ithacahikers

Wednesday, April 8

Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve

Hike report by Kathy K

12 hikers met on a sunny but chilly day to hike two loops at the Nature preserve. We all warmed up quickly! There was lots of water in the various creeks, so it was lovely to listen and watch the water.

We started going counter-clockwise: 1) up the yellow trail to its top, then down a bit to the eastern start of the main, outer red trail; 2) going on the red trail all the way up and around the top and down the west side that runs beside the main creek and 3) continuing on the blue trail to the southern crossing. 

From there half the group snuck across the creek (lots of water) and headed on counterclockwise.

The other half of us reversed and went back clockwise; we all rejoined later. 

Saturday, April 11

Potato Hill State Forest, Caroline

Hike report by Jim

Thirteen hikers and one dog met on Level Green Rd in the Town of Caroline for an out and back hike on the Finger Lakes Trail through Potato Hill State Forest led by Nancy H. Today’s location is hike # 29-1 on our list of regular hike locations.

Today’s hike took place entirely within FLT map sheet M18. FLT map sheets may be purchased in either paper or electronic formats at:  https://fingerlakestrail.org/store/maps-and-gps/purchase-individual-maps. Sale of the map sheets helps to defray the ongoing costs associated with trail maintenance.

After taking a group photo we set off into Potato Hill State Forest. The first quarter mile directly off Level Green Rd is usually muddy this time of year and today was no exception. Quite a bit of mud, but with some strategic rock and log hopping the worst of it was easily avoided. This IS “mud season” in central NY, after all….

After crossing a couple of footbridges the trail snakes through the woods and begins an inevitable climb towards Blackman Hill Rd. Nearing that road the FLT passes by a newer parking lot more often used by those visiting the new-ish Summerland Farm Preserve the fields of which offer some great vistas of distant ridgelines which, I am told, are as far away as the state of Pennsylvania on a clear day like today.

While at the bench and overlook of the Summerland Farm Preserve the sun came out; while the chilly winds were a little brisk, the clear skies offered a good view of the distant peaks. I stayed at the bench while Nancy led the remainder of the group into the woods where the FLT begins a downward path towards State Route 79 near the county line.

After turning around at the one-hour mark, the group re-traced its outbound route without incident.

For those hikers tracking their FLT miles towards a 2026 FLT 50 or FLT 100 patch, todays hike included 3 FLT miles

Warm welcome to Michael and Mary on their first hike with the group!

We had the trail to ourselves, with the exception of one couple and their dog who were section hiking this portion of the FLT as part of their training for a hike of the Dolomites later this year.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, April 12

Finger Lakes Trail from Woodard Road to Hines Road and beyond

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

20 hikers and 2 leashed dogs headed toward Hines from Woodward on the Finger Lakes Trail on a nice spring day.  It was a good workout with many ups and downs. Later stretches revealed large patches of ramps (a delicious wild onion) and a spread of daffodils.   The end toward Hines had been rerouted to pass further away from the Treman Center.  But it was pleasant to cross Hines Rd and pass through an opening in the stone wall designed by the Treman Center’s owner.  After following a rather mucky trail over to Rockwell we returned to the trail back via the roads.  About half the crew took Hines and Woodward back to the cars while the rest of us took the up and down trail back.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.

Wednesday, April 1

Texas Hollow State Forest, Hector

This hike was cancelled due to severe weather.

Saturday, April 4

Stewart Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Margaret F.

