ithacahikers

Wednesday September 07th

Finger Lakes Trail, west from junction of Durfee Hill Rd with 96B

Report by Jim

Seven hikers met on a wet morning that alternated between moderate rain and light mist, for a hike of the FLT westerly from State Rte. 96B in the Town of Danby.

From the parking area on Durfee Hill Rd we crossed a field thick with mature golden rod, the unkempt grass under our feet wet from the days rain.

Crossing 96B the group plunged into the shadowed woods on the other side. The ground was thick with old pine needles, the path appearing almost illuminated by the vibrant green ferns and moss that populated the trail shoulders in that section.

Soon enough the trail turns uphill, following the property line in a nearly straight ascent for a good stretch. There is the temporary relief of a couple of flat spots and a short length of level trail that follows an old logging road, but otherwise it’s a climb until nearly reaching the Tamarack Lean-To

After pausing at the lean-to for a few minutes the group continued onwards. The FLT began to pass through much more level terrain with much improved access to sunlight from overhead.

The group continued on until reaching an area that would have required passing through more overgrown grassy portions of trail. Believing that this was as good a turn-around point as any other, I reversed course for the group and we began the downhill descent back to our parking area. The return leg of the hike was uneventful other than for its relative ease in comparison to the earlier uphill climb.

Welcome to Peter on his first hike with the group!

Photo By Jim

Saturday September 10th

Kennedy State Forest

Report by Jim

This hike was a last minute location change from the Dabes Diversion Loop, due to a well-attended foot race event that included the Dabes Loop and the FLT that I was advised of only a few days ahead of the hike.

Seventeen hikers and two dogs met on Daisy Hollow Rd in Cortland county for  a hike of the English Loop.

It was a decent hiking day, with cooler temps; while the sun was out the breezes and temps proved to make for an enjoyable hike.

Setting off from Daisy Hollow Rd the group made its way up the nearly dry creek bed, following the yellow and blue blazed trails as they see sawed their way up the hillside

Reaching the near-crest of the hill and after a quick pause for a trail journal entry, we followed the blue, red and orange trails up to and over the crest of the hillside until we reached the Spanish Loop trail. This trail we followed until our turn-around point, a small vernal pond that proved to be nearly empty after the long dry summer.

Returning to the Spanish Loop we made our way back to the English Loop trails, taking a different route back down the hillside.

Having hiked this location only a couple of times, I still don’t have our hike pace down exactly to come up with a proper hike distance for the two hour hike duration, and so we found ourselves back at the cars a full thirty minutes early. The group opted to use up the remaining hike time by walking to the near-by FLT and hiking westerly, a direction on the trail that few in the group had ever hiked ( mainly due to the barrier of the stream during high water months ). The group crossed the mostly dry streambed and hiked up the hill on the other side until we reached  a time to turn around. The return trip to our cars was uneventful.

Photos by Jim

Photos By Leigh Ann

Album By Leigh Ann

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPK8820_P68p25IyLkV6AbVSKXe6JgGbxGEtZoKegIi70CmPT2a9iGqKaP2zBxtsw?key=T21ybXBSVkVsbmxaRm1LQ2Nwc25uT0c3cjdpbldB

Photos by Cian

Sunday September 11th

Hammond Hill State Forest, from Star Stanton Rd

Report By Jim

Twenty hikers and two dogs met for a hike of the FLT from Star Stanton Rd

The weather report for Sunday had forecast rain throughout the day, and I was less than optimistic when I woke up to continuing rainfall. By the time I arrived at the trailhead the rain had stopped, and the outbound leg of the hike was rain-free, although the skies were overcast

I had the group try something new by parking further up Star Stanton, beyond the end of the asphalt where we normally park. My goal was to eliminate some of the road walk at both ends of the hike and give the group a longer trail hike. This proved to be popular with many in the group.

