FLT/NCT Roadwalk, M16: Trumbulls Corner Road to Griffin Road

For part two of this rifle season outing on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), I finally made it back to M16.  I parked at the trailhead at the Stevenson Forest Preserve, which I had used as a turnaround point for a hike that started in Robert Treman State Park back in January 2020.  From here I followed the white blazes southwest on Trumbull Corners Road, then turned right and hiked up Rumsey Hill Road.  Just after cresting the hill, the FLT turns south onto Connecticut Hill Road; when Connecticut Hill Road veers off to the southeast, the FLT splits to the right and continues south on Griffin Road.  I followed the twists and turns of Griffin Road until I got to the trailhead where I started a hike into Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area back in February 2020.  Having completed the orphaned roadwalk section, I turned back and re-traced my route back to the car.

FLT/NCT Roadwalk, M15: Burnt Hill Road to South Hill Road

With rifle season still going strong, my main goal for today was to complete a roadwalk on M16: the last section I needed to finish the map sheet.  Hurray!  But since the orphaned bit of M16 was not long enough to make the long drive down worth it, I decided to also knock out another short roadwalk on M15.  And since M15 is further from home, it made sense to go there first and work my way home.  I started part one of my outing at the southern-most Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) trailhead on Burnt Hill Road, where I'd turned around on a loop hike back in October. 

FLT Roadwalk: M23, M24

For the second stop in my two-part adventure, I parked at the corner of Fred Stewart and Hoag-Childes Roads, at the trailhead I used last March when I explored the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) to the north in deep snow conditions.  Today I walked south along Fred Stewart Road to complete the roadwalk I'd skipped, turning left (east) onto County Route 10, and then right (south again) onto North Tower Road.  I continued south on North Tower Road until I reached the trailhead where I'd parked last month when hiking the FLT through Bowman Lake State Park.  With the gap filled, I turned around and retraced my steps back to the car.

FLT Roadwalk: M24, M25

Today was another two-part adventure, designed to mop up some Finger Lakes Trail roadwalks I'd orphaned while hiking the adjacent off-road sections.  For this first stop, I drove to the trailhead on French Road on map sheet M25.  This had been my turnaround on a hike in May that started on State Route 12 to the east.  I hiked west along French Road for a short distance, then turned north and followed the blazes along Fred Wilcox Road.  When that teed onto County Route 3, I turned east, then took the first left onto Stone Quarry Hill Road.  This intersection is the border between two maps sheets; as I hiked up the hill, I was on M24 -- but just briefly.  The trailhead for the off-road section going north from Stone Quarry Hill Road was my turnaround point on another hike in May that started further north on Hoben (Hogan?) Road.  Having connected the dots, I turned around and retraced my steps back to the car.

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). 

FLT/NCT: Twin Tunnels to Logan Road

As with my outing last week, this was another non-contiguous section of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) selected because of a looming October 1 hunting closure on private land.  Skipping around like this  allows for the possibility of completing Map M15 this fall.  I don't know whether I'll pull it off or not, but at least I have the chance now.  Since I complete these solo hikes on school days between drop off and pick up, I have a fixed and limited window of time.  It's such a long drive to get down to here that I am incrementally reducing the time available to hike (and therefore the distance I can cover) with each new section I hike.  I keep saying I'm not going to be able to keep exploring new ground on the FLT on school days, and then I keep pushing it.  I am absolutely and irrevocably hooked.  Please send help. 

FLT/NCT: South Hill Road East to Texas Hollow State Forest Property Line

Today's hike is located on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) Map M15, which I started in June.  However, the section I hiked today is not contiguous to where I hiked previously.  I decided to skip ahead and hike it now because the private land between South Hill Road and Texas Hollow Road has a hunting closure from October 1 to December 25.  Now or never!  Or not until after Christmas anyway.  The FLT mapping describes the South Hill Road access as having "limited shoulder parking" and Texas Hollow Road access as having "wide shoulder parking" so I chose the latter, and hiked out-and-backs in both directions. 

Stewart Mountain

I always like to squeeze in a drive day hike, because it allows exploration of a completely different area.  On this trip, Frankie and I stopped and hiked Watch Hill on our drive up to the High Peaks.  Today we were driving back home, and stopped to hike Stewart Mountain.  We have never done any hiking in the Chestertown area, and this is a very short and easy hike, perfect to stretch the legs and break up a long drive.  The trail is soft underfoot and terrain is gentle.  We saw some very young children hiking this trail and it is manageable for even the youngest of toddlers. 