On this beautiful spring morning, 24 Ithaca hikers gathered by the CBC boathouse in Stewart Park. The group included 4 new hikers – welcome Hind, Debbie, Jack M. and Caesar!

hike #53

The hike started with a loop through the well mulched Fuertes Natural Area with views of Cayuga Lake and headed towards the Renwick Woods bird sanctuary trail. Unfortunately, that trail was under deep water after the torrential rains earlier in the week and although Margaret F. may be gaining a reputation for leading the Ithaca Hikers through swampy terrain, everyone was in favor of a detour. The group headed along the high and dry Cayuga Waterfront Trail past the Tompkins County Fire Training Center to the Newman Municipal Golf Course where we were treated to patches of beautiful spring flowers and old growth Sycamore trees. That morning was also the opening day of the Ithaca Farmers Market, so the group took a 15 minute recess to explore the early season offerings. Next the group continued down the trail towards the inlet and enjoyed the energy radiated by a crew regatta underway as we passed by the crew tents and over the inlet to the southern most section of Cass Park. The group then retraced our steps back to Stewart Park. As a final unexpected treat on the return leg, we watched an Osprey return to perch on a telephone pole with a freshly caught fish for lunch. The group returned to Stewart Park having logged more than 5 miles of interesting sites and good company.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, April 5

Taughannock SP from Gorge Road Parking Area

Hike report by Jana Hexter

7 hikers met at the Black Diamond Trailhead parking lot on Gorge Road and hiked the Rim Trail and Gorge trails because the original planned route was waterlogged. The gorge water was rushing and chocolate colored and the conversations were interesting. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, March 25

Lansing Center Trail

Hike report by Robin Ginenthal

Ten Ithaca Hikers and one leashed dog hiked today’s pleasantly sunny, though very muddy hike. We started out from Salt Point Brewery’s parking lot to the actual Lansing Center Trail Parking lot (picture taken there) and then onto the Scoops extension along to Scoops Ice Cream (closed!) where we continued onto the Murdock Spur, the Short Line Spur, onto the bottom of Heddon Loop, continuing uphill on Shoemaker Loop, around to Munson Loop, then onto Knettles Loop. We lost 2 folks when we passed by the Brewery parking lot because of wet feet. Continued finishing up Knettles Loop, did the bottom of Shoemaker loop, hit the top of Heddon Loop, cut through the woods to Townley Loop, and then onto the lower end of the Short Line Spur. From there we headed back through the LCT parking lot back to the Brewery lot. Turned into a lovely day with nice views of the sky and open fields. 8 folks and the doggy arrived safely and happy with very mucky boots! We did 4.3 miles in 1.5 hours. This was a new hike location for most of the hikers, one person mentioning how nice it was to have such long open views. Most of this hike consists of wide mowed trails with a few wooded areas. The trail is very well maintained by the town of Lansing. In season, they come every week to mow the trail and volunteers help with whatever is needed.

Saturday, March 28

Potomac Rd trails, Finger Lakes National Forest

Hike report by Jack Vanderzee

13 hikers met in the Finger lakes Forest and did a hike around Wildlife Pond and Forester pond.  The day was cool but pleasant!  The trail was surprisingly dry for this time of year.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, March 29

Virgil Mountain, Cortland County

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Eighteen hikers and two dogs on leashes met at the corner of Baldwin and O’Dell roads for this out-and-back hike up the FLT to the summit of Virgil Mountain and back. Everyone drove to the meet-up spot from the north, which was good because there was a massive pile of hard ice and snow on O’Dell just south of the junction with Baldwin.

This was an ice-free hike, aside from this pile of snow past the meet-up point, the plentiful and fun-to-crunch ice needles on the outbound leg, and sheets of thick and completely avoidable ice remaining on the ski runs at Greek Peak. As we went on, the sun came out, the ice needles melted, and we encountered more and more other hikers – 14 who weren’t from our group. This popularity attests to how lovely a stretch of trail this is.

For us, this hike was about 4.75 miles and 925 feet of elevation gain. This gain was almost always gentle and consistent until we got up close to the summit, and even then the steep parts didn’t go on for long.

The only big obstacle we encountered was a large fallen tree that could use some attention from someone with a chainsaw. This was about .8 miles in from the meet-up spot, just before the route makes its first big switchback down to a stream crossing.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, March 18

Dryden Rail Trail from Dryden Village

Hike report by Kathy K

9 hikers and 2 dogs had a delightful walk in the sun that passed quickly with good conversations; very pretty with a few inches of snow on the trail. We went about 2 1/2 miles to the west and back again.

