Saturday, June 6
Arnot Teaching Forest, Newfield
Hike report by Nina F.
Thirteen hikers, including two first timers with the Ithaca Hiking Club, met at the north side of Arnot Teaching and Research Forest in Newfield. This is a 4,200 acre parcel that serves as the largest actively managed forest owned by Cornell, providing a place for Cornell faculty and students to conduct research and educational activities. The forest consists mostly of mixed hardwoods over hilly terrain, and is home to one of two maple syrup research facilities operated by the Cornell Maple Program.
We hiked out and back along a dirt road, hiking up and down hills in
two counties – Tompkins and Schuyler. There were lovely wild flowers and lush vegetation on both sides of the road. The weather when we began was ominous and indeed, we were rained on for approximately 20 minutes early in our walk. Luckily, it didn’t last long and we had sunshine by the end of our hike, drying us all out.
Sunday, June 7
Hammond Hill, Dryden, From Time Square
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Twenty-four hikers and three dogs set out from Times Square on Hammond Hill (junction of Star Stanton and Canaan Roads) for this new hike. It’s a new hike because Star Stanton now is passable to cars and fairly wide from where it turns gravel to Times Square. This means that we can get to trails we normally wouldn’t have time to in a two-hour hike.
There’s parking for 6-7 cars right at Times Square, but lots more good parking coming up to the top of the last hill on Star Stanton, over on the right-hand side. Our route was Yellow 4 south, to Red 4 east, to Red 1 south (through a beautiful acre or two of hemlocks), to Red 2 north (through a beautiful acre or two of lady ferns in the undergrowth), to Yellow 4 north/west back to the cars.
This approximately 4.2-mile route had about 500 feet of elevation gain, and it took us 1 hour 52 minutes. It was very pleasant for a shady summer hike and could be nice even on a hot day.