Jay Mountain

It's been a couple lower mileage (i.e., rest) days since our hike up Lower Wolfjaw, and we were ready for another bigger adventure.  I had been wanting to climb Jay Mountain for years, and since we were staying in Wilmington, it seemed like a good choice: less driving than many other destinations we might have chosen.  Descriptions of the Jay hike promised uncrowded trails, and a long ridge walk popping in and out of treeline, a highway in the sky.  This made it easy to sell to the rest of the gang.  There were just a few cars at the trailhead when we arrived and we set out in good spirits through dense forest. 

Flume Knob

When traveling, we always like to have some experiences *extremely* local to where we are staying.  Since we're staying in Wilmington this week, I researched hikes in the immediate vicinity.  We have already done many hikes in this area on previous trips (e.g., Whiteface and Esther, Bear Den, Copperas and Owen Ponds, Cobble Lookout) and hiked Silver Lake Mountain a few days ago.  But I saw Flume Knob on the map in very close proximity, and remembered seeing a trip report with pictures showing a lovely view looking right down into Wilmington.  Sold!

Lower Wolfjaw via Bennies Brook

Lower Wolf Jaw

4,175feet  |  ranked 30/46 in height  |  11th peak climbed (repeat)

I first hiked Lower Wolfjaw back in 2009 via the Wedge Brook Trail from AMR.  Shortly after Hurricane Irene, I started seeing trip reports from hikers ascending the Bennies Brook Slide, and my interest was definitely piqued.  It is described as a "starter" slide.  We actually planned to hike it last year while staying at Grace Camp, but Tropical Storm Isaias altered those plans and we ended up hiking Big Slide instead.  We knew Frankie could handle the slide itself, based on his previous hiking experience and feedback from friends who hiked it with their kids, but weren't sure if the distance from the Garden would be out of reach for him.  But the kid keeps growing and is a capable hiker now.  I compared distance and elevation gain, and it seemed like hiking in from the Garden would be no harder than hiking Whiteface and Esther, which he did last summer.  We talked it over with Frankie and he was definitely into it, so we picked a good weather day mid-week and went for it.

Kayaking Lake Everest

The weather forecast for today was 70% chance of rain with 10-15 mph winds and gusts up to 30 mph. The boys were skeptical about hiking in such conditions, so I proposed kayaking instead (me: "we'll paddle into the wind!").  Erwin declined but my little adventure buddy was game.  Hurray!

Silver Lake Mountain

Silver Lake Mountain is a short trail up a little mountain with big views.  It has been on our radar to hike for a while, and we had actually driven up this way intending to hike it on a winter visit.  However, as we drove there, it starting snowing really hard.  Road conditions quickly deteriorated and it took a long time to get there from the Lake Placid area.  Visibility was very limited, and since we wanted to see the views from Silver Lake Mountain, we put off the hike and went to nearby Silver Lake Bog Preserve instead -- which was magical.  Today there was low cloud cover; we could see that Whiteface was socked in.  But we gambled that Silver Lake Mountain would be low enough to have views under the clouds, and this proved out.

Watch Hill

 

 

Today was a travel day, as we were driving north to Wilmington, New York, where we've rented a house for one last grand hurrah of summer fun before Frankie returns to school after Labor Day.  This drive takes about four hours, and since we couldn't check in until 3 pm, this presented the perfect opportunity for an "on-the-way" hike.  I know some people just want to get where they are going and get the driving over with, but I always look forward to the chance to explore a new trail or other attraction that I wouldn't otherwise get to see, something close to neither home nor the ultimate destination.  Poring over maps, I started looking closer at the Indian Lake region, where I can't remember ever spending any time.  Seemed like a good enough reason to drive through there.  I've always wanted to hike Snowy, but it is a little more mountain than we wanted to tackle on a drive day.  But little Watch Hill is right across the road.  Sold!

 

Panther Mountain (Tupper Lake)

"Panther" is apparently a super common name for mountains here in the Adirondacks, where I can think of at least three or four others, and elsewhere too, I suspect.  This trip report is for the Panther located along Route 3 east of Tupper Lake.  It is a tiny little mountain, with a short trail that's just 0.6 mile each way with about 350 feet elevation gain.  Frankie and I stopped to hike it for a leg-stretcher on our way home from camping at Heart Lake with Erin and Alden.  The clouds were low but it's such a small peak, it seemed unlikely to be socked in.  We carried small water bottles because of the humidity, but didn't bother with packs and I let Frankie keep his sneakers on instead of lacing up his boots. 

Wright Peak

 

Wright

4,580 feet  |  ranked 16/46 in height  |  5th peak climbed (repeat)

Erin and I planned this trip entirely around the notion of enabling Frankie and Alden to camp and climb a High Peak together.  Both boys have previously camped and hiked 4,000-footers separately, but this would be their first big hike together.  I made reservations for the campground at Heart Lake, and nominated Wright as our target summit.  By camping at Heart Lake, we had automatic parking at the busy trailhead, and Wright is the shortest mileage hike among the High Peaks that neither kid had already climbed.  Alden was initially skeptical, since he'd been planning on Giant for his next 46er, but Erin had him look at his map, and he came around to the Wright plan pretty easily.