The outbound leg of the hike had much less “uphill” than on our past hikes here, and soon we were turning from the seasonal road the FLT follows from the paved road onto the FLT footpath. This portion of the Trail is always among my favorite Trail sections in the winter, and while this day was much more atmospheric than what I would have preferred, it was still a good day to walk in the woods.

Soon enough the trail turns and climbs up to a Hammond Hill multi-use trail where hikers share the Trail with horses, skiers and other recreationalists. Other than some motocross bikers at the beginning of our hike we saw no other people on the trail this hike day

The Trail is a steady upward climb in this section, before the Hammond Hill trails part way with the FLT near the radio tower. The group continued on the FLT until reaching a turn-around point. Pausing for a group picture or two, we were soon on our way again.

The return leg of the hike proved to be somewhat wetter than the outbound eg; although the rain proved to be sporadic enough that not much of it made its way through the forest canopy to the ground.

Welcome to Gloria and Tatia on their first hike with the group

I would like to take  a minute and observe that the group has just passed the one year anniversary since Nancy H created the Ithaca Hikers Meetup page ( Ithaca Hikers (Ithaca, NY) | Meetup ) in an effort to attract new hikers to the group. Nancy’s on-going work in posting multiple hikes to the Meetup site every week has proven to be a success; many new  people have joined our hikes through Meetup over the past year, with many  becoming regular members of the Ithaca Hiker family. Thank you, Nancy, for what you do to improve the groups hikes!

Tuesday August 30th

Spruce Pond to Jones Hill, Tinker Falls area, Onondaga County

Hike cancelled due to weather.

Wednesday August 31st

Finger Lakes Trail from Connecticut Hill Rd

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers and one dog met on Connecticut Hill Rd near Lloyd Stark Rd for an intended out and back hike of the FLT.

As Dave B was in the group for this hike that original plan changed, and I relied on Dave’s knowledge of the CT Hill area to craft a loop through the woods.

The group stayed on the FLT until nearing Boylan Rd, at which time Dave led the group along some interesting winding country trails through the woods.

The group arrived back at the cars at the allotted time, another enjoyable hike successfully completed.

Saturday September 3rd

Roy Park Preserve

Hike report by Jim

Sixteen hikers met for a hike of the more northerly Roy Park Preserve boardwalk and trail towards Hammond Hill State Forest

Two additional hikers and five dogs arrived later and joined the main group on the trail.

The group had to share the trail with many other families and individual dog walkers.

Weather conditions were perfect; sunny, warm, and with a slight breeze. Light cloud cover did little to block the sun or the view of the blue sky overhead.

The footpath was dry but I did notice that the trail had a good number of blowdowns blocking the trail compared to our past hikes here

The hike to Hammond Hill Rd went quicker than expected, in part due to the dry trail conditions I think.

The group entered the Hammond Hill State Forest from the parking lot at the dead end of Hammond Hil Rd,  intending to do  one of our routine out and back hikes on the  yellow and blue trails to burn up hiking time. At the last minute I opted to take the group down the access trail to Camp Earth Connections which is located on the seasonal portion of Hammond Hill Rd; we had only recently hiked the blue blazed trails, and the last several hikes we’ve done in Hammond Hill State Forest have all run over time by a significant length of time, so I was concerned with ending on time today.

Reaching the seasonal portion of Hammond Hill Rd we turned to the south and did a road walk until it was time to turn around and return to the trail back to the Roy Park Preserve

The group reached the Park Preserve several minutes early, and many in the group ended up standing around in conversation with other hikers.

All things considered, a good hike.

Photos by Jim and Leigh Ann

Photos by Cian

Photo Album by Cian

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TBbdDXqdZBRnm4az7

Sunday September 4th

Lindsay Parsons Preserve

Hike report by Jim

Welcome to Annie and Danielle for their first hike with the group.

Twenty one hikers and two dogs met for a very sunny and humid hike of the Lindsay Parsons Biodiversity Preserve property.

