Wednesday, January 17
FLT from Woodard Road to Hines Road and beyond, Enfield
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Fourteen hikers met at Woodard Road, and two more hikers joined the main group near the end. As predicted, the temperature was COLD (wind chill 0 to 5), and the sky was completely clear and dark, dark blue.
This was a fast, four-mile hike that warmed everyone up on seasonal roads before heading into the woods. We took the FLT east from Woodard to Butternut Creek Road and went clockwise to Van Ostrand Rd. and Thomas Rd. The views were astonishing where the roads crossed the hilltop.
This next part is different from the normal route for Hike 12 because snow-covered ice can make taking the Rim Trail to the Upper Treman parking lot less than appealing. At the northern end of Thomas Road, we entered the woods on the FLT and took that to Butternut Creek Road. Then we went over to the CCC Trail, which we used to go to Upper Treman, over to the (closed) Red Pine trailhead for mileage and views, and back to the cars via the CCC Trail and FLT.
Because this hike is partly on roads, this is a fast hike that gets everyone back to the cars in a little less than two hours, even with snow and ice.
Saturday, January 20
Connecticut Hill Homesteads Loop
This hike was cancelled due to weather conditions.
Sunday, January 21
Cayuga Trail from Freese Rd.
Hike report by Casey
It was cold and windy. We had approximately 15 hikers and approximately one dog if I counted correctly.
I will say that this was what I call a challenging hike. Anytime the uphills are easier than the downhills, you know you have a challenging hike. Part of the challenge, especially at the front was a series of steps that were snow-covered enough that I wasn’t even aware that we were on steps at first. My intention was for the front of the pack to get all the way to route 13 before turning around, but the one hour in mark came before we were even close to that spot. So we did the right thing and turned around to complete the out and back hike on time.
It was a fairly slow going hike in that we only got 3.57 miles in 2 hours. And of course the cold and wind didn’t make things any easier. But as usual, it was still fun to get out on such a nice sunny day.
