubs. According to the voice messages...one pub opened at 4 and one at 1. We had to go by the pubs on the way to the hikes, so we stopped to check. Yep, one opened at 4, but the one that was suppose to open at 1 said they weren't opening until 5 since it was Easter. Oh well, it would be a late night getting home. So we went to Ganondagan for our first Rochester hike. This is a Native American historical site with a Longhouse and some informational material. There are several trails with commemorative signage. We saw a garter snake here. The last hike for the trip was along the tow path of the Erie Canal. The Krazy Kanadian tried to hitch a ride. I think he was trying to escape, but it didn't work. Now it was time to finish up with the pubs. It was about 4 so the first pub should be open. We drive to Rohrbachs only to find nobody there!!! Oh no!! They were closed for Easter! There were no signs or messages on their phone (with the listing of hours) or on their Web site about closing. How can this be????!!!!????!!! This meant I couldn't finish today. But wait...could we find a place that sold their growlers or perhaps they bottled some of their beer and we could find it? We could get the beer, take it back to the pub and drink one there. No, that just wasn't going to work. We tried to find some but we couldn't. I was bummed. There wasn't much we could do so we went on to the last pub....The Distillery. They only had one of their own brews on tap. It was a pretty good beer at least. It was time to let my captive go. We drove back to his car in Syracuse. I was sorry to see my partner in all of this head home and not be there for my finish. Oh well, he had to get back to work, and he was there for the majority of the effort.
I got back in my car and drove back to Rochester. After all, you have 48 hours between hiking and getting that beer, and the pub was scheduled to open at 11 AM on Monday. So, I found myself a hotel and went to Rohrbach's for lunch on Monday. It was a great place to finish. They had 8 beers on tap. It was a toss up between their wonderfully smoky porter and their x-pale ale. The food was great too. I hung out for awhile and made sure I got a couple of pictures (following orders).
Then came the long drive home. I made it to about .25 miles from my exit off the thruway and got a speeding ticket.
Oh well, it was still a successful weekend. Thank you so much to the Krazy Kanadian....I don't know many other people who would have been up for this trip. I really appreciated the company....it was a blast!
Time to order the patches! I know there are a few more people who will finish within the next few months. See the link below for more information. It will be updated within the next 2 weeks (in time for TAP NY) to take care of a few items discovered from the trip. It will also have a forum like this for specific Views and Brews events.
Sorry for the long post...thanks for reading...
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