Wednesday, June 12
Black Diamond Trail from upper Taughannock SP
Hike report by Jim
Thirteen hikers and one dog met on Jacksonville Rd in the Town of Ulysses for an out-and-back hike of the Black Diamond Trail: https://parks.ny.gov/parks/blackdiamond/details.aspx.
This is hike # 58-2 on our regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-58
Wednesday morning continued the recent trend of cooler temperatures, and while the sky was overcast it was still a great hiking day.
The hikers set out from the parking lot after a quick group photo, and soon broke down into sub-groups, each hiker doing their own pace before turning around at the one-hour time and re-tracing their steps back to the parking lot.
Casey C reported that his faster group had a total mileage of a little over six miles for the hike
We encountered a few bicyclists, dog walkers and joggers during our hike.
The Black Diamond Trail itself was in great shape; there was some water flowing in the creeks and streams the trail crossed over, but the water volume was moderate at best.
Saturday, June 15
Finger Lakes Trail from Comfort Road through Danby State Forest
Hike report by Jim
Twenty-three hikers and three dogs met in the Town of Danby for an out-and-back hike of the FLT through Danby State Forest between Comfort Rd and Dianes Crossing: https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/danbysf.pdf. This is hike # 18 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-18
Before starting the hike, the group observed a short moment of silence for Ithaca Hikers Roger Becks brother Bob Beck, who recently passed away.
A moment for a quick photo, and the group was soon on its way walking down Bald Hill Rd towards the FLT crossing.
The day was quite warm and sunny throughout the hike, and it was an enjoyable day to be in the woods. Parts of this route can sometimes be quite muddy; without any recent rain the trails were in great shape, with just the usual summer undergrowth along the footpath to contend with.
Other than a couple of day hikers we had the trail to ourselves today
Some recent sawyer work on blow-down trees across the footpath was observed; thanks to the CTC sawyer volunteers for all you do to keep the FLT open for hikers!
The group broke down into a couple of speed-based ability groups very early in the hike, with Casey C leading the fast hikers well ahead of the rest of the hikers. Reaching Dianes Crossing the main body of hikers turned around and re-traced our route, stopping briefly at the Chestnut Lean-To in order to acquaint newer hikers with that structure.
Jack V took over leading the group after the lean-to stop; the group soon reached Bald Hill Rd. Crossing that road, the hikers continued a short way on the FLT until reaching Comfort Rd, which the group road-walked back to their cars.
Welcome to new hikers Grace, Ward, Joel, and Joels canine hiking partner “Jiselle” on their first hike with the group!
Sunday, June 16
Kennedy State Forest, Dryden
Hike report by Jim
Twenty-two hikers met for a loop hike of the FLT and Swedish loop in James Kennedy State Forest. This is hike # 40-4 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-40
This is our traditional Kennedy Forest hike, starting from the FLT parking lot on Daisy Hollow Rd: https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/jameskennedysf.pdf. It was a nice day for a hike, being very sunny and warm. The sun filtered down through the forest canopy, leaving the ground underfoot a mix of light and shadow as the group navigated the root-covered forest floor,
The footpath was dry, with only a slight amount of mud encountered at stream crossings. Water levels in the streams were flowing but minimal.
By-passing the first Swedish Loop and Ukraine Loop intersections we continued on the FLT a while until we used a connector trail to jump on the Swedish Loop, which we took back to the FLT and then back to our cars.
We always seem to finish this hike ahead of schedule, and today is no different. In the past I’ve tried to extend the hike time by spending additional time on the Swedish Loop, the Ukraine Loop, or the FLT itself. Today we were back at the cars a full 30 minutes faster than desired. I’ll continue to keep tweaking our route on this hike to reach a normal hike duration.
Welcome to Caleb on his first hike wth the group!
