Wednesday, September 3
Potato Hill State Forest, Caroline
Hike report by John D.
Eight Hikers gathered of a gorgeous sunny day where the FLT crosses Level Green Rd. In Caroline.
We travelled northeast on the FLT through Potato Hill SF and then the Summerland Farm Preserve. The muddy spots in the section through the state forest were fortunately on the drier side and easily passable. The understory through there is mostly open. We noticed ferns, wood asters, and Canada Mayflower, some bearing berries.
After the trail enters Summerland Farm Preserve there is a large field with views extending tens of miles to the east and west.
After the field the trail reenters the woods where we continued on with hikers turning around at different points for a total distance between 4 and 4.9 miles (the latter being Casey C. special).
Saturday, September 6
Sessions Hill and Forbes Rd intersection, Town of Homer
Hike report by Jim
Six hikers and one dog met in the Village of Dryden at the Kenny Van Sickle ballfield for an out-a-back hike on the Dryden Rail Trail. This is hike # 49-1 on our list of hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-49.
The morning was overcast with a light rain as the group started the hike. Soon the rain tapered off and we were alone on the trail, passing over several road crossings and along streambeds and open fields as we made our way towards the village of Freeville. Much of our route takes us along or through lands of the William George Agency. Most of the time I prefer to schedule this hike on Sundays when there is much less traffic and associated road noise on state route 38, but for whatever reason there was only light road traffic today
We reached Railroad Street in Freeville where we turned around and re-traced our route. The rain soon started again and persisted through the end of the hike, much stronger than at the start of the hike.
All in all, it was a very good hike despite the weather!
Sunday, September 7
Robinson Hollow State Forest, Richford
Hike report by Nina F.
Fifteen hikers and two dogs met at the tiny parking lot on Robinson Hollow Road to hike in Robinson Hollow State Forest (Hike #64-2). It was a cool but pretty morning and everyone seemed prepared for the hills this hike promised. Though the hike description mentions the initial hill at the start of the trail, we discovered that there were decent hills for much of the hike, making it a good workout in both directions.
Before we set off, we met and chatted with a through-hiker, who we later ran into again as he stopped for his morning snack. He walked with us for a bit until he moved on at a faster pace. We sidetracked off the main trail to make a stop at the Kimmee lean-to, and after a brief rest continued to our turn-around point at the stream, where the water level was much lower than normal despite rain the day before.
LeighAnn was tracking our elevation throughout the hike, and when we finished she let us know that we had gained 994 feet in elevation throughout the hike. Several hikers then chose to head back up the initial hill to get an extra six feet of elevation and make it an even 1,000 foot gain for the total hike!
