ithacahikers

 

Hello Hikers!

 

Wed Sept 5

Woods road walk  —  Bald Hill Road, Danby SF

We set our start time for a half-hour early in an attempt to beat the heat  —  didn’t work, it was 78 and very humid at 9 and 85 and even more humid by 11  —  in theory a woods road is a great walk for a hot day, except it was really pretty stifling this time  —  very pretty scenery, though

Official head count:  13H, three D

 

 

Sat Sept 8

Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area  —  Hike #9  —  Boylan-Hulford  —  with Dave B

Great walk into a new part of Connecticut Hill for us  —  it required a little carpool ride for a few minutes after we met up because there was limited parking at the actual trail head  —  first time our group ever did a shuffle like this  —  piece of cake

The scenery in the new area was generally first-rate  —  the walk included a stretch on the Finger Lakes Trail, and I was interested to notice that the scenery here was quite dull, scrubby and ordinary compared to the other parts of the hike  —  the FLT is basically the only marked trail in the entire wildlife management area, so it’s the only view you can get of this big area unless you’re with someone who knows the unmarked trails, like we were

Dave B managed to stage and pace the hike so we finished in almost exactly two hours.  We also had our freelance hike leader Dave G with us  —  he’s one of a very small number of people who know the unmarked trails here  —  he brought up the rear and made sure no one got left behind

Official head count:  16H, seven D

 

 

 

Sunday Sept 9

Lindsay Parsons Biodiversity Preserve, West Danby

Official head count:  30H, seven D

More photos:

Jack V

Our official hike photographer Tiger generally doesn’t take close-up photos of the hikers, but she did get a close-up this time that I thought has a very nice feeling to it:

Hello Hikers!

 

 

Wed Aug 29

Stevens Suspension Bridge to Beebe Lake, Forest Home

Tiger forgot to bring her camera, so we don’t have any official photos for this hike.  You can see Jack V’s nature shots here, plus several shots of the hikers.

It was on the borderline of being too  hot to walk  —  bearable only because the terrain was pretty flat and there was a good bit of shade  —  and we stopped at the Cornell Dairy Bar midway through the hike for ice cream.

Official head count:  18H, threeD

 

 

 

Sat Sept 1

Finger Lakes National Forest  —  Potomac Road trails

We had to abandon our original planned route after a few minutes when we abruptly came to a very large hornets’ nest dangling just about head height in the center of the walking path and swarming with bees  —  no way to circumvent it  —  Jack V had scouted the trail two days before and he said the nest wasn’t there then.

Our new route brought us to a long stretch of plank boardwalk  —  a number of the planks were missing and some had holes in them where you could easily break an ankle  —  made for some tense moments  —  but it was fun, in a way

Official head count:  20H, five D

More photos:

Jack V

 

 

 

Sunday Sept 2

Woods road walk  —  Curtis Road, Danby SF

Official head count:  30H, four D

More photos:

Jack V

 

 

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

 

All photos in this report are by Tiger

 

 

Wed Aug 22

Buttermilk Falls SP  —  gorge trail, rim trail and Bear Trail

I don’t schedule group hikes along Buttermilk gorge because I figure everyone hikes here on their own escorting their own house guests and visitors up ans down the trail  —  then our group suddenly got two visiting guests of our own, and there we were with all the other tourists, gawking at the sights.

I think it’s always better to start at the top and get the first exposure going downhill  —  that way you’re not distracted from the scenery by gasping for breath or wondering if you might be having a heart attack

Of course the visitors were bowled over, but the rest of us had a great time too, even though this walk is probably very familiar to most people  —  it was a beautiful day and everything looked lovely

After we got back up to the upper level the group got fractured and there were hikers scattered everywhere for a while

We all bumped into each other at the end and it was fun to rejoin

This really is a fantastic hike even if it’s very touristic  —  definitely worth doing once in a while

Official head count:  17H, three D

More photos:

Jack V

 

 

 

Sat Aug 25

Woodard Road NW to Hines Road and beyond, Enfield

The first leg of the hike was extremely overgrown  —  and lots of poison ivy!

Official head count:  20H, six D

 

 

Sunday Aug 26

South Danby Road east to the Tamarack Lean-to on the FLT

Official head count:  28H, six D

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

All photos in this hike report are by Tiger

 

 

Wed Aug 15

Bike trails, Shindagin Hollow SF  —  before the mountain bikers are out

Official head count:  17H, three D

More photos:

Annie

 

 

Sat Aug 18

Hammond Hill SF, ski trails

For the second Saturday in a row, it began to rain shortly before hike time when it wasn’t supposed to  —  we drove out to the trail head through a brisk sprinkle

We’ve learned not to expect much of a turnout on a rainy morning  —  but there’s a small but very faithful group that actually likes to walk in the rain

It wasn’t raining as hard as it did last Saturday and the trees provided some shelter, so it was actually quite pleasant

The scenery in the dim lighting looked exceptionally nice

After a while the rain stopped and a lovely pale light emerged

The week before we cancelled our visit to Hopshire because we were all soaked  —  this time we stayed dry

Great fun at the brewery, laughing infectiously and wolfing salted snacks

Official head count:  NineH, two D

 

 

 

Sunday Aug 19

Taughannock Falls SP  —  gorge trail and rim trail

Official head count:  21H, six D

More photos:

Jack V

 

 

 

Hello Hikers!

 

All photos in this report are by Tiger

 

 

Wed Aug 8

Potato Hill SF, Caroline

It was supposed to rain but not until early afternoon  —  the meet-up site was very atmospheric  —  foggy, misty and very humid

It began to get ominously dark…..

Started to feel a few drops.

 

 

After about 15 minutes in , it started to pour. Very few people had a rain coat. Some people headed back to the cars, but the rest of us kept going. We turned around 15 minutes early because the trail got too slippery. The rain kept up heavily the whole time.

I took these last 2 shots under the shelter of my car’s hatchback.

Even though the rain continued several hikers kept walking to make the full 2 hours.

The rain finally stopped on the way home.

Official head count:  15H, 2D

More photos:

Annie

 

 

Sat August 11

Jim Schug Trail, Dryden

This wasn’t supposed to be a rainy day  —  then they changed the forecast a couple of hours before hike time, and it ended up raining on the drive out and back home, and for a lot of the walk itself.

No one wanted to walk through the big field or climb the slippery hill that we were scheduled to do, so we walked up the Jim Schug Trail.

It was extremely lovely in the wet conditions, misty and colorful

On the final stretch of the walk the rain was really coming down.  I was soaked all the way to my underwear.

We decided to put off the stop at Hopshire for another day;  we figured they probably wouldn’t have the heat on there and we’d get chilled sitting around in soaked clothes.

I realize not everyone is into walking in heavy rain, but it really was extremely nice.

Official head count:  11H, 5D

 

 

Sun August 12

Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area  —  with Dave B

Official head count:   30H, 6D

More photos:

Annie

Jack V