Hello Hikers!
Wed Nov 18
This report was written by Jim
Mulholland Wildflower Preserve to Potter’s Falls, Six Mile Creek
11 hikers met in the parking lot of the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve on Giles Street in the City of Ithaca.
There had been a recent snowfall, and so the ground and trees were covered with a good amount of snow. In fact there was enough snow covering the recent leaf-fall that I was soon regretting not having worn my winter boots with their lugged soles. The footing underneath was in spots unsafe. Other than that, it was an enjoyable walk along the blue blazed trails along the waterway.
After pausing briefly to admire the flowing stream, the group soon climbed the hills to meet the access road to Second Dam.
We made progress along that path to the overlook area beyond Second Dam, at which time we were met by a 12th hiker and his dog who had arrived late to the parking area.
The group continued beyond the overlook area, eventually coming to the area where we normally scale a hillside to a goat path that takes the group closer to Potters Falls. Based on the snow-covered conditions I felt that it was unsafe to proceed further, and turned the group around.
Returning to the original blue blazed path we continued Easterly, to an observation area below second dam. When there is a decent amount of water coming over the dam this spot never fails to impress, and so it was on this hike.
Following that brief pause the group returned to the parking area and our cars.
Since the group had turned around early we had an additional thirty minutes of hike time.
Some of the group had already returned to the blue blazed trails in an effort to recover a lost item.
Many of the remaining hikers chose to cross Giles Street and take the blue blazed trail on that side of the street to the “Businessman’s Lunch” falls area. I had often heard of this falls, but despite many years of living here had never walked the path to this particular falls. It was quite impressive and worth the extra few minutes to take that side trail.
More photos:
***********************
Sat Nov 21
This report was written by Jim
The photos were taken by Tiger
Taughannock Falls SP — gorge trail and rim trail
On Saturday November 21st approximately 18 hikers and 6 dogs met at the small parking area near the falls in Lower Taughannock Falls State Park. I say “approximate”, as there were hikers who continued to arrive after the group had started off towards the falls. As a result, I did not get a firm headcount on everyone.
The group did a quick trip the base of the falls, which had a decent amount of water flowing over it that day
Returning to the parking lot, the group crossed the near-by bridge in a Northerly direction.
Once across the bridge the group split into two sections, with one group taking the more direct stair route to the campground area and the North Rim Trail. The other half of the group took the more leisurely road approach to the area
Climbing the North Rim Trail while avoiding the significant number of other hikers and their own dog companions, the group stopped briefly at the overlook area before continuing on to the bridge that connects the North and South Rim Trails.
Both groups took the South Rim Trail back to the parking lot without incident.
A great day for a hike, but also a lot of other park patrons were out enjoying the scenery and weather.
More photos:
**********************************
Sun Nov 22
This report was written by Jim
Lime Hollow Nature Pr4eserve, McLean
14 hikers met in the parking lot to Lime Hollow Nature Center on Gracie Rd in Cortland Couty.
No companion animals were in attendance due to Nature Center rules.
It was a good hiking day, with cool temps and inclement weather that held off until nearly the end of the hike.
I had hiked other parts of the Nature Center a month or two ago with the group , and wanted to avoid parts of the Nature Center on this hike that I had found not so appealing the last time.
The group started Westerly on the Lehigh Valley trail. Once at the High Vista Loop we took that trail until we came around to a westerly leg that eventually took us South across Lehigh Valley to the Tundra ski trail loop. Our biggest issue of the hike was at this point, as the Nature Center map depicts some of the ski trails, but none of those trails are actually named.
We did most of the Tundra loop trail before cutting over to the Hermits Way trail over more ski trails.
I had done this part of the Nature Center trails on the last hike and found it much more appealing than the previous route I had taken.
The group hiked South on Hermits Way, before eventually turning North again on Fen Way.
Once the group was back on Lehigh Valley we turned Easterly, crossing over Gracie RD and continuing on Lehigh Valley until we reached Maple Run. Maple Run led to the Phillips Memorial Trail, which skirts the Chicago Bog. It was at this point that we had our only contact with other hikers over the entire time of our hike. I found it interesting that on a weekend the Nature Center had a fairly low attendance, which was good for our group.
A short detour to admire the bog, and then the group resumed our hike on the Memorial Trail. It was at this point that I had some concern for our route, as we were crossing paths that were not depicted on the map and had no signage. We reached a well-marked intersection of the Esker Connector, which in turn led us back to Maple Run. It was at around this time that precipitation in the form of sleet started raining down on us, although we were moving fairly quickly by that time and so the sleet was a minor annoyance at best.
Upon returning to Lehigh Valley Trail the group returned to our cars
Overall this was a good day for a hike, and an excellent bit of fall countryside to hike through. If others are going to hike any of these trails I would strongly recommend doing so with a map ( available on the Ithaca Hikers website at the hike description for this hike ) or smart phone app that will keep you on the correct trails.
More photos: