Tickets On Sale Now For The Getting Intimate with The Elevators Tours

Have you ever wondered what the inside of Buffalo’s Grain Elevators are like?  

Have your ever thought to yourself, I’d like to see the inner workings of these industrial giants and see what Buffalo looks like from the Top of the Grain Elevators?

Well, YOU CAN!  

On this tour you will be able to explore just how these elevators work, see the equipment as it was left when they shut down, take pictures and video, and climb to the very top and see the Harbor like very few have!

We have six dates that we are running this tour because we can only allow access to 10 guests at a time.  Due to the limited number of spots, these tours are going to fill up fast!

Go to www.buffalohiking.com today and reserve your tickets today!  You may never get this opportunity again!

Dates:

Saturdays

October 1st, 15th and 29th

November 5th & 12th. 

Time:

Tour starts promptly at 2pm and ends at 4pm.  (arrive early because if you aren’t there when we start the tour, we won’t know you are there because we’ll be in the elevator)

What to Bring:

You will need to wear old clothes and boots.  Don’t forget your camera!  Also bring a flashlight and water.

Directions

Meet at the grain elevator complex at Ohio & Childs St.  Drive through the gate towards the river and you will see people gathered just by the river.

1st Annual Wellness Event Review, A Great Success!

The Buffalo Hiking Group’s 1st Annual Wellness Event turned out awesome!  Guests filed in at noon and soon the conference room at Minty Wellness was packed with attendees eager to learn from Health Coach Jennifer Henning of Nourish and Grow Health Coaching about “The Benefits of Eating More Plants”.  She gave some insightful information on how foods and their Acid/Alkaline levels can drastically affect our health as well as environmental benefits and financial benefits of adding more plants into our diets.

After Jennifer’s presentation we ventured up to the restaurant and since it was such a beautiful day out, we all decided to eat lunch on the outdoor patio of Minty Wellness.  The servers began by serving ice cold filtered water (which was great on such a hot day!), the next dish they brought out was a delightful garden salad with a delicious house dressing.  The timing was perfect because just after we finished our salads the server began bringing out our main dishes.  I had the Roasted Marinated Portabello Panini topped with tofu, lettuce, tomato and dressing.  Served with it was homemade potato chips.  The panini was magnificent there was just enough food because it didn’t leave me hungry or over stuffed.  The servers finished off the meal with a wonderful melon sorbet that was cool and refreshing!

Once everyone finished their meals the owner of Minty Wellness gave all the attendees of the event a complete tour of all that Minty Wellness has to offer.  Attendees were led through each of the differently styled. elegant guest rooms as well as the spa area of the resort and went over all that Minty Wellness had to offer.  The entire place is charming and very well styled. 

After our tour of the resort, we changed into our outdoor attired and was led by David of Minty Wellness on a 90 minute hike along the trails of Minty Wellness.  We weren’t fortunate enough to see any wildlife but the forest and wild flowers were a beautiful sight as we wound our way around the property.

We ended our day after the hike at 4pm, educated, well fed and tired and every had a great time!  We’d like to thank Jennifer of Nourish and Grow Health Coaching for putting together the awesome presentation, Linda of Minty Wellness for allowing us to have the event at Minty Wellness and all her help with coordinating the event, David of Minty Wellness for the tours of the resort and for leading the great hike on the nature trails, and last by not least…all of you who attended this event and made it possible.

We will plan this again next year and we’ll work on making it even bigger and better, maybe adding some natural product vendors and things like that.  If you are interested in displaying contact chris@buffalohiking.com 

 

 

 

“Getting Intimate with The Elevators” The Insiders Tour

This Fall, The Buffalo Hiking Group will be offering several “Insiders Tours” of Buffalo’s Grain Elevators where the attendees will be able to see the Elevators like most people have never seen before.  Led by Local Grain Elevator Expert Jim Watkins, we will be getting into the inner workings of these industrial giants and even climb to the top!

The Buffalo Hiking Group has Exclusive Access for these Industrial Wonders and you won’t be able to tour the elevators like this  with any other tour company in Buffalo!  This tour series will have six dates and will be limited to only TEN people per tour, so if you want in on one of the tours don’t haste in signing up when tickets go on sale!

Make sure you sign up for the newsletter by CLICKING HERE to keep informed when the tickets for these tours will be going on sale!

 

Buffalo Hiking Heads to Panama Rocks

On Saturday, September 17th The Buffalo Hiking Group will be venturing down to one of our areas most unique treasures, Panama Rocks.  Located in Chautauqua County, Panama Rocks is a park that has been in operation for many decades.  This neat place has various types of rock formations cut out of the earth by glaciers that once covered all of Western New York.  

The Panama Rocks extend about half a mile and consist of twelve acres of an erupted, Paleozoic seashore originating over 300 million years ago.  It is a ridge of Quartz Conglomerate Rock, which was carved and shaped by a glacier, and is all set amid an ancient forest.

