Author: Benben

Wednesday, December 25

Stevens Suspension Bridge – Cornell natural areas

Hike report by Jim

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all Ithaca Hikers!

Four hikers met on a snowy Christmas Day morning at Flat Rock in the Forest Home neighborhood, for a “loop-ish” hike of parts of the Cayuga Trail and Cornell Natural Land trails. This is hike # 4A on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-04.

After crossing the Stevens suspension bridge the group turned westerly, following the Cayuga Trail along the northerly shore of Fall Creek until we reached the golf course. Looping around the edge of the golf course we returned to the trail system, following the fenceline of the horse pastures with the woods on one side of us and the sloping hills above Fall Creek on the other side of us. With the leaves off the trees and the fresh layer of snow on the ground it was a beautiful morning. Most of this section of the hike we had been preceded by only a few skiers and walkers, so the trail was not terribly beaten down or slippery.

Eventually we reached the orange blazed trail, descending from the high bluffs to creek level. We followed that trail back to the suspension bridge.

Once across the bridge we turned left onto the blue and red blazed trails which now followed the southerly shore of Fall Creek. The group hiked those trails until we came to Forest Home Drive, which we crossed and entered Park Park. Once in Park Park we hiked the yellow blazed trail to the overlook area above Varna.

The hikers left Park Park and returned to our cars via the red and blue blazed trails.

Welcome to Dani on her first hike with the Ithaca Hikers!

Saturday, December 28

Cayuga Trail from Freese Rd., Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-eight hikers and two dogs met in the community gardens parking lot on Freese Rd in the Town of Dryden, for an out-and-back hike of part of the Cayuga Trail. This is hike # 5-3 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-5

There was a slight chilly breeze, and the sun was making short appearances as hikers arrived at the trailhead. The footpath was covered by a slushy layer of snow over much of our route this morning. Stream crossings had a layer of ice, and the ascents and descents that had the rope assists available were most welcome.

The group made it almost to the Cornell outdoor pavilion before turning around and re-tracing our route back to the cars.

Sunday, December 29

Potato Hill State Forest, Caroline

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers and two dogs met on Level Green Rd in the Town of Caroline, for an out and back hike of the FLT through Potato Hill State Forest towards and beyond Blackman Hill Rd. This is hike# 29-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-29. This section of the FLT is on map sheet M18, which is available for purchase in paper or electronic formats at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Purchase of the map sheets helps to defray on-going costs associated with trail maintenance.

The weather forecast called for rain today, but thankfully the rain came early before arriving at the trailhead and never reappeared during the hike. The entirety of the hike was done in dense fog that gave a very spooky and atmospheric feeling to the hike.
Snow depth on the trail was at best a couple of very slushy inches. The various mudholes along the route were filled with several inches of ice-covered water, and the mud was, well, it was mud. Self-explanatory on that issue.

The outgoing leg of the hike was uneventful. I ended up dealing with some hike leading issues on the phone during the hike, leaving the group to fend for themselves for the remainder of the outbound leg of the hike as I tried to catch up with them from behind.

Reaching and crossing Blackman Hill Rd, the FLT enters the Summerland Farm Preserve. The preserve is notable during good weather for the excellent views from its open fields. Today, there were no views, other than the all-enveloping fog. By the time I reached the stone wall and bench in the main field, the rest of the group had reached their turn-around point and met me at the bench.

The return leg of the hike was uneventful. It was mostly downhill, although the outbound leg could hardly be called ” uphill” except in the most moderate of ways. We got back to the cars a few minutes earlier than planned, but overall it was an excellent hike.

Wednesday, December 18

Upper Buttermilk State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-seven hikers and five dogs met in the parking lot of upper Buttermilk Falls State Park https://parks.ny.gov/parks/buttermilkfalls/details.aspx in the Town of Ithaca for an out-and-back hike led by Leigh Ann. This is hike # 10-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-10.

The day was cool and overcast as hikers pulled into the parking lot. The number of hikers mostly filled the available spaces; I can only assume that the hikes’ central location and this morning’s weather being the last nice weather before the predicted snowfall tonight were motivators for joining the hike.

