Author: Nancy H.

Wednesday January 18

FLT west from Logan Rd., Finger Lakes National Forest

Hike report by Jim

Ten hikers and a single dog set off from Logan Road for a hike of the Finger Lakes Trail to Satterly Hill Road and beyond. It was a cool January day with minimal snow and ice cover. For most of the early part of the  hike, we made our way across the open fields before returning to the woods, dodging a few pools of standing water around the field and occasional blowdowns on the trail.

We crossed the rebuilt hikers bridge and soon arrived at the first real elevation changes. A few semi-frozen muddy spots on the hillside slowed us down a bit, but Jack V nimbly led the group  up the hill without any major difficulties.

We left the FLT to take one of the many horse trails that criss-cross the hillside, and we came out at a point on Satterly Hill Road that offered hikers a better panorama than the view where the official FLT footpath crosses the road.

We returned to the FLT footpath, crossed Satterly Hill Road, and began a short downhill hike toward Watkins Glen in order to burn up a few minutes before turning around. It was on this section of trail that we encountered a surprise. Stopping to make an entry at the trail register, I opened the box to find it filled with around 20 mice, one of which came out of the box and launched himself at me for intruding on their personal space. The mouse hung onto the front of my jacket for a moment, fixing me with an angry glare, before jumping away and running into the field. I opted to grant the other little creatures their privacy and didn’t sign the register that day.

At the turn-around time, we reversed our course and took the FLT back down the hill. Along the section of trail we’d missed by taking the horse trail, we encountered the only frozen section of trail: a large pool of standing water on the footpath that had frozen through.

Hikers took the return leg of the hike at their own pace, arriving back at our cars in staggered subgroups.

View Nancy L‘s photo album.

Saturday January 21

Kennedy State Forest, Virgil

Hike report by Jim

It was a  cold, clear, wintry morning as 17 hikers and four dogs met in Cortland County for a lollipop hike of the Kennedy State Forest trails. As we set off, a thin layer of fresh white snow covered everything around us. This trail has minimal ups and downs as it follows Rowland Creek, but we still needed to focus on the path rather than the views of the forest around us, due to the uncertain footing caused by the many roots that lay just under the snow.

The FLT winds through stands of hemlocks, and the damage from the logging just a couple of seasons ago was hidden from view by both the returning forest growth and the fresh snow cover.

At the junction with the Swedish Loop, we moved away from the stream. Its noise receded as we made our way through the forest following the blue blazes.

We had several newer hikers with us, so I took a quick detour down one dead-end, yellow-blazed trail to an observation area overlooking the stream. Then we returned to the Swedish Loop and continued our hike.

At the second yellow-blazed junction, we took that shortcut back to the FLT for the return trip to our cars.

Along the way, we encountered a minimal amount of mud and only a couple of other day hikers. Some stream crossings were a bit challenging due to the volume of flowing water.

As usual, we ended this hike about 15 minutes early, as I had chosen to not extend our time on the Swedish Loop. Some hikers opted for a short, extra out-and-back hike of the FLT to use up the time, but most of us were happy despite the shorter hike.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Cian’s photo album.

Sunday January 22

Roy H Park Preserve to Hammond Hill State Forest, Dryden

Hike report by Nancy L.

Twenty hikers and one dog met at the parking lot for the northern portion of the Roy H. Park Nature Preserve on a chilly morning. Jack V led this hike. The initial walk on the boardwalk across the marsh was picturesque as usual. As we entered the woods, an inch of fresh snow on the ground gave the scenery a quiet beauty. 

The trail climbed gradually to Hammond Hill Road over about a mile. When the vanguard reached Hammond Hill Road, they waited so hikers could regroup, and then we turned south on the road.  We avoided the trails in the Hammond Hill state forest east of Hammond Hill Road so as to leave the snow in prime condition for the cross-country skiers who frequent this area.  (Post-holing, which results from attempting to walk in deep snow, spoils the surface for skiing. The snow was not deep, but we still followed these guidelines.)

About a half-mile south, we walked a short way on a trail but turned around when we concluded we were again on a cross-country skiing trail. We proceeded farther south on the abandoned portion of Hammond Hill Road, going about a mile in that direction. 

