Thursday, July 10, 2008
A couple of summers ago Ann and I stopped by the Lisha Kill Natural Area to go for a short walk... it turned out to be a very short walk, since we were swarmed by bugs fairly quickly and hadn't brought along any bug spray. I headed over there today hoping the cooler temperatures and stiff breeze would keep the bugs down... and as it turned out I was correct, resulting in a fairly comfortable walk along the Lisha Kill trails.
The 135 acre Lisha Kill Natural Area is managed by the Nature Conservancy and includes a mile long stretch of the Lisha Kill, a stream which eventually winds its way down to the nearby Mohawk River. A portion of the area was used as a woodlot for the Vedder Farm, run by one of the original settlers of Schenectady, Harmanus Vedder. At one time an Indian trail ran through part of the woods allowing access between the Normans Kill, the Helderberg Escarpment, and a Mohawk village in nearby Niska Isle on the Mohawk River. In the 1960's this area was threatened by development and the possible relocation of Route 7, until local conservationist Paul Shaefer (sometimes referred to as the grandfather of NY conservation) led a push to have the property purchased by the Nature Conservancy. For more info about this area, please see ECOS's Natural Areas of Schenectady County (2006) and TERRA's section on Lisha Kill in their Ancient Forests survey.
I walked all three trails today - the main red trail, which runs from parking lot into the woods, then downhill to cross a stream and up into the woods and along the bluffs overlooking the Lisha Kill. Much of the forest was pine and hemlocks, though there were also stretches of hardwoods. After travelling along the bluffs for a bit, the path went steeply down and followed the bank of the stream, then back up and along an old road to loop back to the path I'd walked in on.
Shortly after crossing the first stream I headed off on a short loop, "Frank's Trail". Apparently this is a relatively new addition to the preserve, since it's not marked on the trail map in my ECOS guidebook. This trail headed along the hill overlooking the streambed until it reached a powerline right-of-way, then headed back down into the woods to join back up with the red trail.
After leaving the banks of the Lisha Kill, a trail followed the old road down toward a stream and then up the hill on the other side for another loop, "Paul's Trail". This one circled the top of a hill between several ravines and passed near the northern edge of the preserve, with several houses visible through the trees, before heading back down to the stream where I retraced my steps back to the red trail.
The trails looked very well travelled, and in the short time I was there I saw three other groups walking... it would be a good place to run, if the trails weren't so short. As it stands, I'd have to do at least two loops to get in a decent short run (and I hate running multiple loops.) But it's a nice place to visit for a walk in the woods... at least when the bugs aren't too bad.
JMH
