Report by Norma Lee Havens We could not have ordered a more beautiful day than the one we got on Tuesday August 23 at Thayer Farm. Thayer Farm is located high up off the Route 80 Lake Road and has several options for trails. Thirty one people took advantage of the sunny, cool, dry day to join the group for hiking with picnic later at the Otsego Sailing Club. There were two groups of hikers. One group opting for an easier hike was led by Julie Smith. They walked to the Pond on the red and yellow trail then went on to do some of the green and yellow trails. The hikers opting for the longer hike started off on the red and yellow trails and then went all the way around on the yellow trail and finished through the Pine Wood and the Hemlock Forrest. Yellow trail is estimated to be about 2 1/2 miles. The views of Otsego Lake at the top are pretty much filled in by trees but the part visible is on the eastern side of the lake. Hiking at Thayer Farms is now complicated by new insurance restriction so both the main office of ADK and SUNY Oneonta Biological Foundation insurance coverage needed to be arranged; however, both ADK and SUNY Oneonta were very helpful. There was a $2.00 charge made for each hiker. We were sorry to find that we could no longer hike Thayer Farms without the special permits. Leaders will need to allow ample time to get the permit. A map of Thayer Farms and the hiking trails is available on the SUNY Oneonta web site www.oneonta.edu. About a third of the hikers moved on to Otsego Sailing club to eat their picnic lunch and enjoy a swim. We enjoyed seeing the sail boats with a real blue sky and many big white puffy clouds for the background on the lower docks. Photograph by Julie Smith.
Susquehanna Chapter 