At the one-hour point, we turned around and retraced our steps.  It was fun to see several Icelandic horses on Hammond Hill Road getting ready to hike as well!

Welcome to Hillary and Barb on their first hike with us!

Wednesday January 11

YMCA Outdoor Education Center trails through Ecovillage and beyond

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers met for a hike of the YMCA and Ecovillage trails on the west side of the Town of Ithaca, off State Route 79. It was a cool day with temps that made the hike an enjoyable experience.

I hadn’t had a chance to prehike this route and we hadn’t been on these trails in 10 months, so I was unsure what shape we’d find the trails in. On our last hike here, we had to zig-zag through the various trails in the YMCA system to avoid the worst of the muddy sections. On this day, the trail system was bone dry, with only a hint of mud in a couple of places.

We quickly passed through the YMCA trails and soon found ourselves on the Ecovillage trails. These unsigned trails are always a bit of a challenge, but I had a cheat sheet of directions from our last hike here. Soon we were passing through the woods into the open fields below the Ecovillage residences. We walked along the woods’ edge and followed the Coy Glen grassy pathways to Elm Street before turning around and finding our route through the Ecovillage road system back to the trails and from there back onto YMCA property.

We arrived at our cars with a few minutes to spare, but no one was complaining.

A warm welcome to Sara, Tasha, and Dennis on their first hike with the group!

Saturday January 14

Blue-blazed trail starting at Boylan and Hulford roads, Connecticut Hill

Hike report by Nancy L.

Nine intrepid hikers and a dog gathered at the corner of Hulford Hill and Boylan roads on a cold, somewhat snowy morning. Luckily, the snow plow had cleared the road to that spot, making the approach relatively easy. 

I believe we all had our traction devices on, which was particularly good during the preliminary short road walk up Boylan Road to the trail that cut into the woods on the left. A short way in after passing a small field, the blue-marked trees begin, making the trail relatively easy to follow.  The trail heads south, following a branch of Carter Creek, although it is quite a way up the hill from the creek itself. 

The forest is mostly red pine and quite pleasant. The snow on the trail, though recent, was relatively thin, making the walking quite easy.  Marcy, the young dog, was a great leader, finding the trail before the rest of us. 

After about two miles, the trail heads closer to the creek, eventually intersecting with an old roadbed that leads down to the water. At that spot, there are several lovely cascades. We stopped there to catch a group photo in front of the falls. 

At this point, a smaller but steeply descending creek comes in from the opposite, western side of the creek. A steep trail follows this creek, which allows hikers to quickly ascend to the upper reaches of the hillside and Cabin Road. 

Getting across the larger creek was a challenge. (I felt the cold water seeping into my boots when I accidentally dipped my toe in). Initially, the hillside is very steep. Casey led most of the group up to a level spot, while I took the more treacherous route along the opposite side of the main creek to a rope tied there for scrambling up the steep hill. Everyone else watched, having arrived before me. 

Then we had the task of climbing the relatively steep trail to Cabin Road, short but not sweet. It was only a short way up Cabin Road to another trail that takes off going north. A series of old road beds provided a trail along the west side (but out of view) of the main creek, heading north. 

Eventually we reached a trail heading back downhill to the creek and across it.  From there, it was a short distance to return to the blue-blazed trail.  Thanks to the many footprints, we quickly made our way back along the blue-marked trail to our cars.

Sunday January 15

Shindagin Hollow Bike and Snowmobile Trails

Hike report by Jim

I knew while I was en route to the trailhead that this would be a special hike. As I drove down Irish Settlement Road, I could see the trees along the far ridgeline, a ghostly white army that stretched into the distance.

I got to the trailhead and checked out conditions a short way along the trail. Soon, hikers were arriving in clusters. By the time the last arrivals had jockeyed into their parking spaces, both parking lots were full.

After I gave a quick explanation of our route at the large kiosk map, we set off. We had 23 hikers and two dogs (a 24th hiker arrived later and did her own hike). Entering the woods was a unique experience; the trunks and branches of trees were dabbed with new snow. We pressed forward over flagstones also coated with new snow.

The first 1/10 mile or so was really enjoyable, and the snowy conditions seemed to impress the whole group. About six people said this was their first experience of hiking the Shindagin bike trails. For the rest of us, it’s been at least a year – probably longer – since we hiked here. I don’t think I’ve led a hike here since I took over the group.

