Chapter 18 - Recreation
Discovery:
Winter Walk in the South Woods
"Dad. Have I got a hike for you."
"Where?"
"Well . . . some of it is through a cemetery and some of it is through the South Woods. It's where I do most of my running and walking. You'll love it. Lots of deer and turkeys."
"How far?"
"About six miles altogether."
The inscription on the monolith below The Eagle told the story.
December 7, 2002, 25 degrees, Sunny
I looked forward to hiking with Bridget, but didn't
expect to see much to photograph in a cemetery or in South Woods. After
all I had hiked and biked in this area as a youngster more than 50 years
ago and didn't recall anything especially interesting. But, just to be
on the safe side, I grabbed my digital camera before driving to Utica.
From this vantage point we could see the
"Gold Dome" of the Savings Bank
of Utica glistening in the morning sun.
We started our trek at 9 a.m. from her home near
Oneida Street. Fifteen minutes later we were climbing the hill on one of
the roads in Forest Hill Cemetery. Any other time I would have stopped
to look at some of the gravestones and monuments, but we were out for exercise,
so we moved right along, climbing to the top of the hill. Bridget pointed
out areas where she had seen deer and turkeys. We didn't see any critters,
but there were deer, rabbit, squirrel and mouse tracks all over the place.
At the top of the hill, we crossed a fence to "The
Eagle." From this well-known monument, overlook, and "parking area" we
could see across the Mohawk Valley. Why an eagle? The inscription on the
monolith told the story.
THIS MONUMENT ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THOMAS REDFIELD PROCTOR
BY HIS WIFE.
HE WAS AN INCORRUPTIBLE CITIZEN AND TRUE PATRIOT
IF ASKED WHAT HE WISHED IN REWARD FOR ANY GOOD PUBLIC DEED HE ANSWERED,
"I WANT NOTHING."
AN AMERICAN EAGLE IN A CAGE WAS ONCE OFFERED TO HIM. HE BOUGHT IT AND LIBERATED IT ON THE 4TH OF JULY. IT PAUSED A MOMENT AND THEN TOOK FLIGHT.
HE ALSO WAS GIVEN HIS LIBERTY ON THE 4TH OF JULY 1920 AND WENT THE WAY THE BIRD DID, SEEKING HIS NATIVE ELEMENT AND THE TRUE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY.
Thomas R. Proctor was a philanthropist extraordinaire.
He and his family donated most of the public land in Utica. One of his
gifts to the city in 1909 was the land to create a wooded park in South
Utica. Today Roscoe Conkling Park features a zoo, ski area, golf course
and miles of roads and trails through woods and fields.
Bridget
and I hiked through four inches of snow on one of those roads. There were
only a couple of people tracks, but deer, canine and rabbit tracks crisscrossed
the road. A hillside meadow provided a panoramic view of the city. Although
there was a slight haze over the valley, the top of the Gold Dome (Utica
Savings) Bank glistened in the morning sun.
There were no golfers on the snow-white Valley View
Golf Course, but we met a couple of runners and a man walking his dog.
We hiked up the winding road through the South Woods, noting the old stone
fireplaces and "outhouses." When I commented on the number of people tracks
in this area, Bridget explained that this road is popular with local runners
because it's used to prepare for the Utica Boilermaker Road Race.
Cross country ski and people tracks in the South Woods.
Near the top of the hill, we discovered the herringbone tracks of cross-country skis. When I wondered out loud why this hill-climbing track was on flat ground, Bridget explained that they were really the tracks of ski-skaters.
From the road overlooking the golf course we could see Mohowk Valley Community College, Proctor High School and the South Utica Reservoirs.
From the top of the hill, we walked back down to
the golf course through open fields, past hemlock, pine and spruce groves,
and hardwood forest. When we passed the pavilion, we took the road that
angles north towards the Parkway. From this road we could see the South
Utica Reservoirs, Mohawk Valley Community College, Proctor High School
and much of East Utica. Most of the two reservoirs were frozen over, but
the open water at the north end of one of them was filled with Canada geese.
We walked west on the Parkway to the Val Bialis
Ski Center and the new Recreation Building, headed south on Oneida Street
and back to the start of our walk. It was 11:45.
We had hiked for two hours and forty five minutes
through the hills in South Utica, learned a little about the history of
the area, enjoyed some beautiful vistas, saw woods, signs of wildlife and
got a good workout in the bargain. Six miles? Not on your life.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Utica select New York, press GO!
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