ithacahikers

Wednesday, August 28

Black Diamond Trail from Houghton Road

Hike report by Jim

Fifteen hikers and one dog met at the Cayuga Nature Center parking lot on Houghton Rd in the Town of Ulysses for a very loosely coordinated northerly group hike on the Black Diamond Trail, led by Tom B. This is not one of the regular trailheads we start our Black Diamond Trail hikes from, so there is no current listing for it on our hikes list. I suppose that’s something I’ll have to change….

edit: I’ve added this meeting location to our Black Diamond trail listing, so its now Hike #58-4: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-58

The day was somewhat overcast as the group posed for a quick photo and set off on the trail. Being a weekday there were relatively few other walkers or bike riders along that section of the Trail. The day did seem to grow brighter and more humid as the morning wore on, but not oppressively so. The leaves on the trees along the Trail are starting to change colors, so I suppose that summer is truly behind us…

Each hiker soon settled into their own pace, and the lead hikers quickly outpaced the slower members of the group. The fast hikers made it to Taughannock Falls State Park before turning around to re-trace their route.

Warm welcome to Melissa, Tom D and Tom D’s canine hiking partner George on their first hike with the group.

Saturday, August 31

Upper Buttermilk Falls State Park from Yaple Road

Hike report by Jim

Twenty hikers and seven dogs met on Yaple Rd in the Town of Danby for a hike of the trail system within upper Buttermilk Falls State Park. This is hike# 10-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-10.

The morning started out a little overcast, and by the time we began the hike into the park from Yaple Rd the raindrops had started. For the most part the rain wasn’t a problem in the early part of the hike thanks to being under the trees. By the time the group stopped by the dam at Treman Lake the volume of rain was picking up, but shortly thereafter it dwindled and stopped entirely before the sun came out and the remainder of the hike was entirely enjoyable.

After the group photos the hikers crossed over the top of the dam and hiked the La Tourelle trail, before turning around and walking back to Treman Lake. We hiked up the opposite side of the lake, stopping at a vantage point or two along the way to enjoy the views of the natural surroundings.

Coming down the last flight of wooden steps we arrived at the area of the demolished stone arch bridge. Finding the water level of the stream to be very low, we rock-hopped across the water and walked back to the FLT spur trail that led back to Yaple Rd (the way we had entered into the park).

Arriving back at the cars a few minutes early, a good percentage of the group opted to continue on the FLT spur trail towards West King Rd, to use up the remaining hike time.

Completing an out-and-back on the spur trail (or in some cases a full loop hike to West King Rd and back around the block to the cars) the group arrived back at the cars again right on time.

We encountered a lot of day hikers on the route today.

Welcome to Margaret and Craig and their canine hiking partners Scooby and Chenille, on their first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, September 1

Hoxie Gorge, Cortland County

Hike report by Jim

Nineteen hikers and four dogs met on Hoxie Gorge Rd in Cortland County for an out-and back hike combining parts of the white blazed Finger Lakes Trail in Hoxie Gorge State Forest, the blue blazed access trail from Hoxie Gorge Rd and the yellow blazed McDermott Nature Trail, which is owned and maintained by SUNY Cortland. This is hike # 60-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-60.

This hike includes parts of the Finger Lakes Trail found on FLT map sheet M20, which may be purchased in paper or electronic formats here: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Sale of the map sheets defrays trail maintenance costs incurred by the Finger Lakes Trail Conference.

The morning was sunny and warm as hikers arrived on Hoxie Gorge Rd for the hike. After a quick group photo, the group set off down the blue blazed access trail that links the parking area to the Finger Lakes Trail. This blue blazed trail was the actual FLT a number of years ago until the footpath in this section was re-routed.

For the past couple of years I have noticed a slow degradation of the footpath in the blue blazed trail section. I am not sure if this is due to that section being abandoned, a lack of assigned trail maintainers, etc. Which is a shame, as this trail makes a nice little walk above and along the creek bed Today the group was slowed down considerably by a number of serious trail issues such as blow downs that had carried away the entire footpath with the root ball, etc. Trail condition reports have been submitted and hopefully some of these issues will be addressed. To be clear, these issues pre-date this summers windstorms, but the damage persists and is getting worse with time. Even the growth of low-lying vegetation was causing me to lose track of the blazed footpath, and we’ve hiked this trail a number of times in recent years.