Hiking through the rows of tall, snow-covered evergreens was like walking through a cathedral, the church columns surrounding us and proceeding in rows into the distance.

We reached the first intersection and turned into a scene that was even more wintry than the one behind us. This hike wasn’t getting old in the slightest!

We continued along a gentle downhill trek, following the infrequent blue discs that marked our route, our feet crunching through the thin, crusty layer of ice under the snow.

After taking another turn, we pressed forward until we passed the FLT and finally turned onto a snowmobile trail that offered a steady downhill grade, a minor water crossing, and then an uphill slog back to Braley Hill Road.

After pausing briefly on the road, we turned onto the FLT and began a gradual climb before crossing another snowmobile trail and reaching the first of several red-blazed bike trails.

We followed these trails, getting a little lost along the way. (I had prehiked the route earlier in the week and marked my route with engineer tape, but along the way I’d overlooked a few intersections and it appeared that some of my tape markers had disappeared since my first hike. Throw a layer of fresh snow on everything and it starts to look different…) Some bicyclists had preceded us and broken trail through the layer of ice.

Eventually we found ourselves walking along another plantation of monoculture pines. The sun came out from behind the clouds, bathing the woods in white brilliance for a few short minutes.

We reached our final descent far too soon, it seemed, but we found ourselves arriving back at our cars at exactly the two-hour mark.

Today was the kind of hike I enjoy the most, in case you couldn’t tell. Thanks to all who came out to share the trail with me today!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Cian’s photo album.

Wednesday January 4

Finger Lakes Trail from Eastman Hill Road

Hike report by Jim

Seven hikers met on Eastman Hill Rd., just inside the Tioga County line, for a hike of the FLT into Eberhard Preserve. This hike was partly a hike of the recently rerouted FLT as it comes off Eastman Hill toward Coddington Rd.

The day was unseasonably warm; any snowpack on the trail had melted, although the small ponds and water-filled ditches we passed still had thin skims of ice on their surfaces.

As you leave the parking area, it’s a steady-but-gradual climb along a seasonal portion of Eastman Hill Rd. Past an unsigned intersection with the seasonal end of Heisey Rd., the trail  goes left and right. We opted for the right, or southerly, direction.

The trail continued a steady climb, and the footpath was often a wet, muddy slog. This section is usually wet except in the driest part of summer, so conditions were not entirely unexpected.

Shortly after reaching the plateau at the top of Eastman Hill, the trail takes a turn, a recent redirection that was the purpose of our hike today. The rerouted section of trail meanders around the top of Eastman Hill for some time, following various old logging roads. Eventually, the footpath dips downhill, and before long we were passing the green metal sign announcing the border of Eberhard Preserve.

From this point on, the trail’s downhill slope becomes more pronounced. We passed by the first blue-blazed side trail and continued downhill on the FLT.

By the time we reached the second side trail, a green-blazed section that connects with the blue-blazed trail, it was our turnaround time, so we opted to take the green trail as part of our return route. We went steadily downhill on the green-blazed trail until we reached the blue-blazed trail.

That section of the blue-blazed trail goes sharply uphill, something not entirely unexpected as we had a copy of the Eberhard Preserve trail map with us. Once the blue-blazed trail levels out, it meets up with the FLT section we’d already traversed.

The return hike to our cars over the FLT was as muddy as the outbound leg, but thankfully more downhill than not. We reached our cars about 10 minutes past our normal hike duration, but as we’d stopped many times during the hike I am sure that future hikes at this location will be quicker.

Saturday January 7

West on the FLT from South Danby Road

Hike report by Jim

Seventeen hikers and one dog met on South Danby Road for a westbound hike of the FLT. It was an overcast morning, and as the hike progressed a haze of fine flakes began to fall steadily. Soon the forest floor was covered in a thin layer of fresh snow, and the faded white blazes were in some cases lost in the sheath of white that clung to the trees.

On the hike’s outbound leg we encountered a fair amount of mud, and sections of the trail were covered by flowing water.

The main group of hikers soon reached David’s Bridge on the FLT. Hikers crossed that and climbed the hill to Curtis Road and beyond. By now, the snowfall had stopped. This group reached Hill Road before turning around and retracing their steps.

