A Short Walk Along the Lakeshore
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Ann's niece was having a birthday party out at Hamlin Beach State Park west of Rochester, so this afternoon we headed over there in some surprisingly nice weather (the forecasts called for rain on and off all afternoon.) It was a bit chilly for June, so the park was pleasantly empty (at least compared to the times I'd been there 10 years ago.)
Hamlin Beach State Park has a varied history. During the 1930's the Civilian Conservations Corps spent 6 years working on buildings and reclaiming the eastern end from swampland. It became a state park in 1938. During World War II it was used as a POW camp. In the 1970's extensive work was done to rebuild the beaches, which had been damaged by erosion; in the process stone jetties and retaining walls were built to minimize future damage.
After a variety of endurance challenges (locking my keys in the car - the park police were very helpful and AAA rocks, the service dude not only got there quickly but had my door unlocked in a matter of moments; playing volleyball on sore fried legs when my volleyball skills are worse than nonexistent; and listening to a gaggle of shrieking tween girls for several hours) I decided I needed a break and took my bike out for a spin around the park. Started out on the 2 1/4 mile shoreline trail, which runs from the bluffs at the western end of the park down to the marshland at the eastern end. Along the way it runs through a variety of terrain... open fields overlooking the lake and sand beaches at the western end, then through woods in the middle of the park, and then right along the lakeshore at the eastern end. Easy riding especially since there were only a few people to work my way around. Then I took the park road back down to the western end, and explored a no-vehicle-use emergency access road at that end of the park.
I was tempted to take the park road back to the eastern end and return to the picnic shelter via the shoreline trail, but in the end decided to cut my ride short in case Ann wanted to ride the shoreline trail once before we left... and because my legs were feeling more than a little tired.
Among other things, Hamlin is apparently a haven for woodchucks... we saw easily a dozen of the chunky little critters, who would scamper off into the undergrowth at the first sign of people, foiling most of my attempts to get a decent photo (though I did manage to get a few mediocre shots.) Also spotted a few rabbits and hundreds of gulls (no great surprise there.)
Things wrapped up not long after I got back, and Ann's brother and sister-in-law headed home with two vehicles full of babbling shrieking girls... luck them. Since Ann's younger brother had ridden out to the park with us, a bike ride along the shoreline trail wasn't really an option, but we did drive down to the eastern end of the park and walked along the lakeshore for a little while.
I don't know that I feel any huge desire to rush back, but it was interesting to visit the park again, roughly 10 years after having last been there. I definitely wouldn't want to be there during the hottest summer temperatures, when I have no doubt it will be swarming with people trying to cool off in Lake Ontario. It might be interesting to come back in the autumn or winter and see what the park looks like in a different season (not to mention at a time when attendance will probaby be low!)
JMH