Under the forest canopy it was sunny and humid.

We encountered one or two dog walkers, but for the most part had the trails to ourselves today.

Reaching the actual FLT, the group turned to the northeast, hiking towards the Hoxie Gorge lean-to. We ran into more blow-downs of recent vintage, but working our way around these was manageable. There were a couple of creek crossings, but water levels were lower than in the past when we’ve done this hike, so we had no issues.

The group reached the lean-to before turning around to return to the cars. The McDermott nature Trail meets the blue blazed access trail and provides a shorter, more direct route to the trailhead than the blue blazed trail does,

Welcome to new hikers Alessia and Becky, who joined the group for their first hike today!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, August 21

Allan H. Treman State Marine Park and Cass Park, Ithaca

Hike report by Jim

Seven hikers and two dogs met in the Town of Ithaca at the Allan H Treman State Marine Park for a hike of trails within the state marine park as well as the Cayuga Waterfront Trail towards Cass Park. This is hike # 53-1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-53.

The morning was a mix of brooding clouds and sunlight overhead as the group met in the parking lot of the marina, between the piers and the dog park. The forecast called for some rain, but the group hoped that we would miss the worst of the weather during our hike. This hope proved to be in vain, as we encountered some serious downpours midway through the hike as the group reached the Childrens Garden in Cass Park.

The first hour of the hike was uneventful; the group completed a loop of the trail along the shore of Cayuga Lake on the north point of the marina. Our route soon took us to the Waterfront Trail, which we followed along the flood control inlet to Cass Park.

Reaching the Childrens Garden at the base of the Black Diamond Trail, we encountered the first of several intermittent downpours that forced us to seek shelter under the park pavilions. These downpours lessened for a while before returning with even greater intensity and prolonging our pause under the protection of the pavilions.

Eventually after around twenty minutes the rain lessened and seemed to dissipate to the point that the group decided that the better course of action was to conclude the hike early, and so we made our way back to the marina via another part of the Waterfront Trail.

Thanks to the dedicated core group of hikers who braved the elements today!

Saturday, August 24

Ravine, Damsite, & Homesites Loop, Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-five hikers and three dogs met in the Town of Newfield for a loop hike in the vicinity of Doll Hill within the Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area, led by Dave B and Dave G. This is hike # 46-N on our regular hikes list: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-46.

This was perfect hiking weather, sunny and warm, but not excessively so. The temperatures were especially enjoyable under the forest canopy, where we hiked through a mix of sunlight and shadow for most of our route. The two Daves had pre-hiked the area several days before leading this hike, and their efforts in cutting some blowdowns and trimming back the undergrowth along the way were much appreciated by the group.

Trail conditions were good over the entire route, which consisted of a large loop on and around Doll Hill, with stops along the way at a couple of the old house foundations and a former dam on Carter Creek. There wasn’t much water flowing in the streams today, so the areas we passed through that normally have a small waterfall or two were nearly dry today but still very enjoyable.

Elevation changes were gradual throughout the route, with no serious ascents or descents to challenge the group, given today’s overall favorable conditions.

There was a small but pleasant road walk section along Carter Creek Rd that connected two sections of the hike route.

Many parts of this hike consisted of old logging roads, old driveways to long-gone residences, the ghosts of which persist in the still-present foundations and water wells. Dave B at the front of the hike, and Dave G acting as sweep, were good at sharing their knowledge of the area’s history with the group.

There was a slight amount of excitement at one point as the groups passing riled up some bees, with one dog and a couple of hikers getting the worst of it before the group was able to get through the area and away from the hive.

