ithacahikers

Wednesday, January 8

Roy H Park Preserve

Hike report by Jim

Ten hikers met at the southerly parking area of the Roy Park Preserve. This is not our usual hike from the northerly boardwalk towards Hammond Hill Rd, but the shorter hike through the Baldwin Tract from the smaller southerly parking area that the group (to my knowledge) has never done because I always perceived this hike as being too short to get a full two hour hike out of the route. Because of that I’ve had this hike listed as one of our “short hikes” for individual hikers, hike #67-5 https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-67-bonus-hikes. I might need to re-evaluate that for future hikes after today.

The morning temperatures were near single digits as I drove out of Freeville en route to the hike trailhead. Snow was falling heavily, with a steady wind blowing. Still, the roads were in good condition; I saw multiple plows along my short ride to the Preserve, keeping the roads clear. Despite this there were still cars in the ditches; no sooner did I get to today’s hikes parking area than the Sheriff’s Office blocked off Irish Settlement Rd just north of the parking lot because of a car in the ditch near Midline Rd.

I was pretty happy that ten hikers made it to the parking lot. We managed to squeeze everyone’s car into the very small parking lot before setting off through the several inches of fluffy snow that by now covered the ground.

A couple of the hikers today mentioned that they hiked this particular trail on a regular basis and described a couple of interesting spots along the way that they were familiar with. I, on the other hand, have only hiked this particular trail once in the summer with the CTC. I was pretty happy that a couple of the hikers could point out some spots along the way that might extend the hike to something closer to our regular hike duration. Before today I had planned to extend todays hike with a short road walk, an idea I quickly scrapped today given road conditions.

The group set off on the blue blazed and very winding ” Phenology Trail” that passes through a green tunnel of hemlocks on the way towards the ” Heart Wall” portion of the Six Mile Creek streambed in that area. Leigh Ann stopped at one spot to point out some interesting light refracting qualities we noticed when looking at the distant tree line through the blowing snow. After a quick pause at the Heart Wall and near-by stream junction, the group turned around and re-traced our steps to the orange blazed trail, which we followed to another side trail that descended back to the streambed. I considered this second section of streambed even more enjoyable than the Heart Wall, as there are several cascades here as well as the streambed below the junction opening up into a wider area quite nicely. At both of these creek locations the group found the streams running forcefully, the dark water making quite a racket as it flowed. The greenish ice was thick along the stream banks, with only the center of the creeks remaining ice-free. The tree limbs all around were covered in a thick layer of fresh snow, the white a sharp contrast to the dark bark.

Climbing the hillside away from the streams, I paused often to take in the views of the streambeds below; quite a sight as we left the creeks below us, the noise of the rushing water receding into the distance. The hikers resumed our previous course on the orange blazed loop trail. This particular route took the group through several treeless clearings that are too small to be called ” meadows”, but in which there were several “snow devils” sending the freshly fallen snow skyward.

I was pretty happy that we had some hikers who were more intimately familiar with this trail system than I was, as we ended up taking a final looping informal route through the woods that at last brought us back to the cars only a few minutes short of our regular hike duration. Thanks to our informal hike leaders today!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, January 11

Dabes Diversion Loop, Kennedy SF, Cortland County

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Eleven hikers and two dogs gathered at the junction of Bleck Road and Hauck Hill Road for this two-hour hike. The snow was 5-6 inches deep and hadn’t been broken yet. As we approached the rock pile and field that’s near the half-way point, the sun came out. It was brilliant and made the field seem about 10 degrees warmer than it otherwise would have. Some hikers made snow angels to celebrate. By the time we reached the Kuzia Cutoff, clouds had rolled in an it felt like a completely different day. At one point, we had reached the top of a steep hill. The woods were completely quiet, and when a puff of wind blew snow onto our faces, we stood for a minute in silence feeling pleasantly small – it was awesome. We returned to the cars at 11:30. The hike was 3.5 miles with 570 feet of elevation gain.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 12

Shindagin Hollow State Forest, Brooktondale

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Nineteen hikers and one dog met near the snowplow turnaround where northern Shindagin Hollow Road turns seasonal. It was a relatively warm day for this rewarding hike. We were in the sun and shadow throughout the hike, and blue sky was in sight the whole time. Snow was only about 3 inches deep and prints from one or more canines – cayotes? – had broken the trail.  Near the end of the hike, we encountered a horse and rider: a fuzzy Icelandic horse out for the first time on this road. The horse initially wasn’t sure what to make of all the humans with sticks but eventually calmed down. We also encountered a birder who said she heard more birds than she saw, e.g., ravens, chickadees, several types of woodpeckers. By the time the last car left, snow was starting to melt. This hike came in at about 5 miles with about 500 feet of elevation gain.

