Once Casey had talked 2 police into parking their cars illegally so the rest of us could park legally, 13 of us with no new hikers, dogs or cats were ready to hike.
A beautiful day again. My voiced concern that this hike would be too short led to Nancy L suggesting extending the hike into terrain I had thought too difficult. With unanimous agreement we were off. Though one hiker departed early we still returned with 13 hikers. How could that be?
Ten minutes shy of completion we encountered a very late hiker – a former deputy sheriff. Hugs all around and now with our new leader we arrived Intact 10 minutes late to our cars.
Dave Gislason graciously led this hike after expertly grooming the trails. Nine hardy hikers gathered on a cold snowy morning at the Lloyd Starks Boylan junction on Connecticut Hill. Snow was lightly falling rendering the roads a little slippery. On my way I was chastened by the sight of a car off the road which reminded me to take my time getting there. There were plenty of rescue vehicles converging upon it. The trails were quite passable since the snow was about 2 to 3 inches and quite soft. The first part of the hike went through a quite active beaver area where they are currently chop/chewing down trees to expand the dammed ponds. Next we climbed uphill in the territory between Boylan and Connecticut Hill roads finally arriving at Connecticut Hill road close to where it meets Tower Rd. We crossed the road to follow a trail which crosses many small streams called the seven streams section of the hike. All were picturesque winding through the snow. This was followed by a stretch on the FLT before turning down a trail taking us to a large pond. Normally there is an escape route around the pond by crossing over the pond outlet and walking the dike to the road but this time the outlet was flushing a torrent of water due to the efforts of the beavers and the increased precipitation. No one wanted to quit hiking at this point so we turned north to visit a little pond and some streams in gently undulating terrain. Finally we crossed an alternate stream to make our way to the cars.
20 hikers and 1 dog gathered on a wintry spring morning at the junction of the Finger Lakes Trail with Level Green Rd to hike eastward into the Potato Hill State Forest. Parking was a challenge. There was a pull off accommodating a few cars. The rest had to park along the road which did not have a wide curb. The trail had a blanket of snow but was somewhat wet with several challenges to keeping your feet dry. On the first portion of the hike in Potato Hill State Forest from Level green to Blackman Hill road, it was quite woodsy with beautiful snow laden conifers. Crossing the road, we entered the new Summerland Preserve. After a brief hike uphill through trees we emerged into a field following the markers to a summit graced with an attractive but snowy bench and a good view. The trail proceeds into the woods again and soon plunges downhill making its way toward route 79. I’m pretty sure some of the hikers made it there (lol). On the way back several of us took a short side trip to a pond that is picturesque in all seasons.
FLT west from Logan Rd., Finger Lakes National Forest
Hike report by Casey
Eleven Hikers showed up at the trail head on Logan Road in Burdett (which by the way is no farther away from Ithaca than the Shindaigin hikes that we do) and headed west on the Finger Lakes Trail. The weather was exceptional for this time of year. The trail was still muddy in many places, but the views were spectacular.
We managed to get to the rail bed for our turn around and by the time we got back to the cars we had logged 5.04 miles with 789 feet of elevation gain.
Photo by Leah F. Vosko
Saturday, March 16
Lindsay Parsons Preserve, West Danby
(1) Hike report by Mark Sussman
17 hikers and 1 dog explored the various trails at the Lindsey-Parson’s Preserve. On this beautiful sunny day the group moved at a steady pace, and observed the various ponds surrounded by rolling hills.
The main hike finished about 20 minutes early so a group decided to do an extra loop on the red trail. Others decided to just head for their cars.
An additional 6 hikers did an alternate hike – the challenging scramble up to the Pinnacles.
(2) Hike report by Casey
There were two somewhat separate hikes starting at the same time from the same location. Mark Sussman led the regular Lindsay Parsons Hike while Casey started with 7 people for a more challenging hike that starts on the regular trails but eventually takes a turn for the steeper, where we do a bushwhacking climb off the beaten trail to make our way all the way to the Pinnacles that is on the Abbotts Loop trail. I think we managed to get to the Pinnacles in one hour.
On the way back we added a little to our hike by taking the purple blazed alternate trail off of the orange to get back to the railroad tracks crossing.
We managed to do the whole 4.39 miles, 971 feet of elevation gain, in 2 hours and 7 minutes without rushing.
