Hiking at Robert H Treman State Park

We made our biweekly trip back down to Ithaca to hike to see Lucifer Falls, a 115-foot waterfall at Treman State Park.  This park encompasses the now defunct town of Enfield Glen, of which only a few relics remain.  This park encompasses a total of 12 cascades or waterfalls and is an easy 6 miles of walking on very well-maintained, albeit busy trails.  We began at the lower end of the park and walked up the Gorge Trail first.  Along the way we saw many small cascades and a bigger waterfall, all along trails edge.  When we reached the 2 mile mark we were at the base of Lucifer Falls.  From here, the Gorge Trail had washed out and we were rerouted onto the Rim Trail (are you guys noticing a pattern here, all the trails in Ithaca are named Gorge Trail and Rim Trail!) and up multiple flights of beautifully built stone stairs, which in my mind belonged in some kind of medieval castle!  At the top, it was a short walk to the view of Lucifer Falls.  

After viewing the falls, we continued uphill to meet up with the Gorge Trail once again, which you could follow for about 0.3 miles to an overlook with a bridge near the top of the falls.  We wandered back to the upper parking area and through an old flour mill, which has been restored and turned into a museum honoring both the former town of Enfield Glen and the CCC who built the trails and the parks during the Depression.  

After lunching and wandering through the museum, we took the CCC Memorial Trail to the Finger Lakes Trail to get a break from all the crowds and hike on real trail again.  There was an old woods road to walk on through the site of the former CCC camp and a bridge crossing Fishkill Creek which was out of service.  We crossed the bridge anyway only to realize why it was closed - the end on the other side had absolutely nothing supporting it!  YIKES!  After walking a short mile on the Finger Lakes Trail in solitude, we joined back up with the Rim Trail to hike back down to the car.  These two miles weren’t quite as busy as the Gorge Trail, but still very well-traveled.  When we reached the bottom, we reached Enfield Falls and the public “beach” at the bottom.

The photos above are: a swimmer on the diving board at Enfield Falls, the small falls on the Gorge Trail, NoKey’s face in a unique limestone formation,  NoKey walking up seemingly endless steps, me on the bridge over Lucifer Falls, and me jumping for joy while out in nature.  

Another weekend means time for another backpacking trip! This weekend was calling for some hot and sticky weather, but we had decided that we wanted to backpack anyway and decided on another section of the Finger Lakes/North Country Trail, this time on map M19 which is partially in Kennedy Memorial State Forest just outside of Dryden/Cortland, New York.

We started off our hike by climbing up Virgil Mountain (the highest point in Cortland County) and Greek Peak from Tone Street.  This 700-foot climb was steep in some places, made more difficult by the mud leftover from the past weeks’ rain.  After climbing to the top of Virgil Mountain we were rewarded by walking through waist-deep grass and underneath hot powerlines before walking through more waist-deep grass on Greek Peak. Thankfully the blackberries haven’t fully come in yet, but I’d say within two weeks this portion of trail won’t be pleasant due to thorny berry vines!  

From here, we had a fairly uneventful walk undulating to the Firefox lean-to.  For being 11 years old and incredibly close to a road, this lean-to was in great shape and well-maintained, even with a picnic table for our lunch break!  We continued westward on the Finger Lakes Trail, climbing up an incredibly steep hill on the west side of Babcock Hollow Road, some areas even provided ropes tied off to trees to help us get up the grades! Finally, we came to the split with the blue-blazed Swedish Loop Trail, which we decided to take for a change of scenery.  Instead of starting our day with a road walk, we pretty much ended our day by walking the 0.5 miles down Daisy Hollow Road. The 4 p.m. afternoon sun combined with 85+ degree temperatures made for a pretty hot half mile.  From here, the Finger Lakes Trail turned right across the road, but we stayed on the left side to the Spanish Loop orange blazed trail.  After going in only about 1000 feet, we noticed there was a blue blazed Irwin Trail leading directly to the Irwin biouvac site, which is where we were planning to camp for the night.  We took the blue blaze for a short 0.2 miles where we found a tiny campsite stocked with a 5-foot tall pile of firewood, a bench, a fire ring, and if you headed up the trail about 250 feet, two adirondack chairs set up looking at a small cascade.  The campsite was a beautiful site to be sure.  