The Long Point Trail

After hiking the Endless Wall Trail, we hopped back in the car and cranked the air conditioner, then drove back across the New River Gorge Bridge, through Fayetteville, and then a bit further.  We followed the twisty Gatewood Road until we got to Newtown Road, which is the location of the trailhead for the Long Point Trail.  This is the other iconic hike of the Fayetteville area, offering perhaps the best views of the New River Gorge Bridge.  The National Park Service website lists this out-and-back hike as 1.6 miles each way, for a roundtrip hike of 3.2 miles.  The trail skirts along the edge of a field near the beginning, but the majority of the trail is shaded, passing through mature forests.  Grades are easy, with the trail mostly flat or rolling gently until the end, when it descends to the viewpoint along a narrow peninsula of rock.

The Endless Wall Trail

After a much enjoyed visit with Erwin's Mom in South Carolina, we got back on the road to make the long trip home.  As we did on the way down, we planned a big stop to break up the driving: three nights in our newest National Park, New River Gorge in West Virginia.  Our drive yesterday would have been about 7.5 hours if we went directly to where we are staying in Fayetteville, at the northern end of the park.  However, I convinced Erwin to detour to Grandview last night, which made our drive a little longer, but was totally worth it to get a taste of the southern end of the park without having to drive all the way back down on one of our two full days in the park.  Definitely worth the detour!  This allowed us to divide our time thusly: one day for hiking and one day for rafting.

Hawksbill Summit Traverse

My original plan was for us to hike the Hawksbill Loop after completing the Stony Man-Little Stony Man Loop.  Two short hikes in one day seemed like a reasonable plan; it is something we have done many times before.  However, as we hiked the last segment of the first hike, the ascent back to the parking lot on the Furnace Springs Trail, Erwin started waffling.  He and I slept terribly last night, due to a large party checking into the rooms on both side of us around midnight and being *extremely* loud for several hours afterwards. Luckily Frankie slept through the entire thing.  I didn't care about being tired; how often am I in Shenandoah National Park!?  I was determined to enjoy it.  Erwin was very clear he didn't want to prevent me from squeezing in one more hike -- he would simply drop me off and read while I hiked.  That worked for me!

Stony Man - Little Stony Man Loop

Yesterday was our "big hike" day, leaving today for shorter adventures.  But first we had to take care of some important details, namely the Junior Ranger program.  Frankie had finished most of the required activities to earn his Junior Ranger badge yesterday, but wouldn't be able to officially swear in until he attended a ranger-led program.  There were a few to choose from, but one obvious choice for our boy -- the birds of prey program at Big Meadows.  Frankie's favorite animal is the peregrine falcon, so this was a no brainer.  Sometimes Erwin and I feel a bit disgruntled at having to schedule a whole day around infrequent programs.  But this program was actually pretty great.  We all enjoyed it. 

Marys Rock via the Pinnacle

Shenandoah National Park is the first stop on our road trip south.  Like our mid-west road trip last month, this journey was also designed around visiting one of Frankie's grandmothers: in this case Erwin's mom, who we hadn't seen since before COVID.  We wanted Frankie to get to see his grandmother without the risk of flying.  It is quite a long drive to her house in South Carolina, so to break up the driving, we planned one big stop on each the drive down and the drive back.  This would make the trip more manageable and enjoyable -- plus we'd get to see some really cool new places along the way!  The halfway point on the drive south is in Virginia, making Shenandoah an obvious on-the-way destination.  We booked lodging at the park concession at Skyland, and focused hike selection to the central portion of the park.  Marys Rock looked pretty amazing.

The Ledges Trail

Frankie and I had developed a list of must-do activities while visiting Cuyahoga Valley National Park: (1) riding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with the bike aboard program, cycling back along the Towpath Trail; (2) hiking the Ledges Trail; (3) having Frankie complete the Junior Ranger Program; and (4) buying Frankie popcorn at the Crooked Kettle Popcorn Company, downstairs from our AirBnB in the village of Peninsula.  After looking at photos while researching the park visit, the Ledges Trail was the experience I was most looking forward to. The Ledges Trail is a loop and stem hike, like a lollipop, with the circular part of the trail looping around the base of a striking sandstone/conglomerate formation, with dramatic cliffs and crevices to explore. 

Cycling the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail

Our AirBnb in Peninsula is a block from Century Cycles, which is located right across the tracks from the Peninsula Depot.  This is a stop on the historic Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, a nonprofit heritage railway operating in partnership with Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  We were very excited about the Bike Aboard program, which allows visitors to bring bikes on the train, ride any number of stops, then disembark and bike back.  I am a huge fan of train rides (of course) and this option would allow us to see a greater length of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail then if we had to ride out and back.  We were planning to dedicate a full day to Bike Aboard fun, so it worked out really great when we discovered that several of the Junior Ranger activities Frankie needed to complete were right along the Towpath Trail.  Perfect!

