ithacahikers

Wednesday, September 3

Potato Hill State Forest, Caroline

Hike report by John D.  

Eight Hikers gathered of a gorgeous sunny day where the FLT crosses Level Green Rd. In Caroline. 

We travelled northeast on the FLT through Potato Hill SF and then the Summerland Farm Preserve. The muddy spots in the section through the state forest were fortunately on the drier side and easily passable. The understory through there is mostly open. We noticed ferns, wood asters, and Canada Mayflower, some bearing berries. 

After the trail enters Summerland Farm Preserve there is a large field with views extending tens of miles to the east and west. 

After the field the trail reenters the woods where we continued on with hikers turning around at different points for a total distance between 4 and 4.9 miles (the latter being Casey C. special). 

Saturday, September 6

Sessions Hill and Forbes Rd intersection, Town of Homer

Hike report by Jim

Six hikers and one dog met in the Village of Dryden at the Kenny Van Sickle ballfield for an out-a-back hike on the Dryden Rail Trail. This is hike # 49-1 on our list of hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-49.

The morning was overcast with a light rain as the group started the hike. Soon the rain tapered off and we were alone on the trail, passing over several road crossings and along streambeds and open fields as we made our way towards the village of Freeville. Much of our route takes us along or through lands of the William George Agency. Most of the time I prefer to schedule this hike on Sundays when there is much less traffic and associated road noise on state route 38, but for whatever reason there was only light road traffic today

We reached Railroad Street in Freeville where we turned around and re-traced our route. The rain soon started again and persisted through the end of the hike, much stronger than at the start of the hike.

All in all, it was a very good hike despite the weather!

Sunday, September 7

Robinson Hollow State Forest, Richford

Hike report by Nina F.

Fifteen hikers and two dogs met at the tiny parking lot on Robinson Hollow Road to hike in Robinson Hollow State Forest (Hike #64-2). It was a cool but pretty morning and everyone seemed prepared for the hills this hike promised. Though the hike description mentions the initial hill at the start of the trail, we discovered that there were decent hills for much of the hike, making it a good workout in both directions.

Before we set off, we met and chatted with a through-hiker, who we later ran into again as he stopped for his morning snack. He walked with us for a bit until he moved on at a faster pace. We sidetracked off the main trail to make a stop at the Kimmee lean-to, and after a brief rest continued to our turn-around point at the stream, where the water level was much lower than normal despite rain the day before. 

LeighAnn was tracking our elevation throughout the hike, and when we finished she let us know that we had gained 994 feet in elevation throughout the hike. Several hikers then chose to head back up the initial hill to get an extra six feet of elevation and make it an even 1,000 foot gain for the total hike! 

Wednesday, August 27

Finger Lakes National Forest

Hike report by Mark Sussman

Fifteen hikers and one dog met at Picnic Area Road in the Finger Lakes National Forest for the 5 Ponds Loop Hike. Although the weather forecast looked promising, we unfortunately started out in the rain. This certainly did not help on the slippery puncheons on the quarter of a mile stretch before Foster Pond. Some hikers wore spikes (which helped a lot), and some used poles, while some were just extra careful. Luckily no one slipped and fell on these treacherous board walks.

Once we got to Foster Pond, the rain had stopped, and the weather held up for the rest of the hike. The group enjoyed seeing all the ponds, and the walk overall. We finished very close to the 2 hour time window.

Saturday, August 30

Hammond Hill, Dryden

Hike report by John D.

Twenty-four hikers and two dogs met at the parking lot on Hammond Hill Road. Summer was missing-in-action but more than a few hikers were fine with that. It was a mostly sunny day and the trails were dry. This hike was entirely a woods hike with hints of a vista in the portion facing Route 38/Dryden Harford Rd.

The map posted at the trailhead is out of date. It does not include several recently added trails. However, our route was entirely on yellow trails so that map sufficed. We travelled Y1 -> Y3 -> Y8  -> Y4 -> Y5 -> Y6 -> Y1,  a total distance of 4.3 miles in a tad under two hours.

We encountered a few trail runners and one cyclist. I was happy for the latter having warned of that possibility. We also came across a hollow tree which appeared to have burned on the inside.  There was speculation as to whether this was from a lightning strike.

I was pleased to lose no one in my first time as hike leader.  Thanks to Leigh Ann for acting as sweep to make that happen.

After the hike two hikers went back to investigate the dilapidated shack seen from the trail. No word of their fate.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 31

Cayuga Trail north side, Varna cliffs, Ithaca

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Thirty-six hikers and three dogs on leash met at the Cornell Agricultural Plots on Freese Road for this out-and-back hike. We followed the North Monkey Run section of the Cayuga Trail over toward the junction of Hanshaw and Lower Creek Roads, where the people in front turned around. The trail conditions were excellent – well-mowed, dry, and easy to navigate – except for a heavily-traveled short stretch that the creek is undercutting. This is well known to be an opportunity for rerouting, and it looks like rerouting would dramatically increase the safety of that stretch once it happens.

