ithacahikers

Wednesday, May 13

“Two Preserve Hike”

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Wednesday, May 13, nine hikers and one dog met at Stevenson Preserve for the Two Preserve hike. It was drizzling through most of the Stevenson hike, but not at all bad. Hikers enjoyed the view from the overlook and the magnificent Hemlock groves.

Two hikers declined a visit to the second preserve due to previous commitments. Five cars with seven hikers set off on the 15-minute drive on lovely back country roads to Martin Preserve.

At Martin Preserve we enjoyed the dumbbell hike with no rain. The highlights were the giant mother Oak and the abundant Skunk Cabbage along the streams. Despite the overnight rain there was almost no mud on either hike.

We finished just a few minutes short of 2 hours, even with the 15-minute drive between preserves.

Saturday, May 16

Long Point State Park, Aurora

Hike report by Nina F.

Eleven hikers, three dogs and a whole heap of insects met at Long Point State Park on a beautiful spring day to hike the upper fields and forests of this 296 acre park. The hike winds through grasslands, brush land, spruce plantations, intermittent creek ravines and mature forests, and though the path was often soggy from all our recent rain, we were rewarded with beautiful scenery, including nice views of Cayuga Lake. Because the hike is fairly short (despite criss-crossing on all the available trails), most of the group finished the hike by walking down to the Lake, allowing muddy dogs to clean off while we enjoyed the welcomed sunshine.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, May 17

The Pinnacles from Bald Hill Rd., Danby SF

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-two hikers and one dog met at the corner of Bald Hill and Station Roads for this hike. From the meet-up spot, we went south on Bald Hill Rd. to its northern crossing of the Abbott Loop. We turned west on the Abbott Loop to go up to the Pinnacles and admire the view.

This is a well-drained hike and the trail was nice and dry. On this warm morning, the view from the Pinnacles was gorgeous and you could see the different shades of spring from Kelly green in the valley to chartreuse on the hill tops.

From the Pinnacles, we kept going until we got to the Abbott Loop’s southern crossing of Bald Hill Rd. This was a little less than an hour into the hike, and ten hikers chose to head north on Bald Hill Rd. from there so they could get back to the cars by about 11:00. The rest of the group walked south on Bald Hill Rd. about ¼ mile, then retraced our steps over the Pinnacles to return to the cars. We arrived at exactly 11:40, after approximately 4.75 mile and 900 feet of elevation gain.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, May 9

Spur trail from upper Lick Brook/Townline Road to upper Buttermilk Falls SP/Yaple Road

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Nine hikers showed up for this rainy, muddy hike east from Townline Road through the Thayer Preserve, over West King Rd., and on the Buttermilk Spur into Buttermilk Falls Park. I think every year for the past few years we’ve done this hike at about this time in May and found the Buttermilk Spur unremittingly wet and slippery with mud, to the point that we always decide to do a road walk back to King on Comfort Rd. From there, the trails are fine.

I chose to do this hike at this time because I forgot. My hope is that next year, I’ll remember to put this hike a little later in May or in early June when the trail might be a little dryer.

Spirits were high, all things considering, and we certainly felt like we were tough for making it through this hike. Aside from the mud, it was nice, in a soggy, gooey, mid-spring way.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, May 10

Mundy Wildflower Gardens (Forest Home) to Beebe Lake Loop, Ithaca

Hike report by Margaret

On May 10th, 2026, 23 hikers and 1 dog met at the Mundy Wildflower Gardens parking lot (hike 4.4. at hike #4 – Forest Home Hikes – ithacahikers). New hiker Sharon joined the group with her dog Muni. The morning was overcast and Fall Creek was burbling as the hikers headed into the Mundy Wildflower Gardens. The group was treated to a wide array of early spring blooms including jack-in-the-pulpit, multiple types of trilliums, and many more. The group climbed the steps out of the wildflower gardens and crossed Judd Falls Rd. to enter the Cornell Botanic Gardens Nevin Welcome center area(Cornell Botanic Gardens | Cornell Botanic Gardens) and enjoy the lilacs, tulips, azaleas and others there. The group continued across Forest Home Dr. and made a counter-clockwise loop around Beebe Lake where a few goose families were celebrating Mother’s Day with their goslings. The sun came out as Margaret F. led the group into the Cornell Campus to visit the Polyform (PolyForm — Jenny Sabin Studio) sculpture and peak into pocket gardens along Tower Rd. To complete the hike, the group circled back towards the Nevin Welcome Center and back into the Mundy Wildflower Garden. Signs of spring were everywhere on the hike. Margaret F. plans to lead this hike again in the summer when everything is in full bloom.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, May 2

