the Way of the Turtle

Hiking At Ellison Park
Sunday, November 11, 2007

Ellison Park info
Ellison Park trail map (PDF)

photo slideshow

Today was sunny, if a bit breezy and chilly, so there was no way I was staying indoors, especially after the last week of inactivity. I debated a couple of different places Ann and I could go for a walk, and finally settled on Ellison Park, starting with the Coyote Den trail off of Penfield Road. Ann and I had walked there in early July, so today I was hoping to climb a fairly hilly side trail and also hike some of the trails in another part of the park that we hadn't visited last time.

We were a little surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot... I guess we weren't the only ones taking advantage of a sunny November afternoon! Despite that, we didn't run into too many other people on the trails, except at one spot where a dozen or so folks were walking their dogs.

The Coyote Den Trail runs downhill through a ravine, winding its way along the banks of a small stream. While lots of leaves had fallen already, there were still plenty on the trees to make for a fairly pretty walk in the sunshine. About halfway to the bottom we headed uphill on a side trail, the Overlook Trail, which took us to the top of a ridge. We walked to the end of the trail, which came out on a hillside overlooking a huge gravel pit (mostly filled with water.) Not the greatest view in the world, but so it goes. From there we headed back along the ridge until we came to the trail down into the park - the very steep trail. We're talking grab trees to keep from plunging headfirst downhill steep. We passed a couple of folks heading up the trail... while they were working harder, I think I'd have preferred climbing that hill to descending it.

From there we walked along the Irondequoit Creek for a while, stopping to admire the trees (and in Ann's case, to climb up in one) and to check out the ducks in the small pond by the road. Apparently, the local mallards have adopted a white domestic duck, who seemed quite at home with his or her wild cousins. Once across the road, we made our way through the park to the base of another ridge... the first trail up looked pretty challenging (basically, a wide eroded sand face) but further along we found an easier route up through the trees, which also conveniently took us away from the many people walking their dogs.

Partway to the top, Ann popped her knee. Although I had been looking forward to exploring the ridge, I tried to convince her that we should head back down and just walk some of the flat paths. She was stubborn and insisted we keep going. The trail on the top of the ridge was wooded and rolling, and that proved our undoing, when she popped her knee a second time on a short uphill stretch. That convinced her to head back down... after exploring one side trail that turned into a steep, narrow chute down the hillside, we walked back down the way we'd come.

By that time we were both getting a bit hungry, so we headed back through the park and up the Coyote Den Trail to the car. After some of the steep hills we'd walked earlier, the uphill hike didn't seem all that bad (but then, I hadn't popped my knee twice.)

What I saw today affirmed my earlier impression that Ellison would be a good place to run... the trails are fairly clear, and there's a nice mix of hills and flats with some steep sections for an occasional crazy bit. Maybe we can get over there this winter for either some skiing or some snowshoeing, assuming we actually get snow this year...

JMH