A few of the slower hikers turned around at the hour mark, and the main group picked them up along the way as everyone returned to South Danby Road.

View Cian’s photo album.

Sunday January 8

South Hill Recreation Way, Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-eight hikers and a dog hiked from Crescent Place in Ithaca into the trail system that runs along the South Hill Rec Way. Temperatures were on the cool side, but it didn’t take long to warm up as we traversed the various hills and ridges of the blue-blazed trail.

This was the first time that many of our newer hikers had been on this trail, so it was nice to bring them here on a pleasant day for a winter hike. We met a handful of trail runners and other day hikers along the way, but otherwise we had the trail to ourselves.

I’d been worried that wintry conditions might make water crossings hazardous or prevent us from visiting the lower section of trail near the water. But given the recent thaw, these worries were unfounded.

There was a significant amount of water in all of the water crossings and some parts of the trail were muddy, so eventually I gave up trying to keep my feet dry and simply waded through the crossings or the mud bogs as we encountered them.

Some of the hike’s highlights were the fast-flowing waterways, checking out the old stone staircase, the views out over the second dam area, and the descent to the shoreline across from Mulholland Wildflower Preserve on the return leg.

Welcome to Pat, Yvonne, and Bill on their first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Cian’s photo album.

Tuesday December 27

Extra Hike: Shady Corners to Lick Brook Falls and Beyond

A hiker from Connecticut contacted Ithaca Hikers through our Meetup page the week before Christmas to let us know she would be passing through our area and was interested in seeing frozen waterfalls. Maya joined us on our Wednesday hike (see below), but several hikers were able to hike with her on Tuesday, as well. Hike report by Jim.

Six hikers met at the FLLT Shady Corners parking lot for a winter weekday hike of  the Tapan Mitra, Sweedler ,and Thayer nature preserves. This was during a two-week window in which hunting ceases on preserve property, so it was a welcome opportunity to see the preserves in winter conditions since our last hike there two months ago.

We set off, passing through the Tapan Mitra property before crossing the ice-encrusted railroad trestle and entering Cornell nature preserve property. Upon reaching the first stream crossing, we had the first hint that today’s hike was going to be unusual. The stream was full of frozen snow and ice that gave the appearance of half-churned butter frozen in a state of suspended animation.

We crossed the stream and soon arrived at Lick Brook falls. The falls were entirely frozen, with only the barest hint of water still flowing down the stream bed; we could tell some water was still moving both by sound and by glimpses of flowing water in occasional breaks in the ice cover. We stayed at the falls for a long time, taking pictures and conversing with a group of European hikers who arrived at the falls after we did.

We continued on our way, climbing the blue-blazed switchback trail as it traversed the hillside. Every time the trail came close to the gorge we had to stop, take more pictures, and exclaim over the frozen, multi-hued stream bed.

We soon arrived at Townline Road, where the group split up, some of us having previous commitments that required a quick retreat back down the hillside.

Those who stayed crossed Townline Road and took the orange- and blue-blazed Tom’s Trail. Here, too, the stream was entirely encased in ice. We soon completed the loop, and our second crossing of the frozen stream was no less interesting than the first.

We reached Townline Road and started downhill, diverting from our previous route by taking the white-blazed FLT, which snaked down the hillside and ran alongside another streambed, also frozen.

It was here that we had our only real issues during the hike; the trail surface, as it descended along the narrow spine, was much icier than the footpath had been in other places. This forced us to stay to the very edge of the spine, carefully picking our way through the fallen leaves along the trail’s edge despite our foot traction and poles. The snow and ice surface in the center of the trail gave mute testimony to the travails of earlier hikers: long skid marks left by footwear without any traction.

At the valley floor we made quick work of hiking back to the trestle, crossing over that and arriving at our cars with a total hike time of about 2.5 hours–not as bad as I had expected given our slower-than-normal pace.

Welcome to Maya on her first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday December 28

Woodard Road east into upper Robert Treman SP, Enfield

Hike report by Jim

Fifteen hikers met on Woodard Road for a hike of the FLT into Robert Treman State Park. The weather was good, with minimal wind and decent footing on the route.