After the group photo we crossed the wooden pedestrian bridge near the parking lot and set off up the Bear Trail. Trail conditions were generally good, and it didn’t take long before the group was spread out over a good distance. Before too long we were at the open fields near the vehicle ford. Continuing on towards Lake Treman, the group stopped often to take photos of the small waterfalls and the lake itself.

Once on the Treman loop trail the hikers walked to the FLT spur trail, which we took to Yaple Rd, and from there walked to Comfort Rd and crossed the bridge to re-enter park land from the Comfort Rd access trail.

The hikers walked as far as the closed wooden staircase before turning around and re-tracing our route. Most hikers chose to return to the parking area via the Bear Trail; a small group chose instead to road walk from the fording area back to the parking lot.

Everyone arrived back at the parking lot at about the same time, Leigh Ann having taken the main group to West King Rd and walked them across the main bridge there before returning to our vehicles.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, December 21

Ithaca Lakefront Hike

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers and a dog met in Stewart Park for a wintery hike to and from Steamboat Landing on our semi-traditional farmer market hike on the last day of Market operations for the year. This is hike#53-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-53.

The lake was dark and sullen, the wind coming off the lake seemed nearly brutal in its intensity. Snow drifted across the park roads before plows came through clearing the lanes as hikers arrived.

I didn’t want to stand around waiting any longer than necessary due to the wind, so we took off walking very promptly on time. We circled the old swan pond, then crossed the first suspension bridge and entered the Renwick Wildwood Paths. Here away from the winds off the lake we found the tree limbs thick with a coating of snow, some branches leaning heavily into the path and creating a canopy at most hiker’s head height that we had to pass under. The snow under foot was only a few inches deep but almost like walking in sand.

We paused by the old archway for our group photo, then continued the blue blazed loop as it followed the shore of Fall Creek. The geese were particularly vocal today as they gathered on the open patches of water; a good amount of the calm sections of the creek had a skim of ice on the surface this morning as we crossed the second suspension bridge towards the golf course.

Because of the wind I chose to not visit lighthouse point nor circle the golf course as we normally would do on this hike. Instead, we walked more or less directly to Steamboat Landing, where we found the farmers marker already well attended and the infamous rutabaga curling contest underway.

After arriving at the farmers market, it was pretty much every hiker for themselves; some opted to turn around immediately and continue hiking. Several of us loitered about the farmers market for a little while. My personal tradition there on this hike is a cup of warm cider and an apple donut. That task fulfilled, I located the last of our group still at the market. They indicated that they would be staying a while longer, and so I set off on my return trip to Stewart Park.

The wind and snow had picked up by now; while it wasn’t white out conditions, the intensity of the snowfall was more than it had been on the outbound portion of the hike.

I arrived back at my car as the last of the group caught up with me.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 22

Owl Creek Trail, lower Buttermilk Falls State Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Mark Sussman

Seven hardy hikers showed up on this cold Sunday morning for a hike up the Owl Creek trail at Buttermilk State Park. We hiked up the hill, stopping to enjoy the view from the overlook until we got to the cemetery. The group was shown the plaque commemorating an early settler who made their way to Ithaca by canoe and then overland through the wilderness. We walked down the hill and detoured through the Buttermilk cabins. The group then explored the rail trail that passes by Buttermilk.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 11

South Rd. & Hurd Hill Rd., Caroline

Hike report by Jim

Six brave souls defied the elements to meet at the junction of South Rd and Hurd Hill Rd for a very wet out-and-back hike of the seasonal Hurd Hill Rd and Prospect Valley Rd.

The rain was not much more than a drizzle at the outset but gradually increased through the hike into a steady downpour for the latter half of the hike. Definitely a bone chilling morning for me despite the layers and rain gear, and I’m posting this more than an hour after the hike and ready to fire up my wood stove to beat back the chill!

This is one of those occasional hike locations I save for winter and hunting season. Typically, it takes us around 40 minutes to reach the bottom of Hurd Hill Rd. From the next road junction we walk Prospect Valley Rd, sometimes as far as the Shindagin FLT bridge which was repaired and moved slightly downstream this summer by a dedicated bunch of Cayuga Trails Club volunteers after summer floods pushed the bridge off its foundation. If we make it that far, we’ll sometimes hike to the Shindagin lean-to, which is my favorite lean-to in the county. Today that was not meant to be. The group hiked until the turn-around time and then simply re-traced our route back to Hurd Hill Rd and our cars.

