Saturday, November 3, 2007
Ganondagan official site
Ganondagan and the surrounding area was a major Seneca town and granary in the 1600's. In 1687 the French destroyed the town and granary in an attempt to remove the Seneca as competitors in the fur trade. The site of the town was made a National Historic Site in 1964, and the site of the granary (now called Fort Hill) was named a National Historic Site in 1966. Both sites now feature many interpretive signs, and a replica of a bark longhouse was constructed in 1997-98 to provide further educational opportunities for visitors to the site. (both the official site and the Freeman's hiking books at http://www.footprintpress.com/ can provide even more background info on the history of this fascinating area.)
After running on some of the Ganondagan trails in the morning (in particular, across the crest of Fort Hill and through the colorful hardwood forests of Ganondagan) I decided I wanted to go back in the afternoon and share some of it with Ann. After lunch we headed off to Victor, stopping first at the parking area below Fort Hill. We made our way along the grass path at the base of the hill, and then up the steep access road to the hilltop. Neither of us was terribly happy with that last climb - Ann because she hasn't done much hilly hiking lately, and me because my legs were already a bit worn out after the morning's exertions. But the views from the top were well worth it... I can only imagine how it looked a couple of weeks ago, at peak foliage, or even better - back in the days when the houses and farms that we see now didn't exist.
After that we headed over to Ganondagan, and after a brief visit to the longhouse (which was closed and locked) we headed off into the swamps and woods along the trails I'd run that morning. The early parts weren't particularly colorful, but it was fun walking along the bridges and boardwalks - I once visited Ganondagan 8 years ago or so, and I remember the paths being pretty muddy at the time. We finally reached the intersection for the loop we ran at the turnaround, which is where the prettiest trees were.
Then we made a big mistake. In an attempt to bypass the long uphill climb on the way back to the longhouse, we headed off on one of the trails across the fields, thinking that it would eventually loop around and join up with a trail into the fields by the longhouse. After about half a mile of hiking up and down hills in the wind and the sun, we came to a dead end, and realized that we were nowhere near the longhouse... and my legs were definitely out of juice. So we ended up with a long, slow hike back, first to return to the trail through the woods and then to get back to the longhouse and then the parking lot. Needless to say, my legs were well and truly fried (as was I!) by the time we got back to the car.
Still, despite being a bit stupid (heading off on trails we hadn't walked before, and leaving the map in the car) it was a gorgeous afternoon spent in some beautiful countryside with my sweetie... and even fried, I can appreciate that!
JMH
