Frozen Ocean State Forest (Solo)

The lack of a functioning mountain bike and brilliant weather on Saturday was making me a bit stir crazy. I've been out in the evenings this past week and remarked to myself how incredibly perfect the conditions were for a night under the stars. So I decided Saturday, at 6pm or so, that I wasn't going to let a great evening be spent indoors. After some quick research, I settled on Frozen Ocean State Forest in Cayuga County for my night out of the city.

Being my first solo night in the woods, admittedly I had some trepidation. I arrived, after some searching, at what I figured to be the trailhead to the pond. It was late and well beyond dusk by the time I arrived and nothing ever looks quite right in the dark but I figured it was the most promising point of entry I'd seen yet. After double checking everything, I locked the car and headed down the trail. Hiking in the dark always heightens my senses - hiking by yourself in the dark, well, let's just say mine were at a level not previously experienced.

According to the DEC website, the pond was only a quarter mile along the trail. As the cacophony of spring peepers grew louder, I anticipated I was getting close. The trail split... I continued down until I crossed a stream, which I figured meant I'd gone to far. So I turned around and took the other trail as far as I could because of a downed tree. I could see, in the very faint moonlight being allowed to pass through the clouds, there was a small body of water through the trees. I was in a bit of a clearing so I figured "close enough" and set up camp. I could still hear the road but so it goes. At first I didn't want to set up the fly but the clouds and predicted rain made me forego the middle-of-the-night rain fly dance and I set it up from the outset.

Let me pause here to share a wonder of mine - bedtime bathroom respite. When I am at home, before I go to bed, I use the bathroom once and I am ready for a complete night of sleep without having to get up again. In the woods, when it is much more difficult to answer nature's call in the middle of the night, this once and done scenario is not the case - ever. Such a hassle. So after multiple answers, I finally got to sleep.

At some point I awoke to rain, which I heard along with the peepers through the ear plugs I've taken to sleeping with whenever in the woods. In the morning, I awoke to continued rain and much cooler temps. I discovered on this outing my 20 degree back is more like a 50 degree. I packed up in the rain and decided to wander around more of the forest and see what there was to see. One of the ponds on the property appears to be man made and potentially maintained by beavers. Both ponds are low, judging by the mudline around them and the visible stumps.

Not being someone who lives easily in the present, unless I am on a bike, I was eventually drawn back to the car, and the city, and the commitments I'd made for the day. The 12+ hours in a place less touched by the hands of humans was refreshing and it is likely I'll be back to the Frozen Ocean, or a place like it, over the course of the summer for a natural recharge.