One item of interest: the house on Prospect Valley Rd where the dogs always loudly greet our hikers seems to have acquired a couple of emus, who watched us rather stoically until the dogs charged to their property line upon our approach, at which time the emus raced around their enclosure. As with the bison along the Black Diamond Trail, the llamas in Caroline, etc, its always a little interesting to see the unusual animals we encounter on some of these hikes!

Saturday, December 14

Hill Road and Curtis Road, South Danby

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-three hikers and five dogs gathered at the corner of Curtis Road and Hill Road for a sparkling, hill-top, road hike. This was a clear day in which the temperature felt a little warmer than the actual air temperature – good thing, because the air temperature was in the teens at the start. Everything was covered with frost, which was almost entirely gone by 11:30. Our route took us east on Hill toward where the road turns seasonal, then then back to Curtis Road. Most of the group then turned north on Curtis and turned around at the big willow tree that used to be next to a barn, while some of the group headed south on Curtis. Everyone returned to the cars by 11:30. The maximum distance was about 5.5 miles with about 800 feet of elevation gain, but hikers could do as much or as little of this as they wanted.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 15

Black Diamond Trail northbound from Kraft Road

Hike report by Jim

Nineteen hikers and three dogs met on Kraft Rd for a southerly out-and-back hike of the Black Diamond Trail. This is hike # 58-1 of our regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-58.

The day was overcast and cold and never seemed to warm up or otherwise improve over the course of the hike.

The hikers quickly split up into several sub-groups based on speed, but everyone was back at the cars at the appropriate time.

Wednesday, December 4

South Hill Rec Way/Six Mile Creek, south side, rim trail

Hike report by Jim

Fifteen hikers and a single dog met on Crescent Place in the city of Ithaca for a hike of the South Hill Rec Way and associated trails in the area. This is hike #2-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-2.

Starting on the Rec Way, we soon made a turn onto the blue-blazed rim trail. I had expected that there would be more ice and snow than there was, so the foot traction I wore was unneeded. There was a decent amount of water flowing in some, not all. of the stream crossings.

The day was generally overcast, and at the higher points along our route today we encountered some brisk winds.

I stayed away from some of the lower trails in the rim trail system, as they have some steep descents that I don’t like to attempt in winter months. Still, I had us stop at the stone stairs briefly, along with a stop at the second dam overlook area.

By the time we got back to the Rec Way we were ahead of schedule by a few minutes, so the hikers did a short extra out-and -back hike towards Burns Rd to burn up the minutes.

The second half of the hike consisted of a hike back to Crescent place via the Rec Trail, which was uneventful.

Saturday, December 7

Jim Schug Trail from Lake Road, Dryden

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Eighteen hikers gathered at the meet-up spot on Lake Road, after managing the snowy and slippery roads to get there. We carefully double parked to get us all off the road in case a snow plough came by. The hike was lovely. This section of trail is a good one to stretch out and get some mileage, walk side-by-side for a social hike, and be able to see where everyone is at almost any time. Blue sky broke through just a bit once we were into the hike, and everyone made it back to the cars within two hours.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 8

Alex & Michele Gonzalez Hiking Sanctuary & Preserve, Virgil

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-two hikers and three dogs met in Cortland County on a wintery but seasonally warm morning for a mostly out-and-back hike of the Alex and Michelle Gonzalez Hiking Sanctuary and Preserve. This is hike # 36 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-36.

Today’s hike route included trails that are depicted on multiple trail map sheets in different levels of detail that are available from the FLTC, specifically the English Loop Trail, The Swedish Loop Trail, or map sheet M19 (M19 is primarily good for a general overview of all area trails, while the other two show the local trails in more detail). All of these map sheets are available for purchase in either paper or electronic formats from the FLTC at:  https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Sale of the map sheets helps to defray costs associated with trail maintenance. On a personal note, I would not advise first time hikers to the Preserve to attempt this trail system without having some form of paper or electronic maps available, as the various blazed trails do tend to weave in and out from each other on a regular basis.

