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.