Considering the fact that our state has thousands of miles of public hiking trails, you can’t make the claim that there is nowhere to hike. Knowing when and where to go can be a little tricky though.

I was contacted a few weeks back by Peggy Fuller, a member of the Bullthistle Hiking Club. She had some wonderful information on hiking, its benefits, safety precautions, and how our area became part of the Finger Lakes Trail. She was responding to a column written a few weeks back about state property not having adequate shooting ranges. I had been talking about how it could be dangerous to hike because people may be shooting or hunting. She wanted to get the word out that there is a safe way to go out hiking and that hunters and hikers tend to get along just fine. Like anything else, having the right information can make all the difference, so if you plan on hiking in the future please do some research.

I first would like to thank Peggy and all the members of The Bullthistle Hiking Club for inviting myself and my girlfriend on a hike this past weekend. We had a wonderful time and learned so much about hiking and the outdoors.