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.
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.