Escape from civilization a while, experience this awe inspiring nature, an enchanting world of towering rocks, hundreds of deep  crevice passageways, cool cavernous dens and small caves, grotesque roots snake down rocks, delicate ferns and mosses abound 1 mile hiking trail (Self-Guided)

We will meet at Panama Rocks at 11am and spend a few hours hiking the area and taking in this wonder of nature. We’ll plan on leaving around 3pm. They don’t permit dogs so please leave your pets at home.

Plan on packing for a picnic lunch as they do have a picnic area with tables for us to be able to sit down and enjoy a nice lunch. I figure we will sit down for lunch about 1pm. Bring water as always but please use non-disposable containers as they don’t allow disposables to keep the litter down and help the environment. This place is very scenic so feel free to bring your cameras to take some really cool pictures.

Carpools:

Since this is quite a drive it is highly suggested that people carpool for this event. I will set up an thread on the message board so you can arrange carpools.

Cost:

If we get more than 20 people we get the group rate of $6 each so make sure you register.

Want to join in the fun?  It’s easy!  Sign up for your Annual Membership today by CLICKING HERE!

BHG & South Buffalo Irish Festival & Finn McCool’s 4-Mile Odyssey

On Saturday, September 10th, The Buffalo Hiking Group will have an table at the South Buffalo Irish Festival where we’ll be handing out brochures, applications for membership and teaching people who we are and what we are about.  The South Buffalo Irish Festival is a free festival held at Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo and goes on all day with lots of Irish Bands, local exhibitors and lots of delicious food.  For more information on the festival visit www.southbuffaloirishfestival.com

Also on Saturday, September 10th during the South Buffalo Irish Festival and at Cazenovia Park, The Finn McCool 4-Mile Odyssey is taking place.  Buffalo Hiking Group member Jason Mendola is trying to get a BHG Team together to participate in this event.

What is The Finn McCool 4-Mile Odyssey?

Participants navigate a 4 mile course loaded with challenging obstacles and difficult terrain, all building up to the moment when the race is over – and the real fun begins!
Because the Odyssey isn’t about just crossing the finish line.
The Odyssey is About:

Looking the part – outrageous costumes are the best!
The most fun a person can have while punishing their body
Seeing fellow “Irishmen” in their natural state – smiling!
Where flowing beer meets not so flowing obstacles
Celebrating being Irish – even when you aren’t!

After Party Spnsored by Guinness!

Proceeds benefit local charities, where we work, play and live .

More details can be found at http://www.finnmccool4mile.com/index.html

Those who are interested in learning more about the crazy awesome event or interested in joining the BHG Team, check out:  http://tinyurl.com/3mms4ux

Tickets On Sale NOW for The 2011 Wellness Event!!!

On Saturday, August 20th, 2011 The Buffalo Hiking Group will be hosting The 1st Annual Wellness Event!

Come join us for The Buffalo Hiking Group’s First Annual Wellness Event!  For this event, members, non-members, friends and family are invited to Western New York’s only Vegan & Organic Health Spa, Hotel & Restaurant, Minty Wellness for a gourmet organic, vegan lunch, presentations by Jennifer Henning of Nourish and Grow Health Coaching and Chef Jay of Minty Wellness.  Chris Henning, Executive Director of The Buffalo Hiking Group will lead an optional hike of the Minty Wellness grounds after lunch and the presentations.  We expect the day to wrap up at 4pm.

Details:

We will meet at 12pm at Minty Wellness for Gourmet Vegan Lunch (Choice of several items) and then will have a  special presentation from Chef Jay, the head chef atMinty Wellness, enlightening us on his background and what it is like being a vegan chef.

Jennifer Henning, Local Health Coach and Owner of Nourish and Grow Health Coaching (and my wife!), will present the “The Benefits of Incorporating More Plant Based Foods in Your Diet”.   Jennifer will discuss the health, financial and environmental benefits we can realize by incorporating more plant based foods in our diet.  Jennifer will be on hand throughout the day if anyone has any questions about Health Coaching.

Minty Wellness has made hiking trails around their beautiful grounds, so there will be an optional easy paced hike around the grounds to see just how wonderful and relaxing the area really is!

Tickets for this event will be $20 for Buffalo Hiking Group Members and $25 for Non-Members (Includes- Hike, Meal, Taxes & Presentation) Gratuity NOT Included

CLICK HERE to be taken to The Buffalo Hiking Group Website to Register!

Event Sponsors:
Minty Wellness

Nourish and Grow Health Coaching

Zoar Valley Adventure

Getting ready for our hike.

We couldn’t have asked for a better day for hiking on Saturday.  The temperature was in the mid 80′s and the sun was shining brightly in the sky.  Thankfully most of the trails at Valentine Flats at Zoar Valley are in the woods keeping it cooler for us as we traversed the trails.  We arrived about 11am and already a few others were parked in the lot so we figured there would be others on our travels.

We hit the trails and first place that we visited was a magnificent overlook called Point Peter , a great place to get an exceptional view of much of the Zoar Valley area.

View from Point Peter

After enjoying the breathtaking view from Point Peter, we meandered along the trail until we reached the “Valentine Pyramid”, which is a very big hill, that is a very steep climb but if you can climb it and make it to the top you will be rewarded with the best view of Zoar Valley that there is.