This St. Patrick’s Day morning, fifteen hikers met to walk Ekroos Road in the Town of Candor, Tioga County. Getting there is one of the rigors of this walk, gps and cell connection is unreliable in this area.
It rained lightly enroute to the hike, however once our walking began, the rain stopped. Hikers walked the rambling, rural road (having three different names) for about two miles eastward to 76 Road. It remained mostly cloudy and about 40F. As Casey pointed out, this was the first time in which every hiker reached 76 Rd and thus we were able to gather there for a group photo, cheers all!
Following the brief gathering, hikers turned around and walked back toward the cars. Many hikers continued walking beyond the cars to reach South Road and then back to the meet-up area in order to complete the full road distance.
No one mentioned the recent and tragic history regarding Ekroos Road, so I’ll leave it as a mystery and not sully the hike. Instead I’ll call it a rigorously pleasant rural road hike on which we met to stroll for a total of about 4.2 miles with a terrific bunch of walkers!
South Hill Road heading east on FLT to Texas Hollow Road and back
Hike report by Casey
It was a wet Wednesday. We started with ten hikers at the FLT on South Hill Road in Benettsburg. Because we had two Toms we might have to name this the Tomtom hike. We also had two new hikers with us and they seemed to have a good time.
We went east towards Texas Hollow Road. In the past there were a few confusing spots on this hike, but it seems that someone did some blazing to get rid of any confusion.
As you get close to Texas Hollow Road. The trail becomes quite a challenging downhill. And because of the rain, that challenging part had slippery leaves, roots, rocks etc. It was tricky, but we survived, and from there we continued on the FLT into the normal Texas Hollow hike for about ten minutes and then turned around and headed back.
Because the steep downhill was such slow going, the steep uphill on the way back didn’t take us any longer than the downhill. Once we got to the top of the hill, it was a slight downhill on the way to our cars. We ended up ten minutes shy of two hours with only 3.72 miles and 738 feet of elevation gain. It was still a challenging hike for part of it.
Photos by Maria McMahon
Saturday, March 9
Shindagin Hollow Road east to South Road on the FLT, Brooktondale
Hike report by Mary W.
Nineteen hikers met at the southern end of Shindagin Hollow Road to hike the FLT to South Road. This location starts in the “hollow” proper and at the junction of Gulf Creek Road. An issue that was clear at the meet-up for this hike is that Google Maps, and GPS in general, is unreliable in this area. To explain, GPS is spotty, or absent in places due to lack of cell coverage. In addition, Google Maps routed several drivers to Gulf Creek Road. This may look like an efficient route to the meet up location, but Gulf Creek Road is a non-paved, largely unmaintained, seasonal access road that is very difficult for automobiles to travel. Talking with Nancy H briefly we highlighted two approaches to remediate the navigation trouble: A.) Hike leaders will write out directions to the hike meetup when in this particular area. B.) Hikers are advised to contact the hike leader prior to the meet up if they are unsure of the area and where to go. A hike leader’s email is listed in each hike announcement.
It was 39 degrees and cloudy at the meet up. Hikers traversed the FLT for about 4.3 miles and for two hours before returning to automobiles. The rain held off and the residual mud wasn’t too bad. As usual, the pine groves, the lean to, the stream and small gorge, the rock sculptures and the cedar grove were the highlights of the forest this morning.
It is with great sadness for the loss of a fellow hiker that this hike is dedicated to Linda Verling. She was a friend, farmer, mother, grandmother, wife . . . a strong and kind, long-time hiker who recently lost her life unexpectedly to a respiratory illness and related causes.
Seventeen hikers and one dog met at the junction of Lake Road and the Jim Schug Trail and hiked north to where the Finger Lakes Trail crosses Lake. The Havington Hill hike goes east on the Finger Lakes Trail from Lake Rd. It is reliably excellent and enjoyably varied with steep parts through the woods, expansive views across fields, and several stream crossings. This was a great day for anyone that liked water underfoot – lots of it. Although we got snowed on immediately before and after the hike, it was the water underfoot that was remarkable. Today the entrance field was a 3-5-inch-deep lake with grass all through it. One crossing of a deep stream took rearranging rocks to make it passable for everyone. There were many opportunities to hop across trail-eating streams or just slog through them. Overall, an excellent day – one for telling stories about (“You wouldn’t believe…”).
