Category: hike reports

Wednesday May 24

Kennedy State Forest, Cortland County

Hike report and photos by Jim

Nine hikers met on the seasonal portion of Owego Hill Road for a loop hike combining portions of the Finger Lakes Trail and the Spanish Loop. This was the first time the group has hiked at this particular location. It was a cool, sunny day, the sunlight filtering through the leaves around the trailhead. Flying gnats were present but in greatly diminished numbers from recent hikes.

We picked up the Spanish Loop from where it completes a road section of about half a mile on Adams and Owego Hill roads. From the parking area, we descended into the forest on a footpath thick with old pine needles. The trail makes a series of gentle turns as it approaches Enrique Creek. After a quick stream crossing (almost unnoticed due to the low water levels), we hiked the opposite side of the stream in a northeasterly direction. We paused briefly at Mercedes Spring for a group picture before pressing onward.

The trail begins a gentle climb to the east, passing over the seasonal Liddington Hill Road and across a power line right-of-way. Here, the trail swings back to the north, and the remainder of the Spanish Loop is an easy route that weaves between trees, across old logging roads, and past stone piles and walls before arriving at the Finger Lakes Trail.

Here, we paused briefly for  a trail journal entry and a map and clock check. I found that we had completed the route to that point much faster than on my Friday prehike. In order to burn some time, we  turned east on the FLT, descending through a series of switchbacks until we arrived at an open field.

After turning around here, we retraced our steps to the Spanish Loop junction and continued north on the FLT until we arrived at Owego Hill Road. We roadwalked back to our cars, arriving only a minute late.

Counting both the Spanish Loop and FLT miles, we hiked about five miles today, for anyone who’s trying to get their FLT50 patch this year.

Saturday May 27

Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area, Newfield

Hike report and photo by Dave B.

This hike saw 23 hikers meet at the Connecticut Hill Cemetery, a beautiful morning for a hike… and some unexpected, um, excitement? 

It all started innocently enough as I reviewed with the group the note that accompanied the hike’s announcement: “Note: These trails are not marked, are hard to see in some places, and occasionally intersect other trails. With the objective that we end the hike with the same number of people who started out, it will be important that the group stay together!”

Spoiler alert: We did accomplish the objective of ending the hike with the same number of people who started out… eventually. 

With that goal in mind at the outset, we had a volunteer sweep who knew the trails, hoping that would ensure that no one went astray. An open area about halfway around the loop would have served as a great spot for the traditional group photo, but the fact that you are not seeing that picture at the top of this report is a clue: By that halfway point we no longer had the whole group together. As it turned out, at one point a hiker in the middle of the line, out of sight of both leader and sweep, answered nature’s call. (I’d say, “Beck and call,” but I wouldn’t want to embarrass anyone…) 

Lesson #1: Don’t leave the group without alerting someone!

A short while later, as the group paused while people negotiated a downed-tree obstacle course (OK, we did get one picture!), someone noticed that a hiker was missing. Another hiker said that she had seen him step aside (correctly identifying the purpose) perhaps 15 minutes earlier.

Lesson #2: If you see someone leave the group, be sure to check that the person returns soon.

There being no cell service in this remote area, two people (including Dave G, who knows the region better than anyone) went back on the trail we’d been hiking, shouting for the missing hiker. 

Lesson #3: Especially don’t leave the group where there’s no cell service!

Now down three people, we continued the planned loop into a valley at the western edge of the WMA, waiting occasionally in hopes that the others would catch up. Nope.

Finally, we started the mile-long climb back to the cars. At a planned break point halfway up the hill, where we’d intended a brief side trip to the remnants of an old homestead, some hikers were concerned that the delays meant they’d not be back to their cars within two hours. Our intrepid sweep assured us that he knew the way out from there and proceeded on with about half the remaining group. 

Those who stuck with the original plan found the homestead interesting: stone walls outlining the basement of a barn with a ramp for getting hay onto the upper floor; the basement of the main house with more stone footers for adjoining smaller rooms; what had perhaps been a cistern or root cellar; and a deep, stone-walled well still holding water.

