Saturday, February 14
Finger Lakes Trail from Schuyler County Veterans Memorial Park, Alpine
Hike report by Nancy Lorr
19 people and one dog gathered in a newly plowed parking area at Schyler County Veterans Memorial Park. I was fortunate to find an individual who was a member of the family that donated the land for the park who agreed to plow the parking lot for us. After some discussion we decided to hike East from there on the Finger Lakes Trail although the snow was about 3 inches deep. When we reached route 6 we crossed over the outlet creek of Cayuta Lake on the road bridge and turned onto Gulf Road a short distance to the continuation of the Finger Lake trail which took us along the edge of the picturesque snow covered Cayuta outlet. We hiked for about 2.5 miles total in the easterly direction and then retraced out steps back to the cars.
Hike report by Leigh Ann
After several weeks of wind chills too unfriendly for hiking, nineteen hikers and one dog on a leash met at the parking lot of the Schuyler County Veterans Memorial for a hike on the FLT. The group voted to head east toward Gulf Road and Hendershot Gulf.
We made it about 2.15 miles from the trailhead before turning around. There was less than 200 feet of elevation gain on this hike. However, even though only 1/4 mile was previously untrodden by feet or snowmobiles, it felt like about 500 feet of elevation gain with the 6 inches of snow on the ground. Still, it was a great hike for the many of us who’d been experiencing cabin fever.
And we discovered a treasure that may have been hidden in the snow: a child-sized, rather nice golf club. Norm claimed it and had a fun time whacking snow off the bridge with it.
View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.
Sunday, February 15
Stevens Suspension Bridge – Cornell natural areas
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Eighteen hikers were on this sunny and warm-for-February hike. We took our standard route west from the suspension bridge, around the golf course, and on the roads through the horse farm. (I spotted 22 horses today.) Then we headed down into the woods and along the top of the bluff, went town steps to the bottom of the bluff, and paralleled the creek to cross the suspension bridge again.
At that point, six hikers opted to go back to the cars, and the rest added a bit of mileage on the short red and blue trails on the north side of Forest Home Rd. The round trip was about 4.15 miles.