Nine hikers met near the corner of Marsh Road and Nelson Road for a nearly 6-mile hike down Deputron Hollow Road to Coddington Road. Two hikers arrived shortly after I took this photo, by which point the sky had opened up into a heavy, warm-for-February rain. It wasn’t good for more photos, but it was motivating for speed. We arrived at our turn-around spot at or within sight of Coddington in 50 minutes and took 55 minutes to return to the cars. Fortunately, the rain let up about half an hour into our hike. By the time we had climbed the almost 700-foot hill back to the cars, we were pretty dry.
Photo by Leigh Ann
Saturday, March 2
FLT east from Logan Rd. toward Burnt Hill Rd., Finger Lakes National Forest, Burdett
Hike report by Casey
Ten hikers who were not worried about a little rain started on Logan Road in Burdett and headed east on the FLT.
This part of the trail does a gradual climb for a full mile and then crosses Burnt Hill Road for the first time. It then continues, and without being obvious, it gradually makes a sweeping 180 degree turn to the right so that it eventually intersects Burnt Hill Road again only this time from the east, heading westerly.
We were at the one hour mark at this point. We could have turned around and gone back the way we came or turn north on Burnt Hill Road to head back to where the trail first intersected the road. Instead we chose to follow the FLT as it turns south onto Burnt Hill Road and goes downhill as it heads into Bennettsburg. After maybe ten minutes or so, just before the bottom of the hill, we turned around and climbed back up Burnt Hill Road and headed to the first intersection where we then got back onto the FLT heading west towards our cars with a gradual one mile downhill.
The end result was 5.14 miles, 1,010 feet of elevation gain, in 2 hours 5 minutes.
Photos by Leigh Ann
Sunday, March 3
Shindagin Hollow State Forest
Hike report by Leigh Ann
On the first non-rainy hike day in a week, 24 hikers and one dog met at the second parking area down Braley Hill Rd. for an out-and-back east on the FLT. This hike has two stream crossings within the first half mile. While these are easy to navigate on the way out, they are a Bermuda Triangle for hikers on the way back.
This is because as you’re heading west back to the cars, there a blue-marked trails that parallel the west sides of the streams that look much more like trails than the FLT does from that direction. So, the following helps: as you’re coming up to the first stream crossing, turn around. Look at your feet (where you’ll be looking right after the stream crossing heading west), then look just past your feet to see what the FLT looks like from there. You can repeat this at the second stream crossing. Unlike every other time we’ve done this hike recently, no one went the wrong way on the way back to the cars.
Fourteen hikers went past Shindagin Hollow Road on the FLT and continued up a steep hill that heads toward a lean-to, until the 1-hour mark, then returned in exactly an hour. This hike has a good amount of up and down on the out and back, and we got almost 1000 feet of elevation gain altogether.
Twenty-six hikers met on Burns Rd in the Town of Ithaca for a hike of parts of the South Hill Rec Way and associated side blue blazed hiking and un-blazed ski trails. This is hike # 2-3 on our list of hike locations:
The day was VERY sunny and very clear and no wind, which made for a great hike!
In the past most of our South Hill Rec Way hikes have started on Crescent Place in the City of Ithaca. The city maps of the Rec Way have always shown a blue blazed loop off the Rec Way near Burns Rd, and other maps of the trail system in the area display a number of ski trails that in my time with the group we’ve never explored (see the map at the bottom of the link above ) . Recently I joined a CTC hike on the Rec Way that included the previously unexplored ( for me) westerly blue blazed loop trail, and that hike spurred me to finally plan a hike in the area for the Ithaca Hikers.
The previous day I pre-hiked the area and came up with a route that was mostly side hiking and ski trails, with as little of the Rec Way footpath as I could get away with. The amount of snowpack in the area was both minimal and old enough that I could see where previous walkers and their dogs (who I assume are either locals or familiar with the un-blazed ski trails) have gone with some frequency. This assisted me in planning the route that Ithaca Hikers would take on this hike.