Warm welcome to Ali, Linda, Pedro and Zoe X on their first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 25

Hammond Hill, Dryden

Hike report by Jim

Twenty-four hikers and three dogs met in the Town of Caroline in the large parking lot at the end of the maintained portion of Hammond Hill Rd, for a hike of the trail system in Hammond Hill State Forest. This was not one of our existing Hammond Hill hikes but a new route that I spliced together. Normally this hike is an out-and-back hike, but in the last year there have been some new blue blazed trails created in this state forest that I’ve been wanting to start working into some of our hikes and making a loop route for the hike, which I personally always prefer to an out-and-back hike. This was the first such revised hike I’ve led the group on.

Since there are some new trails on Hammond Hill that some people might not be familiar with, here is a link to the current map: https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/hammondhillsf.pdf

Today was a little warmer than recent days but still overall a very pleasant hiking day. Lots of sun on the open sections of trail, and the sections of trail under the forest canopy seemed noticeably cooler to me.

The group paused for a quick photo on the road and set off up the hill on the yellow #1 trail until we reached the Yellow #6 intersection. In the past we’ve turned to the right here, but today we turned left, hiking until we reached the intersection with Yellow # 3.After a short distance on Yellow #3 the group arrived at the new Blue #3 trail, which loops around one of the higher peaks in the state forest before coming out on the seasonal portion of Canaan Rd. I pre-hiked the new Blue #3 loop yesterday: it’s a nice walk through the stands of pine trees that are among my favorite surroundings in any forest we hike in, and while its shorter than many of the existing trails, it’s a nice addition to the trail system in this state forest.

Walking a short distance down Canaan Rd the group soon turned onto the Yellow #6 trail, which has historically been among my favorite sections of this state forest due to the trail passing through some nice sections of pine trees.

The hikers turned onto the Blue #1 trail, which led to the seasonal portion of Hammond Hill Rd. The group walked the seasonal road back to the parking lot, arriving at the cars about fifteen minutes early. The first time I lead the group on a new route its often difficult to get the hike time down exact due to the varied hiking speeds of everyone within the group. I will work at amending this route in the future.

To use up the remaining fifteen minutes hikers turned onto the red blazed trail that leads to the Roy Park Preserve, for a quick out and back trail section that some people said was their favorite part of the morning. That section of trail can often be quite muddy and swampy during the rainy season, but today it was nearly completely dry with a nice layer of pine needles underfoot.

We shared the trails today with a couple of trail runners who we encountered multiple times over the course of the morning. Other than those runners we had the trails to ourselves on what was a beautiful day to be in the woods.

Warm welcome to Barbara, Mark, Mel, Ifor, Kim and canine hikers Willie and Gideon on their firsts hike with the group! There was also a late arriving male hiker who I didn’t get a chance to speak to until the very end of the hike, so I did not get your name.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, August 14

Virgil Mountain, Cortland County

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Sixteen hikers took the FLT from the Virgil Mountain Trailhead on O’Dell Road up and across the top of Virgil Mountain, stopping briefly for views down the chair lift. The temperature was excellent for Ithaca summer, the sky was clear, and the light had entered early fall. There was almost no moisture on the trail. Although this hike had 707 feet of elevation gain in just over four miles, round-trip, the gentle and consistent slope made that amount of gain surprising.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, August 17

Lake Road southeast of Dryden

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Eighteen hikers converged at the parking area where the Jim Schug Trail crosses Lake Road. Four decided to take the FLT over Havington Hill, and everyone else stretched out for some mileage on the Jim Schug Trail. I led the Havington Hill group, and we did an out-and-back hike from the meet-up spot to the end of the blue trail spur (third field). This was about four miles and 875 feet of elevation gain, which we did in about 1 hour 45 minutes. The trail has been cleared for the most part after the storms a few weeks ago, and the few newly downed trees that are still in the trail were easy to get around (e.g., where the FLT heads south into the woods in the second field). The entrance field and the section between the stream crossing and the third field were remarkably dry – almost no mud anywhere.

Hike report by Jim

Eighteen hikers met on Lake Rd in the Town of Dryden to hike area trails. Typically, on this hike the group splits into two separate groups, with one group heading over Havington Hill on the Finger Lakes Trail, and the other group hiking the flat Jim Schug Trail towards the village of Dryden. The Havington Hill hike is hike # 34-1, while the Schug Trail hike is #34-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-34.

