ithacahikers

Wednesday, December 31

South Hill Rec Way from Burns Road

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers and two dogs met on Burns Rd in the Town of Ithaca for the groups inaugural hike of a portion of the Coddington Valley Rail Trail extension of the South Hill Rec Way: https://www.townofcaroline.org/index/project-south-hill-rec-trail-ext.

The new trail is still a work in progress and only open between Burns and Banks Roads, so for now I’ve included it as part of the South Hill Rec Way hike listing , hike # 2-3.

Once the Coddington Valley Rail Trail is fully open to its junction with the FLT near Ridgeway Rd in the Town of Caroline I’ll give it its own listing on the hikes page.

The new trail only opened this fall and sees much less use than the South Hill Rec Way. Yesterday when I pre-hiked part of the trail between Burns and German Crossroads the trail surface of crusty snow was almost unbroken, and the wind was somewhat brutal in the field crossings. Today while I was waiting for the hikers to arrive, I watched hikers on the South Hill Rec Way approaching Burns RD slipping on the icy and more heavily used trail surface there.

After a quick group photo the hikers set off down the trail, our footsteps a series of loud sharp crunches as hikers broke through the crusty snow layers. We quickly passed the houses immediately off the trail and continue onto the recently re-opened former railbed.

The sun was out and shone brilliantly on the fresh white of the snow. There was no wind as I had encountered the previous day, making this hike much more enjoyable.

Along this section of trail there are some drainage issues with standing water that ultimately will need to be addressed. Today most of that water was frozen and relatively safe to walk on with foot traction.

In addition to our own footprints in the unbroken snow today the group encountered the abundant tracks of many different small wildlife, squirrels, voles, deer. etc on and along the rail trail.

Many of the trees along the rail trail are prominently posted with no trespassing signs. I would advise hikers to stay on the footpath in order to maintain peace with the adjoining property owners.

In addition to the elevated stream crossings and the utility right of ways, there are several traces of what I assume are remnants of the rails former existence sprinkled along the rail trail; bits of concrete and steel, as well as remnants of fencing still standing from past generations of agricultural use of the surrounding land.

The trail passes over several elevated stream crossings such as are found along the South Hill Rec Way. The path crosses over a couple of open fields that serve as utility line right of ways and offer good views across the valley; these remind me of similar rights-of-ways along the trails in Kennedy Forest.

The first road crossing is German Crossroads, and from the number of tracks in the snow it’s obvious that the trail section between Banks and German Crossroads gets much more use than the section between Burns Rd and German Crossroads. There is no good parking along German Crossroads, but we ultimately discovered that there is a nice small parking area on Banks Rd that people seem to be using when hiking this section of rail trail. Given the number of people who park on Burns Rd to use the South Hill Rec Way, it might be better for people wanting to use the Coddington Valley Rail Trail to start their individual hike from the Banks Road parking area.

Beyond Banks Rd the trail soon arrives at a washed-out portion that was conveniently at the turn-around time for the hike.

The group made their way back to the cars, each hiker at their own pace over the now well-trodden pathway.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, January 4

Lick Brook from Townline Road

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Twenty-three hikers and two dogs on leashes met where Townline Rd. crosses Lick Brook for a shiny, icy, adventurous hike to where the FLT goes under Rt. 13 and back. There had been some snowy days, then warm days that created deep slush for footprints, which had frozen hard by our hike. It made for very tilty places to put our feet all the way down the white trail on our outbound leg. Very adventurous hiking. After admiring the frozen waterfall and enjoying some relatively flat terrain to Rt. 13, we went carefully up the blue trail and returned to the cars with 13 minutes to spare before the two-hour mark. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 24

Cayuga Trail South Loop

Hike report by Nancy Lorr

6 hikers gathered on the morning of Christmas Eve at the Flat Rock Parking Lot for a hike a long Fall Creek. We started by bouncing across the suspension bridge and then headed upstream along the creek. No spikes were needed. We reached Freese Road and crossed the closed road bridge to continue along the creek on south side. After reaching a good creek viewpoint, we turned around for a relaxing hike back.

