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.
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.
Eighteen hikers and a single dog met on the unnamed solar farm road off of Stevenson Rd ( near Dodge Rd ) for a walk of the Dryden Rail Trail and Monkey Run area sections of the Cayuga Trail. This is hike # 49B on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-49.
Right away we ran into one issue, as since our last hike here someone has seen fit to sign one side of the solar farm access road (the side we normally park on) as no parking, while the other IS marked as rail trail parking but could be an issue for weekend hikes here for the group due to limited parking on that side. I’ve contacted Cornell Uni PD for some clarification on who has towing authority on that section of road. One side is the Game Farm, while I’m not sure if Cornell controls the solar farm side of the road. I’ll let hikers know what I find out.
On today’s hike temps were warm, which meant that the snow from recent days was actively melting and turning to slush. The Cayuga Trails sections we navigated were quite muddy and slippery, although safe enough if hiked with care. The Rail Trail sections were a mix of bare ground, standing water or slushy snow.
The group encountered three blow downs between the trailhead and Monkey Run Road, one serious enough that we had to enter private property along the trail to navigate the blowdown. The attached photo of Leigh Ann and the last blowdown was the smallest of the three.
Photo by Jim
Crossing over Monkey Run Road the group continued on the Cayuga Trail until we returned to the Dryden Rail Trail which we walked to Route 13. Due to conditions I scrapped my plan to make a loop on the Cayuga Trail and opted for a return to the cars via the Rail Trail.
On the return leg of the hike, I spoke to a heavy equipment operator who was busy tearing up an open field near the FH Fox bridge (the field where we were chased by a skunk last year) . He advised that the project entails the construction of yet another apartment complex. At least one of our hikers tried to put a positive spin on the construction by saying that residents there will have a hiking trail outside their back doors, but I do hate to see more open land near trails built on.
Warm welcome to Jean on her first hike with the group!
I believe we had 22 hikers and two dogs. A few of the hikers showed up just as the train was leaving the station, but they knew their way. This was an out and back hike with the optional blue loop on the way back. Just 4 of us made it all the way to Newtown Road and we were just seven minutes beyond the stated turnaround time of one hour in.
The trail was wet, sloppy, and muddy on the flatter early part of the hike. As we gained elevation, the trail became quite snow covered and extra slippery. None of us had spikes because it was 42 and muddy where we started.
In fact at higher elevation the trail was slippery enough that I had what I thought was a rather spectacular crash on the way down the hill. Fortunately I somehow escaped real injury aside from some bumps and bruises.
The front pack managed 5.32 miles with 879’ of elevation gain and we did take the optional blue route loop on the way back.
It was a fun hike with weather that improved as the hike went on.
Photo by Mark SussmanPhotos by James TwomeyPhotos by Leigh Ann
We did what I call the Van Lone Loops because we split into two different groups with one group of ten doing the complete loop at 6.04 miles and 938 feet of elevation gain. And the other group of 5 and one dog, led by Nancy L. doing a shorter version which included some special variations that might have made it about as long as the regular loop.
Either way the shorter version group got back just a little before us, and we got back at about 2 hours and 45 minutes. Both groups encountered quite a snow squall just as we crested the first set of serious hills. Otherwise the conditions were, muddy in some places, icy in others and sometimes both. I was happy that I wore the spikes that I should have worn the day before. Given the amount of rain we have had recently, all of the stream and creek crossings were a bit of a challenge. I believe Leigh Ann won the competition for most falls including a good one before the hike even started.
Given the challenges it still looked like a lot of smiles on hikers’ faces.
21 hikers and one dog met at the Codington Road parking lot at the Eberhard Preserve.
This hike in this direction starts out going up a serious hill in the very beginning. This hill is step enough that it actually seemed steeper and tougher on the way back down. Only special hills carry that distinction.
My plan was to go one hour,ten minutes and turn around but at one hour five minutes the muddy section suggested we had gone far enough. So we turned around and I got back to the cars five minutes early as the others were smart enough to exercise a little more caution on their way back down the steep hill.
We managed 4.28 miles with 905 feet of elevation gain.
We started with maybe 25 hikers or so. I think there was also one dog.
This seems like a relatively flat hike but as you cross a series of ravines you end up with about 500 feet of elevation gain. This hike is often quite muddy, yet today it was cold enough to stiffen up that mud and I was glad I had my spikes on. I even had a chance to appreciate them on a small section of good clean solid ice.
Being a simple out and back hike we all had the chance to go at our own pace and turn around one hour in. The lead pack went past the quarry and turned around at Bruce Hill Road for a total distance of 5.51 miles in 2 hours.
The day was extremely foggy (very atmospheric) and damp but still cool and enjoyable hiking weather. The group set off on Irish Hill Rd from the North Gate, which is generally a slight uphill grade and a good way to warm up. Reaching the intersection with Banfield Rd we turned onto that road, which soon became a slight roller coaster of up and downhill sections.
The fog persisted throughout the hike, so a view or two along this section I recall from previous hikes here were denied to the group today.
Reaching Station Rd the group turned onto that road, walking a short ways to some nearby ponds which we walked around and photographed until it was time to return to our cars.
As the group drew closer to our vehicles a slight drizzle of rain started, a good timing for a hike to end if I had ever seen one!