Gloria & Alan descending Valentine Pyramid

Gloria, the leader of this hike had always wanted to make it to the top of the Valentine Pyramid and today along with 4 other members of The Buffalo Hiking Group, she finally accomplished this long awaited feat of strength and endurance!  Way to go Gloria, Alan, Rainee and Gary!

The water was refreshing!

With the members making their final descent  back to the trail, we continued on winding down the trails until we reached the bottom and we treated to a much needed swim in the river!  The water was very refreshing so we stayed for about an hour or so and enjoyed nature’s wonderful gift of water.  After a while we got out and ate some lunch on the river bed and soaked up the rays!

Cheryl enjoying some blueberries!

Josh relaxing on the River Bed

After exploring the area a bit more we decided to head back to the cars as it was getting later in the day.  On the way back we met a hiking club from Ohio that had about 30 members drive up from their home state to check out the great place to hike.  They said they really love the area and that they can’t wait to come back again and see what else Western New York has to offer for hiking.

All in all it was a great day and we were all pretty exhausted by the time we got home that evening.  Keep posted because we will be venturing out to this great area again soon!

 

Please Register ASAP for The Summer Picnic at Faun Lake!

 

Can you believe how fast time is going?  It’s now July and as you know, Saturday, July 30th is our Summer Picnic at Faun Lake.  We need all those who plan on attending the Summer Picnic at Faun Lake to Register on the site as soon as possible because we will be buying hot dogs, hamburgers, rolls, plates, knives and such so we need to know an exact count of how many people will be attending this year so we can have enough food for everyone who will be there.  We will be shopping for the food the week of the event so please make sure you are registered prior to Monday, July 25th.

We also need to know who will be attending because as you know, it is being held at my summer home and in order to get through the gate to our property you must be on the guest list that will be given to the front office for them to let you in.  Don’t be locked out of all the fun!

You can Register for the Summer Picnic by CLICKING HERE.

Thank you to those that have already registered and we’ll see you at Faun Lake!

“Bootprints” July Newsletter

”Bootprints”July 2011

A note from our President We have had a pretty good summer so far with some very exciting hikes led by our event coordinators.  It is great to see so many new faces on our hikes and it has been a pleasure meeting all of you.  The rest of this summer will be jam packed with fun events so make sure to register early so you don’t miss out on any of the fun!  A big THANK YOU goes out to the Event Coordinators for putting together and leading these awesome hikes and to all of our members, new and old, who come out and hike the trails with The Buffalo Hiking Group.  I hope to see all of you at our Summer Picnic! Happy Trails, — Chris Henning Website Upgrades: We recently upgraded the website and you will notice changes were made in the Events Section. We will post instructions on how to register for events on theMessage Board. You may have also noticed some changes with the Calendar and Time Format that were requests from our members to make things easier. Upcoming Events 7/9 Zoar Valley Hike! 10am, Tops Parking Lot in Derby 7/12 Chestnut Ridge Park Hike! 6pm, Newton Rd. Parking Area 7/16 “Buffalo’s Own High Line” DL&W First Ward Hike 9:30am, The Swannie House 7/19 Chestnut Ridge Park Hike 6pm, Newton Rd. Parking Area 7/23 Orienteering Hike at Emery Park 10am, Main Parking Area 7/26 Chestnut Ridge Park Hike 6pm, Newton Rd. Parking Area 7/30 Summer Picnic at Faun Lake 11am, Faun Lake For more details & to register for these events, visit www.buffalohiking.com/events BHG News: Special Events The Buffalo Hiking Group is working on some very exciting events in the upcoming weeks that are above and beyond the scope of normal group events and will be open to non-members.  We will be having our first Wellness Event held at Minty Wellness Resort, Spa, Hotel & Restaurant and sponsored by Nourish and Grow Health Coaching.  Tickets will be on sale soon and all members get special pricing!  For more details check out The Buffalo Hiking Group Blog!  More events are in the works so keep posted!

The 1st Annual Wellness Event Is In The Works!

On Saturday August 6th 2011 The Buffalo Hiking Group will be hosting The 1st Annual Wellness Event!

For this event, members and friends are invited to join in an easy paced hike on the beautiful ground of Western New York’s only Vegan & Organic Health Spa, Hotel & Restaurant, Minty Wellness!  

After our hike we will be heading back to the restaurant at Minty Wellness for a  Gourmet Vegan Feast.  We will have a  special presentation from Chef Jay, the head chef at Minty Wellness, enlightening us on his background and what it is like being a vegan chef.

Jennifer Henning, Local Health Coach and Owner of Nourish and Grow Health Coaching (and my wife!), will share the health benefits of the food we will be eating and how changing the way we eat today can change our lives forever.  Jennifer will be on hand throughout the day if anyone has any questions about Health Coaching.

Tickets for this event will be $17.50 for Buffalo Hiking Group Members and $22.50 for non-members and will be available soon (sold online only). Includes Hike, Presentation, Meal & Taxes….Gratuity Not Included.

Email chris@buffalohiking.com with any questions you might have and he will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible!

Event Sponsors:

Minty Wellness

      Nourish and Grow Health Coaching