We ended up meeting the trail/campsite maintainers about an hour after arriving to camp.  They walk the trail system over here every single day and try to bring back dry wood to keep the campsite stocked and inviting.  We thanked them for all their hard work and told them their love of the place really showed!  We got to sleep that night in the cool breeze blowing up from the small gully containing the creek next to the site, which was incredibly welcoming considering it didn’t get below 65 all night. 

The next morning instead of heading back out the way we came in, we decided to follow the Spanish Loop back into Kennedy Forest and follow the old roadbed to the Swedish Loop Trail to cut some mileage off.  Our dog woke up with swollen feet that morning and we wanted to keep her comfortable, taking plenty of rest breaks in creeks for her to calm down the irritation in her feet (which are fine by the way! She’s just getting older now and gets a few aches and pains like all hikers do!)  We followed the Finger Lakes Trail for a very short period of time after the Swedish Loop, all the way until just past the lean-to.  After the lean-to, we met up with a figure-eight trail intersection and took an old logging road which partially composed the Virgil Mountain Loop trail, which we followed back to the powerlines we hiked under the first morning out.  Then, it was an easy 1.4 miles through the waist-high grass and down the steep hill to the car (and some time to play in the creek!)

The photos today are: A really cool tree root system, NoKey and Gracie walking in a dense pine forest, an abandoned steam engine, the view from the FireFox Lean-to, a Finger Lakes Trail sign at a road crossing, and Gracie relaxing next to the fire in camp. 

Waterfall hiking near Ithaca, NY.

We headed down to two state parks over the weekend, Taughannock Falls State Park and Buttermilk Falls State Park, for some easy and scenic hiking.  We started off at Taughannock and hiked all the trails in this park, which only amounted to about 5 miles in length.  We started off at the parking area with the amazing view of this 215-foot waterfall and hiked counterclockwise on the Rim Trails, which gave us an amazing view of the creek and the gorge more than 200 feet below. These trails were pretty level other than the steep descent to the gorge and then the steep ascent back out, but these did include some beautiful stone steps so it wasn’t too difficult.  We also walked the nature trail back into the gorge to get a view of the waterfall below. 

After having a lunch next to a beautiful small cascade, we headed over to Buttermilk Falls State Park, only about 10 miles away.  Again, this park didn’t have a lot of hiking area, but it definitely made up for the lack of distance in the amount of scenery!   We parked at the lower end and hiked up the Rim Trail and gained about 450 feet in elevation in less than a mile.  Then we stopped at the upper parking area to check out the site of an old flour mill and then hiked up the Bear Trail to Lake Treman.  From here, we wound our way back down to the parking area and down the Gorge Trail, which followed Buttermilk Creek all the way back down the gorge to the parking area.  The Gorge Trail was practically brand new and very traveled.  We passed more people on this trail than we had seen all day.  

These state parks were in great shape and due to the waterfalls they were much more crowded than any of the other state parks we’ve been to in New York!  I can’t wait to get back down to Ithaca to hike more gorges and see more waterfalls.  We may have visited two parks over the weekend, but the area has more than 20 parks with just as much beauty.  

The photos above are: Taughannock Falls, the small cascade about 3/4 mile down past the falls where we ate lunch, me on a rock outcropping, Buttermilk Falls, and a beautiful (one of many!) cascade on Buttermilk Creek.

Hiking the North Country Trail/Finger Lakes Trail on the Onondaga Trail section. 

NoKey came home from work Friday morning and announced he’d like to go backpacking over the weekend.  We have started keeping all our backpacking gear in two tubs in the attic so it would be easy to grab and go - seriously, we can have our bags sorted, assembled, and packed in less than half an hour.  We looked on our new favorite website, CNYhiking.com, for a close and pretty trip and quickly decided on the Onondaga Trail.  This trail makes up a small part of the 590-mile Finger Lakes Trail, which runs concurrent with the North Country Trail here in Central New York.  Our hike would only be 24 miles round trip, but it could have been a 30-mile loop using three separate state parks and natural areas in four counties.  

