2022-05-26: Silver Spur Road

Cairo NY Roadwalking: 78/112 mi

Roads Walked: NY-23, NY-32, CR-23B/Main Street, Silver Spur Road, M Simons Road

I started working again this week, and as such the time for hiking and walking and exploring has been severely limited. However, my commute brings me conveniently through Cairo, and today I stopped on the way home to cover some more roads in the center of town. This loop runs straight through downtown Cairo, and along Route 23, a moderately trafficked four-lane highway. I tend to dread walking populated areas, so this was one of those 'get it over with' walks, but as always it was not without its highlights.

My planned route would involve not only walking along Route 23, but it also required doubling back along the highway, so I planned to cover that at the very start of the walk, before rush-hour traffic picked up. I parked in the old garden center, the same place I had when I did the nearby Ross Ruland Road last week, and headed down towards the dreaded highway.

Oddly enough, I found walking Silver Spur Road to be almost more dangerous than Route 23, as there were a lot of sharp turns that cars seemed to be taking much too fast, and like most backroads it had no shoulders to speak of. Still, there were many flowers and plants along the road to look at. This is the first roadwalking I've done with my new-old camera so it was a little difficult to get pictures looking like I wanted.

Power lines along the road. The roads on this walk were cris-crossed by power lines at every turn.

Flowers beginning to bloom on a wild grape vine (Vitis riparia).

A deep purple cultivated iris (Iris x germania) in a patch along the road.

Heading down to Route 23 was the dreaded part of the walk. I've walked sections of the four-lane highway before, but never as much as I did today. I was walking fairly early in the day, so traffic wasn't too bad, but I saw a lot more cars than I ever do on any backroads. Traffic generally moves around 65 mi/h on the highway, and I dodged cars and roadkill on my way up to the next intersection, then back eastward to finish off Silver Spur Road.

Looking west down Route 23 from just past the first intersection.

Yellow mushrooms and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) grow from the trunk of a dead ash tree along the road.

Hills of the southern Taconics seen over a crest in the road.

A cell tower tops Catskill's Vedder Mountain over the wide highway.

I soon returned to Silver Spur Road, walking its final few hundred feet and linking up with Route 23B, a narrower, slower road that runs parallel to Route 23, hosting businesses and residences. I was glad to be off the highway, if only briefly, and despite the vaguely built-up nature of the road there was still beauty to be found. Towards the end of the road, just before a major intersection, there were some wide open hilly fields to the north that made for some good photography.

A tiny waterfall on an unnamed brook that runs through the narrow woods between 23 and 23A.

Windham High Peak seen above a prefab home dealership. A staple of the skyline in Durham and Greenville, it's been some time since I've been able to see the sharp mastiff on a walk.

A lone tree stands amidst an even hayfield full of the season's early growth.

A second tree, in significantly worse shape, sits beside a trail in the same field.

Farming equipment and a truck trailer on the side of a fairly steep hill.

From here I returned to the crowded intersection and Route 23. The intersection between 23 and 23B is home to a gas station, a butcher's shop, two banks, and several other businesses. There's always a flurry of activity at this intersection, and with a tricky stoplight and a high-speed, high-traffic highway, it's often the site of serious accidents. I passed through without incident and pushed through the featureless stretch of Route 23 towards downtown Cairo.

The flag flying at one of the banks waved just in front of Acra Point from this perspective. The camera messed up the texture of the mountain unfortunately.

Looking down rusty power lines north of Route 23. As a child, I used to dream about what lies in the forest beyond (it's mostly just trees).

From here I turned back onto Route 23B - here designated as Main Street - to walk through downtown Cairo. There was a good amount of traffic, more than I'm used to, and I tried to hurry through the area as quickly as possible. There was also a strong law enforcement presence; people are constantly speeding on Route 23, and the local police are keen on stopping them.

The unmistakable dome of Round Top/Wawantepekook looms over a supermarket in Cairo. With bright green spring growth, there's still a lovely contrast between evergreens and deciduous trees on its slopes.

Looking over businesses in town towards Blackhead Mountain.

The historical Mowers House, originally built in the 1660s and rebuilt since then, struggles to find use due to its residential layout and commercial zoning.

Historical marker outside the building.

One of two red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) that circled Main Street as I walked.

I soon returned to the intersection to finish off Main Street and take the last remaining portion of the walk, M Simons Road, back to the car. The route seems a little contrived, with a lot of backtracking and returning to the same location over and over, but with what little time I had to prepare, I couldn't figure out any other approach that would cover the ground I wanted. This last little stretch was the most rural of all, heavily forested with no cars on the half-mile stretch of road leading back to the car.

Signage at the intersection, where Main Street ends. Route 23B continues south as far as Jefferson Heights, but its designation as Main Street in Cairo only extends to the portions south of Route 23.

A decorative bear outside one of the banks. Bears were installed at businesses all around Cairo a number of years ago in a bid to increase tourist interest; visitors are encouraged to try to find all the bears in town.

If you read a lot of my roadwalking posts, you know I'm a sucker for the wide open stretches of land below power lines, and this north-facing view from M Simons, the fourth crossing of the day, is no exception.