Black Diamond Trail, Ithaca, NY

No report was submitted for the hike.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, May 3

Bob Cameron Loop, Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Sunday, May 3, 27 hikers and 2 dogs met on Tower Road in Connecticut Hill WMA for a hike on the the Bob Cameron Loop. The beginning and end of the hike was nice and dry, but the middle section is very muddy. We just plowed on through.

After a decent and several stream crossings we began the switch-backs up the hill. It’s always a good workout. The loop was finished in about an hour and a half. About a third of the hikers returned to their cars, while the rest extended the hike on the Finger Lakes Trail.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, April 22

Texas Hollow State Forest, Hector

Hike report by Mark Sussman

Fourteen hikers and one dog met on Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22) at Texas Hollow State Forest for a hike up the hill. The day started out cloudy, but by the end of the hike the sun was out in full force. Two hikers dropped off quickly – one to check out Plein-Aire art possibilities, and the other to explore mosses and ferns.

We took the Blue Loop on the way out and enjoyed looking at the various ponds at wetlands and beaver activity. We rejoined the Finger Lakes Trail and started the long uphill trek. The group made it to the third logging road, where we turned around. It is quite a strenuous climb.

Since we were running a bit late, we stayed on the Finger Lakes Trail on the return and even took the road for the final stretch back to our cars. The hike lasted a little more than 2 hours.

Saturday, April 25

Cayuga Trail from Freese Rd.

Report by Jim

No hike today, but seven hikers turned out on a rainy Saturday morning for an important trail re-route of a few sections of the Varna Cliffs end of our adopted section of the Cayuga Trail. The trail has been eroding away (again) in recent months. A few weeks ago I walked through the affected area with CTC trails chair David Priester and representatives from Cornell, who identified footpath re-routes for the affected trail sections. Today was our workday to implement those trail changes

There remains one additional section to be re-routed that will require the CTC to mow a portion of open field rather than have our hikers try to cut down the section by hand. Also, because of today’s rainy weather we were unable to re-blaze the new footpath.

Until it is blazed there are temporary flags in place to indicate the new route.

Thanks to everyone who turned out this morning despite the conditions!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, April 26

Alex & Michele Gonzalez Hiking Sanctuary & Preserve, Virgil

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Fifteen hikers and a hiker dog on a leash on Daisy Hollow Road near the western kiosk for the international loops. It was a lovely hike after the all-day rain on Saturday cleared the air. The many, jumpable streams were running fast, but the trail was dry for the most part. We returned to the cars in two hours, having hiked about 4 miles with almost 600 feet of elevation gain.

The international loops are enjoyable to get to know because there are many, well-marked and lovingly cared for trails within a smallish area. There’s no good way to describe the route we took without including a map, so a map follows my description. I refer to the trails by color.

From Daisy Hollow Rd., we went up the orange trail to the western end of the yellow-blazed Jose Trail. We took the yellow-blazed Jose Trail to the blue-blazed trail. Then we took the blue-blazed trail east all the way to its end at the orange trail. From this junction, we headed east on the orange trail until we got to the sign for the bivouac on the red trail. At this bivouac sign, we turned south on the red trail and crossed Cristina Creek. When we re-encountered the orange trail, we took it south to Adams Rd. From there, we did a road walk to follow the blazes for the orange trail east on Adams Rd. and Owego Hill Rd. We stayed on Owego Hill Rd. after the orange blazes departed Owego Hill Rd. to the east. The reason is so we could turn around where the powerline crosses Owego Hill Rd., which is an especially pretty spot. We returned the way we came until we got to the junction with the blue trail (labeled Irvin Trail in the map below). From that junction, we stayed on the orange trail and took it west, back to the cars.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, April 18

Owl Creek Trail, lower Buttermilk Falls State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Nina F.

