Wednesday, March 11
Taughannock Falls State Park
Hike report by Mark Sussman
On Wednesday, August 11, eight hikers and one dog met at the Taughannock overlook for the hike. The weather looked questionable and once we got into the woods at North Taughannock the rain was coming down pretty steadily. We thought about turning back, but by the time we hit the rim trail it was just a drizzle, and the rain didn’t really pick up again. We looped through the Cataract trail, then down the South RIm Trail till we turned around and headed back to the overlook. We hiked a little over 4 miles, and finished about 10 minutes early.
We were joined by new hiker Bob.
Saturday, March 14
Shindagin Hollow Bike Trails
Hike report by Kathy K.
Happy Pi day!
9 hikers and 3 dogs enjoyed a pretty winter hike with 2″ of fresh snow in Shindagin Hollow.
Welcome to new hiker Kristin (and her two dogs) who just moved to Ithaca last month and already has found us! And new hiker Bob joined us last Wednesday and came back for more!
A modified version of Hike #28-3, we started at the northern Braley Hill parking lot and made our way up two of the Yellow bike trails #8 and then #6 to the top of Bald Hill School Road; then north a mile or so on Bald Hill School Road, and turned to come down Leonard “road” (narrow, dirt, rutted- not for cars) with its lovely little waterfalls beside the road.;finally walking along Central Chapel and Braley Hill Roads to the parking area.
Foot traction was helpful today- although it was just warm enough to stick to my microspikes.
Note: the bike trails are not very well labeled- it’s a fun area to explore but nice to have a map with you (there’s a big kiosk at the parking lot too). Leonard Road is a fun walk on its own but you CANNOT drive a car up it (especially with a big tree across); you can park at the bottom.
Sunday, March 15
Monkey Run Natural Area, south side of Fall Creek, Varna
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Twenty-one hikers and two dogs on leashes set out west from the South Monkey Run parking lot for this lasso-shaped hike on the Cayuga Trail system. Our route took us through woods, across fields, and along Fall Creek, including at the top of the bluffs on the south side of the creek. It was a nice morning for late winter: not exactly cold, not exactly warm, with little bits of completely manageable snow in some of the shadows, and a milky blue sky. This is an easy route for people to leave early because we pass back by the cars on our way east from South Monkey Run, and some people chose to do this. After about 4.3 miles and almost 500 feet of elevation gain, fifteen hikers arrived at the cars at 11:38 a.m.
