NCT: Two Link Trail Roadwalks

When I first began my explorations along the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT), I was vehemently opposed to roadwalks.  I was just starting to reconnect with that core part of my being that spends time in the woods alone, a private sanctuary that got lost in the shuffle of growing and rearing a small human.  It was Frankie's first year of attending school all day, and I found myself with an occasional free day.  This newfound freedom was precious, and I wanted to maximize my fleeting opportunities with full-on nature immersion; diluting the experience with roadwalks didn't remotely appeal.  Plus, I wasn't doing a through hike, right?  So I skipped all the roadwalks... it just didn't make sense to me to drive to "hike" on a road; I can walk on roads in my own neighborhood. 

When hunting season rolled around, I reconsidered my draconian position.  I was going to be walking either way.  The coin flipped: why walk in my neighborhood when I could fill in the gaps in what had become section hiking?  Because throughout the course of that first season of exploring the NCT, I had hiked almost all of the 42-mile Onondaga Trail in a series of day hikes.  The only segments I hadn't completed were a few short roadwalks.  So I took a day and knocked them out.  It felt good to connect the dots, to look at the unbroken line, knowing I had hiked every bit of that trail.  That accomplishment helped me make peace with roadwalks, that along with actually acknowledging that section hiking is what I am doing.  In all likelihood, I will never complete the entire NCT or Finger Lakes Trail (FLT).  I certainly am not trying to at this phase in life.  Regardless, I'm going to keep exploring them, and it is a heck of a lot more satisfying to look at a section of trail and know I hiked the ENTIRE thing, as compared to saying I hiked most of that but skipped some bits.  

So my stance on roadwalks has definitely evolved.  Now I will bundle short roadwalks with adjacent trail sections if it makes sense, and I will save longer roadwalks for hunting season.  For this hunting season, I am going to fill in some gaps I left in the Link Trail sections of the NCT.  The Link Trail connects the FLT and the Erie Canal Trail.  Starting at the New York-Pennsylvania state line, the NCT follows the FLT east until reaching the Three Trails Junction in Cuyler Hill State Forest.  From here it follows the Onondaga Trail, and then the Link Trail, all the way to the Erie Canal Trail.  Today I did two roadwalks totaling 8.2 miles.  As I was solo, both were out-and-backs, so the actual trail mileage was half that.

Freber Road > Irish Ridge Road > Perryville Road > Quarry Road
I parked at the trailhead on Freber Road where Frankie and I hiked the adjacent section last fall.  Instead of hiking south along the old railroad bed, I set out east along Freber Road.    

Freber Road

approaching turn onto Irish Ridge Road

Irish Ridge Road

frost in the shadows

Perryville Road

the hedgerow at the arrow is my turnaround point

entering Perryville

where the trail turns off into the hedgerow

This was my turnaround point on this hike.  I had parked here when hiking the adjacent section with Frankie last spring. 

looking back at the hedgerow containing the trail

heading back on Quarry Road into Perryville

back up Perryville Road

back down Freber Road

almost back - the trail turns left into the woods at the edge of the field on the left

Constine Bridge Road > Stone Quarry Road
For this section I returned to the trailhead for Nelson Swamp Unique Area where I hiked last week, and followed the road north for about 1.5 miles until I got to the exit of Stone Quarry Art Park.  The trail leaves the road here and travels through the Art Park; this was my turnaround point of my hike of that section.  

Constine Bridge Road

driveway exiting the Art Park

looking up into the Art Park

With this "hike" I have now traversed every inch of the NCT from Cazenovia south to Interstate 81 (and beyond).  One more hunting season "hike" filling in the gaps and I'll have covered every inch north past the Thruway to the outskirts of Rome.  It will be a few weeks before I can get out again, but I'm really looking forward to it!