2021-02-16 42 -78

Location

At the Outer Harbor, near the back of Tifft Nature Preserve

Participants

Pedalpusher

Expedition

Due to the Pandemic, my girlfriend and I decided not to go out for dinner on Valentine's Day to avoid the rush and instead were planning on having dinner this evening. When the Geohash was published, I saw this was not only reachable, but it was practically on my way. I would have to be very careful with the time as we had a 18:15 reservation and I still needed to pick up a few things too. I really wasn't sure I'd have enough time to go to this hash but I was definitely going to try. I should also mention that I was in a bit of a fender-bender on Sunday on our way to hiking so my car was in the shop getting fixed. It was a pretty minor accident at a stop sign and the other guy ran into the back of my car. I mention this, because my snowshoes were in the back as I didn't think I would really need them this week while the car was being fixed. Oops.

I was able to get out of work a bit early and made my stops on the way to Tifft. Getting into the parking lot right at 17:10, I knew it would be about 20 min to J's house so I had about 30-40 min to get to the hash and back to the car. I estimated it was not quite a mile, but it would still take about 15-20 min to walk all the way back there. I set a timer on my phone and started walking. The driveway in was nice and easy, but once I hit the trail, I could see the snow was a bit deep and not many people had been out.

Fortunately, they apparently are working in the back with some heavy machinery and used this path to get back there. If it wasn't for the semi-firm packed trail, I don't think I would have been able to make it. About 3/4ths of the way back, the machinery turned on another trail and I was following some older snowshoe prints through the snow. Walking around the swamp and toward the back, I was able to work my way through some of the tall brown grasses and shrubs to the hash area. Getting back in the open, I saw 3 White Tail deer watching me and one even seemed really happy to see me. It bounded a couple steps in my direction before stopping and realizing I wasn't a cousin. Keeping an eye on me, they wandered off in the other direction when I started moving again toward the hash.

Happy not to hear my alarm go off, I closed in using the HashDroid app and got a decent screenshot. I did see under 1 foot at one point, but was not able to capture it quickly enough. With pictures taken I looked at my timer and realized I made it with about 3 minutes to spare. I wasn't profusely sweating, but definitely needed to be careful on the way back. With the extra time, I could take it slightly easier heading back to the car. I also realized I could make really good time by stepping in my earlier footprints as I kind of packed down the snow a bit more in those spots. At the car, I took my jacket and hat off so I could cool down better and I made it to J's house exactly on time!

We then had a really fantastic dinner at a nice place by her apartment. After dinner, we drove up to Niagara Falls for an evening walk. It wasn't quite as romantic as I was hoping it would be (it was 15 degrees and fairly windy), but it was still really nice and we walked around Goat Island to the Falls. We didn't stick around for too long though and made our way back to the car and J's place for the remainder of the evening.

Bonus Note: This is my 2^8th expedition!

Photos

Taken on the way back, but this is the 'Mounds bypass trail' I took first.
The sun setting over 'The Mounds'.
The three deer waiting for me near the hash.
Made it!
Definitely a Frozen Hash.
View West, toward Lake Erie.
View East from the Hash.
View North toward the Tifft Street Bridge.
Standard Stupid Grin.
On the way back, the trail and setting sun.
A view from the trail over the swamps toward Buffalo.
Tifft trail map. I took the Mounds Bypass, to Old Tifft Street to the back and just past the Marsh Observation Mound.
After dinner, we made it to Niagara Falls. This is the American Falls. In the winter, you can't get as close because the mist gives everything an icy layer and it can be dangerous.
Near the Horseshoe Falls, we don't have a great view from Goat Island, but that's Canada over there! 'Peace and Love'
Heading back to the car, a view over the lit up American Falls toward Canada.