And then we finished the climb back to the cars. All of the cars. Not only was our hope unrealized that the missing hiker would be there or his car gone, but the we-wanna-leave-early folks’ cars were still there. Yikes! I had joked at the start of the hike that a 10% attrition rate was within the allowable guidelines for hike leaders, but now we were down to less than half of the initial group. Missing were the one original miscreant, the two searching for him, and about 10 people who followed a previously confident sweep who-knows-where. 

As we were standing around plotting what to do, ’twas with much relief that someone spotted the missing hiker calmly walking up the road toward the trailhead. Whew! He explained that, once finished with his, um, task, he thought he’d be able to catch up with everyone and started walking in the direction of the faint sound of voices. Good plan! Then the voices faded out. So he got out his cell phone that had been tracking the hike route, turning around to use it to follow the trail back the way we came. Another good plan! Until the phone died… 

Lesson #4: Be sure you have a fully charged phone!

Remember the prehike note saying that the trails on Connecticut Hill are not well marked and are hard to see in places? Yeah. Soon he found himself in unfamiliar woods with nothing that looked like a trail leading in any direction. He had the presence of mind (fortunately) to keep going in a relatively straight line by walking toward the sun, eventually coming out on a road that (fortunately) was the one the cars were on, where he (fortunately) turned in the right direction. 

As the telling of his tale wrapped up, someone else spotted the missing sweep-led group emerging from the woods down the road in the other direction, victims of one simple wrong turn. Ironically, it was the folks who wanted to finish the hike as soon as possible who were the last to get back to their cars. Well, except for the twosome search party, about whom I had no concerns. Finally able to make cellphone contact, I had assured them that everyone else was accounted for. They were a while longer returning than expected, though, because even they made a wrong turn!

I’m sure we’ll be hiking again in the WMA, hopefully with important lessons now learned. There’s a fundamental rule for hiking in areas that lack cell service and/or have trails that are not clearly marked: Stay together as a group and pay attention to the welfare of fellow hikers. See y’all on the trails!

Sunday May 28

Compton Road to Upper Buttermilk area and back

Hike report by Hank

12 Hikers and one dog met at 112 Compton Rd for a 2 1/2 hour, 3.7 mile hike.
It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid 70s.
After some socialization, we proceeded to walk down Compton Rd, crossed 96B, down Comfort Road and picked up the Upper Buttermilk Trail, circumnavigating Treman Lake in  a counter clockwise direction. There were a few Hikers I had never encountered on the hikes before. And a few that had never taken this hike and seemed very grateful to be experiencing it, remarking on the beautiful topography of the area as well as the abundant bird habituation.
At about the half way point, we made a deliciously spontaneous change to the predetermined route, turned right instead of left, and hiked up to FireLight’s Glamping area on the advice of long-term hiking group member Mary. Along the way, we encountered a very large old growth gorges shagbark hickory and I put in a plug for its preservation. Upon arriving at Firelight’s,  Mary put in a plug for how generous Firelight is that lets a small group of Ithaca Hiking Group members come in and play bocce ball and listen to musical grooves on Tuesdays during the warmer months.
Some of us were even able to relieve ourselves of the morning coffee and whatever beverages may have been consumed at Firelights restrooms.
We backtracked to Upper Buttermilk park, and Treman Lake to the remainder of our hike looping around Treman, to Yaple road, and then Comfort, when lo and behold, we stopped at the high bridge over Upper Buttermilk Gorge only to look down and see the groups Paparazzi Cian- noticeable by a  billowy yellow shirt, and the trademark floppyhat, down below-well, that and the camera affixed to the long stick. Next appeared Ithaca Hiker  appeared Ithaca Hiker, Jamie, then Barb, and Barb in tow by Thor the husky Husky. After saying our hellos to the late arrivals, we hiked Comfort with minimal discomfort ( at least on my end ) back up to the house.
It was really great to meet some new people on this hike. To paraphrase one of the great ones, Forest Gump-The Ithaca Hilking Group is like a box of chocolates- you never know what you’re going to get!