We left our cars and made a quick descent along the FLT, crossing Fishkill Creek via the wooden footbridge. We then walked the seasonal portion of Butternut Creek Road to Van Ostrand Road. This route doesn’t directly follow the route of the FLT, but it makes for a nice winter walk.

We walked Van Ostrand Road to Thomas Road. From there, we returned to the seasonal part of Butternut Creek Road, where we again picked up the FLT and followed it into upper Robert Treman SP.

When we reached the Rim Trail, we took it downhill to the Lucifer Falls overlook. This waterfall was not as ice-encased as Lick Brook had been the previous day, but it was still cold enough that only the center portion of the falls had thawed, so we could see the torrent of water flowing there.

After stopping at the overlook for a few minutes, we turned around and took the Rim Trail into the parking lot of upper Treman. We stopped to admire the frozen cascades directly behind the Old Mill before moving on to the CCC trail.

The CCC trail was enjoyable, as the stream it runs along was still mostly frozen and footing on the trail was not a problem.

We arrived back at our cars with a few minutes to spare, but I don’t think that anyone was complaining about needing a longer hike after completing the route we’d followed.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday December 31

Lindsay Parsons Preserve, West Danby

Hike report by Jim

For our last hike of 2022, 16 hikers met in the parking lot of the Lindsay Parsons Preserve in West Danby. Temperatures were pleasant and unseasonably warm, leaving little in the way of snowpack.

The popularity of the preserve with other hikers before us meant that many of the trails were still a bed of slick ice. This was really only an issue on the inclined trail sections, and usually there was enough of a bare shoulder along the edge that the group was able to safely navigate those sections of trail. Any snow still on the ground was that sort of slushy, half-melted snow that provides little in the way of traction when going uphill but on the downhill loves to unexpectedly deliver you to the bottom of the hill!

At the hike’s beginning, we split up into two subgroups; Casey and Joe made a beeline to the bottom of the Pinnacles to bushwhack up the hillside to the top of the hill.

The rest of us completed a more leisurely loop of the red-, blue-, yellow-,  and orange-blazed trails.

Welcome to Stacey on her first hike with the group!

View Cian’s photo album.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

From Casey:

Four miles out to the Pinnacles and back. Two hours five minutes.

Sunday January 1

Mundy Wildflower Gardens to Beebe Lake Loop, Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-one hikers and four dogs met at Mundy Wildflower Gardens for a First Day Hike loop of Beebe Lake, the Forest Home neighborhood, and the Cornell Arboretum. It was unseasonably warm, with temperatures somewhere in the 50s, and sunny, all of which made for a pleasant hike.

We set off from the Mundy Wildflower parking lot. Our loop of the garden’s trails was quick, in part because of trail closures due to fallen trees.

We paused briefly for a group photo before leaving the wildflower gardens to cross Judd Falls Road. We did another quick loop, this time near the Nevin Welcome Center.

We crossed Forest Home Drive and walked over Sackett Bridge. A quick detour into Hemlock Gorge showed us that there was a vast amount of water flowing through Fall Creek due to recent snowmelt and rain. The noise from the water flowing over the cascades was literally thunderous to my ears.

We returned to the Beebe Lake trail and soon completed the first half of the trail loop, passing by the Tang Welcome Center at the Triphammer Falls bridge. The fine, misty spray here from the water flowing over the short dam near the welcome center was cold and bracing.

Turning east, we began to complete the circuit around Beebe Lake — in the process, we missed a trail closure sign. When we got back to the eastern end of Beebe Lake, we found the path blocked by cyclone fencing and the lower wooden steps back to Forest Home Drive entirely removed. So we had to do a bit of bushwhacking to get back on the trail.

We passed through the hamlet of Forest Home. By the time we arrived back at the intersection of Forest Home and Caldwell roads, only an hour had passed, so we entered the Arboretum and completed a lap around the major loop there. We made a short stop so that several hikers could hit the gong to ring in the new year and take pictures of the vista spread out below us.

Completing the Arboretum loop brought us back to Caldwell Road and our cars at exactly the two-hour mark.

A warm welcome to Iona and her canine companion, Fontana; Courtney and her canine companion, Laika; Chris; and Sanae on their first hike with the group!

View Cian’s photo album.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.