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.
This picture shows the condition of the road at the trail crossing. There is a shallow ditch on the right and very squishing mud on the left. Perhaps mid-summer when things dry out, this might be fine, but know there are other options if this doesn't appeal.
I was thrilled to see a few early spring wildflowers emerging. The terrain is fairly level in this section, at least for the FLT, flat initially then descending gently to the berm across the base of Johnson Pond (cover image).
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two-leaved toothwort (Cardamine diphylla) in bud
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early yellow violet (Viola rotundifolia)
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Straight across the far end of the berm, there is a dirt road providing easy access for fishing from a small parking area along John Smith Road, but mercifully the FLT doesn't follow it, veering right off the berm to dip south as single track before turning north again and crossing both the access and John Smith Road.
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Johnson Pond
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FLT crossing of parking area access road
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John Smith Road crossing
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The single track continues across mostly flat ground, then wraps around an open field, managed by the NYSDEC for wildlife habitat, then descends a hill down to an old Civilian Conservation Corps camp. This area is easy to spot because of the prevalence of periwinkle dominating the ground and a few old foundations.
After the CCC area, the trail continues descending slightly, passing through Norway spruce between another managed field and a small stream, before emerging onto Elmer Jackson Road, which the FLT follows south.
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Elmer Jackson Road
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There is a small pond along the east side of Elmer Jackson Road, with a NYSDEC kiosk and a footbridge crossing the outlet where it flows through the berm. I naturally assumed the FLT would cross this bridge and indeed the map on the kiosk shows the trail on the other side of the pond. Ignore this map! It is outdated. The giveaway is that the blazing on the bridge is blue, indicating a spur trail. Sure enough... the white blazes of the main trail continue south along Elmer Jackson Road.
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view of the pond from the footbridge
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I reluctantly abandoned the footbridge and charming single track beyond to follow the main trail along the road. I hadn't done enough homework before this hike and wasn't sure where the spur trail would lead or how long it was, and with no cell data, couldn't check in real time. I confess to some rather disgruntled thoughts as I trudged along the road for more than half a mile. Road walks are necessary in many places where there is simply no accessible lands to host the trail, but that wasn't the case here. The land on both sides of Elmer Jackson Road for the entire length of the roadwalk is part of Pharsalia Wildlife Management Area (state land). I wonder if there are plans to develop a new off-road trail section here in the future? That would be lovely, because even though Elmer Jackson Road is fairly innocuous as far as roadwalks go -- I didn't see a single vehicle -- it is still surrounded by much nicer forests. Kind of strange.
Anyway, I was thrilled to see the double blazes marking the turn back into the woods:
The trail remains in the forest for only 0.4 miles, passing another tiny pond, before popping back out onto Elmer Jackson Road. This was my planned turnaround point, but I could see another bigger pond through the trees and since the FLT turns south here, I decided to pop over and check it out. Definitely a beaver influenced water body, lovely today with the reflections of the blue sky. Curiosity satisfied, I returned the way came.
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north along Elmer Jackson Road
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plantain-leaved sedge (Carex plantaginea)
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Elmer Jackson Road roadwalk (again)
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spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana)
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back to Johnson Street
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MapMyRide tracked this out-and-back hike at 7.2 miles round trip, with 450 feet elevation gain. This is a pretty easy stretch of trail, and lots of variety with all the managed ponds and fields.
There were no trout lilies flowering along the hike, but driving along Johnson Street back toward County Route 42, I saw some beaming along a road embankment, my first of the season. Nothing to do but slam on the brakes and stop to say hi. What a gorgeous day in the woods!
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trout lily (Erythronium americanum)
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