View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.

Saturday, December 27

Texas Hollow State Forest, Hector

Hike report by Mark Sussman

On Saturday, December 29 nine hikers and one dog met at Texas Hollow State Forest for a hike in the newly fallen snow. There was about 4-6 inches on the ground which made the going slow, but the sights beautiful. The temperature was mild with no wind. 

We started on the beautiful Blue Loop to the Finger Lakes trail, and then a little further. Some hikers went partway up the hill looking for the fabled coyote den, but did not discover any recent activity. The rest of the group headed back on the Finger Lakes Trail. We all reunited at the first pond. We only covered about 3 miles in 2 hours, but stopped frequently to enjoy the ambiance and explore.

Sunday, December 28

Lime Hollow Nature Center, Cortland

Hike report by Jim

Seventeen hikers met in the Lime Hollow Nature Center parking lot on Gracie Road in Cortland County for a hike of the easterly trails of Lime Hollow. This was a variation of hike 37 from our hikes page: hike #37 – ithacahikers.

We have recently split the Lime Hollow hike into two different hikes, east and west of Gracie Rd, to take advantage of some of the Lime Hollow trails we’ve ignored in the past.

My original plan for this hike was to hike several of the blue, white, green and red trails that run off of the Lehigh Valley Trail. However, I found that the fresh powdery snow of the last couple of days was a much more difficult slog for me than I had anticipated. I had expected that given the amount of use the Lime Hollow trails see that the footpath would have a much more compacted walking surface than what we encountered.  As we drew near one of the Marl ponds that border the trail, I decided to simply turn the group around and retrace our route, as that simple rail trail section had taken us nearly an hour in the snow.

Some of the hikers expressed an interest in taking the Maple Run trail to Chicago Bog, and a small subset of the group did make that side trip. The remainder of the group went straight back to their cars.

We did encounter some dog walkers during our hike but for the most part had the trails to ourselves.

Wednesday, December 17

Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers met at the fisherman’s pull-off just east of the Route 13 bridge at Lower Creek Rd for a hike of some of the Monkey Run trails. This is hike # 6-2 on our hikes page: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-6.

The skies were clear at the start of the hike, and temps were higher than they’ve been in recent days. None of the rain we’re told will be arriving soon was apparent as hikers arrived today.

The Cornell University gun hunting season Monkey Run trail closure officially ended today, but from the well-worn condition of the trails we hiked today, that hasn’t been stopping other hikers from using these trails since the recent snowfall. During our hike we saw only a couple of hikers with a dog sharing the trails with us.

Hikers passed under the “new” bridge; I was reminded today by a hiker that the “new” bridge has been in use longer than the couple of years I always think of it as having been. Once on the other side of the bridge we entered the woods and hiked the red-blazed trail, following the bank of Fall Creek. Along this section of trail, the group encountered the first of several large blow down trees we would encounter during the hike. This part of the trail is particularly enjoyable as you walk along the creek on one side of the trail while the opposite side of the trail is remarkable for the many large pine trees you pass through and alongside.

We had one or two uneventful water crossings and by-passed a couple of side trails as we hiked in a westerly direction. Reaching the side trail to the Monkey Run Rd parking area we took that trail, crossed the parking area and continued on the orange blazed trails. Reaching the junction with the yellow blazed trails we took that route to the high bluffs observation area where the yellow and red blazed trails meet.

From there we returned to the red blazed trail and took that trail all the way back to our cars. There were a decent number of small descending hills in this direction of travel, but all of our hikers picked their way carefully up and down the various snow-covered hills without incident. I had intended to include a portion of the Dryden Rail Trail to create a looping route on the return portion of the hike but decided that it was more enjoyable to stay along the creek and in the woods. The rest of the group seemed to agree with this decision.

By the time we reached the Route 13 bridge the sun was out with a brilliance that is uncommon in the usually overcast Ithaca winter seasons…..

