Wednesday, October 29
Finger Lakes Trail from White Church Rd., Brooktondale
Hike report by Jim
Thirteen hikers and a single dog met on White Church Rd in the Town of Caroline for a hike of the current and former FLT footpath along Wilseyville Creek.
This is hike # 24 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-24.
The morning was frosty, and the hills around us sheathed in various shades of brown and green. The fowl at the neighboring home who are usually vocal in objecting to our presence were noticeably quiet today.
Today’s hike took place entirely on FLT map sheet M18 Map sheets may be obtained in paper or electronic formats from the FLTC at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual…/…
Sale of the map sheets helps to offset the on-going costs of trail maintenance.
After the group photo we set off, crossing White Church Rd and entering the FLT. Here the FLT crosses an open field, the tall summer weeds now turned brown in the fall. The trail exits the field and enters some woods, with a couple of rolling hills along the way that stop once or twice to give a hiker a good view of adjacent waterways.
The FLT takes a solid left turn and passes along several open fields and through earth cuts from the days when this section of trail was an active rail line. Soon we reached White Church Rd at Coddington Rd, where the FLT follows Coddington Rd until it turns into the Eberhard Preserve.
Rather than road walk up Coddington Rd the main group turned around and retraced our path on the FLT. A few hardy souls in the group DID continue up Coddington Rd on their own for the remainder of the hike.
Reaching the FLT turn we had previously made, I led the group on what was the former route of the FLT prior to a trail re-route a couple of years ago. This section of trail will soon become part of the Coddington Valley Trail, which will connect the FLT to the South Hill Rec Way when it is completed: https://www.townofcaroline.org/…/project-south-hill-rec…
The group reached Ridgeway RD, where we took a minute to check the area on the opposite side of Ridgeway Rd where I expect the new trail will pass through eventually.
The group turned around and re-traced our route back to the FLT and from there back to White Church Rd and our cars.
For those hikers who are tracking their FLT miles for a 2025 FLT50 or FLT100 patch, I would count todays hike as 4 FLT miles. Since the group split up and had slightly different distances on the FLT, it’s up to hikers to measure their own mileage towards the patch.
Sunday, November 2
Monkey Run from Hanshaw Road
Hike report by Leigh Ann
What a brilliantly leaf-jewel shiny day for a hike! Thirty hikers and two dogs on leash headed south from the junction of Hanshaw and Lower Creek Road. We walked down to two “beaches” (that is, rocky places by the creek), up some steep stairs that were each about knee high. Then we travelled up and down through fields, small bridges, and creek beds until we got to the far end of the new section of trail the Ithaca Hikers built about a month ago. We returned without going down the steep stairs again, instead staying along the side of the fields at the top of the bluffs.
This difference in route on the way back meant we returned to the cars about 15 minutes early, having just hiked under 4 miles. Nobody seemed to mind coming back a bit early, and lots of people hung out chatting in the parking lot once we’d gotten back.