I’d scheduled this hike hoping that the goldenrod in the fields would be as of yet untouched; the larger fields turned out to be mowed, but the smaller Coleman Lake observation loop and some of the smaller fields along the hike route proved to be standing tall with goldenrod.

The group first completed the small lake observation loop at the south end of the parking lot, then quickly jumped onto the main blue yellow and red trails.

The sun was fairly intense as the group crossed the open fields, so I cut out as much of the field walking as I could to speed the group into the shade of the forest canopy. A quick photo by Coleman Lake and the group was on its way

Trail conditions were good, with dry footpath throughout the Preserve.

After crossing the railroad tracks the group splintered into around four subsets of hikers, with the lead elements completing the orange and purple loops and getting back to the cars before the other hiking subgroups.

Everyone came out of the trails safe and reported having a good hike.

After the hike many of the group reconvened at hiker Hanks house for an enjoyable afternoon of grilling and summer picnic fare.

Photos by Cian

Photo Album by Cian

https://photos.app.goo.gl/s3DEDAgasyHNbSHZ6

Report from Spain

Hike report by Nancy Holzner

I walked the first segment of my Camino today, from Ourense to Cea. Just over 13.5 miles. I had the trail to myself almost the whole time. I saw four cyclists and one hiker. Galicia is green and hilly, reminds me a bit of Ithaca.

First hour today was like walking up Buffalo St for three miles!

Hike Report Tuesday August 23

Hike report by Jim

For this weeks Tuesday “farther away” hike two hikers drove to the Keuka Rail Trail for a hike of part of that trail system. Inclement weather during the commute time seems to have scared away more hikers, but by the time we arrived at the trailhead the weather had cleared and we had no further issues for the remainder of the morning.

Norm and I did our own respective hikes, with Norm hiking his own hike and looking for fossils, mosses and other natural stuff along the trail.

There was some demolition of one of the cascade viewing areas going on very near our trailhead. There was some other use of the multi-use trail going on while we were there, including bicyclists, day hikers and joggers.

My own experience was more of  a casual stroll along the route. As this was my first visit to this particular trail I stopped often to read the various signs and look at the vestiges of the trails time as  an active rail route.

Hike Report Wednesday August 24

Hike report by Jim

Fifteen hikers met for a hike of the Cayuga Nature center trails and a portion of the Black Diamond Trail. We normally reserve this hike for hunting season, but I thought that it would be a good hike for the end of summer.

It was a sunny day and it was a relief to be under the forest canopy after initially hiking across the open fields from the parking lot in the morning heat.

We stopped briefly at the animal enclosures at the Nature Center before walking to the near-by trailheads. The summer youth programs were still in full swing, with dozens of kids running around the grounds. My first exposure to the Nature Center was during my own youth, and its nice to see a new generation still taking part in the programs they offer.

Most of the trails here are enjoyable, although the blazing along much of the loops of trails need to be touched up. Portions of some trails get more use than others; the less travelled trails require a bit of bushwhacking this time of year as you make your way across the forest floor. One of the water crossing bridges is also wildly askew and unsafe to cross, so the group always resorts to a direct stream crossing there.

The group completed the trail loops and stopped at the treehouse a short while before moving on to the Black Diamond Trail for a short out-and-back hike to bring the hike to a full two hours

After the hike several hikers reconvened at a hikers near-by residence for a swim in the lake.

Hike Report Saturday August 27

Hike report by Jim

Eighteen hikers and one dog met on Comfort Rd in the Town of Danby for an out and back hike on the FLT.

This section of the trail is often quite muddy in spots, but on this hike day the footpath was largely dry, even with the recent rains we’ve had in the area.

From Comfort Rd the trail gradually and almost imperceptibly winds downwards, something you really don’t notice until its time to walk back to the cars for the return leg of the hike.

The recent rains really seemed to “green up” the ferns and other ground cover along the trail, the colors seeming to pop out at you as you walked along the trail.