Wednesday May 10

Roy H. Park Preserve to Hammond Hill State Forest, Dryden

Hike report by Jim

Ten hikers met in Dryden to hike from the Roy Park Preserve to Hammond Hill State Forest. Temperatures were generally warm, and there wasn’t much mud anywhere along the route, which is unusual for this particular hike.

The climb from the preserve’s parking area to Hammond Hill Road passed quickly, and soon we’d entered the Hammond Hill trail system.

The group got somewhat spread out at this point, with the lead hikers getting as far as the seasonal part of Canaan Road before turning around.

We regrouped and retraced our steps back to the cars, arriving in the parking lot at a nearly perfect two-hour hike duration.

Saturday May 13

Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area, Newfield

Hike report by Dave B.

Twenty-two hikers and one dog met at the Connecticut Hill cemetery on a perfect morning for hiking — crisp and clear. The trail led us downhill through mixed hardwoods, then hemlocks, and finally a rooty stand of spruce before we reached a stream. A stepping-stone crossing was flanked by steel footers, the only remnants of a century-old bridge that carried truck traffic from a now-abandoned quarry.

We passed another bridge, this one with deck girders still in place, on our way to the partially overgrown quarry. A short-but-steep climb brought the group to the upper rim of the quarry and a nice view of a far hill in the WMA.

Ahead lay more woods and two more stream crossings. A steady climb followed, along the side of a wooded ravine and past an old metal sink and stone cistern (moonshiner debris?). The nearly four-mile loop, adorned by several species of wildflowers, brought us back to the cars in two hours. 

Sunday May 14

Jenksville State Forest, Newark Valley

Hike report by Jim

Seventeen hikers met in Tioga County for a hike in Jenksville State Forest. The hike involved a new route that included both blue- and yellow-blazed trails within the state forest. Previous hikes here had been limited  to yellow-blazed trails. The new route offered more variety in both views and forest environments than the old route. Sunday’s hike also ran over our normal two-hour hike time, but no one complained about that. Given the positive feedback people gave for this hike, I’m thinking that we’ll use this as our normal hike route here in the future.

The day was sunny but cool, and the trail was in excellent condition. We encountered a very small segment of trail that was muddy, but everything else was entirely dry. We had the multiuse trails to ourselves, except for a small group of cyclists and some equestrians we encountered in the parking lot but never saw on the trail.

Wednesday May 3

Camp Barton, Trumansburg

Hike report by Mark S.

There were 12 hikers and one dog on the hike. We did not get to the  base of the falls due to high water, although I did show people how to get there. Other than that, we followed my previous description. 

Mark’s previous description from the hike announcement:

First, we’ll follow the rim of Trumansburg Creek, where we will have views of the three major waterfalls that drop between NY-89 and the lake. The path is fairly steep to begin with, but then it levels out to a moderate slope. We’ll follow the rim trail part way down and cut through the camp to the south, where we’ll have an opportunity to examine the various Boy Scout camps.

We will then see another waterfall, which is quite high but has only a small amount of water. We will head up the hill for a bit, cross over the small creek, and head back to the parking area via another trail.

If the water levels are not too high, we’ll try to get to the base of Frontenac Falls. Waterproof boots and hiking poles are recommended for this part of the hike. If water levels are too high, we will head toward the lake and explore the facilities there.

After the hike, Mark and Ellie will welcome hikers to their home for some light refreshments.

Saturday May 6

Finger Lakes Trail from Schuyler County Veterans Memorial Park

Hike report by Jim

Nineteen hikers and a dog met at the Schuyler County Veterans Park for an eastbound hike of the FLT toward Gulf Road and beyond. This was a new hike for most of the group; the only time we’ve previously hiked any of this route since I’ve been with the group was as part of the Van Lone trail hike. I’d describe this route as mostly flat and easy for all hiking abilities.