And the golden shoe is still there. If you’ve done this hike with us before, you know what I’m talking about. If not, you can ask!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, January 1

Loop Hike in upper Treman State Park from Woodard Rd., Enfield

Hike report by Jim

For the First Day hike of 2025, twenty hikers and two dogs met on Woodard Rd in the Town of Enfield for a loop hike of portions of several area trails, including the FLT, The Rim Trail and the CCC Trail in Robert Treman State Park, and the Margarets Woods Loop with the associated access trail that runs from the FLT. This particular hike route isn’t in our current hikes list but is a mish mash of portions of several other hikes. As with past First Day hikes I expected that we would have several new hikers with the group today, so it’s a little bit of a “highlights hike route” for new hikers. Several of our regular hikers with us today hadn’t been on our recent Margarets Woods hike when that trail loop first opened this fall, so this was a new location for them today.

After the group photo we set off on the FLT in the direction of Fishkill Creek. Passing the junction with the CCC and Margarets Woods access trails, the hikers crossed the creek on the wooden bridge, then hiked a short distance up Butternut Creek Rd to where the FLT turns left to return to state park property. Here the FLT footpath follows the edge of the bluff above Fishkill Creek, passing through a nice section of pine trees until it emerges at the end of the maintained portion of Thomas Rd. The FLT continues along the park access road portion of Thomas Rd until it arrives at the Rim Trail.

The hikers took this short section of the Rim Trail down to the Upper Treman parking lot. By this time the faster hikers had gotten ahead of the other hikers, so we paused briefly at the Old Mill to allow the slower hikers to catch up again. Once reunited, the hikers took the CCC trail through the old campgrounds and the old CCC camp area back to the junction with the FLT.

Leigh Ann took the lead at this point, and she led the group to Stonehouse Rd and through the loop of the Margarets Woods trail. By now the morning rain had turned to a wet heavy snow, the sound of the flakes striking the ground providing an auditory accompaniment to the water flowing in the streambeds we were passing by or over.

Completing the Margarets Woods Loop, the group returned to the FLT via the Margarets Woods access trail. The hike ended on time as the hikers climbed the short section of FLT back to our cars.

This section of the FLT is depicted on map sheet M16, available for purchase in either electronic or paper formats from:  https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Purchase of the map sheets helps to defray on-going costs of trail maintenance.

Resuming in 2025 I am noting in my hike reports the number of FLT miles in that hike for those who wish to apply those miles towards obtaining an FLT 50 or FLT 100 patch. See here for further information:  https://fingerlakestrail.org/whats…/hiking-programs/flt50/. Today’s hike included .6 FLT miles.

New hikers today included John, Jennifer and Snehal. Thanks to all of you for joining the group on this hike!

Saturday, January 4

YMCA Outdoor Education Center trails through Ecovillage and beyond

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-two hikers and two dogs met in the town of Ithaca for a somewhat looping hike that included trails in the YMCA Outdoor Education Center lands and the un-blazed Ecovillage trails, with a short section of the Coy Glen Natural Area linking the two ends of the hike. This hike is not on our hikes list due to the infrequency that we hike this location.

This hike was intended to be a memorial hike for recently departed Ithaca Hiker Jaime Z. Unfortunately, this week we also lost Ithaca Hiker Tom B just prior to this hike.

Trail conditions were good, with a thin dusting of fresh snow covering the footpath and trees around us during the hike. Wind was a little brutal when crossing some of the open fields along the way

As I was concerned about, despite written route directions for the Ecovillage portion of the hike I managed to get us temporarily lost, bringing us closer to the residences than I normally like to get. We were soon back on course and we turned around at our normal spot in Elm Street Extension.

