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* Doug's Chalet *
Deer in the back ravine
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To my surprise, first thing Sunday morning, I discovered 2 deer fawns grazing in the back ravine. They were unusually close. Apparently, this is a regular thing around the valley. They are well camaflauged [look inside the white rectangles]
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* Finger Lakes Trail *
Tower Entrance
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The longest trail in the area is the Finger Lakes Trail [FLT]. Like the Bruce Trail network in Ontario, the FLT winds through the valley area from north to south then continues on in both directions.
Traditionally, this trail was restricted exclusively to hiking. With lobbying and a commitment to trail preservation and conservation by the WNYMBA, local people were able to convince park authorities to allow mountain biking as long as the intimacy of the trail was kept intact. It is monitored routinely.
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* Finger Lakes Trail *
Pine Trees & Ferns
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As you can imagine, the local micro ecosystems are fragile and bikes could easily ruin this dense ground cover.
Ferns are common in open areas near tall stands of pine trees. This is a rare treat many mountain bikers might
never see because of sensitivity to traffic.
This section of the FLT is flat and not technically challenging. Just a long smooth twisty narrow trail through some beautiful scenery.
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* Finger Lakes Trail *
New Friends
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One thing great about mountain biking is meeting people. There's a really good chance you'll meet freindly faces along the way. We spent the greater part of both days riding or running into this group from Ohio and Pennsylvania.
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* Finger Lakes Trail *
Big Pine Trees
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Even though this trail looks wide, those little dead broken branches hanging from the pine trees are like spines on a porcupine and not the nicest thing to run into.
The trick is to bounce clean through all those deep tree roots, without losing your balance or worse, straying into those deadly branches.
This part of the FLT was fun to ride and those roots continue on for a good 1/2 km. Definitely a trail for all levels of riding ability.
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More of Holiday Valley - Holimont Resort Area, Ellicottville
