ithacahikers

Saturday, January 31

Lower Treman Park

Hike report by Nancy H.

On Saturday, ten diehard hikers were undeterred by frigid temperatures—and an unexpectedly unplowed parking lot.

I hadn’t had time to check the location before the hike, but since we’ve hiked this route in previous winters I didn’t expect any issues. I was wrong. I arrived at the Tappan Mitra parking lot to find that it hadn’t been plowed since last weekend’s storm. One hiker was shoveling out the entrance to the lot, and a couple of cars had arrived and made their way through the deep snow to park. Several hikers grabbed shovels and continued clearing out the snowbank by the road. More shovels came out as more hikers arrived, and eventually we cleared enough so that all hikers made it into the lot with no problems.

But, as everyone was doubtless thinking, making it out of the lot would be another issue altogether.

We left on time for an out-and-back hike on the Finger Lakes Trail, from where it starts in Lower Treman on its route up the hill toward Newfield. There was just one set of footprints ahead of us in the deep, powdery snow. The sun came out from time to time, and occasional snowflakes sparkled in the air. It was cold, but there was no wind, and most of us had already warmed up with our shoveling exertions.

On the outbound leg, hikers commented on what a beautiful morning it was and how glad they were to be out of the house after the past week’s weather.

Past the picnic area, the only footprints were from deer. We made our way through snow that was about five inches deep. The group made the decision to turn around seven minutes early—realizing it would take some time to get everyone out of the snowy parking lot.

We made good time on the return leg and arrived back at the lot about 20 minutes early. Hikers started shoveling again. The first car had trouble getting up the slope to the road, so shovelers worked to clear a track down to the gravel, or as close as possible. We then put down salt to provide traction. After that, the cars left the lot one by one.

Not only did we get a bonus upper-body workout, I was impressed by the way no one complained about the condition of the lot. Everyone treated it as a problem to solve together—with maybe a touch of unexpected adventure. The next time we hike here in winter, though, we should follow the example of one hiker, who saw what we were doing and decided to park her car in the Lower Treman parking lot, then walk back to meet us.

A warm welcome to Karen on her first, chilly hike with us.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, February 1

Dryden Rail Trail to East Hill Rec Way

Hike report by Jim

Six hikers met on the unnamed solar farm access road off Stevenson Rd in the Town of Dryden, for an out-and-back hike on the Dryden Rail Trail and the East Hill Recreation Way. This particular hike has no dedicated entry on our hikes list, but is closest to hike #49-2: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-49.

The hikers set off from the parking area, walking the access road to Stevenson Rd. Once across Stevenson Rd the Dryden Rail Trail is unplowed, with only a narrow band of beaten snow that is used by all trail users. The trail crosses a couple of bridged portions of Cascadilla Creek before arriving at Game Farm Rd.

Once the group crossed Game Farm Rd we were now on the east Hill Recreation Way, a paved walking route that is both plowed and salted; this feature is why I selected this hike location after the snowfall of the last week.

The East Hill Rec Way passes along some additional sections of Cascadilla Creek, the MacDaniels Nut Grove, and several Cornell University buildings before arriving at the old rail trestle that passes over Pine Tree RD.

After an hour the various hikers turned around and re-traced their route back to the cars.

We shared the Rec Way today with several joggers, dog walkers and other pedestrians.

Hike leaders please check the Google calendar to claim any hikes that you wish to lead in February.

Wednesday, January 14

Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

18 hikers and 2 dogs gathered at the corner of Lloyd Stark Boylan and Connecticut Hill Roads for an exploration of un marked trails on Rowell Hill. a glimpse of the frozen beaver pond was taken before returning to the cars

Saturday, January 17

Ekroos Rd. at the Tompkins/Tioga County Line

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers met on Ekroos Rd on the Tioga/ Tompkins County line for an out-and-back road walk led by Nancy H. This is hike # 57-14 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-57 .

Weather conditions were good, with cold temps and light snow flurries at the beginning of the hike. By the end of the hike the snow had stopped, and the sun was shining through the cloud cover.

In the past, Ekroos Rd has tended to be a reliable winter hike location, plowed for the two houses along the way but otherwise a very icy road surface. Because of this everyone was wearing foot traction during the hike; the foot traction proved to be unneeded until the very end of the hike where the road transitions to a seasonally maintained surface. The rest of the route was well plowed, and we could see where multiple blowdown trees across the road had been recently chain sawed to clear the lane of travel.