As it leaves the Veterans Park, the FLT takes a southeasterly route through new forests and across a couple of dry streambeds along the way. Most of the forest undergrowth was just starting to bloom, so the footpath is clear and obvious to hikers. There is one point where the trail crosses private property and where we hiked past people’s homes. In the handful of times I’ve hiked this section, I’ve never encountered a property owner at these houses.

Eventually the FLT reaches Route 6, and after a quick bridge crossing the trail turns onto Gulf Road. At the Gulf Road trailhead, the footpath leaves Gulf Road and follows Cayuta Creek. The upper section of the creek was nearly still, with only the faintest perceptible movement of water.

As we continued southeast, we hiked through several small streams that cross the footpath before they feed into Cayuta Creek. Eventually the creek begins flowing quite briskly, with many cascades. The footpath rises and falls as it follows the creek; sometimes it seemed as though the group was hiking right at stream level, while at other times the footpath climbs slightly and hikers get to look down on the stream from above.

On this sunny day, there was an interesting play of light and shadows, along with the surface of the water in the stream and various hues of green on the forest floor. At the one-hour mark, we reached the old, collapsed footbridge, where we turned around and retraced our steps.

We ran into a few day hikers along Cayuta Creek but otherwise had the trail to ourselves.

Welcome to Brennan and Adriana on their first hike with the group!

Today’s hike counts as four FLT miles for anyone trying to get their FLT 50 patch.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday May 7

Finger Lakes Trail from White Church Road, Brooktondale

Hike report by Jim

Thirty hikers and a single dog met at the new FLT parking lot in the 800 block of White Church Road for an eastbound hike on the FLT. This was our first hike in this direction since the FLT was rerouted last year.

In the past (before the rerouting), this section of trail was included at the very end of our Ridgeway Road hike. For that hike, climbing the hill was an option for those hikers who wanted to use up the last few minutes before we turned around. I don’t recall that we ever hiked to Braley Hill Road and beyond from this location.

The new parking lot on White Church Road is fairly small, so we ended up double- and triple-parking within the lot to get most of our cars parked off of White Church Road. In the future I’ll most likely limit this hike to a Wednesday hike due to the parking situation.

We set off across the open fields using a mowed pathway. By the end of the second field, the mowed path suddenly ended and we had to bushwhack across unmowed fields to the nearest series of white-blazed stakes. This got us back on track, and soon hikers were crossing the wooden puncheons to reach the base of the hill.

The climb up the hill was slow and steady. Casey led the faster hikers. That fast group gradually pulled away, and the group as a whole was spread out along the hillside as the well-blazed trail climbed through a series of switchbacks.

At the peak, the trail enters Shindagin Hollow State Forest. Shortly after that, we encountered the first of many mountain bike trails that crisscross the state forest. The peak is a short-lived victory, as almost immediately the FLT begins a steady downward course.

By this time, those of us in the back began to encounter the first of the returning hikers who’d turned around at the hour mark. We also encountered our first real muddy section of trail and decided that this was a good spot for the sweep element to turn around and start back.

The lead hikers eventually caught up and bypassed us on their way down the hillside. By the time I got back to the parking area, all but about five cars had gone.

In consulting the FLT map, I’m giving myself a total of 3.25 FLT miles for the hike today. For those trying to qualify for their FLT 50 patch, Casey reported that the lead element made it almost all the way to Shindagin Hollow Road, with a mileage of 4.6. If you were on today’s hike, you can pick some distance between those two numbers for your trail miles.

After the hike about 10 hikers met at Brookton’s Market for lunch.

View Leigh Ann’s photos.

Wednesday April 26

Sweedler Preserve/Lick Brook, Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Ten hikers met in the Finger Lakes Land Trust parking lot outside of lower Robert Treman State Park for a hike of Lick Brook’s Thayer and Sweedler preserves.

We set off from the parking lot and crossed the railroad trestle. We paused at the falls at the bottom of the hill inside Sweedler Preserve for a group picture and to link up with an 11th hiker who walked in from Townline Road to meet us.