Twenty-one hikers and two dogs met in the parking lot of lower Buttermilk Falls on a gorgeous spring day, with temps rising into the 70s during our hike and tiny spring wildflowers gracing us with color along the trails. After leaving the parking lot and heading uphill on an asphalt service road, we reached Owl Creek Trail, crossing Owl Creek on a small wooden bridge and following the trail’s steep, winding route. We continued uphill up to Owl Creek Gorge, where we stopped to catch our breath and enjoy a scenic overlook of the gorge below and a distant farm, complete with a pretty red barn. The rest of the short (approx 0.9 mile) trail took us to Stone Quarry Road, where we turned around and backtracked until we took a cut off to visit the picturesque King Cemetery farther up Stone Quarry Road (where some hikers located a former friend among the inhabitants!). For the return trip, rather than retrace our steps, we tried a different trail that was called CG trail on the OnX Hunt app but does not show up on the Park trail maps. It was a gorgeous trail, winding back down the mountain along the park boundary stone wall on the left and a beautiful creek on the right. Because the hike was fairly short, many hikers chose to take a short, extra walk along the converted rails to trails path that also leaves from the Buttermilk Falls lower parking lot. We turned around where the rail trail ended shortly past the Kirby Edmunds Bridge that crosses Route 13. (Note: Previously, this bridge was informally known as Ithaca’s “Bridge to Nowhere” due to the controversial nature of the project that many considered a waste of money. The bridge was renamed a few years ago to honor Kirby Edmunds, a local social justice advocate.) The total hike was two hours, and all hikers seemed thrilled at our luck with the spectacular weather and pretty scenery.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, April 19

 The junction of Hanshaw and Lower Creek Rds

Hike report by Jim

The scheduled group hike for Sunday didn’t happen due to a lack of an available hike leader.

Since there was no group hike, I planned to do this hike on my own because of our scheduled trail maintenance day next Saturday. I put out an invitation for anyone in the group to join me for an informal hike of our adopted section of the Cayuga Trail to check out conditions ahead of the trail maintenance day. As it turned out, our group today consisted of four hikers and one dog.

This hike started at the parking area at the junction of Hanshaw and Lower Creek Rds. This is normally hike #5-1 on our hikes list:  https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-5.

I started the hike here because I knew that the Cayuga Trails Club was doing an Earth Day hike of the Cayuga Trail from Freese Rd and I didn’t want to tie up their parking spaces at the Community Gardens.

Today’s hike took place entirely on the FLTC map sheet ” The Cayuga Trail”, available in paper or electronic formats at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/store/maps-and-gps/purchase-individual-maps. Sale of the map sheets help to defray the on-going costs of trail maintenance.

There were light snow flurries falling as the group met and set off on the red-blazed trail section. The flurries ended by the time we were back at our cars.

As could be expected, trail conditions were a little muddy along the way. I wound up sliding back down the hill on one slope because of the muddy conditions. Stream crossings were a lively experience as water levels at the smaller stream crossings were high, with no way to avoid getting our feet wet while crossing. Water levels in Fall Creek were to the creek banks, and an observable steam was coming off the water in Fall Creek, leading to some very atmospheric conditions.

The various hiker bridges we crossed were covered with a light but slippery layer of snow.

We did encounter two blowdowns on the hike; these trees were communicated to CTC sawyers.

Along our route we encountered multiple dog walkers and two separate groups of Cayuga Trails Club hikers. As the CTC hikers reported no additional blowdowns between our meeting location and Freese Rd to us, I saw no reason to check those areas on our own, and our group turned around for the return leg of our hike.

For next Saturday’s trail workday, hikers should wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, bring light work gloves, bring hand tools including loppers, bow saws, garden rakes, weed eaters etc. We cannot use chain saws, but gas or battery powered trimming/ pruning tools are otherwise allowed and can be labor saving. We have several re-routes of trail sections near Freese Rd as well as some blazing of both this section and a trail re-route we did last fall.