Interloken-Burnt Hill Loop

I had planned to start this hike at the parking area on Burnt Hill Road where I turned around on my first Interloken Trail outing.  I intended to hike north on the Interlaken Trail to Picnic Area Road, walk east on the road perhaps a quarter mile past Blueberry Campground, then return south via the Burnt Hill Trail to make a lollipop loop.  However, as I was driving to the trailhead, following the Google map directions, I passed a sign for Blueberry Campground.  I pulled over and confirmed: it was one and the same.  There is day use parking there, and since Google said it was another 7 minute drive to reach the Burnt Hill Road trailhead, I changed my plans.  I could save almost 15 minutes of driving by starting here.  Brilliant!

FLT: North Tower Road to Bliven Sherman Road

I had been saving this hike for a while, intending to bring Frankie down with me so we could climb the nearby fire tower on Berry Hill.  However, I recently got a Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) passport book from a trail register, and Frankie has *really* enjoyed the couple passport rubbings he's done so far so.  I discovered there is a passport hike on an FLT spur trail within Bowman Lake State Park, the Kopac Loop Trail, and it seemed like that might be a more interesting pairing for Frankie.  Which put this section back on the table as a solo hike, and I decided to prioritize it before rifle season starts because it is my only off-road section left on M24.  By hiking this today, I can complete the M24 roadwalks during rifle season and finish another map sheet.  Exciting stuff!

FLT/NCT: Excelsior Glen and Adjacent Roadwalks

For the second stop in my two-part adventure (part one here), I decided to hike Excelsior Gorge.  The Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) passes through private land here, and part of it has a fall hunting closure starting November 1.  It is also a fairly short off-road section, surrounded by roadwalks, so fit well into my mop up day.  Plus, the weather was absolutely gorgeous today, sunny and dry, which seemed a good fit for Excelsior Gorge, given the warning for this section on the FLT Trail Conditions page, "Creek crossing (ford) can be extremely slippery."  As I would find out, this warning is no joke.  This is not a stream crossing to be taken lightly: I would not advise this hike for folks with impaired mobility or short legs.  For example, I would not bring my Mom here.  Or my nephew (not yet anyway).

FLT/NCT: Newtown Road West to Texas Hollow State Forest Property Line

 

 

Today would be a two-part adventure, with my first stop along Newtown Road where I turned around last week.  This would be a very short hike, but I wanted to fill a gap left between two previous hikes on the Finger Lakes Trail in this area.  I parked at the trailhead and hiked west -- actually mostly north -- until I reached the point where I turned around last month on an eastbound hike from Texas Hollow Road.  This was a distinct spot with a NYSDEC property line, but I had also marked it with a waypoint in GaiaGPS so there could be no confusion.   

 

FLT/NCT: Schuyler Veterans Memorial to Newtown Road

 

 

I started this hike at the Schuyler County Veterans Memorial along NY Route 228, where I had parked this past spring for an eastbound hike.  Today I would be hiking west on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), which carries the North Country National Scenic Trail west all the to Pennsylvania.  Today's route mostly consisted of roadwalks, but since the longest section is a narrow private road, I didn't want to leave it for rifle season.  Hunting is not permitted from public roads, but I'm not sure such protections apply to private roads and didn't want to risk it.  Roadwalks aren't my favorite terrain, of course, but this wasn't bad at all -- dirt roads, not paved, and in some cases no wider than the groomed trails at parks like Beaver Lake, Clark Reservation, Green Lakes, etc.

 

FLT-Interloken-Southslope Loop w/Spurs

For this hike, I returned to Schuyler County to continue exploring the Finger Lakes National Forest (FLNF).  There is an extensive network of trails winding through the FLNF, including the main branch of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT; Map M15); the Interloken Trail, an FLT branch trail (Map I1); and various Forest Service trails.  Given my vast appreciation for both the FLT and the Forest Service, I have decided I want to hike the entire Interloken Trail, making use of other short trails to hike loops where available.  Today I started at the FLT trailhead on Logan Road that was my turnaround point on last week's hike.  Last week I arrived here from the west; today I would hike east.

Balsam Lake Mountain

As I've written before, Frankie is absolutely obsessed with fire towers.  I wanted to check out one of the Catskill towers, and when we found out that one of the approaches for Balsam Lake Mountain is via the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), that rose to the top of the list.  We invited Erin and Alden to join us, and that pushed the excitement levels through the roof.  A fire tower cousin hike?  For my kid, that is about the pinnacle of awesomeness.  My excitement levels were also quite high, as I can't recollect EVER hiking in the Catskills before (plus the whole FLT thing).