We continued on the FLT, climbing the hill via the narrow spine that ascends from the valley floor, the slopes on either side of the trail falling away sharply from the footpath. The faster hikers reached Townline Road and crossed it to complete the red- and blue-blazed Tom’s Trail loop in Thayer Preserve.

The rest of the hikers arrived at Townline Road, crossed the bridge, and hiked Tom’s Trail in reverse in order to meet the faster hikers as they returned to Townline Road.

Reconstituted into a single blob of hikers, the group returned to Sweedler Preserve. We hiked down the blue-blazed trail, crossed back over the trestle, and returned to our cars.

Total FLT miles for the FLT50 patch hikers was approximately 2.8 miles.

Saturday April 29

Shindagin Hollow State Forest

Hike report by Mary W.

In temps of 46 degrees F and a light drizzle, 12 hikers and one dog met at the southernmost FLT parking area on Braley Hill Road, which is also spelled Brearley Hill Road (after Joseph Brearley for whom the road is named), depending on which map is referenced.  The hike plan was to take the Finger Lakes Trail exclusively east from Braley Hill Rd., west to Shindagin Hollow Road out and back in reverse.

For the most part, this was a pleasant jaunt through the spring-awakening forest. There were ramps, trillium (white and purple), trout lily, viburnum, dogwood, young leaflets of bright lime colors, birds, and a manageable amount of moisture.

The drizzle stopped at the start of the hike and started again at about 11:30 a.m. This may have been good timing, however. Two hikers became distracted and ended back on Braley Hill Road south of the start point, while another hiker (perhaps occupied with a bit of ramp harvesting) was disoriented for a time, which motivated a small search party into action. When all were reunited, it was agreed that a fine adventure was exactly what the morning delivered to the hikers’ delight, albeit a tad wet at the end.  

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday April 30

International Loop, Dryden

Hike report by Jim

Six intrepid hikers met on Daisy Hollow Road in Cortland County for a hike of the International Trail system. It was a morning of intermittent rain; while I waited for other hikers to arrive the rain had let up, so I decided to leave my wet weather gear in the car. The rain resumed early in the hike, however, becoming fairly steady as we ventured farther into the trail system. By the end of the hike, the rain was light but constant, only bothering hikers when we were out in the open.

After it leaves Daisy Hollow Road, the trail makes a quick, short climb before coming to the first of many intersections. All of the trails are well blazed, and many have accompanying signage that identify the trail or spur and often the length of that section. A few hikers had never been on this section of trails or on the International Loop system at all, so this attention to detail was greatly appreciated and entirely new to them.

I led the group up the Jose Trail, which soon runs into the Irvin Trail. The lower part of the Irvin Trail follows Cristina Creek, which had a good amount of water flowing, thanks to the overnight and morning rains. The small touches along this trail, such as the rock walls lining the footpath or the frequently found chairs along our route, were greatly appreciated by hikers.

The Irvin Trail leaves the creek and begins a series of switchbacks through the pine trees as the footpath climbs away from the water. Soon, the trail levels out until the next intersection, where we normally stop for a trail journal entry and a group photo.

Crossing the first of many utility rights-of-way, we had a good view of the far side of the valley. Because the leaves were not fully out we could still see across the valley through the trees around us. The variety of leaf colors made hikers think of hikes here later in the year. The trees were filled with birdsong, and I saw our first red eft of the season.

Beyond this point, the number of trail junctions become more frequent, so it’s important that any hiker who’s new to this trail system bring a map to avoid getting lost.

We took various sections of the English and Spanish Loops, then stopped at the Tiny Pond, which we have used as our turnaround point in past hikes. I recalled that turning around here always gets us back to our cars early, so I proposed that we continue on the Spanish Loop for a while longer, which brought us to a second pond that’s not indicated on the map.

Upon reaching Adams Road, hikers opted to turn around. Going farther would have involved a significant road walk, something that did not interest me, given the weather conditions.

The return journey used some of the same sections of footpath we had taken coming up the hill, but I soon led the group away from those earlier sections by turning at an intersection. This new section of trail followed a utility right-of-way before going back into the forest.