Skirting the Ecovillage property on Town of Ithaca trails, we returned to Ecovillage land long enough to use their trails to return to the YMCA trail system. We arrived back at our cars about five minutes later than I had planned.

Warm welcome to new hikers Emily with family member and Christine, on their first hike with the group!

At the end of the hike, one of our group left a set of foot traction in the parking lot. See me if you are missing your foot traction!

Sunday, January 5

Bob Cameron Loop, Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Jim

Twenty hikers and a single dog met on Tower Rd in the Town of Enfield, for a wintery hike of the Bob Cameron Loop and parts of the FLT. This is hike # 47 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-47.

This hike was on trails on FLT map sheet M16. Paper or electronic versions of the maps are available for purchase at https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Map sales help in defraying costs associated with trail maintenance.

There was a thin layer of fresh snow covering the areas of Connecticut Hill that we hiked through this morning. Stream crossings were ice-covered, and the streams themselves had a good amount of water flowing. Mud was minimal and only found in a couple of low-lying areas that hadn’t entirely frozen over by the time of our hike.

The snow wasn’t deep enough to be an impediment to the hikers. Most of the group wore some form of foot traction, but I don’t think that it was needed. Based on tracks in the snow there were a small number of people who had apparently preceded us on the Loop this morning, but we never encountered any other trail users during our hike. I think that I saw more wildlife tracks over the distance of the loop than I did of footprints from hikers other than our own group.

Leaving Tower Rd, the group travelled a short way on the FLT before turning onto the Cameron Loop. The first half of the hike is a steady downhill, with the inevitability that whichever way you go on the Loop, the second half of the hike will be an uphill slog. I generally take the group in a clockwise direction on the Loop, although some hikers today mentioned that they normally go in the other direction. Maybe I’ll try that direction in one of our future hikes here. The terrain is varied enough throughout the hike that I enjoy the variety of sights and sounds and even the gradual ups and downs, switchbacks, straightaways trail sections and other aspects of this loop that make it so enjoyable for so many hikers.

Leigh Ann took over leading the group at about the halfway point in our route. Once the hikers made it back to Tower Rd, Leigh Ann crossed that road and continued on the FLT for a short out-and-back portion of the FLT to bring the hike time up to our regular hike duration.

By the end of the hike I estimate that the group had completed about 3.5 FLT miles. Those of you who want to apply for an FLT 50 or FLT 100 patch for 2025 here: https://fingerlakestrail.org/whats…/hiking-programs/flt50/ can include todays trail miles towards either of those patches.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album for the week.

Wednesday, December 25

Stevens Suspension Bridge – Cornell natural areas

Hike report by Jim

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all Ithaca Hikers!

Four hikers met on a snowy Christmas Day morning at Flat Rock in the Forest Home neighborhood, for a “loop-ish” hike of parts of the Cayuga Trail and Cornell Natural Land trails. This is hike # 4A on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-04.

After crossing the Stevens suspension bridge the group turned westerly, following the Cayuga Trail along the northerly shore of Fall Creek until we reached the golf course. Looping around the edge of the golf course we returned to the trail system, following the fenceline of the horse pastures with the woods on one side of us and the sloping hills above Fall Creek on the other side of us. With the leaves off the trees and the fresh layer of snow on the ground it was a beautiful morning. Most of this section of the hike we had been preceded by only a few skiers and walkers, so the trail was not terribly beaten down or slippery.

Eventually we reached the orange blazed trail, descending from the high bluffs to creek level. We followed that trail back to the suspension bridge.

Once across the bridge we turned left onto the blue and red blazed trails which now followed the southerly shore of Fall Creek. The group hiked those trails until we came to Forest Home Drive, which we crossed and entered Park Park. Once in Park Park we hiked the yellow blazed trail to the overlook area above Varna.

The hikers left Park Park and returned to our cars via the red and blue blazed trails.

Welcome to Dani on her first hike with the Ithaca Hikers!

Saturday, December 28

Cayuga Trail from Freese Rd., Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-eight hikers and two dogs met in the community gardens parking lot on Freese Rd in the Town of Dryden, for an out-and-back hike of part of the Cayuga Trail. This is hike # 5-3 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-5

There was a slight chilly breeze, and the sun was making short appearances as hikers arrived at the trailhead. The footpath was covered by a slushy layer of snow over much of our route this morning. Stream crossings had a layer of ice, and the ascents and descents that had the rope assists available were most welcome.