We started our hike at NY-13 at a DEC parking area and began with a road walk (OUR FAVORITE!)  Today we walked past an active dairy farm, up the side of the farm, and into the woods in Morgan State Forest.  We walked mostly on a mix of state forest and private lands, sort of skirting and weaving into and out of the two.  At one point, we even walked on an ATV trail, which is the handicapped hunting access to some private lands.  After approximately 8 miles, we came to Tinker Falls, which is a huge falls with a teeny amount of water.  This was pretty much the only place on the trail we saw any other hikers.  We continued 3 miles past the falls to Spruce Pond to camp for the night. 

I had read online that Spruce Pond is a popular weekend spot and therefore was the only place on this loop that required reservations.  Of course, in true New York style, they don’t tell you how to get reservations.  We took the chance and guess what? We were the only people at the campsite.  This probably was due to the cruddy weather - high of 55, low in the 40s, and threat of rain/mud all day Saturday.  We enjoyed having a quiet night and sadly couldn’t get a fire going not only due to the lack of wood at the popular site, but also due to the fact that it had rained every single day the past five days and everything we did find was soaked.  

The next morning we headed back out the way we came and saw a few more hikers, all of whom were in love with Gracie the Adventure Dog and her doggie backpack.  

The Onondaga Trail is a great hike with several strenuous climbs and good scenery - so many beautiful water features.  It was tough enough to make our dog tired the next day and that’s all we can ask for!

The photos above: Ferns on a sunny Sunday, some pretty (and probably deadly!) mushrooms, a scene from the road walk back to our car, Tinker Falls from above (looking much smaller than it is!), a hang gliding meadow just before Labrador Unique Area, and a small waterfall where we ate our lunch on day 1. 

I think all long-distance hikers and wannabe hikers struggle with this little mantra.  There is such a fine line between getting that balance between work life and leisure life that it is easy to lose sight on the the important things.  

During the long winter here in Central New York I was working two jobs, six days a week, for more than 55 hours a week.  It was fine because let’s face it: when it’s -25 outside you aren’t going to spend your waking hours outdoors.  When the sun goes down at 4:45, you aren’t staying up until midnight.  When spring and summer came calling and the sun started staying in the sky at 8 p.m., the two jobs caused me a problem. I left one of the jobs, the more physical of the two, for a part time gig working three days a week at a desk.  I regret the decision for not only the activity, but the money.  The whole point of us working hard during our time in Central New York was to save up money so we could do more long-distance hikes and keep our pets cared for, bills, paid, and expenses on the trail low.  

The other day I was reminded that the whole reason I left that job that had me going to bed before the sun went down was only helping me make a living.  I didn’t have any chances to make a life.  I hadn’t made any friends in the town I live in since moving here due to my hectic schedule.  Now I have time for not only hiking, but OVERNIGHT TRIPS! I joined a book club and I’m looking into yoga classes.  Making a living was hindering my life.  

When it comes down to it, I have saved up enough money to make a comfortable living and fund my next grand adventure and that’s all I need.  Yeah, the little voice put into my head by others tells me I need a full time job with full benefits and job security, but what about sanity?  If I don’t get outside a few days a week my body and mind begin to suffer. After getting a taste of “less is more” I can honestly say that if less truly is more, than I have the most of anyone I know. 

Hiking at Green Lakes State Park

Due to 85-degree temps and sunshine, hiking totally exposed in the High Peaks region with our dog didn’t seem like a good idea for National Trails Day.  We instead opted for a closer option, Green Lakes State Park. This park isn’t huge, but it has 20 miles of well-marked trails for hiking and mountain biking varying from meadows to 300-year-old growth forest to lakeside walking.  All the trails are very easy and mostly not heavily traveled.  