Photos by Jim
Saturday, December 30
Connecticut Hill Saddle and Pond Loop
Hike report by Dave Bock
What a gang! 36 hikers and 2 dogs showed up on Connecticut Hill for Hank’s memorial hike.
A layer of snow and some early fog highlighted the beauty of the forest. Recent rains meant the trails were wet (even muddy in spots). Nonetheless, the group was game as we trekked about 4.5 miles through varied woods, with a quick side trip to large pond. In the hardwoods, the ground sported a veneer of snow. In the denser hemlocks, the trees were frosted with white. Our route took us along parts of 10 trails, mostly unmarked though made more obvious than usual, appearing as a stripe of leaves bisecting the snow.
With no serious climbing necessary, we were able to move along smoothly, stopping only briefly from time to time to make sure all were accounted for. We emerged in just over 2 hours, and without any losses. Whew!!
Photo by Dave
Sunday, December 31
Owl Creek Trail Buttermilk Falls State Park
Hike report by Casey
Well, this is the last hike I am going to do with this darn group……..This year.
The scheduled hike was supposed to be on the Owl Trail in Buttermilk Falls State Park. The hike leader was under the weather and I was asked to fill in. But I didn’t really give a hoot about doing the Owl Trail, so I decided we would tackle the Rim Trail from Lower Buttermilk to Upper buttermilk and beyond.
We started with 27 hikers and two dogs with the instruction that this would be an out and back hike giving everyone the opportunity to go at their own pace, and turn around after one hour ten minutes from wherever you are at that point.
We took the Rim trail to Upper Buttermilk, where we picked up the Bear Trail and took that to the Treman Lake Trail which got nine of us all the way to the far end of the lake at exactly the right time to turn around and head back. I arrived back at the cars at the two hour mark having hiked 4.67 miles. Which by the way puts me at 578.71 miles for this year. More that 500 of those miles were with the Ithaca Hikers.
Fifteen hikers and a single dog met in the Town of Danby for a hike of the Kingsbury Woods Preserve. This has been hike #46 on our list of hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-46 .
Although after today I will be moving this hike to our short hikes list ( edit: change made. Hike 46 is now a breakdown of Dave Bs CT hill Hikes. Look for the KIngsbury Woods Preserve hike under the compiled “shorter hikes ” list of Hike #67) due to the trail system here being too short to be able to hike a full two hours. On our past hikes in this preserve we were still a little early by the end of our hikes, but today’s hike was VERY abbreviated for time.
The group did two complete circuits of the single trail loop in the preserve. The trail initially follows the upper end of Lick Brook before turning into the woods where it crosses the stream a couple of times and follows the property line along some open fields before returning on itself. Since our last time here there have been some efforts to re-route the trail away from some muddy sections and to place some large rocks along the footpath in other muddy sections. After returning to the road we crossed to the preserve property on the other side of the road and walked the ridgeline before bushwhacking along some open fields on that side of the road.
Warm welcome to Jesse on his first hike with the group!
Photo by Leigh Ann
Saturday, December 23
Cayuga Nature Center
Hike report by Jim
Twenty-five hikers and no dogs (today’s location allows no companion animal hikers) arrived at the Houghton Rd parking lot for a hike of the Cayuga Nature Center trail system.
This is hike # 45 on our list of regular hike locations :
The group set off across the open fields towards the Nature Center buildings, arriving first at the animal enclosures. One of those looked to be a fairly new replacement structure, and almost all of the cages were occupied.
The day was overcast throughout the hike; I didn’t see the sun come out at all. There was a short moment where we had a few rain drops fall on us but there was no actual rain.
The group hiked around to the front of the building and completed a couple of the trail loops found on Nature Center property. Other than some muddy footpath sections of the Wilderness Loop and some of the on-going blazing issues we’ve found here before, there were no issues.
On our way back to the cars the group stopped at the treehouse and a few hikers took a minute to explore the layout of that building.
As we still had a few minutes to use up the group hiked out and back on the Black Diamond Trail to use up our remaining hike time.
Twenty-one hikers and two dogs met on Forest Home Drive at Flat Rock for a loop hike of various Cayuga Trail options in the area. This is hike 4-A on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-04.
The day was generally overcast and cooler, although the weather remained very tolerable hiking conditions throughout our hike.
The hikers set off across Stevens suspension bridge and turned westerly, hiking along the northerly bank of Fall Creek before turning to scale the hills leading up to the greens of the Robert Trent Jones golf course. Once on the greens the group followed the res stakes around the course perimeter until we reached the horse barns in the vicinity of Bluegrass Lane. Our normal route through the barns is still closed off due to on-going construction, so we doubled back to the golf course and took another trail that follows a perimeter fence along the horse fields until we reached another section of the Cayuga Trail system. Here we followed the orange blazed trails along the high bluffs before turning and making our way down to the trails that run along the banks of Fall Creek.
Returning to the suspension bridge we paused briefly while some hikers in the group opted to leave early, with the remaining people following the creek-level blue blazed trail along the southerly bank of Fall Creek. The blue blazed trails circle back to Forest Home Drive, which we crossed over and completed a loop back to our cars using some of the trails located just outside of the Arboretum. Hoping that all Ithaca Hikers have a good Holiday week and see you all on a hike soon!
I would also like to take a moment and note the passing this week of long-time Ithaca Hiker Henry “ Hank” Spencer.