Much of the outbound leg of the hike is a gradual downhill, with the last section approaching 76 Rd to be quite steep. Along the way the road weaves in and out of Tompkins County, the road bearing three different names along the length of the route.

The road passes over several streams, which were quite active today. The road is also bisected by a snowmobile route, but we saw no snow machines or any vehicular traffic on the road today. We did see one other solitary road walker like ourselves during our hike.

There was one section of trees lining the road that’s had a broad swath of tree clearing since our last hike here. I’m not sure if this was on state forest or private land

The faster hikers on the group made it as far as 76 Rd, which they tapped before turning around and re-tracing their steps.

Hike report by Nancy H.

A dozen hikers met on Ekroos Road, which runs along the line between Tompkins and Tioga counties, for a wintry road walk. Ekroos Road, which runs alongside a gorge, is a delightful three-season hike. In winter, the bare trees allow some beautiful views into the woods and across fields. Part of the road is seasonal, so there’s little to no traffic, and at times the road seems more like a wide trail through the woods.

Light snow was falling as we set out. The road was somewhat icy, so foot traction was needed. This hike goes downhill for an hour (with some leveling off about halfway down), which means the return leg is a long, steep uphill climb. Because it’s an out-and-back that stays on one road, everyone could hike at their own pace. As we were returning to the cars, the sun emerged from behind the clouds that had filled the sky for most of the hike. A few hikers got back to the cars early, so we kept going in that direction until the full two hours were up.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 18

Kennedy State Forest, Virgil

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-two hikers met on Daisy Hollow Rd in Cortland County for a lollipop hike on parts of the FLT and the Swedish Loop trail in James Kennedy State Forest led by Casey C. This is hike # 40-4 on our list of hike locations:  https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-40.

There are several FLTC map sheets that cover the area of today’s hike. The map sheet with the most detail is map sheet ” The Swedish Loop Trail”, available in paper or electronic formats at : https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/ . Sale of the map sheets helps to defray the on-going costs associated with trail maintenance.

Today’s hike took us through an area where we’ve had several recent large blowdowns across the trail, but they’ve all been dealt with by trail maintainer Alex Gonzalez, who does a great job maintaining this section of trail.

While Tompkins County hasn’t seen much snow depth in recent days, Kennedy Forest still has a decent quantity of hard crusty snowpack along the trails we hiked today. This particular hike is always known for the many roots that run across the footpath that can be a hazard to hikers in the winter and rainy summer days. Today we took our time on the outbound leg, carefully picking our way along the trail that runs for much of the hike along and across a nice running stream.

About a mile into the hike, we reached the first intersection with the Swedish Loop trail. We continued on the FLT until we reached the yellow blazed Stockholm Short Cut Trail. This trail cuts back across the stream to the Swedish Loop Trail.

The group took the Swedish Loop Trail back to the FLT. Traditionally this hike always runs around fifteen minutes short, so in an effort to make up that time Casey turned the group around and returned to the FLT along the Swedish Loop and Stockholm Short Cut Trail.

Once back at the first intersection of the FLT and Swedish Loop Trail the group returned to our cars without incident. On the return trip the trail surface was much easier to traverse now that the surface has beaten down. We got back to the cars at our normal hike duration thanks to Casey’s route modifications!

We did encounter one small group of day hikers on the trail but otherwise has the hike to ourselves.

Warm welcome to John, Brenda and Fiona who joined the group for their first hike today!

For those hikers who are tracking their FLT miles for a 2026 FLT50 or FLT100 patch, todays hike included three FLT miles.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, January 7

Lindsay Parsons Preserve, West Danby

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Wednesday, January 7, thirteen hikers and 2 dogs met at the beautiful Lyndsay-Parsons preserve for a hike with the Ithaca Hikers. The weather cooperated as the drizzle stopped shortly before the hike began.

One dog (and owner) left early due to cold feet. The rest continued on through the fields and woods, admiring the frozen ponds and vistas. We even got to see a freight train pass as we crossed the tracks the second time. We finished in just under 2 hours as we were somewhat slowed down by the slushy snow. 