The weather was stunning – really, it’s hard to imagine how it could have been better. Spirits were high as the long train of hikers stretched several tenths of a mile through the woods. It was fun to see and hear others across the wooded edges of gullies where the trail doubled back and coming down switchbacks to the creek. Everyone arrived back at the cars within two hours, and many stayed to chat for a while after that.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Saturday, August 23

Mundy Wildflower Gardens (Forest Home) to Beebe Lake Loop, Ithaca

Hike report by Nina F.

Twenty-seven hikers and two dogs met at Mundy Wildflower Gardens on a gorgeous day for a diverse and beautiful hike. We started by walking through Mundy Wildflower Gardens along a tranquil, shady path, left the Wildflower Gardens and crossed Judd Falls Road over to Cornell Botanic Gardens, where we made a loop around the stunning herb garden, seemingly still in full bloom, and from there to Beebe Lake and Sackett Bridge. We made a photo stop at the observation deck overlooking Fall Creek Cascades, walked around Beebe Lake and enjoyed the larger waterfall as we crossed the Beebe Dam Bridge on the West end of the Lake. From there we walked through the Forest Home neighborhood, former home of Pearl S. Buck, author of The Good Earth.

We spent the second half of the hike walking though F.R. Newman Arboretum – voted the #1 college arboretum – where we saw two young fawns, passed the sculpture garden, crossed a lovely marsh and wound our way back to our starting point. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 24

Black Diamond Trail southbound from Kraft Road

Hike report by Margaret F.

17 hikers and no dogs met at the intersection of Kraft Rd. and the Black Diamond trail on 8/24 for an out and back hike.  1 new hiker joined the group.  The weather was warm and sunny and the trail very conducive to conversation along the way.  The fastest hikers reported 7 miles round trip!  Margaret F. as hike leader completed 5 miles in the middle of group. 

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

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.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

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.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

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.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Wednesday, August 6

South Hill Rec Way/Six Mile Creek, south side, rim trail

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers and one dog met on Crescent Place in the city of Ithaca for a hike of the South Hill Rec Way and associated blue blazed trails led by Anne B. This is hike #2-1 on our list of regular hike locations:  https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-2.

Conditions were warm and sunny, with just a hint of the haze from the Canadian wildfires in the air.

The group left Crescent Place and walked a short way on the Rec Way to the first turn onto the blue blazed trails. The group stayed on the upper section of the blue blazed trail system during this hike.

Only one of the stream crossings today had any flowing water; the rest were bone dry. Not surprising, seeing as it’s been several days since the last rainfall.

The group stopped briefly at the second dam overlook before continuing on.

Upon reaching the Rec Way again the group split into two subgroups. One group took the Rec Way directly back to our cars. The second group simply turned around and retraced our route on the blue blazed trails.

There were a few other people on the blue blazed trails. The Rec Way itself was obviously much more populated with trail users.

Warm welcome to Alissa and Marek on their first hike with the group!

Saturday, August 9

Dabes Diversion Loop, Kennedy SF, Cortland County

Hike report by Leigh Ann

Eleven hikers did the Dabes Diversion loop counterclockwise from the junction of Bleck and Hauck Hill Roads. After almost a week of air quality indexes over 100, it was pleasantly exotic to have good air qualty. The sky was blue and it looked blue all over.  This hike reliably comes in under two hours in the summer (when footing is good) because it is less than four miles long. So, some hikers extended the hike to two hours by doubling back from the cars to where the diversion loop meets up with Hauck Hill Road before returning a final time to the cars. The temperature was pleasant until well into the second hour of the hike, and the trail was dry all the way.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.

Sunday, August 10

Finger Lakes Trail in Danby State Forest from S. Danby Road to the Tamarack Lean-to

Hike report by Nina F.

On Sunday, August 10th, 27 hikers and 2 dogs met along s. Danby road to hike the Danby State Forest out to the Tamarack Lean-to and back (hike #23-1). It was a warm day, with temps in the mid-80s, but the gorgeous pine tree/hemlock forest trails kept the trail shady and the forest cool. It’s a stunning hike, with a winding trail, tall trees and ancient ferns. We saw small forest creatures, including a few toads and a somewhat rare sighting of a luna moth caterpillar. A few hikers who were a bit in front of the main group walked an additional quarter mile past the lean-to down a decline and back up in order to add a little distance. This enabled two club members to reach their 100th mile of the summer on the FLT during this hike – congratulations June and Lincoln!

The rest of the group waited at the lean-to and were clearly having a good time, as the conversations and laughter could be heard from a good distance away. It was a lovely morning all-round.

View Leigh Ann’s photo album.