We started our day walking through meadows and man was it hot! The morning sun beat down on us for the first 2.5 miles or so, prompting us to take a few water breaks for the dog.  When we finally got into the woods, we saw a large doe standing and watching us.  There were a few dog walkers out this morning and it’s easy to see why with shaded trails in beautiful old growth forest.  After passing near the campgrounds and wandering through the trees a little more, we decided to head down to Round Lake and Green Lake.  These lakes are glacial lakes and were formed more than 15,000 years ago.  Round Lake is perfectly round and incredibly deep.  Green Lake is so deep that the bottom of the lake hasn’t been found yet.  There was a little more foot traffic around the lakes and the trails were groomed very nicely.  We took a little lunch break at Dead Man’s Point before heading back to our car.  

We did between 12-15 miles today and it was definitely easy walking.  I’d recommend Green Lakes to anyone looking for some easy mileage and doesn’t want to drive all the way to the Adirondacks.  The only thing we had issues with on this day was the heat and exposure of the meadow walking at the beginning and end of our hike.  We were very lucky a 5K had been held there that morning and the water stations were still set up so our dog could have some ice water in her bowl and a little bit on her to cool her down.  

The photos are: 1) The trail marker in the meadows; 2) The beautiful blue sky morning before the heat got to us; 3) NoKey and Gracie resting at Dead Man’s Point (notice the beautiful bright water behind them!); 4) Dead Man’s Point; 5) Looking across Green Lake; 6) Round Lake

Confessions of Hiker Trash

This morning I threw on my grubby old trail runners, leashed up my dog, and hopped in the car to head to Camillus Unique Area, a state forest near my  house.  What was supposed to a short and easy hike turned into adventure in true Sprinkles style.  While there are technically only 5 trails in this park, apparently there are some older, maintained but still rough, trails with ancient blazes that looked too enticing for me to resist.  The hike turned into me and Grace stumbling on to and into the Erie Canal and a beautiful waterfall, and me without my camera!

We tried to head back to our car the same way, just following the old trails, but they became less and less walkable and we ended up retracing our steps and going the long way, which included thick grass, thorny shrubbery, and lots of mud!  After taking a break in the parking lot for water and a little rest in the shade, we hopped into the car to head home which is where I usually do my reflecting on my hike.  So now, confessions of hiker trash: 

I realized today I feel more beautiful in a pair of grubby and muddy trail runners than I do in high heels. 

I’d rather be sweaty and sticky from a day of hiking than comfortable from a day relaxing on the couch. 

I’d rather spend a day outside than a day at the spa (although that would be nice too!)

A day with my dog in the woods is 100 times better than the best day ever at the office. 

I never really knew what life was until I strapped 25 pounds on my back and lived in the woods for five and a half months. 

I’d rather sleep in a tent than a 5-star hotel. 

There are so many other things I could say about how much more at home I feel in the woods than I do back in civilization, but I’ll spare you the rest.  I’m just so happy it’s finally springtime here so I can get outside and enjoy it!

Hiking on the North Country Trail/Finger Lakes Trail in Highland Forest

Last Sunday, we went to Highland Forest with a beautiful 70-degree, blue-sky day!  Since it is only just now showing signs of spring here in Central New York, we knew not to expect dry trails and the North Country Trail showed us that mud is definitely deep enough to swallow up a 70-pound dog!  We hiked a 9-mile loop trail, known as the Main Trail or the Phil Sutters Memorial Trail and it definitely had more undulation than I had expected.  This park is known as “The Adirondacks of Central New York” and gave me a great workout.  While the hills weren’t huge by any means, the trail was diverse and varied from old road bed to bog bridges to straight-up mud climbs!  At some low points in the trail the mud was up to my calves and, like I mentioned earlier, about 5.5 miles in my dog took a wrong step and was up to head in mud.  

It was nice to get out and stretch our legs on this trail and I can’t wait for my next visit to Highland Forest, maybe even to try my hand at mountain biking on their mountain bike trails!

The photos above: 1) NoKey at the conclusion of our hike with the NCT and FLT signs; 2) The view of Limestone Valley below the forest; 3) Muddy trail feet!; 4) Gracie actually taking a break in the woods, which if you know my dog you know is rare!; 5) A blaze on the main portion of the trail, not NCT/FLT. I love the tree shape on the tree :)