There are a few stream crossings along the route, but all were dry.

One crossing in particular has been slightly re-routed a few feet up the stream, something I was happy to see, as the previous crossing involved a more or less straight vertical drop of several feet as it crossed the stream. Other recent trail maintenance such as fresh blazing and tree cutting were visible; thanks to the volunteers who maintain the trails to our benefit!

The trail at one point emerges briefly out onto an open field; here we paused briefly for a group picture before hiking onwards. Other than that one field and the fields at the turn-around point, this entire hike is walked in the “green tunnel”.

The group reached the open field I use as a turn-around point for this hike; the return leg of the hike with its gradual uphill climb was uneventful, and we arrived back at our cars at the two hour mark with no unusual events to report.

Album from Leigh Ann

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO7ccToYTDF9MhAQ_U_UXmk4qND8PxcwWgp3tKRBFCmoligyf_RMiehDIDMW0Yp2Q?key=UW1rZk9wT01lSmRoSDdrUVE4WkR3NlQ2M0NpRG5B

Hike Report Sunday August 28

Hike report by Jim

First, welcome to new hikers Doug and Mike for their first hike with the group!

Eighteen hikers and one dog met for this hike; most meeting on Townline Rd, with one walking from their house to meet the group on the trail.

Eighteen hikers and one dog met for this hike; most meeting on Townline Rd, with one walking from their house to meet the group on the trail.

The main group set off from our cars on the red-blazed trails of the Thayer Preserve. It was a warm sunny day, and trail conditions were good. Before long we were out of the woods in the fields behind the South Hill Cidery; here we had a surprise, as there are several unexpected and very occupied “glamping” tent platforms set up along the Woodline facing the field. We moved quickly through that area and returned to the woods and the trail as it snaked towards the utility line right-of-way near West King Rd.

Pausing there for a few group photos we moved on to West King Rd, crossing over and continuing on the FLT spur trail towards Yaple Rd. This section of trail is often quite muddy, but we had no such problems on this hike.

The open fields near Yaple Rd were full of tall goldenrod and other plant life, but the main trail had been mowed somewhat recently and was easily navigated.

Reaching Yaple Rd the group paused a moment before starting the return trip.

The return leg of the hike was uneventful Once past the glamping area we diverted to the blue blazed Toms Trail that crossed the now-dry streambed and snaked its way along the opposite side of the streambed.

Arriving back at Townline Rd a few minutes early, the group went our separate ways; some of us reconvened for a planned gathering at the South Hill Cidery. This was my first visit there and a nice end to an excellent hiking day.

Photo from Leigh Ann

Album from Leigh Ann

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN3gdsz6G6J3O01KVe639baH7SwMTA1l7rEn6STHWkP0YAXDcKI7MTVbJcLrekj7w?key=NDNrLVBmSmdmQlBka19iaG9fUFNXcTlVLWlHNEFB

Tuesday August 16

Steege Hill Nature Preserve, Chemung County

Hike report by Jim

Eight hikers and one dog met to hike the Steege Hill Nature Preserve in Big Flats. Unlike last year, this hike was dry: no precipitation and no wet trails. A vast improvement on last year’s hiking conditions. I had no formal route planned, other than not wanting to repeat the blue and red trails from last year.

We set out from the parking area and took the access trail up the hill, as it slowly makes its way to the first trail intersection. Here, we opted to hike the lengthy yellow-blazed loop trail, which involves a long downhill segment and the inevitable upward climb on the reverse side of the loop. Nothing proved too steep of a grade.

Last year, blueberries were beginning to ripen when we visited this preserve. This year we hiked a bit later, and they had already gone by for the most part. In the future this hike will need to be planned earlier in the month for those in search of trailside food sources.

