FLT/NCT: Carson Road to Cortland 9 Road

In inclement weather, I am somewhat cautious about driving off to hike solo in areas with poor or no reception.  After several Wednesdays off where snow, freezing rain, and/or a school snow day keeping me from hiking, I finally had a decent day for a solo hike.  I decided I would head back down to Tuller Hill State Forest to check out the next section of the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT).  The online maps for the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), which carries the NCT through this area, show parking at the intersection of Carson Road and NY Route 392, "nearby at restaurant."  I thought a restaurant parking lot would be reliably plowed out.  Famous last words?  Because when I arrived, the restaurant was clearly closed, with large for sale signs posted out front.  The lot appeared not to have plowed all winter, and was completely inaccessible in my little car. 

However, I had driven 50 minutes to get there, and wasn't about to give up.  I turned up Carson Road to see if I could find a safe spot to park.  The trail follows Carson Road for almost a mile before turning north into Tuller Hill State Forest, so if I could find a spot anywhere along there, I'd be golden.  When I got to where the trail entered the woods, the plowed road seemed very wide, and there was no traffic whatsoever.  There were no signs forbidding it, so after u-turning and checking it out again, I decided to park right there on the side of the road.

I had my snowshoes strapped to my pack, but set off bare-booting to check conditions.  Most of our snow at home has melted, but I knew that wouldn't be the case down here in the hills.  The snow was hard and crusty, from melting and re-freezing, but I was punching through with every step.  No good!  I found a log to sit on a put on the snowshoes.  Much better, but man... I always forget just how much work snowshoeing can be, at least when there is no packed trail to follow.  Here there was one set of snowshoe tracks, but they were old, and of the same consistency as the surrounding snow.  Plus, the stride of that snowshoer was much longer than mine, meaning I couldn't step into consecutive prints anyway.  So I was essentially breaking trail, until the previous tracks split off from the FLT, and then I was really and truly breaking trail.   

The trail starts by climbing a few hundred feet, and I warmed up quickly, stopping twice to delayer.  Coat, hat, and wool mid-layer all went into the pack.   

After making those adjustments, I settled into a somewhat more comfortable momentum, but progress was still slow.  And noisy!  Crunch, crunch, crunch. 

I turned left here, splitting off from the single set of snowshoe tracks

Then I reached the junction with a blue-blazed access trail, which brought a lot more foot traffic into the FLT/NCT.  This is not surprising, as the Woodchuck Hollow Lean-to was just ahead.  A lean-to with easy road access is an attractive nuisance, and sure enough, this section of the trail was all post-holed and re-frozen.  The lean-to is nice and well-maintained, although I didn't appreciate finding a Bible in the bin with the register.  I didn't stay long.   

approaching the lean-to

Woodchuck Hollow lean-to

From here, it was another mile breaking trail to my turnaround point, Cortland 9 Road.  I struggled a bit in this section, huffing and puffing in and out of drainage after drainage, sniffling and hacking the whole way with the residuals of a cold that had taken me down over the weekend.  I also wasn't managing my caloric and fluid intakes well.  I knew the trail would be turning east to for the final approach to Cortland 9 Road, and looking for the double-blazes marking the turn, I encountered many discouraging false turns: double-blazes that marked a dip back down toward the creek instead of up toward the road.  I finally reached Cortland 9 Road shortly before my designated turnaround time.  I had turned around at this same point this spring when hiking the adjacent section, so it was a familiar and very welcome sight. 

more unbroken trail ahead

my turnaround point at Cortland 9 Road

the continuation of the trail across the road

looking back at my tracks

Before I started back, I forced myself to drink some water, and dug out a Clif Bar, which I nibbled at slowly over the next mile, mile and a half, mixed with additional drinks of water (they sit better in my stomach that way).  I thought the trek back would be easier, with my own tracks to follow, but the sun came out and the snow softened up considerably, turning into soft mush.  Still, knowing that I was headed back, combined with the caloric infusion and the blue sky, lightened my spirits considerably. 

the sun finally came out

I couldn't believe how bright it was by the time I finished up the hike!  We haven't seen this much sunshine and blue sky in quite some time. 

MapMyRide tracked this snowshoe at 5.3 miles roundtrip, with 900+ feet elevation gain.  Maybe I'll return next fall during hunting season to get the roadwalk section.  It will depend on how much further I explore the FLT/NCT to the southwest, as there will be no point in hiking a roadwalk unless I've already covered both the adjacent off road sections.  This area is getting a bit far for school day hikes, but the next off road section in Kennedy State Forest isn't really that much further.  I predict I will be back this way again.