Six Days on the Finger Lakes Trail 70 miles and 9.9k of elevation (M18-M15)

Met Shannon at the twin tunnels access point Sunday morning. We dropped off our food resupply while on the way to the RT79 trailhead. I had hiked the first half of our route a little more than a year ago. So I had a vague memory of what to expect. The trail gets cganged quite a bit, and a lot of the road crossing seems to blend in with each other. As we readied our gear, a couple more cars pulled in to the lot. Local bike riders. We chatted a bit and then made our way to the trailhead. Immediately we saw the flooded section. Not sure what to do, I looked at my map. I had an older one on which I hand drew the current trail, The old route provided us a bypass around the flooded section along a dirt road. As we hiked up the road towards firetower road the opportunity existed to cut through the woods to the new trail. Not wanting to trespass, we stayed on the dirt rd and then the paved roads to where the trail would enter the state forest. Once in the forest, the trail was much nicer walking. The miles peeled off and after not too long we were approaching the Shindagin woods which would be camp for night one. Dan and I had camped here a few springs ago after a much longer day. Shannon and I did 8.5 miles. I was looking forward to washing up in the creek, but the stream was barely a trickle. A few deeper spots allowed us to get water without too much difficulty.

While at the Shindagin lean-to quite a few day hikers would come through. Very popular area, surprised no one else was camping here. Slept great. I was up well before Shannon so I made coffee and packed up. When we eventually headed out it was past 9 am. The trail would go downhill for a while and then uphill a lot. This would be our routine for the rest of the trip. Coupled with very few water sources made for some heavier packs having to carry multiple liters of water. A lot of roadwalking for the trip which in the heat was brutal. Just after lunch the second day, we were heading up Eastman hill. I remembered how steep this was. As we neared the top, I needed to take a rest. I was hot... too hot. I needed to cool down and have some water. It took a while. I was legitimately nervous for a bit that I would not be able to continue. Early stages of heat exhaustion was getting the best of me. The long rest was helpful. Took it slow for the rest of the day. Even had to climb another pesky hill, though not as steep. Filtering water from some sketchy sources was necessary. We passed by Tamarack lean-to and then it would be mostly downhill to our next campsite. Over 15 miles for the day with some brutal hills. This was our long day. It should get easier from here.

Only a half mile left of this section which I have done. Another few miles in the woods and then a long roadwalk made even longer as we never found the turn off into the woods. The markers heading in this direction are not very clear. Was getting frustrating trying to navigate a trail which was made difficult by roads. Much easier in the woods. When we finally got back on trail, it was short lived. As we passed through a field the markers did not show where it re-entered the woods. There were multiple trails and old dirt paths throughout. We took a compass bearing and followed one going in the correct direction. It started heading downhill, the wrong way. We hiked back up, and I took a bearing to get us to where we needed to go on the next road. This was getting really frustrating. So we were back on a road hiking in the hot sun. Neither of us was happy. This was not fun for me. I guess there was a reason i stopped hiking the Finger Lakes Trail except for short camping trips into the state forests. We picked up or resupply and made our way to Treman Park for our 3rd night. This was a shorter day at 10 miles. We would hike down to the park and swim (also to get water from the campground). The Lean-to is far away from a water source and is full of carpenter bees. Not a great location. Barely half way through the trip and I was really not enjoying myself. The swim in the creek was nice. I made a no-cook dinner to conserve water.

The trail out of the park was up on a ridge so it didn't really provide a nice view of the park. Once out, we had some more road walking to do. Again the trail disappeared so we added more road. We stopped at a private campground which had ice-cream in the camp store and a spigot to fill our water bottles. The folks here were very nice. The trail would go in/out of woods crossing roads. Some reroutes and more road. Some quite steep.We had to gain almost 2000 feet.  It was a little cooler than the first few days. Then it started to rain. Of course it would rain today, as this was the only planned campsite without a lean-to. Fortunately the rain would subside long enough for us to set up camp and eat. We got more rain over night. But by morning we were able to pack up without it. 