We took the blue-blazed trail to the nearby white-blazed trail, which had a much more significant downhill and uphill climb. We hadn’t hiked this particular loop last year, and the map reconnaissance I did failed to account for the actual time to complete the loop based on the steep inclines on the reverse side of the loop. As a result, we ran over the scheduled hike time by a significant amount. (Another option, which we did not try, is taking a side trail to a service road that leads directly back to the access trail to the parking lot; in the future I’ll take that route if the group is concerned about completing the hike in two hours.)

Norm, as he often does, did his own hike of the area and had a run-in with a rattlesnake along the trail. He survived to tell the tale and share his photos.

No bears were observed by any member of the group.

Wednesday August 17

Texas Hollow State Forest, Hector

Hike report by Jim

Eight hikers and a dog met at Texas Hollow State Forest for a hike of the FLT and loop trail there. It was a warm day, and as we set out there was a short period of light rain that barely penetrated the forest canopy. By the time we had traversed the short section of trail from the parking lot and arrived at the pond area, the rain had dissipated.

Very quickly we arrived at the blue-blazed loop trail and took that side trail, climbing the hill above the pond area. We then returned to the FLT and continued on, crossing over the many dry streambeds as the trail slowly crept upward.

The trail reaches a point where it begins a serious upward climb, and the group split up into smaller clusters of hikers who pressed forward at their respective hiking speeds. Eventually we reached the one-hour turnaround point and started the return trip to our cars.

Bypassing the loop trail, we took the slightly shorter and more direct FLT route, arriving back at the cars with five minutes to spare.

Overall, this was a very straightforward hike with no extraordinary events to report.

This hike represents 3.5 FLT miles for hikers working to earn the FLT60 patch.

Saturday August 20

From South Danby Road west on the FLT, Danby State Forest

Hike report by Nancy L.

On Saturday, August 20, 19 people and two dogs gathered on South Danby Road to walk west on the Finger Lakes Trail. It was a pleasant, cool morning.  

The trail was quite pleasant with a thick bed of pine needles. Initially the going was easy, but in the end we got a workout.  The first uphill portion was just practice for the second, which was quite steep.  

In between we crossed a new, well-built bridge labeled “Dave’s Bridge” to honor our ubiquitous and endlessly helpful trail maintainer, Dave Priester.

We hiked a little beyond where we intersected the Abbott Loop.  We reached another picturesque creek and beautiful bridge before turning around to retrace our steps.

Photos by Nancy L.

View Cian’s photo album.

Sunday August 21

Bahar Nature Preserve and Carpenters Falls, Cayuga County

Hike report by Jim

Seven hikers met on an overcast day for a hike of the Carpenters Falls and Bahar Nature Preserve area in Cayuga County.

A light rain was falling as we started out from the parking lot toward the newly constructed Carpenters Falls observation area. Soon the rain increased in intensity. We went down a short flight of stone steps to check out a lower falls observation area, then returned to the parking lot of start the trail toward Bahar Preserve. Several of us retrieved umbrellas from cars as the rain volume increased.

The trail along the gorge was largely uneventful; hiker James reported frequenting the area as a teen, before the trail system was created, and pointed out several smaller falls and cascades along the stream’s path that, for whatever reason, haven’t been afforded official viewing areas from the trail system on the bluffs above.

Throughout the hike, rain volume increased and decreased. Umbrellas would be put away when the rain would slacken, then come out again in short order as the deluge returned.

The unimproved trail grew increasingly muddy as the rain continued. Careful route selection on steeper descents to avoid slick tree roots prevented any accidents from occurring.

The group reached the shoreline at the bottom of the trail and spent a few minutes looking out over the lake. In the interest of time, we opted for a road walk back to the cars.

By this time the rain had stopped and the sun was out. While a misty fog still lay in the low areas, the views across the lake to the opposite shores were greatly improved from just a short time earlier in the hike.

After the hike several hikers reconvened at Summerhill Brewing in Locke. With a change into dry clothes and some good food, it was an enjoyable end to what had been one of our wetter hikes in recent memory.

View Nancy L’s photo album.