Because of the recent snow we’ve had and my memories of the first time I pre-hiked the sanctuary in deep snow with Casey C a few winters ago, I was a little leery about taking todays group on the normal looping route we do here, which involves following Cristina Creek early in the hike before jumping onto some other trails as we climb the hill. Today, instead, we initially took the Spanish Loop orange blazed trail to the five-point junction and then got onto the Irvin Trail at the trail register box, which is on a flatter section of the trail system.

Leigh Ann led the group up over the crest of the hill on a combination of sections of the Irvin, Spanish Loop and English Loop trails, until the hikers tapped on Adams Rd before turning around a few minutes earlier than we normally would time-wise. Beyond that point in the Spanish Loop is a rather boring section of road walking, so we tend to always turn around at the road.

On the return leg of the trip, we opted to skip the red-blazed section of trail that has ropes in place to assist hikers in navigating the steep descent there before the trail crosses the utility pole right-of-way back to the five point junction. Instead, we opted to take the blue blazed Irvin Trail in a downhill direction to and beyond Cristina Creek. This section of trail switchbacks across the hill, and at the upper elevations there are some nice views down the ravine into Cristina Creek. Eventually we reached the creek and found that the snow depth there wasn’t anything close to what I had feared it might be. The hikers got back to the cars a few minutes earlier than I expected, so in the future I might want to add an extra loop or two of the trail system into our route to use up that extra time. It can sometimes be difficult to judge differences in pace between the summer and winter hikes due to trail conditions. Given our experiences on today’s hike, I might use this choice of routes through the trail system in the future when we hike here!

Welcome to Beth, Margaret S and John on their first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, November 27

Lansing Center Trail

Hike report by Jim

Eleven hikers met in the Town of Lansing for a first-time group hike of the Lansing Center Trail. This is now hike #67-15 on our list of hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-67-bonus-hikes.

Other than one pre- hike I did of this location a couple of weeks ago, I’d never personally hiked the Lansing Center Trails. Any time we go to a new location, it’s always a little bit of an experiment. Everyone in the group hikes at a little different pace, especially a location such as this one that has more of a suburban park feel to it rather than the traditional single-track hiking trails we’re normally on

Most of the trails here consist of mowed grassy loops around former fields that follow the hedgerows and low brush that divide one fields from the one next to it.

The day was cool but sunny as everyone gathered in the small parking lot; our small group of 11 hikers filled the lot entirely; I can’t imagine the parking nightmare we’d have if a larger weekend group hiked here.

We set off, initially jumping on the short line spur trail, which follows a short section of former rail bed. This is the only section that passes for a woods walk in this trail system, and we had hiked the entirety of it in about ten minutes before moving on to the first of many field loops.

We spent the first hour moving from one loop to another within the trail system, always hiking the outer perimeter portions of each trail before taking the connector trails that link one loop to the surrounding loop pathways, always hiking in roughly a counterclockwise direction within each loop and within the trail system in general.

At about the hour mark we walked over Louise Bement Lane and arrived back at our cars. A couple of hikers chose to leave early, but the majority of the group agreed to do a second loop within the trail system, so we hiked some of the portions of the various loops that cut across the middle of the trail system, until we reached the Munson Loop at the more westerly end of the fields. In order to avoid the housing development at Louise Bement Lane, we opted to jump on the Munson Loop and re-hiked the earlier trail loops, only in a clockwise direction now.

By the time we arrived back at the parking lot and our cars, we were about ten minutes earlier than we normally are on our hikes; not too bad for a first-time group hike.

The overall feedback I got from the group during and after the hike is that it’s a fairly easy location to hike. The terrain is not difficult, the wide grassy trails are easy to walk and talk while hiking, the views across Lansing towards the lake are wonderful, especially on a sunny day like today with clear skies. The skiers in the group mentioned that they would like to come back here when there’s enough snow so that they can ski the trail loops here. I think that personally I would reserve this location in the future for hunting season hikes and only on Wednesdays, due to the parking limitations I mentioned earlier.

Thanks to everyone in the group today who were tolerant of my desire to try out a new place!