Leigh Ann V led the group that opted to hike over Havington Hill, and I assume that she will be submitting her own hike report. I led the remainder of the hikers on the Schug Trail.

The morning was cool and overcast, with some low levels of humidity. I found that we were sharing the trail with a variety of bicyclists, joggers and walkers.

The group I was with had an uneventful out-and-back hike, turning around at the halfway point and re-tracing our route back to the cars. A light rain, more of a sprinkle, began to fall as we neared the parking area. Leigh Ann’s group had already left by the time we got to the trailhead.

Welcome to Melissa, Katarina and Lawrence on their first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 18

Alex & Michele Gonzalez Hiking Sanctuary & Preserve, Virgil

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers and three dogs met in Cortland County for a hike of various trails within 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.

Leigh Ann led the hike. Both paper and digital trail maps of this trail section listed as ” The International Loop” are available for purchase through the Finger Lakes Trail Conference at : Link here. Sale of the maps benefits the FLTC and help defray costs associated with the upkeep of our trail system.

The turn-out for the hike was better than I expected, given the wet weather we’d had overnight. The trails were muddy in spots, and water was flowing in the streams, but overall condition were still very good for an August hike. Several hikers commented that the trails we hiked today were in excellent condition despite the damage from recent windstorms in the area.

It was one of the gloomier hikes I’ve been on recently; Leigh Ann likened it to the mid-day gloom you would associate with an eclipse.

Setting off from our cars on Daisy Hollow Rd the group hiked into the preserve, jumping almost immediately onto the yellow blazed Jose Trail. This is turn led into the blue blazed Irvin Trail, which runs along or crosses over Christina Creek for a good length of its overall distance. We passed a small group of campers at a bivouac site; these were the only other people we saw on trail all morning. Much of this section of the Irvin Trail is a switchback, so the footpath sticks close to the creek even as the trail climbs the hillside away from Daisy Hollow Rd. Eventually the Irvin Trail reaches a flat section that runs north and east before connecting to the Spanish Loop Trail.

The hikers took the Spanish Loop trail as far as Adams Rd before turning around, stopping along the way to check out some small ponds and make a trail journal entry. Eventually the group left the Spanish Loop on the return leg of the hike and returned to the Irvin Trail and from there the red blazed English Loop, which passed through some nice stands of small pines on its way back to Daisy Hollow Rd.

We got back to our cars a few minutes early; I will need to continue to tweak our regular route here to use our full hiking time more effectively.

A warm welcome to hiker Rogelio and his canine hiking partner Sheridan on their first hike with the group!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, August 7

Sweedler Preserve/Lick Brook

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Seventeen hikers and one dog met at the Shady Corners parking lot off of Rt. 13 to hike east up Lick Brook. This is a great hike. We headed over to Lick Brook Falls, then took the blue trail up to Townline Road. From there, we crossed over to the orange trail, then took the upper blue trail south across the creek and back to Townline. From there, we retraced our steps, but we took the gentler and differently scenic FLT down to the base of the falls rather than do the blue trail again.

We were happy to experience the new holding pattern for weather: highs are in the 70s for the next 10 days, and although the humidity is still high, the temperature is more seasonable for this location. We made it back to the cars in 4.1 miles, 2 hours, and about 700 feet of elevation gain.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, August 10

O.D. von Engeln Preserve, Freeville

Hike report by Roger Beck

Twenty-five hikers and two dogs gathered at the O. D. von Engeln Preserve on West Malloryville Road. It was sunny and in the high seventies, lovely hiking weather. A highlight was seeing the many pitcher plants at and near the Florence Beck Boardwalk. Florence was my aunt (Aunt Flossy) and she was a real nature lover. 

In about half an hour we left the preserve, went up past my deceased brother Bob’s and his wife Gwen’s house and proceeded to the abandoned Leigh High Valley railroad bed. We stopped at the first trestle where, a short time ago, I had worked with a hydraulic excavator and a group of people to remove a lot of logs and brush that had washed up against the pilings of the trestle. 

We continued and crossed the next trestle then turned into the woods and climbed up onto the mile long esker that the area is known for. It was beautiful seeing the sun glistening off Fall Creek and up through the trees.

