Wednesday, October 9
Watkins Glen State Park
Hike report by Jim
Ten hikers met at the junction of Whites Hollow and Punch Bowl Roads, just outside of Watkins Glen State Park, for a hike of the FLT and Gorge Trails within the park. This is hike # 14-1B on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-14.
This section of the FLT is on map sheet M15, available for purchase in paper and electronic formats here: https://fingerlakestrail.org/store/maps-and-gps/?. For todays hike the map on the state park website: https://parks.ny.gov/…/WatkinsGlenTopographicalMap.pdf is more than adequate.
After a quick group photo the hikers entered the park through the gate on Punch Bowl Rd and quickly turned off the service road onto the FLT footpath. This trail followed the hills above the stream, eventually arriving at the upper shelter in the park. The group stopped briefly to look over the shelter before continuing on the hike, The FLT in this section has some modest elevation changes, and other than some trip hazards from roots its a pretty nice section of trail. The only mud we encountered on the hike today was in the immediate vicinity of the shelter, and that was minimal at best.
On the trail it was overcast and in shadow, but the sun shone brightly overhead, its light shining through the canopy in beams of light. Occasionally we would walk out from underneath the canopy into a well-lit short section of trail that never seemed to last very long before we were plunged back into shadow.
The group stopped briefly at the dam below the shelter area before continuing on.
It was in this area that encountered a work crew who were in the area attempting to treat the hemlock trees in that part of the forest.
Eventually we arrived at the mile point bridge, turning into that bridge and crossing into the Gorge Trail.. Up to this point other than the work crew and a very few day hikers, we had had the trail to ourselves. Once on the Gorge Trail we found ourselves mingling with quite a few park visitors.
Our group walked down the Gorge Trail, stopping frequently to take photos or to wait for passing hikers in the narrow confines of the trail. We turned onto the Lovers Leap trail and took that to the Sentry Bridge, which we crossed over and returned to the FLT.
Once back on the FLT it was a steady uphill slog for a while until we arrived back at the mile point bridge. From there we retraced our previous route back to our cars. On the return portion of the hike we encountered many more park visitors than we had during our initial hike from the trailhead.
The group arrived back at the cars about fifteen minutes late, but no one was complaining as it was a great day to be in the woods today.
Saturday, October 12
Long Point State Park, Aurora
Hike report by Jim
Twelve hikers met on a sunny and slightly cool morning in Long Point State Park outside of Aurora for a hike of the trails there. This is hike # 14-3 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-14.
The morning was clear, with large clouds in the sky as I turned onto Lake Rd to get to the park. Before the road dips towards the lake a traveler is treated to a panoramic view of the fields, the lake in the distance, all against the distant shores on the opposite side of the lake and the blue skies overhead.
I had a little drama when I got to the park, as they were still charging the entrance fee, while the state park website said that the seasonal entrance fees were no longer being collected. I had scheduled this hike within the week-long narrow window of the entrance fee not being collected and the start of hunting season next week, when we would lose access to all trails within the park. The persistent lack of accurate information on several state park websites has repeatedly been a frustration for me in planning hikes for the group. I was able to speak to park staff and resolve this issue today to my satisfaction.
The hikers posed for our usual group photos and then started the hike. This park is a fairly new location for the group; I think this was only the third group hike we’ve done here. I opted to take the group on a loop around the perimeter trails on the easterly side of Lake Rd. This consisted of parts of the Sunset Ridge Trail, the Spring Run Ravine Trail, the North Woods Trail, the Pheasant Run Trail, the Whitetail Crossing Trail, and the Hidden Forest Trail.
The trails here are what I would describe as being very easy, with only minor elevation changes along the entirety of the route. There are trail signs at every intersection but no blazing on the trail routes; this time of year when the fallen leaves obscure the footpath, having a map to assist you on a first hike here is helpful.
