Sunday January 31st - Finger Lakes Trail - Near Dryden NY - 3.6 miles, about 600 feet elevation gain

 This was to be a repeat of the Spanish Loop trail we did last summer. Last time we went to this location it was exceptionally hot and we were pleased how shady and relatively mild it was on this segment of the Finger Lakes Trail.  Since it is quite snowy all over here this week we expected to deal with a lot of snow on this hike today but we didn't have any way to know that it would seem that zero people walked more than the first mile of this since most of the snow came down. So for the first maybe half a mile there were ski tracks and clearly 1 or 2 people had been through a few days earlier on foot.  After the half mile mark or so the lone set of faint boot prints went away but the skier went on for maybe another quarter of a mile.  Past that, there wasn't much evidence of ski tracks OR boot tracks and the hiking went from challenging to brutally challenging since we were also gaining altitude the whole way and the snow was getting deeper and deeper.  For the last mile we were breaking trail in 12-16" deep snow.  The trail blazes, white of course, seemed like cruel mirages.  They looked so close but it took SO much effort to paw our way to each one as we broke trail going uphill.  The full loop trail was about 6.4 miles.  Even right out of the little parking lot the trail was challenging with lots of off kilter slopes that were easy to slide a foot out on.  After the first creek and road crossing the climb got more serious.  After the 2nd road crossing especially the climb got even steeper and by then there was virtually no base layer of compacted snow to help out.  It was big exaggerated vertical steps all the way and progress was painfully slow.  On the upside, the slopes weren't as pronounced to the side of the trail and in the deep snow nothing really slid around much.  

Brian was leading at first.  We normally alternate per hiking trip who has the backpack and whoever has the backpack also normally leads so they can set the pace.  but today, I suggested at one point that i should lead for a while because being lead man on unbroken snow is extra hard work.  We did switch and it was noticeably better for Brian but at one point we looked at the phone to see where we were on the map and we'd only gone 1.7 miles.  We tried to trudge on 2 get to 2 but after a few more minutes of exhausting uphill effort I had to call it a wrap not long after that.  Going back down the hill was actually fun at first because the deep snow was very forgiving and since we'd already broken trail going up, the logs and rocks and other large hazards were mostly visible so we kind of just bounded downhill and let ourselves slide a bit where it was steep.  As we got back to the somewhat more packed down sections where the skier and later the skier and hiker(s) had been it actually was worse because then we were back to more slippery conditions and less forgiving harder snow.

This trip probably sounds like a terrible outing but actually we were in good spirits the entire time.  It was just beautiful every step of the way.  The snow is all still pure white and nothing has crusted over or gotten sloppy.  The trees and creeks are all covered in white.  The creeks still have lovely babbling water flowing through them, albeit under ice in spots.  Watching the water flow down under the ice was very fascinating.  We also stopped a few times and appreciated the absolute lack of car/truck/airplane/lawn mower sound.  It was wonderfully quiet.  And we didn't see a single man or beast until we returned to the parking lot and saw 2 hikers and a dog getting ready to start their walk.

Pictures are from both of us for this trip.


















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