There were several dog walkers who were leaving as I arrived earlier in the morning. During the hike we encountered a couple of runners and a dog walker; other than that, we had the place to ourselves. I might attribute that to a lot of people travelling on the day before the long holiday weekend, but the day I pre-hiked here I was literally the only person on the trail that day.

The Lansing Center Trail is maintained mostly by volunteers, with some help from the Township. They clearly are putting a lot of effort into maintaining the trail system, and since the Trails first opened in 2011, they’ve continued to expand the number of loop trails and improve infrastructure such as benches, drainage and footbridges. The location in south Lansing is convenient for many people, so I would encourage those who weren’t able to join us today to make a trip to this location at your convenience and look it over!

Saturday, November 30

Ekroos Rd. Ekroos Road & Honeypot Road

Hike report by Jim

Eight hikers and one dog met on Ekroos Rd in Tioga County, for a wintery out-and back road walk of that dirt road. This is hike # 54-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-54.

Ekroos Rd still had a significant amount of snowpack on the land surrounding the parking area when I arrived. There are only a couple of homes on the road, so it does get plowed in the winter. The lane of travel had a thin layer of ice cover, so most of the group opted to wear some form of foot traction during the hike.

The morning was grey and overcast as the hikers set out. The road is mostly a gentle downward grade on the outbound leg of the hike. The road passes through a mixture of state and private land and based on a few shots we heard early in the hike, the hunters were out today.

About halfway through the outbound leg of the hike it began to snow. We came upon a break in the trees that normally offers a good view of distant hills across the old fields; today with the low clouds, hazy hills in the distance and the heavy snow, it gave me the sensation of being inside a snow globe for a while. The snow didn’t last for very long, and within twenty minutes or so we were back to the grey monochrome conditions we had at the beginning of the hike.

Normally on this hike the faster hikers in the group make it to 76 Road inside Tompkins County. The last section of Ekroos Road changes to ” Wheeling Rd” once it crosses into Tompkins County, much of which is seasonal and unmaintained during the winter. The seasonal road is a sharp downhill descent for the last quarter mile, and today the hikers opted to turn around earlier than normal due to road conditions and begin the return trek back to our cars.

The second half of the hike was notable only because we were now hiking into a chilling wind. The return part of the hike was otherwise uneventful.

Sunday, December 1

Mundy Wildflower Gardens (Forest Home) to Beebe Lake Loop

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-three hikers and four dogs met in the parking lot of Mundy Wildflower Gardens in the Town of Ithaca, for a hike of the area. This was a modified version of hike 4B on our list of regular hike locations:  https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-04.

The morning was cool and overcast. Trail surfaces were clear of snow, although we did encounter some icy surfaces along the way. There were many other trail users throughout our route; not unexpected, given the public nature of today’s hike.

The hikers set off from the parking area and did a quick loop through the now-dormant wildflower gardens, stopping briefly for a group photo. Crossing Judd Falls Rd we entered the grounds of the Nevin Welcome Center. Looping through the Welcome Center grounds on Comstock Knoll Drive, the hikers reached and crossed Forest Home Drive, where we crossed Sackett Bridge . We found the trail to Hemlock Gorge closed. I always enjoyed that short segment of this hike in the past and was disappointed to find it closed today. The hikers were able to view the lower portion of that gorge from another vantage point along our route today, but its still not the same as being closer to the falls. We continued around Beebe Lake, crossing the Triphammer footbridge at the Tang Welcome Center. Completing the lap around the southerly end of Beebe Lake we returned to Forest Home Drive and crossed over the southerly one lane bridge into the hamlet of Forest Home.

Walking through the hamlet, we exited via the northerly bridge, arriving at the junction of Caldwell Road and Forest Home Drive (the parking area for Mundy Wildflower Gardens). We lost a few members of the group here who opted to leave early. The remainder of the group continued onto the grounds of the F.R Newman Arboretum. Once in the arboretum we took a series of blazed and signed woodland hiking trails (the Johnston, Woodland, Allen and Morgan-Smith Trails) until we reached a scenic overlook within Park Park that gave the group a good view of Varna and Fall Creek below us.

Leigh Ann led the group back to our cars. The hikers arrived back at the parking area a few minutes later than expected, but everyone seemed to be happy with the hike overall.