While only 20 degrees or so, there was no wind and we were all shedding layers.

Welcome to new hiker Sandy who joined us for ½ the walk (after the photo).

Saturday, March 21

Finger Lakes Trail in Danby State Forest from S. Danby Road to the Tamarack Lean-to

Hike report by Anne Becker

19 hikers met on South Danby Road for a hike east on the FLT. Mud was abundant, but the fresh dusting of snow was lovely. The group had time to visit the Tamarack leanto before we turned around for this out and back hike. We finished the hike just shy of the 2 hour mark.

Sunday, March 22

The “Chunks” Hike, Stone House Rd., Enfield

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Fourteen Ithaca Hikers and two leashed dogs hiked at least part of today’s pleasantly rainy hike. Thirteen humans and the dogs set out from the Margaret’s Woods parking lot with no rain. By the time we had finished the 1.2-mile Margaret’s Woods loop, it was raining hard enough for many hikers to trade poles for umbrellas. Three humans opted to end their hike at that point. The remaining ten humans and the dogs hiked through the fields and woods chunk of the hike to the CCC trail. By then it was still raining enough for another human to end their hike at that point. Then we crossed Fishkill Creek, turned left on Van Ostrand Road, and took the FLT into Upper Treman. At Lucifer Falls, we picked up another Ithaca Hiker (human). We also enjoyed how short and fat the falls looked compared to normal. Eight humans and the dogs returned to the cars via the CCC trail and connector chunk while the other two humans headed back at a more leisurely pace. It rained pretty much the whole time, and the temperature was perfect to get wet in with the clothes people had on; very enjoyable. The eight humans and two dogs arrived back at the parking lot exactly two hours after the hike started, about 4.5 miles and 780 feet of elevation gain later. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, March 11

Taughannock Falls State Park

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Wednesday, August 11, eight hikers and one dog met at the Taughannock overlook for the hike. The weather looked questionable and once we got into the woods at North Taughannock the rain was coming down pretty steadily. We thought about turning back, but by the time we hit the rim trail it was just a drizzle, and the rain didn’t really pick up again. We looped through the Cataract trail, then down the South RIm Trail till we turned around and headed back to the overlook. We hiked a little over 4 miles, and finished about 10 minutes early.

We were joined by new hiker Bob.

Saturday, March 14

Shindagin Hollow Bike Trails

Hike report by Kathy K.

Happy Pi day!

9 hikers and 3 dogs enjoyed a pretty winter hike with 2″ of fresh snow in Shindagin Hollow.

Welcome to new hiker Kristin (and her two dogs) who just moved to Ithaca last month and already has found us! And new hiker Bob joined us last Wednesday and came back for more!

A modified version of Hike #28-3, we started at the northern Braley Hill parking lot and made our way up two of the Yellow bike trails #8 and then #6 to the top of Bald Hill School Road; then north a mile or so on Bald Hill School Road, and turned to come down Leonard “road” (narrow, dirt, rutted- not for cars) with its lovely little waterfalls beside the road.;finally walking along Central Chapel and Braley Hill Roads to the parking area.

Foot traction was helpful today- although it was just warm enough to stick to my microspikes.

Note: the bike trails are not very well labeled- it’s a fun area to explore but nice to have a map with you (there’s a big kiosk at the parking lot too). Leonard Road is a fun walk on its own but you CANNOT drive a car up it (especially with a big tree across); you can park at the bottom. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, March 15

Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-one hikers and two dogs on leashes set out west from the South Monkey Run parking lot for this lasso-shaped hike on the Cayuga Trail system. Our route took us through woods, across fields, and along Fall Creek, including at the top of the bluffs on the south side of the creek. It was a nice morning for late winter: not exactly cold, not exactly warm, with little bits of completely manageable snow in some of the shadows, and a milky blue sky. This is an easy route for people to leave early because we pass back by the cars on our way east from South Monkey Run, and some people chose to do this. After about 4.3 miles and almost 500 feet of elevation gain, fifteen hikers arrived at the cars at 11:38 a.m. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.