Wednesday, August 13
The FLT in Danby State Forest from 96B to the Tamarack Lean-to
Hike report by Casey
11 Ithaca Hikers met at the corner of Durfee Hill Road and Route 96B in Danby for hike #23-2 .
Last Sunday’s hike went from South Danby Road on the FLT, to and past the Tamarac lean to. This hike covers the same part of the FLT but starting from the opposite direction. This was a simple out and back which gave everyone the chance to hike at exactly their own pace. The faster hikers got about ¾ of a mile from the South Danby Road access point when they turned around. Since they managed to get back a little ahead of the two hour goal, it is a safe bet that in the future the faster hikers may go all the way to South Danby Road, turn around, and get back not more than 5 minutes after 2 hours.
I would not want to try that starting from the other direction because when you start at 96 B you fairly soon encounter a formidable uphill that just goes on and on for quite a climb. You would not want to do that in the middle of your hike. But getting it out of the way up front and then being able to pick up lots of time coasting down that hill on the way back seems to work just fine.
We managed to get in 4.6 miles.
As usual for this hike there were a few people who didn’t get the memo about not trying to arrive via Durfee Hill Road due to its roughness.
Saturday, August 16
Lick Brook from Townline Road
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Twenty-one hikers and one dog on leash hiked from Townline Road, down the FLT to Lick Brook Falls, over to the railroad tressle, back up the blue trail to the cars. Eleven of these continued around the orange-blue trails loop in Thayer preserve back to the cars. This is a short (appx. 3 miles) but steep-in-sections route. Fortunately, there are several options that let people choose their own adventure to some degree, with enough places where we come back together and communicate about who is choosing which option. These options include whether you turn around after seeing Lick Brook Falls, whether you take the blue trail or the white FLT trail back up to the cars, and whether you do the orange-blue Thayer loop or leave early. We communicated well amongst ourselves about who chose to do what.
We reliably stop for a few minutes to admire Lick Brook falls on this hike. Instedad, today we stopped for about 15 minutes to walk all across the base of the falls, which were astonishingly dry. There is usually enough splashing, crashing water that crossing the stream to get anywhere near the base of the falls is a challenge, as is doing the stream crossing to get to the railroad tressle. Not today. And the normally challenging stream crossing to get to the railroad tressle was also dry. Heat aside, this was a lovely route, and we were delighted to find that someone had given the often-overgrown section of trail between the falls and tressle some weed-wacking. All the hikers had returned to the cars by 11:30, whichever choices of routes they took.
Sunday, August 17
Finger Lakes Trail from Woodard Road to Hines Road and beyond, Enfield
Hike report by Nina F.
Sixteen hikers and one dog met on Woodard Road in Enfield to hike a beautiful stretch of the Finger Lakes Trail through Upper Treman State Park. The first mile is quite hilly, with some steep elevation changes, but our hardy group made it look easy. On the second mile the trail levels out and winds through some picturesque fields, past an impressive stone wall and back into the woods to the turnaround point. On the return, two hikers left the group to take the faster route back to the cars along the road while the rest of the group returned through the woods.