Saturday, January 10

Upper Buttermilk State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

28 hikers and one dog gathered to hike this morning.  The trails were sill quite icy though possible with foot traction and slowly improving with several days above freezing. We took the Bear Trail to Lake Treman.   Then we took the trail skirting the West side of the “lake/bog/lagoon”.  After visiting the impassible inlet we took a side trip to Yaple road before returning either by the Bear trail or the access road.

View Nancy Lorr and Randy Olson’s photo album.

Winter picnic report by Jim

Hike Leader Nancy L led todays hike and with the help of Randy O planned and prepped the location for our post-hike annual winter picnic at upper Buttermilk Falls State Park. I’ll leave the regular hike report to Nancy, but I’ll make a quick post on the picnic part of the day, as I helped set up and break down the picnic location at the small FLT-type lean-to just inside the upper park entrance

Randy, Roger, Bud and myself set up the tables, got the fires going in two of the park BBQ hibachis as well as a larger firepit. By the time the hikers were coming back from their out-and-back hike to the top of Treman Lake, we had the first course of meat on the grill and the various foods that hikers had left us prior to the hike laid out.

I was a little surprised to see the tree cutting going on in the upper park. See photo. The sawyer work has blocked about half of the normal parking spaces in upper Buttermilk, so out group today had many cars parked along the shoulder of the entrance road

Nancy L estimated that she had 28 hikers and a single dog on the hike. For the picnic we had three distinct waves of hikers at the tables. The first group were the people from the hike. After they had filtered away from the tables we had a second and third wave of hikers arrive with their own food contributions to the meal.

Towards the end of the event Randy estimated that we had an additional thirty hikers show up.

The temps were cool but tolerable. The walls of the creek bed had some sheets of ice still present despite somewhat warmer recent temperatures. Water was flowing quite well in the creek bed. Rain started falling at about 1:30 PM which was the cue for the hikers to pack up and call it a day.

I know that there were a couple of new hikers listed on the Meetup RSVPs. New-to-the-group Ross B was the only new hiker who I met.

One of the new hikers lost a mitten on the hike; that mitten has been located. Someone left a small blue igloo cooler at the lean-to. I have both items in my car, if the owners want to get ahold of me to get their property back

Thanks to all who hiked today and those who joined the group at our picnic!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 11

Finger Lakes Trail south and east from the corner of Townline and Layen Rds

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-seven hikers and two dogs on leashes met at the corner of Layen and Townline Roads for an out-and-back hike south on the FLT. We hadn’t hiked this section of the FLT since a major windstorm in the summer of 2024 knocked down lots of trees along the route. These trees have been cleared, and this gorgeous, satisfying hike is back open. 

Foot traction was useful today because there was ice everywhere, especially on the steep gorge crossing a mile south of the meet-up point and up Bruce Hill Rd. Bruce Hill Rd. was like an ice skating rink.

We even got bright sun for the last hour of our hike. This was the extent of bright sun that day. By noon, snow had come back in.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Randolph Suwara’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 31

South Hill Rec Way from Burns Road

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers and two dogs met on Burns Rd in the Town of Ithaca for the groups inaugural hike of a portion of the Coddington Valley Rail Trail extension of the South Hill Rec Way: https://www.townofcaroline.org/index/project-south-hill-rec-trail-ext.

The new trail is still a work in progress and only open between Burns and Banks Roads, so for now I’ve included it as part of the South Hill Rec Way hike listing , hike # 2-3.

Once the Coddington Valley Rail Trail is fully open to its junction with the FLT near Ridgeway Rd in the Town of Caroline I’ll give it its own listing on the hikes page.

The new trail only opened this fall and sees much less use than the South Hill Rec Way. Yesterday when I pre-hiked part of the trail between Burns and German Crossroads the trail surface of crusty snow was almost unbroken, and the wind was somewhat brutal in the field crossings. Today while I was waiting for the hikers to arrive, I watched hikers on the South Hill Rec Way approaching Burns RD slipping on the icy and more heavily used trail surface there.

After a quick group photo the hikers set off down the trail, our footsteps a series of loud sharp crunches as hikers broke through the crusty snow layers. We quickly passed the houses immediately off the trail and continue onto the recently re-opened former railbed.

The sun was out and shone brilliantly on the fresh white of the snow. There was no wind as I had encountered the previous day, making this hike much more enjoyable.

Along this section of trail there are some drainage issues with standing water that ultimately will need to be addressed. Today most of that water was frozen and relatively safe to walk on with foot traction.

In addition to our own footprints in the unbroken snow today the group encountered the abundant tracks of many different small wildlife, squirrels, voles, deer. etc on and along the rail trail.

Many of the trees along the rail trail are prominently posted with no trespassing signs. I would advise hikers to stay on the footpath in order to maintain peace with the adjoining property owners.

In addition to the elevated stream crossings and the utility right of ways, there are several traces of what I assume are remnants of the rails former existence sprinkled along the rail trail; bits of concrete and steel, as well as remnants of fencing still standing from past generations of agricultural use of the surrounding land.

The trail passes over several elevated stream crossings such as are found along the South Hill Rec Way. The path crosses over a couple of open fields that serve as utility line right of ways and offer good views across the valley; these remind me of similar rights-of-ways along the trails in Kennedy Forest.

The first road crossing is German Crossroads, and from the number of tracks in the snow it’s obvious that the trail section between Banks and German Crossroads gets much more use than the section between Burns Rd and German Crossroads. There is no good parking along German Crossroads, but we ultimately discovered that there is a nice small parking area on Banks Rd that people seem to be using when hiking this section of rail trail. Given the number of people who park on Burns Rd to use the South Hill Rec Way, it might be better for people wanting to use the Coddington Valley Rail Trail to start their individual hike from the Banks Road parking area.

Beyond Banks Rd the trail soon arrives at a washed-out portion that was conveniently at the turn-around time for the hike.

The group made their way back to the cars, each hiker at their own pace over the now well-trodden pathway.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 4

Lick Brook from Townline Road

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-three hikers and two dogs on leashes met where Townline Rd. crosses Lick Brook for a shiny, icy, adventurous hike to where the FLT goes under Rt. 13 and back. There had been some snowy days, then warm days that created deep slush for footprints, which had frozen hard by our hike. It made for very tilty places to put our feet all the way down the white trail on our outbound leg. Very adventurous hiking. After admiring the frozen waterfall and enjoying some relatively flat terrain to Rt. 13, we went carefully up the blue trail and returned to the cars with 13 minutes to spare before the two-hour mark. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 24

Cayuga Trail South Loop

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

6 hikers gathered on the morning of Christmas Eve at the Flat Rock Parking Lot for a hike a long Fall Creek. We started by bouncing across the suspension bridge and then headed upstream along the creek. No spikes were needed. We reached Freese Road and crossed the closed road bridge to continue along the creek on south side. After reaching a good creek viewpoint, we turned around for a relaxing hike back.

View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.

Saturday, December 27

Texas Hollow State Forest, Hector

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Saturday, December 29 nine hikers and one dog met at Texas Hollow State Forest for a hike in the newly fallen snow. There was about 4-6 inches on the ground which made the going slow, but the sights beautiful. The temperature was mild with no wind. 

We started on the beautiful Blue Loop to the Finger Lakes trail, and then a little further. Some hikers went partway up the hill looking for the fabled coyote den, but did not discover any recent activity. The rest of the group headed back on the Finger Lakes Trail. We all reunited at the first pond. We only covered about 3 miles in 2 hours, but stopped frequently to enjoy the ambiance and explore.

Sunday, December 28

Lime Hollow Nature Center, Cortland

Hike report by Jim

Seventeen hikers met in the Lime Hollow Nature Center parking lot on Gracie Road in Cortland County for a hike of the easterly trails of Lime Hollow. This was a variation of hike 37 from our hikes page: hike #37 – ithacahikers.

We have recently split the Lime Hollow hike into two different hikes, east and west of Gracie Rd, to take advantage of some of the Lime Hollow trails we’ve ignored in the past.

My original plan for this hike was to hike several of the blue, white, green and red trails that run off of the Lehigh Valley Trail. However, I found that the fresh powdery snow of the last couple of days was a much more difficult slog for me than I had anticipated. I had expected that given the amount of use the Lime Hollow trails see that the footpath would have a much more compacted walking surface than what we encountered.  As we drew near one of the Marl ponds that border the trail, I decided to simply turn the group around and retrace our route, as that simple rail trail section had taken us nearly an hour in the snow.

Some of the hikers expressed an interest in taking the Maple Run trail to Chicago Bog, and a small subset of the group did make that side trip. The remainder of the group went straight back to their cars.

We did encounter some dog walkers during our hike but for the most part had the trails to ourselves.