This final section of footpath skirts along a bluff above Daisy Hollow Road, then intersects with our original path back to the parking area. We did get back to our cars about 10 minutes early. By now the rain was quite steady, so no one seemed to mind the early conclusion to the hike.

Wednesday April 19

Hammond Hill SF from Canaan Road, Brooktondale

Hike report by Jim

Eighteen hikers met on Canaan Road on a chilly morning for  a hike of the Hammond Hill trails.

A short walk up the seasonal part of Canaan Road brought us to the Rabbit Run snowmobile trail, a gradual incline that terminates at the blue-blazed trails. The forest floor around us was covered in a dusting of snow, perhaps the last hike we’ll have in winter conditions this spring.

We hiked the Yellow 6 trail to reach the upper, seasonal portion of Canaan Road. This segment of Yellow 6 includes a nice walk through tall stands of evergreens – my favorite part of this state forest!

We crossed Canaan Road and continued on the yellow-blazed trails, making a loop out of the Yellow 5, 8, and 4 trails before returning to Yellow 5 to reach Yellow 7. That final trail is a nice downhill hike back to Canaan Road, which we reached at exactly the two-hour mark.

For those tracking their FLT mileage toward the FLT50 patch, today’s hike included about 0.5 FLT miles on the Yellow 4 trail.

Welcome to Alice on her first hike with the group!

Saturday April 22

Stevens Suspension Bridge & Cornell Natural Areas

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-five hikers and a dog hiked the Cornell Natural Areas. Our group filled up and overflowed the Forest Home Drive parking lot, with several cars parked on the side of the road. The morning started out with mostly clear skies and a cooling breeze.

We started out by crossing the recently rebuilt suspension bridge. Norm is of the opinion that the new bridge sways even more than the old one. I’m not sure about that – having 20-plus people crossing the bridge together was sure to get it moving.

On the other side of the bridge the group turned west, following the creek. After a quick photo stop, we continued on, soon finding where the bridge’s original deckboards are being repurposed in muddy areas of the trail.

We climbed the hill to the golf course. As it was a nice weekend day, the course was in heavy use. We navigated around the green’s perimeter, finally arriving at the road that leads to the horse barns. Here we ran into a major snag: The road is shut down entirely to pedestrian traffic, even though it was a weekend with no active construction work underway. The signage indicated open trails for hikers’ use, but there were no directions for finding the nearest one. After a quick exploratory walk into the barn area looking for an open route, we turned around.

Backtracking slightly, we walked along the woods’ edge on a service road we’d never checked out. I hoped that we’d find a trail into the woods, but there was none. After completing a big loop around an open meadow, we returned to the golf course, where we took a trail that skirted the other side of the fenced-in horse fields we normally cross. This got us back onto our normal route.

By now, about six hikers had peeled off to do their own route. We eventually ran into them at hike’s end, back at the cars.

My group continued on, taking the orange-blazed trail on the bluffs high above the streambed. The trail eventually turns and descends the bluff down to stream level, where we followed the trail back to the suspension bridge.

On the Forest Home Road side of the bridge, we did a quick loop of the blue- and red-blazed trails, which got us back to the cars only five minutes later than normal.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday April 23

Finger Lakes Trail, Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Jim

Including late arrivals, today we had 29 hikers and two dogs. We met at the junction of Boylan and Hulford Roads, where there’s a decent amount of parking for any number of vehicles. In the past, I’ve started this hike from Connecticut Hill Road near Tower Road, but the trail from that area passes through some muddy sections that I wanted to avoid today.

From the parking area, it was a short walk to where the FLT crosses the seasonal portion of Boylan Road. We crossed an open field; other than two small areas that were logged a couple of years ago, this was among the few portions of the hike route where the FLT didn’t pass through forested areas of Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area.

Overall, the FLT footpath was in excellent shape, and the blazing was very easy to follow in this section. Elevation gain and loss is fairly minimal over the duration of this hike. A couple of stream crossings were uneventful, and we didn’t encounter much in the way of muddy trail until we were almost at Cabin Road.