Soon we came to the beaver dam, crossed it and admired the Great Blue Heron rookery where two months ago there had been half a dozen or more young high up in the nests.

We hiked along the esker a bit farther, then retraced our route along the railroad bed back through the von Engeln and to our cars. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 11

Logan Hill Nature Preserve, Candor

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Eighteen hikers and two dogs met at the Candor HS parking lot for a lovely hike on Logan Hill. This Nature Conservancy preserve has a varied and satisfying hike on well-marked trails. Most of the almost 700 feet of elevation gain on this 4.2-mile hike is at the beginning, in the half mile from where Water Rd. becomes seasonal.

The weather was clear and summer morning cool at the beginning. By the end a front had moved in with spooky, atmospheric clouds. In the future, this hike could be on a Saturday rather than a Sunday so folks can head to the goat dairy in Candor for some yummy cheeses.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, July 31

Shindagin Hollow State Forest

Hike report by Mary Weiz

With a threat of light rain and some precipitation, eleven Hikers met on South Road in the Town of Caroline at the FLT crossing to hike eastward for 3.9 miles to Old 76 Road. And, with a bit of hiker’s luck, little to no rain reached our hats or shoulders during our time in the woods. 

This hike takes hikers predominantly through Shindagin Hollow State Forest until reaching Boyer Creek near Old 76 Rd at which point hikers travel a short distance on private land with current permission to do so. 

This is a typical hardwood forest with a  pleasing overstory, shrub layer, ferns and ground cover layers throughout. It’s an out and back on the FLT with a hefty elevation gain (500-1700 feet depending on the source of information) on the return leg when beginning from South Road. The trail was generally clear with only one blow-down walk-around. Many thanks to those who host clearing this section.

On this last day of July summer 2024, the air temperature reached up into the high 70’s, but it was the humidity that was challenging. This particular hike (IMO) can be classified as this summer’s sweatiest to date.

Here’s a shout-out of thanks to two pre-hikers and one canine who took the hike with me on Tuesday, which was nearly as humid.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, August 3

Finger Lakes Trail through Lower Treman

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Fifteen hikers gathered at the Shady Corners parking lot on 13, to hike under 13 and west on the FLT. This was another humid day that felt cool when you weren’t moving, but once you started moving was like being in a rain storm. This is an out-and-back that can have 1000+ feet of elevation gain, depending on how far you go, so people went at their own paces. Some folks returned to the cars early after turning around right at the 1-hour mark. Others got all the way to the rim trail and took the stairs down to the overlook of the gorge trail and returned at 11:45 after 6 miles. It’s a satisfying hike, however far you go, and it’s one of our best “cliffs of insanity” for sustained steepness.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Many of these hikers went to Roger and Gunilla’s beautiful place for the hiker’s picnic/cookout right afterward, and we met many more people there.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 4

Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Dave Bock

18 hikers and 2 dogs met on Connecticut Hill, with the temperature a bit cooler and the humidity a bit lower than the recent sweltering days. A short walk down Lloyd Starks Rd brought us to the trailhead, where 2 potential hikers opted out. Now 16 hikers + 2 dogs strong, we climbed through a somewhat brushy area along one of the DEC cuts before entering the forest. The trail was fairly flat and in great shape as it looped eastward through some lovely woods. Along the way, one of the dogs lost contact with its owner and headed back, the owner following in hopes of finding her pet and then catching up with the group. Our troupe of now 15 + a dog continued the hike to a nice view across the valley that’s home to the hamlet of Newfield, with layers of hills beyond. Upon our return to the main trail we were met by hiker and dog, happily reunited; hearing our voices, they were able to take a shortcut to rejoin the group. The trail stayed in the forest quite a while before crossing the road for a brief — and hotter — walk across a recently mowed field. From there it was woods and more woods as we headed mostly downhill to parallel a deep ravine before emerging at a large pond formed by a wide and tall beaver dam. A short trail later led us back to the road near our initial point of entry, leaving us only the quick walk back up Lloyd Stark to the cars. All hikers and dogs accounted for, we wrapped up 7 minutes early and 4 miles healthier!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.