Saturday, December 20

Dabes Diversion Loop, Kennedy SF, Cortland County

Hike report by Jim

Fourteen hikers and one dog met at the junction of Hauck Hill and Bleck Roads in Cortland County for a looping hike of the Dabes Diversion Loop, a section of the FLT and the Kuzia Cut Off, led by hike leader Leigh Ann V. This is hike #40-2 on our hikes page: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-40.

Today’s hike entirely took place on FLT Map Sheet ” Virgil Mountain Area Loops”, available for purchase from the Finger Lakes Trail Conference in paper or electronic formats at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/. Sale of the map sheets helps to defray the on-going costs of trail maintenance.

The day was cold but clear after the previous days high winds, rain and snow melt from recent high temps. As this hike in Virgil tends to see more snow than Ithaca, there was still a decent amount of snow along the trail, even if the footpath itself was mostly clear of snow and had periodic patches of ice. The sun was out but partially obscured by clouds so that the remaining snow wasn’t as blinding to hikers as it might have otherwise been.

Part of the planned hike route was to go to the near-by Foxfire Lean-To, but Leigh Ann skipped that location as she believed that the lean-to was occupied by section hikers spending the night there. We only learned later in the hike from members of the FLTC holiday hike that had started its own hiking event on the same trail shortly after our hike that Santa himself was staying at the lean-to waiting for hikers to arrive.

Our group ended up getting back to our cars much earlier than planned.

For those hikers tracking their 2025 FLT miles for an FT 50 or FLT100 patch, today’s hike included 3.2 FLT miles.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, December 21

Lloyd Starks Road Walk, Connecticut Hill, Newfield

Hike report by Jim

Eleven hikers met at the junction of Boylan and Lloyd Starks Rd for what was mostly a road walk hike, with the main group led by Dave B in a looping route from Lloyd Starks Rd to Carter Creek Rd, Cabin Rd and back to the cars on Boylan Rd.

Light snow fell during much of the hike.

Some of us found Lloyd Starks Rd to be so slippery even with foot traction that we opted to duck into the woods and take ski trails and logging roads back over the hill towards the cars.

View Nancy Lorr and Randy Olson’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 10

Six Mile Creek, Mulholland Wildflower Preserve

Hike report by Jim

Twelve hikers and one dog met in the parking lot of the Mullholland Wildflower Preserve for a hike of the trails there as well as a visit to Wells Falls ( Businessman’s Lunch ) across Giles Street below the falls there. this is hike #1 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-1

The Wildflower Preserve trails were in good condition, although there was a slick icy walking surface, probably due to the volume of traffic that uses these trails.

No one else was in the parking lot as hikers arrived, and we only saw one other couple with a dog while we were on the hike.

The day was generally overcast and cool, and on the open bluff above second dam there was a cold wind blowing. The days snow held off until the group was done with our hike.

Our hikers left the parking lot, walking the blue blazed trail along the creek. Water levels were decent, and a good amount of water was flowing in the creek today. We paused for a group photo in a small grove of trees that offers a good view of the ice-covered cliff face on the opposite side of the creek. Occasionally when the water levels are low I’ll take the group closer to second dam along these lower trails, but we didn’t have that opportunity today.

We climbed the gradual hill towards the second dam access road, turning onto the path that skirts along the hillside towards second dam. There was a good view of the dam and reservoir today through the bare tree limbs. The one creek crossing on this trail was solidly sheathed in ice, but everyone made it across that obstacle without incident

Reaching the access road the group walked to second dam where we paused for a while before turning around and following the access rod back to Giles Street.

Theres a fairly new sidewalk along Giles Street that we took back to the bridge above first dam. The group crossed the bridge and turned into the downhill path towards the falls area. We skipped the upper blue blazed trail that crests the hill and comes down at the dam, due to trail conditions. This shaved a few minutes off of the normal hike duration.

The group came out at the bottom of the Wells Falls area. The cliffs opposite our viewing area were not as solidly ice-covered as it sometimes is, and while we were there some of the ice peeled away from the rocks and crashed to the creek below.

The hikers returned to the parking area, ending the hike significantly sooner than is normal. The snow commenced shortly thereafter.

