FLT: Bliven Sherman Road to Hoben Road

With my last two hikes, I completed the orphaned gap in my eastbound Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) coverage, which was left back in March when I skipped forward to ensure safe parking in deep snow conditions.  This means I have now hiked the entire contiguous length of the FLT between the Stevenson Forest Preserve west of Ithaca to the southern edge of Pharsalia Woods State Forest.  There is something very satisfying about hiking consecutive segments of the FLT, so that even though I am section hiking as opposed to thru hiking, I get a sense of the flow of the trail.  Having said that, I skipped ahead again on today's hike.  About 2 miles east of where I left off in March, the FLT passes Berry Hill Fire Tower, which is accessed from a roadwalk along Tower Road via a short deadend road (essentially a long driveway).  Frankie absolutely loves fire towers, so I decided to save that hike to do together.  The fire tower is currently undergoing restoration, so we will wait until it is reopened and hike Bowman Lake State Park together.  I'll pick up the roadwalk solo during hunting season.

FLT: Elmer Jackson Road to Nine Mile DEC Truck Trail

On this hike I traversed the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) between Elmer Jackson Road and Nine Mile DEC Truck Trail, filling in a gap between two previously hiked segments.  However, because I wasn't crazy about the parking available at either of those locations, I started my adventure in the middle, at the small parking area off Fred Stewart Road.  The FLT online mapping indicated there was "pull off parking for 5 vehicles" which seemed safer than shoulder parking on seasonal dirt roads.  This meant I hiked a yo-yo of sorts, hiking north to the spot on Elmer Jackson Road where I'd turned around last week, then turning around and hiking south past my parked car to the spot on Nine Mile DEC Truck Trail where I'd turned around snowshoeing in March, then back north again to my car.  Whatever it takes...

FLT: Johnson Street to Elmer Jackson Road

With the long stretch of mild weather, I finally felt confident that the snow would have melted enough down in Chenango County to safely resume my eastward exploration on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT).  Sure that the unmaintained seasonal roads would be passable by now, I returned to Johnson Street, where I had left off on my post-election day hike.  The FLT mapping shows shoulder parking at the trail crossing, but I knew from my previous visit that it wasn't suitable for my little car, so I parked less than 0.2 miles west, where there is a gated forest road heading north.  There is enough dry ground to park safely off-road here without blocking the gate, and I'd rather walk a little extra than risk getting stuck.  This is a pretty remote area and I have no cell coverage here.

FLT/NCT: Cabin Road west to Old Foundation

I didn't think the deep snow pack at Pharsalia Woods State Forest, where I did my last hike on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), would have melted yet.  With all the warm weather we've had, I knew any remaining snow would be soft and messy, and I didn't feel like post-holing in snowshoes.  Poring over the online maps for the FLT and North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT), I discovered the NCT maps have a layer for live feed snow depth from the NOAA.  According to this data, my suspicions about Pharsalia were correct, but the Ithaca area had no snow.  I left off my section hike in that area at Cabin Road in Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area.  I decided to see if I could hike the next section, from Cabin Road to an old foundation at a prominent turn in the trail west of Todd Road.

FLT: Hoag-Childes Road to Nine Mile DEC Truck Trail West

Even though we've had a streak of warm weather that has melted all our snow at home, I knew there would still be snow on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT).  The woods always hold onto snow longer, and the FLT always climbs over the biggest hills; I have seen many times how the FLT holds on to that snowpack.  So I packed my snowshoes and my microspikes, not sure what conditions I would find, and carefully scoured the maps looking for somewhere I could safely park to access the trail.  I settled on Pharsalia Woods State Forest, where I found what looked like a paved road with wide shoulder parking.  I would be skipping ahead, not starting at the end of a previous hike, but that was a necessary concession with the prevalence of seasonal roads in FLT country. 

Hurricane Mountain

This was our third trip to the Adirondacks in the winter.  We've been hiking only small mountains so far, to test our gear, stamina, and enjoyment.  After successful winter hikes of Baxter, Big Crow, Mt. Jo, Cobble Hill, and Cathedral Rock, we decided we were ready for something a little bigger this time.  When we hiked Big Crow back in 2019, we talked to some other hikers who had summited both Big Crow and Hurricane that same day from Crow Clearing.  They told us that the approach to Hurricane is longer, of course, but that terrain-wise, it was easier than Big Crow -- not as steep.  So we felt confident that it would be within our abilities.  Plus, it was the last peak we needed to complete the Lake Placid 9er Challenge as a family.  Win-win!

FLT/NCT: Two M17 Roadwalks

 

Since acknowledging to myself that I seem to be section hiking the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), I have been hiking many of the shorter roadwalks along the way when hiking the adjacent sections of trail.  However, I have still been orphaning longer roadwalks, with the intent to come back for them during hunting season.  I still go in the woods during bow season, but once rifle season starts, I steer clear.  Unfortunately, I never made it out to my saved mop-up sections this year.  So even though hunting season is over now and I should rightfully be back in the woods, I fell asleep on the couch last night very early, before I was able to plan a suitable destination for today.  Leery of the questionable conditions I'd find on the seasonal roads in the area of my last FLT hikes, but still wanting to get some FLT miles, I decided to knock out two roadwalks.  They would not provide the same joy as being in the woods, but I would get the satisfaction of completing Map M17.