I knew from the last time that we did this hike that we wouldn’t get a full hike out of the trail section, and today was a faster hike than our hike here last fall. Once we completed the trail loop, we crossed back over Lake Rd and walked to the paved path that follows the shoreline of Cayuga Lake. By now the day had warmed up, a stiff breeze was blowing in from the lake, and there were many whitecaps on the water. A few hardy boaters were on the lake getting their last days of boating in before the weather turns colder next week.
We encountered no other hikers on the trail portion of the hike, and not many day walkers along the shore. I wasn’t surprised by this, as our hikers who’ve previously come to this park on their own reported that the hiking trails here were unknown to them on their previous visits. I will admit that the only reason I knew of the trail system in this park was by looking at state park maps online where I had noticed the trail system depicted.
After the hike several members of our group reconvened at the Aurora Brewing Company for lunch. We got a table outside under the porch, with a field of grapes and the lake in the distance made for enjoyable surroundings.
Sunday, October 13
Sims-Jennings Preserve at Cayuga Cliffs
Hike report by Jim
Thirteen hikers and four dogs met in the Town of Lansing for a hike of the Sims-Jennings Preserve at Cayuga Cliffs: https://www.fllt.org/simsjennings. This is hike # 67-30 on our hikes list: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-67-bonus-hikes.
This was our first group hike here since the Land Trust opened the Preserve to the public earlier this year. At that time Nancy H and I had hiked the Preserve trails and posted a report here that the trails were insufficient for our group hike durations. A member posted a response that we had missed an entire loop of trail which didn’t appear on the Preserve map. Eventually I got around to plugging this location into our hike schedule for today.
The weather forecast for Sunday was not favorable, especially in comparison to Saturday. The overnight rain on Saturday had me convinced that I would wake up Sunday morning to find a slew of RSVP cancelations on our Meetup group. Instead, I found that we had received additional RSVPs, not cancelations.
The rain had stopped by the time hikers started arriving at the Preserve parking lot on Ridge Rd. It might have been overcast, but the views of the lake from the parking area were promising.
Our group photo was taken by an unidentified jogger who was passing by the group, so for once we are all in the picture….
The hikers took the main white blazed trail down the hill, eventually turning onto the blue blazed Dannys Trail loop. The nice feature of Dannys Trail is that it is sandwiched between two nice ravines that give hikers some good views as they descend and then re-ascend through the course of the loop. Hikers mentioned that the carpet of freshly fallen leaves on the forest floor around us was a visual treat, as was the striking visual effect of so many treetops being in vibrant fall colors while the lower parts of the trees were still a deep green. It was also noted that trees higher up the slope were further along the seasonal leaf color changes than those trees lower on the slope, many of which were still entirely green.
After completing Dannys Trail there’s a nice viewing area at the end of the white blazed trail which offers some nice views of the lake. This viewing area is as close to the lake as hikers get while in this preserve.
From the viewing area the next section of trail on our route today was the yellow blazed out-and-back path that takes hikers to the dead end of Fiddlers Ridge Rd. This trail section is nice as it passes through a great little section of woods with a couple of minor stream crossings along the way. There was a little water flowing after the overnight rains, but no mud on the trails. Leigh Ann commented that while the Preserve is fairly new, the trails give the appearance of getting some frequent and on-going use by the public. Clearly Lansing residents are taking advantage of this new hiking resource in a town that in many respects has fewer hiking options than many of the other townships in the county.
The last portion of the Preserve that we visited was the red-blazed vista loop. This is the trail section that doesn’t appear on the official maps. The mowed loop that follows the tree line around the perimeter of the open fields is about a mile or so in length. While there aren’t many views of the lake from here, there is a sliver of Cayuga Lake visible from the loop. Today the multitude of fall colors from the surrounding trees and the scrubby vegetation in the open fields was a nice part of the hike.
While we were in the open fields it started to drizzle a little; not enough to make the hike any less enjoyable.
Once we completed the Vista loop we returned to the yellow blazed trail and from there back to the parking area. The rain grew somewhat in intensity for this last part of the hike, and soon after arriving back at our cars (at exactly two hours), the skies opened up and the rain really poured.
Welcome to Annika on her first hike with the group!
