FLT/NCT: Lakeside Park to Whites Hollow Road

This hike would take me through Watkins Glen State Park, but not the gorge trail for which the park is famous.  The Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) follows the south rim of the gorge, high above the dramatic chutes and cascades.  At least in part, this is because the gorge trail is closed for much of the year.  It was closed today, in fact, due to "winter conditions."  Now, we did get snow last week, but it melted very quickly.  I could see down in the gorge and there was no snow or ice evident, but many years the trail doesn't open until well into May.  No matter!  Today I was here for the FLT. 

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/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.

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. 

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/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.

 

FLT/NCT: Maple Lane to Sugar Hill

We have taken so many endless walks in our neighborhood since March when we went into corona virus induced shutdown.  But our trip to Greece?  Cancelled.  Frankie's 3rd grade Adirondacks trip?  Cancelled.  Camping at the Pinery?  Cancelled.  I was restless, craving something adventurous, something different from our same old haunts.  I thought I had a good idea, but sadly, this hike did not work out as planned.

FLT/NCT: West from Cheningo Day Use Area

 

Today Frankie and I returned to the Cheningo Day Use Area, from which we'd hiked east a few weeks ago, only this time we hiked west instead.  This section of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), from here to the next road crossing, was a bit long for us to complete given our available time today, but that didn't bother me.  I completed this section in May 2017, so didn't "need" to go all the way to Telephone Road today.  We planned we'd go 3 or 3.5 miles and then turn back. 

FLT/NCT: Hammond Hill State Forest

This hike is a repeat of one I did in 2018, on a cold wet October day in the middle of a rain cloud.  Today I parked at the same spot on Star Stanton Hill Road and turned around at the same point on Harford Slatersville Road, but it was a very different experience.  It was warm and sunny, and I had my dear boy along for company.  Instead of endless white mist, we saw wildflowers and a beaver dam and amphibians.  He jabbered endlessly about Pokemon and we just had a great time together. 

FLT/NCT: East from Cheningo Day Use Area

For this hike on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), I parked at the Cheningo Day Use Area.  Frankie and I hiked east, up and over a ridge and back down to Cheningo Solon Pond Road, which we used as our turnaround point.  This is a repeat of a solo hike I did in very early spring back in 2017, so it was nice to return under different conditions to see the area greening up.  We knew there was a risk of rain, but Frankie reviewed the weather forecast and decided today would be the nicer day of the weekend, so out we went.  There were many spring wildflower in bloom, which always slows me down, but it didn't matter since this is a shorter hike.

FLT/NCT: Hoxie Gorge South from McDermott Acess

Frankie very much likes it when Erwin comes hiking with us, but it complicates trail selection, since he prefers shorter hikes with water features and minimal elevation gain.  The Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) is pretty much *all* up and down, up and down.  I love it, but Erwin, not so much, and after getting dragged along on a few hikes at Morgan Hill that were tougher than he wanted, he was firm in negotiating this time: we'd just have to turn back after 3 miles.  I decided on Hoxie Gorge, because it has some super charming streams, and I have already hiked the entire FLT through Hoxie Gorge, so wouldn't fret about orphaning part of the trail due to a premature turnaround.

FLT/NCT: Griffin Road to Cabin Road

I had another opportunity for an extended school day hike today, as my Dad was picking Frankie up from school and bringing him home at dinner time.  I decided to explore another new section of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) down by Ithaca, which due to it's location west of Cuyler State Forest, also carries the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT).  I initially drove to the parking lot for the Stevenson Forest Preserve, where I had turned around on my last hike in the area, thinking to continue from there, but the lot looked a bit sketchy for my little car.  The next 1.9 miles of the FLT is a roadwalk, so I kept driving, looking for a better spot to park.  I ended up on Griffin Road, where the trail turns south and leaves the road, and the road was wide enough I felt safe parking there.  I could have walked back towards the snowed-in parking lot, but the call of the woods was too strong, and I orphaned the roadwalk.  I can always come back for it during hunting season. 

FLT/NCT: Robert Treman State Park to Stevenson Forest Preserve

I had extra time available today, as my Dad was picking Frankie up from school and bringing him home again later and staying for dinner.  I wanted to make the most of my extended time slot, so chose a hike both further away and longer than I had previously attempted for a school day solo venture.  I drove down to Robert Treman State Park, and parked at the upper lot.  There were no signs indicating where the FLT might be, and data coverage was very poor.  Conditions did not appear to match the map I had, but I found an orange-blazed trail where I expected the white-blazed Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) to be, and for lack of any better choices, decided to follow it.  I passed one white blaze amidst the orange, and took that as a good sign.

NCT: Skyline Lodge to Cowles Settlement Road

The weather forecast for today included snow squalls, but it was clear and sunny in the morning when Frankie was getting ready for school, right up until about 5 minutes before we had to leave.  We went upstairs to brush our teeth and when we came back down, darkness had descended.  It snowed enough in just those few minutes that I had to clean the car off, and was snowing hard enough that the window I cleaned first was already completely covered again by the time I did a lap around the car.  Not exactly ideal... I dropped Frankie off and headed south toward Mariposa State Forest, which I had been looking forward to exploring after knocking out a Finger Lakes Trail roadwalk leading there during hunting season. 

NCT: Bardeen Road to Rowley Hill Road

With the madness of the holidays finally behind us, Frankie and I set out for a hike on the Onondaga Trail, just the two of us.  In order to earn the patch for completing the Onondaga Trail, the entire trail must be hiked within five years.  Since Frankie hiked several sections in 2016, this would be his last calendar year to complete the trail, if he wanted to count those sections.  This is not something he has been actively pursuing over the years.  However, the realization made him want to hike a new section today, and I wasn't about to complain about that.  We got a late start, not heading out until after lunch, so I picked a short section, parking in the NYSDEC lot on Bardeen Road and hiking west.