(27 Miles) Two-night backpacking w/ Aaron: Watkins to Bradford

Aaron came along for the fun of it and it was an experience. We had to filter a lot of water, about 10 L at least, and the Sawyer filter definitely degraded. If I'm going to keep using that one I'll have to remember to bring the back flush system. This was the same route I went last year, but in opposite direction. I couldn't believe how dry the area was. We almost didn't stay over that first night, but in walking to the road to find a place with signal to call Annie, we found a couple puddles we used for the night. First night was at Parks Hollow lean-to. Second night was at Moss Hill mean to. The hike between the two was not easy! Met a few young guys hiking in the other direction, first time that ever happened to me. Then at Moss Hill, met Mark from Finger Lakes magazine, and Robin & Joy. That's pretty cool. Everyone had a tent, but Aaron was so tired and so social he didn't have enough time / energy and ended up just sleeping in the lean-to. I got a small blister on my left toe, but all in all I was good. However, I trashed my Solomon Pro Odyssey after this hike. They've been around a while and they did not feel comfortable in general. Didn't hurt, but wasn't great. Definitely learned about filtering water, and how important it was to scout the area before leaving - water was an issue that was always on my mind.

Car Camping / Labor Day Weekend

Annie, Evan, Brian, Brennan, and I stayed overnight at Watkins Glen State Park site # 184. Tough time staking down the tent corners since the ground was so hard-packed. There were a couple other sites we saw where it was more open field - which also got more direct sunlight and would have been hotter!

We set up camp, went to hike the Gorge for a while and visited Glen Dairy Bar for ice cream. We tried to swim at the pool but it was temporarily closed. We considered the beach on the lake, but when we got there it said "No Lifeguard = No Swimming" so Annie put the kibosh on that. By the time we got back up the hill the pool was open and we enjoyed that for about an hour. There were a lot of people but the pool was so big you didn't really notice and the boys loved the diving board. Wish Allison had joined us!

After that back to camp to hang the wet stuff, start a fire, roast hot dogs, make S'mores, and then sleep. All 5 of us fit in the big red tent and for the first time in my life, I slept without a rain-fly. It was still warm when we went to sleep but no one needed anything more than blankets during the night. I didn't sleep great and Evan had inverted so his feet were in my face all night, but not sleeping was to be expected.

We didn't do breakfast in the morning as we were in a rush to get Evan home but first Brennan desperately wanted to go fishing. So we went to the pier near the fancy hotel and fished for a couple hours. It was very annoying to me how the reels weren't working right and kept getting tangled. Seemed like there was always at least one that needed to be fixed. But at least everyone got a chance.

Then took Evan to Alpine Junction around noon, then home. I dropped off the boys & Mommy, went to in-laws to get the dog, then back home to clean up. At 2pm we left to pick up in-laws and all drove to Fr Browns family lakehouse on Keuka Lake. Brennan & Brian fished almost the whole time since they didn't know the other kids. Annie and I hung w/ Fr Jones a bit. We left around 5 I think, just as Nana got sick in a bag in the car. Drove everyone home and started to relax for about 10 minutes before Annie made me take Brennan fishing again.

I took him down behind Wegmans and the light rain really added to the allure. I never thought I liked fishing but it was fun. We waded into the river to get our lines closer to the deep spots. I caught the little Bass in the picture, but it was Brennan's first time touching a real fish and holding it up like that. The colors on the photo are awesome! I could probably even be talked into going with him again sometime.

Weekend vacation ideas

• Alex Bay: Wellesley Island State Park
• ADK Cabins

Hiking Robert Treman State Park

Able to grab nearly 3 miles with the boys. Nice park & hike - need to return to get some more distance.
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