The group made it almost to the Cornell outdoor pavilion before turning around and re-tracing our route back to the cars.

Sunday, December 29

Potato Hill State Forest, Caroline

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers and two dogs met on Level Green Rd in the Town of Caroline, for an out and back hike of the FLT through Potato Hill State Forest towards and beyond Blackman Hill Rd. This is hike# 29-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-29. This section of the FLT is on map sheet M18, which is available for purchase in paper or electronic formats at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Purchase of the map sheets helps to defray on-going costs associated with trail maintenance.

The weather forecast called for rain today, but thankfully the rain came early before arriving at the trailhead and never reappeared during the hike. The entirety of the hike was done in dense fog that gave a very spooky and atmospheric feeling to the hike.
Snow depth on the trail was at best a couple of very slushy inches. The various mudholes along the route were filled with several inches of ice-covered water, and the mud was, well, it was mud. Self-explanatory on that issue.

The outgoing leg of the hike was uneventful. I ended up dealing with some hike leading issues on the phone during the hike, leaving the group to fend for themselves for the remainder of the outbound leg of the hike as I tried to catch up with them from behind.

Reaching and crossing Blackman Hill Rd, the FLT enters the Summerland Farm Preserve. The preserve is notable during good weather for the excellent views from its open fields. Today, there were no views, other than the all-enveloping fog. By the time I reached the stone wall and bench in the main field, the rest of the group had reached their turn-around point and met me at the bench.

The return leg of the hike was uneventful. It was mostly downhill, although the outbound leg could hardly be called ” uphill” except in the most moderate of ways. We got back to the cars a few minutes earlier than planned, but overall it was an excellent hike.

Wednesday, December 18

Upper Buttermilk State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-seven hikers and five dogs met in the parking lot of upper Buttermilk Falls State Park https://parks.ny.gov/parks/buttermilkfalls/details.aspx in the Town of Ithaca for an out-and-back hike led by Leigh Ann. This is hike # 10-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-10.

The day was cool and overcast as hikers pulled into the parking lot. The number of hikers mostly filled the available spaces; I can only assume that the hikes’ central location and this morning’s weather being the last nice weather before the predicted snowfall tonight were motivators for joining the hike.

After the group photo we crossed the wooden pedestrian bridge near the parking lot and set off up the Bear Trail. Trail conditions were generally good, and it didn’t take long before the group was spread out over a good distance. Before too long we were at the open fields near the vehicle ford. Continuing on towards Lake Treman, the group stopped often to take photos of the small waterfalls and the lake itself.

Once on the Treman loop trail the hikers walked to the FLT spur trail, which we took to Yaple Rd, and from there walked to Comfort Rd and crossed the bridge to re-enter park land from the Comfort Rd access trail.

The hikers walked as far as the closed wooden staircase before turning around and re-tracing our route. Most hikers chose to return to the parking area via the Bear Trail; a small group chose instead to road walk from the fording area back to the parking lot.

Everyone arrived back at the parking lot at about the same time, Leigh Ann having taken the main group to West King Rd and walked them across the main bridge there before returning to our vehicles.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, December 21

Ithaca Lakefront Hike

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers and a dog met in Stewart Park for a wintery hike to and from Steamboat Landing on our semi-traditional farmer market hike on the last day of Market operations for the year. This is hike#53-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-53.

The lake was dark and sullen, the wind coming off the lake seemed nearly brutal in its intensity. Snow drifted across the park roads before plows came through clearing the lanes as hikers arrived.

I didn’t want to stand around waiting any longer than necessary due to the wind, so we took off walking very promptly on time. We circled the old swan pond, then crossed the first suspension bridge and entered the Renwick Wildwood Paths. Here away from the winds off the lake we found the tree limbs thick with a coating of snow, some branches leaning heavily into the path and creating a canopy at most hiker’s head height that we had to pass under. The snow under foot was only a few inches deep but almost like walking in sand.