Starting from Burns Rd the group walked the Rec Way to a trail along one of the ravines near the blue blazed trail that clearly gets a LOT of use by dog walkers. This trail follows the edge of the ravine in a gentle arc and a slight downhill grade until it dead ends above the second dam watershed. We normally view the watershed from a couple of other locations, but this spot was a new one for us. After pausing above the watershed, we re-traced our steps back to the blue blazed trail and traveled that loop in a westerly direction back to the Rec Way, crossing one frozen stream and navigating a little bit of elevation gain along the way to complete our hike of the loop trail.
Arriving back at the Rec Way we walked westerly on that for a distance until arriving at one of the near-by ski trails. We jumped on that trail, which passed along the edge of another ravine and through some nice stands of woods until it connected with the blue blazed hiking trail. From there we re-traced our previous route back to where we had first left the Rec Way.
Once back on the South Hill Rec Way I found that we had walked a little faster than I had on my pre-hike the previous day, so we walked westerly on the Rec Way to burn a few minutes before turning around and returning to our cars.
Casey advised me that we had covered about 4.5 miles on this hike.
Photo by JimTrail from So Hill Recway to dam -6 -pond and damTrail from So Hill Recway to dam -4Photos by David RitchiePhoto by MeenuPhoto by Meenu
Saturday, February 24
Hoxie Gorge, Cortland County
Hike report by Jim
Seventeen hikers and one dog met at the end of Hoxie Gorge Rd in Cortland Couty for a an out-and -back hike of the FLT and McDermott Nature Trail in the area. This is hike # 60-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-60.
The day started out quite chilly; as I arrived at the parking area a steady stream of snowflakes were falling around me. Things warmed up during the morning as the sun came out and temperatures rose a few degrees.
Hikers set out from the parking area, walking a short distance down Hoxie Gorge Rd to get onto the blue-blazed access trail. This footpath used to be the actual FLT, but was relegated to access trail status at some time in the past. This trail follows the streambed of Hoxie Gorge Creek closely, the footpath winding its way through the forest with some minor elevation changes yet never straying far from the streambed. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years there appears to have been very little in the way of trail maintenance being done, and the cumulative examples of deferred maintenance are really starting to add up Which is a shame, as it is a nice section of trail.
Reaching the FLT the group paused for a photo before continuing on the FLT on a generally northerly loop that eventually led the group to the Hoxie Gorge Lean-To. The FLT in this section crosses a few streams, where a moderate amount of ice was still evident. Water levels were low and the crossings were easily accomplished.
The FLT footpath itself is in fairly good shape, with some semi-frozen mud, primarily around the stream crossings. Masses of roots at various points require that you pick your way up and down the hillsides carefully, and a few past blowdowns of various ages that are still blocking the footpath really need to be cleared from the route.
After arriving at the lean-to some hikers opted to press on for a few more minutes before returning to the lean-to to pick up the remaining hikers and begin the return leg of the hike.
Upon returning to the junction of the FLT and the access trails the group opted to return to the cars via the more direct yellow blazed McDermott Nature Trail which is co-located with the blue blazed access trail.
Welcome to Zoe and her canine hiking companion Mishka on their first hike with the group!
Photo by Jim
Photos by Norm Trigoboff
Sunday, February 25
Sweedler Preserve/Lick Brook
Hike report by Jim
Thirty-four hikers and three dogs met in the parking lot of Tappan Mitra Preserve, at the Route 13 and 34/96 split known as “Shady Corners”, for a hike of the Sweedler Preserve at Lick Brook and Thayer Preserve. . this is hike # 7-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-7.
The day was clear and sunny, and temperatures climbed during the hike so that by hikes end the frozen mud was becoming slippery underfoot.
Given the size of the group, we split into two distinct groups for todays hike: Casey C led the faster group as far as the junction of Yaple and Comfort Rd, while Jack V led a slower group that circled the Thayer Preserves Toms Trail before returning to Townline Rd and the Sweedler preserve trails.
Both groups left the parking lot, passing by the Lick Brook falls which was solidly encased in ice, before climbing the more direct blue blazed trail to Townline Rd. Crossing Townline Rd both groups entered the Thayer Preserve before completing their respective hikes as described above. The return trip back through the Sweedler Preserve to the cars was supposed to be via the white blazed FLT, but each group ultimately picked which trail they used to get to the flatlands around the falls area.
A warm welcome to todays new hikers to the group: Pryia, Mary, Jackie, Sharon, Franz and Franz’ canine hiking companion Max!