Continuing beyond Cabin Road, it was only a short trail section before hikers reached the seasonal portion of Connecticut Hill Road at an hour into the hike. So we turned around and retraced our route, with Casey leading the way.

Total FLT miles for this hike, for those working toward their 2023 FLT50 patch, were 4.49.

A warm welcome to Ranjita, Dan, Minnie, Andrew, and canine hiker Chestnut on their first hike with the group!

View Nancy and Randy’s photo album.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

A note from Nancy H.:

At the end of the hike today, one of the hikers jokingly suggested to Jim that he should start using ChatGPT to write the hike reports. Jim did write his report for us, as usual, but after he sent it to me, I fed it into Chat GPT and told it to rewrite the report in a variety of authors’ styles, including Hemingway, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Emily Dickinson, and those you see below. Here are some highlights:

Dr. Suess

Oh, the hikers went out on a Sunday so bright, 29 strong with 2 dogs in sight. They met at the junction of Boylan and Hulford Rd, With plenty of parking for each hiker’s load.

The trail was new, not the usual hike, Avoiding the mud, it was a change they’d like. The group crossed an open field with much glee, Then entered a forest, oh what a sight to see!

The footpath was perfect, with blazes so clear, Easy terrain for all, with nothing to fear. They crossed a few streams, not a problem at all, And muddy sections were few, toward the end of the haul.

After an hour of hiking, they reached a seasonal road, Turning back now, following their same footsteps code. For those seeking FLT50 patch, they hiked 4.49 miles, With a warm welcome to new hikers and Chestnut, the canine with smiles.

So, the hikers had fun on this bright Sunday day, And vowed to return to hike again someday.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Upon a fair day, a fellowship of twenty-nine valiant hikers, accompanied by two trusty canines, gathered at the crossroads of Boylan and Hulford Rd. Their hearts beat with a longing for adventure as they began their journey.

Forsooth, this trail was a deviation from their usual path, leading them through an open field and the wilds of the Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area. Alas, the path was true and well-marked, with blazes as clear as the light of day.

The elevation was modest, the terrain serene. They crossed streams with ease and pressed on through the woods, their eyes taking in the beauty of their surroundings. But lo, as they approached Cabin Rd, the trail grew muddy, testing their mettle.

With fortitude, they pressed on until they came upon the seasonal portion of Connecticut Hill Rd, an hour hence, and began their homeward journey, led by the intrepid Casey.

For the FLT50 patch seekers, the hike spanned 4.49 miles, a feat of great courage and endurance. They welcomed new companions to their company, Ranjita, Dan, Minnie, Andrew, and Chestnut, the canine with a keen sense of smell.

Thus ended their journey, but their hearts remained aflame with the thrill of adventure, and their souls enriched by the majesty of nature.

Raymond Chandler:

It was a Sunday, like any other, when twenty-nine hikers and two canines convened at the junction of Boylan and Hulford Rd. The parking was ample, but the mood was restless. I watched from afar, noting the faces of the group, their intent unclear.

The trail, not their usual, veered away from Ct Hill Rd, and instead they walked through an open field. Two areas were logged, and the rest of the trail was shaded by the Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area.

The footpath was in impeccable condition, with the blazes leading them easily. The terrain was gentle, elevation gain and loss minimal. A few uneventful stream crossings and some mud towards the end, but nothing to perturb the most seasoned hiker.

At the hour mark, they turned around, following the same path back. Casey, their leader, led the way. The FLT50 patch seekers clocked in at 4.49 miles.

Ranjita, Dan, Minnie, Andrew, and Chestnut, the canine with a keen nose, were new to the group. They held their own, no questions asked.

I stood there, watching as the group dispersed. Their faces, unreadable, their intent unclear. What brought them together, I wondered, and what drove them forward? I guess I’ll never know.

I kinda loved ChatGPT’s imitation of Chandler’s hardboiled style, but I don’t think we’ll be sending out AI-generated hike reports any time soon!