We paused by the old archway for our group photo, then continued the blue blazed loop as it followed the shore of Fall Creek. The geese were particularly vocal today as they gathered on the open patches of water; a good amount of the calm sections of the creek had a skim of ice on the surface this morning as we crossed the second suspension bridge towards the golf course.

Because of the wind I chose to not visit lighthouse point nor circle the golf course as we normally would do on this hike. Instead, we walked more or less directly to Steamboat Landing, where we found the farmers marker already well attended and the infamous rutabaga curling contest underway.

After arriving at the farmers market, it was pretty much every hiker for themselves; some opted to turn around immediately and continue hiking. Several of us loitered about the farmers market for a little while. My personal tradition there on this hike is a cup of warm cider and an apple donut. That task fulfilled, I located the last of our group still at the market. They indicated that they would be staying a while longer, and so I set off on my return trip to Stewart Park.

The wind and snow had picked up by now; while it wasn’t white out conditions, the intensity of the snowfall was more than it had been on the outbound portion of the hike.

I arrived back at my car as the last of the group caught up with me.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 22

Owl Creek Trail, lower Buttermilk Falls State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Mark Sussman

Seven hardy hikers showed up on this cold Sunday morning for a hike up the Owl Creek trail at Buttermilk State Park. We hiked up the hill, stopping to enjoy the view from the overlook until we got to the cemetery. The group was shown the plaque commemorating an early settler who made their way to Ithaca by canoe and then overland through the wilderness. We walked down the hill and detoured through the Buttermilk cabins. The group then explored the rail trail that passes by Buttermilk.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 11

South Rd. & Hurd Hill Rd., Caroline

Hike report by Jim

Six brave souls defied the elements to meet at the junction of South Rd and Hurd Hill Rd for a very wet out-and-back hike of the seasonal Hurd Hill Rd and Prospect Valley Rd.

The rain was not much more than a drizzle at the outset but gradually increased through the hike into a steady downpour for the latter half of the hike. Definitely a bone chilling morning for me despite the layers and rain gear, and I’m posting this more than an hour after the hike and ready to fire up my wood stove to beat back the chill!

This is one of those occasional hike locations I save for winter and hunting season. Typically, it takes us around 40 minutes to reach the bottom of Hurd Hill Rd. From the next road junction we walk Prospect Valley Rd, sometimes as far as the Shindagin FLT bridge which was repaired and moved slightly downstream this summer by a dedicated bunch of Cayuga Trails Club volunteers after summer floods pushed the bridge off its foundation. If we make it that far, we’ll sometimes hike to the Shindagin lean-to, which is my favorite lean-to in the county. Today that was not meant to be. The group hiked until the turn-around time and then simply re-traced our route back to Hurd Hill Rd and our cars.

One item of interest: the house on Prospect Valley Rd where the dogs always loudly greet our hikers seems to have acquired a couple of emus, who watched us rather stoically until the dogs charged to their property line upon our approach, at which time the emus raced around their enclosure. As with the bison along the Black Diamond Trail, the llamas in Caroline, etc, its always a little interesting to see the unusual animals we encounter on some of these hikes!

Saturday, December 14

Hill Road and Curtis Road, South Danby

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-three hikers and five dogs gathered at the corner of Curtis Road and Hill Road for a sparkling, hill-top, road hike. This was a clear day in which the temperature felt a little warmer than the actual air temperature – good thing, because the air temperature was in the teens at the start. Everything was covered with frost, which was almost entirely gone by 11:30. Our route took us east on Hill toward where the road turns seasonal, then then back to Curtis Road. Most of the group then turned north on Curtis and turned around at the big willow tree that used to be next to a barn, while some of the group headed south on Curtis. Everyone returned to the cars by 11:30. The maximum distance was about 5.5 miles with about 800 feet of elevation gain, but hikers could do as much or as little of this as they wanted.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 15

Black Diamond Trail northbound from Kraft Road

Hike report by Jim

Nineteen hikers and three dogs met on Kraft Rd for a southerly out-and-back hike of the Black Diamond Trail. This is hike # 58-1 of our regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-58.

The day was overcast and cold and never seemed to warm up or otherwise improve over the course of the hike.

The hikers quickly split up into several sub-groups based on speed, but everyone was back at the cars at the appropriate time.