The rain the previous night had cooled things down nicely. We had a long downhill for the day and then a long uphill to the Rogers Hill lean-to. By now we were both hyper focused on the trail blazes. A private landowner had a spigot where the trail crossed his land for hikers to use. This was nice. The dirt rd up to the Rogers Lean-to was long but not too bad. As we got closer to the top we met a few gentlemen on a golf cart. They were wearing "period clothing". They were the administrators for a pre-1840 rendezvous. They made sure we found our campsite and we settled in at the lean-to. There was pond out in front which made for a nice swim. Our campsite was just outside the area in which the rendezvous was occurring. A group of kids came by to chat. All were in period gear. The multi-age group of kids reminded me of the pack of kids that would form at the folk festivals I attended as a kid. Some how all the kids would find each other and roam around with the oldest boy seemingly at the helm.  With the festival going on, they had brought in large cisterns of potable water. We were both happy to not be drinking pond water, filtered or not. Shannon went to take some photos off the hill. When she returned she mentioned the "food tent". They were going to be offering french toast in the morning on Saturday. We were a few days too early. I walked around a bit and talked to a man and his wife who were set up not far from us. The man said, "you look familiar." After a brief exchange we realized we knew each other from the paddling forums. Small world. They offered me some iced tea. Was nice to have a drink with ice in it. 

We were in bed before it got dark and up before most of the encampment. We packed up and quietly hiked down the hill. Some more road walking. This was our last day so packs were much lighter. We passed by a campsite with two ladies making breakfast. Then we started up hill. We paused to chat with a hiker coming the other direction. He was walking in  teva sandals. He had done the AT and found these to be much more comfortable for him than hot sweaty boots. Was a nice break from the climb. Made our way to the National Forest and began climbing that dirt rd. The hiker had mentioned there was no water at the Dunham shelter. We only had about 5 miles to go, I figured I could ration my water until then. The last few miles before the RR grade were through mowed field. Not very fun hiking for me. But we made it to the car. I still had a pint of water. We changed out of hiking clothes, retrieved our food storage and headed to my car. Shannons GPS tried to take us on a rd which no longer existed so we had to figure out a way using the paper map to get us back on track. My car was still there with intact windows and tires. 70.1 miles and I have barely 33% of the FLT complete. I think I will take a break from it for a while.

Winter's Last Gasp on the FLT

We made plan A, B and C for this week's trip. April 1st is the beginning of trout season so Plan A was fishing. We knew the water was still hard in the Adks so as to not be made the fool, we looked at our next options. Plans B and C were both in the Adirondacks as well. The weather forecast was not looking favorable and the trails would be a combination of melting snow and mush so we opted for another plan, the FLT.

It had been a few years since I had done any serious mileage on the FLT and many more years for Dan. We had 4 days in which to fill. We already had our menu set, so it was just a matter of route. I drove to Dan's house early Monday AM and over coffee and a muffin we opted to hike west on Map 18 and into Map 17. This would allow us to pass through a number of State Forests and minimal road walks. We cached bear canisters at road crossings a mile before our planned campsite. These caches were mostly of the barley and hops variety.

Monday's hiking started out brilliantly. It was a bit chilly if one was just standing around, but perfect for hiking. Dan left his pack with the first cache but I carried mine. We started on the main road and then turned off to a dirt one.This eventually became an abandoned section. As we talked and chatted we noticed the blazes were no longer apparent and the junction ahead was past our turn-off. We followed a ski trail for a few hundred feet before it started swing the wrong way, so we stepped off to head towards where our footpath should be. Soon we stumbled upon a large cistern of rocks holding water. Probably from an old CCC camp as these were common. I love finding old foundations and these structures are even more impressive. We intersected with footprints that we had seen earlier and found the maker's stealth campsite fire pit. We turned to head towards the microwave tower which we knew was on the trail. Within minutes we intersected the FLT again. we reminded ourselves to pay attention to the blazes as the man made paths and old roadways were numerous throughout these forests.

We stopped for lunch briefly and continued on past the tower. We signed in at the register and found a pair of polarized ray-ban sunglasses. Winding our way around the hilltop and then down the other side along a series of old woods roads and foot paths we again lost the blazes as the main road came into view. Instead of heading back up hill we figured to walk the road the extra few hundred feet to where we should have exited the woods and to Dan's awaiting pack and our food/drink for the evening.

We re-entered the woods and headed towards the Kimmie lean-to. The trail went up and down slightly as we crossed a number of small streams cascading down the hillside into the larger stream below. The far side of the stream, we noted was quite steep. As it bent around the hill we traversed our side began to level out slightly. A campsite came into view at the stream's edge. Consulting the map the lean-to should be a tenth of mile off the trail following blue blazes. heading downstream a bit more, we crossed paths with two women looking for a place to cross the stream. We said hi and they told us the lean-to was just ahead and they were just our day hiking. At the elan-to a young lad named Alex was there. We asked if it was ok to share the lean-to. He shrugged acquiescence apparently not enamored with the concept.