Kendall Lake Trail

Today was a travel day, marked on the calendar for driving between Mary and Keith's house in Michigan to the next stop on our midwest roadtrip: Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Keith had to work today, but Mary was available, so we dedicated our morning and early afternoon to spending time together.  The only thing driving our departure schedule was my desire to arrive at the Boston Mills Visitor's Center before they closed, so Frankie could pick up his Junior Ranger booklet.  This was important because we had limited time in the park, and we needed to be able to plan around any required ranger programs or specific sites he'd need to visit.  We also needed to pick up some groceries and check into the AirBnb I'd reserved in the little town of Peninsula, right in the center of the park.  So obviously we didn't have time for a big hike, but little hikes are good, too.  

Kensington Metropark

When we visit my mother Mary and her husband Keith in the Detroit area, they always regale us with an endless list of attractions, far more than we could ever see in one visit.  It can be overwhelming, trying to decide between so many exciting choices!  However, this time I knew I wanted to visit Kensington Metropark, because of the opportunity to possibly see a sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis).  Mary has often sent me pictures of these striking birds, and I have written about them for work, but never had the chance to see one myself.  Mary and Keith explained that they don't see the cranes on every visit: Kensington is a park, not a zoo, and the sandhill cranes are wild animals.  But it was a risk I was willing to take, as it sounded like a lovely place to hike regardless.

Castle Rock

Friends reached out a while back asking if we wanted to take over their campground reservations at Forked Lake over the long holiday weekend; they had reservations at two different campgrounds and could only be in one place.  I was immediately sold, and lobbied to get Erwin on board.  He was reluctant at first, as we'd had bad experiences with black flies camping in the High Peaks this time of year, but our friends assured us that at Forked Lake's lower elevation, the black flies are pretty much gone by this time.  Frankie was all in, of course, and eventually, Erwin came around, too.  Woo-hoo!  I was absolutely thrilled to be exploring a new part of the Adirondacks, to go canoeing and hiking and camping.  [And our friends were 100% correct in their assessment of the bugs having died out.  I got fewer bites up north than I would have at home.]

Azure Mountain

Ever since climbing Hadley a few weeks back, Frankie has been begging for another fire tower hike, asking to go even on days when common sense would indicate it was not very likely (e.g., on days I had to work).  Yesterday we went for a hike with Erin and Alden, taking them to Hemlock Glen and the USGS benchmark on Morgan Hill, a longer training hike for Alden in preparation for the High Peaks later this summer.  When we got home, Erwin had dinner waiting.  Immediately after eating, Frankie dashed out for some basketball with his neighborhood pals, but he didn't wait for me to call him in... he turned up at a reasonable time, saying he wanted to get to bed early so we could hike a fire tower today. Then he proceeded to set the alarm on his watch to make sure we were up in time for a long drive.

FLT: Shapley Road to Searles Hill Road

 

 

With school year almost over, my solo hike opportunities will soon be on hold for the summer, and I want to be mindful to make the most of my last few chances until September.  I determined that if I was aggressive with pace, I had just two more hikes eastbound on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) before reaching the village of Bainbridge.  That seemed like a good goal for myself, so today I started off on Shapley Hill Road where I'd turned around on my last hike.  There is a small parking lot and kiosk here associated with Wiley Brook State Forest, which made it very convenient.

 

FLT: Brooksbank Road to Shapley Road

I had planned on resuming my eastbound exploration on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) where I left off last time on Basswood Road, but when I arrived, I wasn't crazy about the narrow width of the available roadside parking.  Since the trail follows the road east from here, I decided to keep driving to see if I could find a safer parking spot.  As a rolled along, the notion of hiking the roadwalk in the boiling sun seemed less and less appealing.  There were more houses and more terrain than I expected; it would feel like an extra hot and sweaty neighborhood walk.  So I kept driving.  When I got to the spot on Brooksbank Road where the FLT leaves the road and enters the forest, the parking was manageable so I stopped here -- and then I entered the forest.  Ahhh!  I will have come back for that roadwalk during hunting season.  Today was a day for shade.

Hadley Mountain

Frankie has been begging to hike another fire tower, but I was unsure whether he would enjoy black fly season in the Adirondacks.  Things can get pretty dire up there and trip reports suggested thick swarms had been descending.  However, the weather seemed favorable.  We had a cold snap, and cold temperatures can set the bugs back markedly.  Knowing it would be even colder up there, I decided it was worth the trip up.  And the gamble paid off: we saw not one biting insect on the entire hike.

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.