Wednesday, July 17
Finger Lakes Trail from Comfort Road
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Today’s hike was soupy, broken-up, pine-scented hell – but the company was good. Ten hikers met at the junction of Comfort Rd. and the FLT and hiked west for an out-and-back. After the tornados and other severe storms last Wednesday and yesterday, we expected to find a lot of downed trees and expected to do a lot of trail cleaning. This we did.
As usual at this time of year, this stretch of trail was dry. At other times of the year, this is a mud slog. We picked our way slowly along it, having a visit with each other and removing smaller branches and trees. There are a few new step-over trees and one that will need chain sawing, but the trail is much nicer now up to the first field west from Comfort Rd., which is where we turned around.
For the first half hour, the weather was nice, but the humidity increased so much that it felt like Alabama. We returned to the cars early at 11:15 after about 3.75 miles and 450 feet of elevation gain, and that was plenty.
Saturday, July 20
Dabes Diversion Loop, Kennedy SF, Cortland County
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Twenty hikers met at the corner of Hauck Hill and Bleck Roads on this third day in a row of classic Finger Lakes summer weather. That is, not Alabama summer weather. Jim and Nancy H. had prehiked this route the previous day to see if it was passable, after the previous weeks’ storms had brought down too many trails to keep some of the International Loops open. They had found six new downed trees over the trail on the Kuzia Cutoff, and it was evident that they had ensured that the trail was clear of branches for Saturday’s hike.
Because we knew the conditions of the Dabes Diversion Loop, we kept to the prehiked route on Saturday. It was a fabulous hike. The field west of the rock pile had just been mowed and it was as pretty as I’ve ever seen it. This is an excellent place to pause, admire, and gather everyone back together before heading down to the fancy new footbridge heading up to Bleck Road.
Even with the six new downed trees, hikers at the front arrived back at the cars in usual front-of-the-group time (1 hour 35 minutes). The day was warming up, so most folks were happy to head on to their next Saturday activities. A few walked back to where the Kuzia Cutoff meets Hauck Hill Road and re-arrived at the cars in exactly 2 hours from the start of the hike, after 4.12 miles and 512 feet of elevation gain.
Sunday, July 21
Potato Hill State Forest, Caroline
Hike report by Jim
Twenty-two hikers and three dogs met on Level Green Rd in the Town of Caroline, for a hike of the Finger Lakes Trail through Potato Hill State Forest and Summerland Farm Preserve.
This is hike # 29-1: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-29 on our list of regular hike locations. Todays route was on FLT map sheet M18, available here: https://fingerlakestrail.org/store/maps-and-gps/.
The day was sunny and warm, with a hint of humidity but overall, a pleasant day for a hike. The heat was nowhere near as oppressive as it has seemed in recent weeks, and several hikers were overheard commenting that today was more of what we’ve always thought of as traditional summer hike weather.
Quite often the lower sections of the FLT near Level Green Rd are quite muddy, but everything was pretty dry today. I had pre-hiked this route on Thursday to check for storm damage from our recent bad weather. There were a few blowdowns on today’s hike route, but nothing that presented a real obstacle to the group.
Reaching Blackman Hill Rd the group entered the Summerland farm Preserve; there is a short hike through the woods before the FLT breaks out into open fields with a spectacular view of several peaks in the far distance in almost any direction you look. There was a little haze visible in the air, but overall, it was still a great view.
After pausing for a quick group photo at the memorial bench the group pressed on, leaving the open fields behind and continuing through the woods on the FLT towards State Route 79, before turning around to retrace our route back to the cars.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable hike, and a great group of people to share the trail with. Thanks to all who came out for today’s hike!