The front of the lean-to was a muddy mess and the follor seemed to be falling in. Another csmpsite with a decent fire ring and picnic table was just 50 yards away in a hemlock grove so we took that instead. Dan set up his tent, and I my tarp. It was early, only 3:30 or so and we had done a 7 mile day starting just before noon. We gathered wood and and did other camp chores. Dinner came late; venison, sweet potatoes and peas.

I stayed up as late as I could but it was still earlier than at home when I went to bed. I awoke before Dan, got the fire re-started and took down the bear bag. Breakfast was cheddar grits with salsa and of course coffee. The weather forecast was rain so we didn't dawdle to get started on the 10 miles. We waved goodbye to Alex. The first time we had seen him since we arrived. We had invited him to join us at our fire when we left the lean-to but apparently he was just happy being by himself. The rains came as expected. we spent the day hiking slowly through the wet trail. A brief stop for lunch and then pressing on. we retrieved our next cache of food with a short mile downhill to our campsite.

This lean-to was situated up hill from a larger stream with a numerous waterfalls. It was beautiful, and loud. we were wet and glad the rain seems to have slowed to basically just a mist. It was early, just past 2pm. The miles go quickly when all one does is hike and not stop every few minutes to chat. The idea of a cup of soup sounded great so we fired up the stove and as we discussed which soup flavor to put on, I remembered I had cocoa so we chose the chocolate soup to start. We set up our sleep gear inside the lean-to and took off our wet stuff to start the drying process. We laid down for a few minutes to rest. When I realized it wasn't raining anymore and the trees were not even dripping, I got up to collect firewood.

There were quite a few satellite campsite scattered throughout. Even so, it was not difficult to find a large amount of wood. None of the winter fall had been collected yet. The wood was wet, but this wasn't our fist rodeo. dan joined me in the wood collection and I opted to try to get the fire going without "cheating" just for practice in these conditions. I should have had at least twice the amount of tinder but I still managed to get it going. It took some coaxing. Better to be practicing in these conditions now then when it is necessary with no back up.

The fire helped us dry our some clothes and warm us up. The rains did not return. We had some leftover venison, plus the bratwust w/peppers and onions and the adult beverages conveniently left with our food cache. Like usual I was in bed early. It got warmer over night. I awoke in the middle needing to shed layers. It also rained a bit. The fire pit still had some coals the next morning which I coaxed back to life with the wood we dried the night before and set under the lean-to overhang. Made lunch first, and packed it up and then breakfast.

We expected some rain today, but not like the previous and also tonight was to get cold. The trail was to include at least 3 big climbs the last of which would be a 600 ft climb the last mile. we did get a little rain early on and overall the trail was great. A lot of variety including an old rail bed for a short time. The climbs definitely got our heart rate going but weren't that bad. We found it curious that the trail would often crisscross and old woods road at an even steeper grade. Apparently the trail makers didn't want to use the old road. Perhaps because it is snowmobile path in winter? We filled up with water on the backside of the hill from a seep in ground. Only a tiny bit of sediment in mine.

Our last cache retrieved we started up the hill. The pack was heavier but not unbearable in the least. With the added weight it became a typical overnight pack weight. While it wasn't that cold, the winds were picking up and it was biting through a single a layer. The lean-to came into view looking up hill. The trail swung around to the right and then followed the contour towards the lean-to situated among the giant tamaracks, which the lean-to is named. Again wood was plentiful and as the winds really began to pick up more wood became available nearby literally falling from the sky. We watched quite a few branches crack and break off and a couple of trees topple. The large tamaracks were swaying and bending a great deal with the large gusts. We jokingly imagined what it must be like for the squirrels in the nests at those highest reaches.

The temp started to drop as the winds continued. The heat from the fire was intense, stoked by the wind. I made a windbreak in the lean-to with my tarp to mitigate some heat loss from the intense winds. It did get as cold as expected overnight, below freezing. We awoke with a solid dusting of snow and our water bottles with ice forming. Only 5 miles for the day to our awaiting car, mostly downhill. It was chilly. I guess winter wasn't quite done with us yet. A half mile to go, we passed by the trails coordinator of the Cayuga Hiking club. he was scouting the loop for flooding issues. We wold him about a washed out bridge a few miles back and of the almost floating bog bridging the previous day. We chatted about trail and lean-to maintenance and went on our way. On the gentleman's car, Dan left his contact info on a slip of paper to volunteer to help if needed. We then retrieved our bear canisters/trash and headed to Ithaca for some pizza. This 32+ mile trip allowed me to sleep in 2 more lean-tos to put me at 59, and backpacked just under 25% of the FLT.