Saturday, December 13

Woodard Road east into upper Robert Treman SP, Enfield

Hike report by Dave Bock

An overcast morning and a few flurries greeted 27 hikers and 2 dogs for an outing in and near Upper Treman S.P.. Setting off from Woodard Rd., we headed east on the FLT to reach a park access road that connected us to the Rim Trail. That soon led us to a winter-wonderland view of Lucifer Falls. The waterfall itself wove in an out of a massive sheet of ice, and the gorge’s rock walls offered ledges adorned with countless icicles. on the way back from the overlook, the group bifurcated, most doing a short bushwhack to reach the FLT for an out-and-back, others exploring more established trails. On the eventual trek back toward the trailhead patchy blue skies and moments of sun began to warm the morning. The two groups reunited back at the cars — all but 1 accounted for. As a few hikers were about to mount a search, a welcome text response relieved our concern. All’s well that ends well!

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Nancy Lorr and Randy Olson’s photo album.

Sunday, December 14

YMCA Outdoor education trails

Hike report by Jim

Fifteen hikers and three dogs met on Mecklenburg Rd at the YMCA Outdoor Education Center, for a looping hike that included trails within the YMCA property and nearby Ecovillage. This hike is not listed on our hikes list.

Normally on our hikes here I include a short segment of the Coy Glen Cornell Botanical Gardens property that lies between these two parcels, there’s a nice short red blazed trail that runs along the top of Coy Glen ravine. As I found out on a recent pre-hike of the trails for todays event, that trail segment is still closed by Cornell for hunting season for a couple more days. As a result, we had to stay within the YMCA property a bit longer than normal, and the hike ran overtime. Thanks to everyone for hanging in for the longer hike duration.

Overnight snowfall had left an inch or two of light powder on the ground, and as the hike started the trees were shedding a fine mist of snow from their branches. The sun wasn’t out at first but did eventually appear, giving us a mottled sunny day through the tree branches around us without hitting us with blinding white light reflecting off the fresh snow.

Today’s route started on the blue blazed trail that loops around the outside edge of the YMCA property, but I soon turned off that loop and took a combination of red, white and pink blazed trails that eliminates a section of the blur blazed loop that’s perpetually either wet or icy depending on the season. Anyone who missed the hike who might want to check out the property will want to bring a map to help them navigate the trail system here.

There are a couple of blow-down trees across the trails that are easy to navigate around until they can be cleared away.

The group returned to the blue blazed loop and bypassed the Cornell property before finally exiting onto the Ecovillage trail system which I have rely on notes I’ve made from previous hikes here to navigate successfully because the Ecovillage trails aren’t blazed in any way. A quick circuit around the Ecovillage fields brought us back to trails leading back onto YMCA property. From there we returned to the cars via the same selection of trails we’d used on the outbound leg of the hike.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, December 3

Shindagin Hollow Road east to South Road on the FLT, Brooktondale

Hike report by Roger

Five hikers embraced the 25F weather and eight inches of snow to begin heading east on the Finger Lakes Trail from Braley Hill Road. After seeing too much snow on the lower, unplowed, part of Shindagin Hollow Road the hike was changed to Braley Hill Road. My apologies to anyone who missed the last minute change. For half or so of our hike, we enjoyed bright sunshine coming through the trees and sparkling back at us from the snow cover. It was slow going, slogging through the snow and, me being the leader most of the time, we made frequent rest stops. Two faster hikers made it almost to the steep downslope to Shindagin Hollow Road.

We headed back after a little less than an hour but, getting back to our cars, felt like we’d hiked quite a bit longer.

Saturday, December 6

Upper Buttermilk Falls State Park from Yaple Road

Hike report by Greg

Fifteen hikers gathered on Yaple rd. While temperatures were just below freezing  again and snow covered ground greeted us there was no wind, all in all fine hiking weather. We altered the planned route as the eastern loop of lake Treman is closed until Spring ‘26. Instead we headed down the western Treman Lake trail to take the Bear Trail, and on to the Rim trail.15 minutes later we retraced our steps. For some  hikers it was quite short of 2 hours but no for one more than 2.

A few of us think we have a location for our winter cook out. More later on that.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.