Further Than Planned

Reading Time: 11 minutes A beautiful summer hike, blue skies and sun. I planned and mapped out 18 miles from Baker School House Road (M20) to Cheningo Day Use Area (M21). I arrived at my turn-around point much earlier than I expected. Most of the FLT access points are usually less than two miles apart, so I decided to continue on. Over 2.5 miles later I reached the next access point. Instead of an 18 mile hike it became a nearly 25 mile hike. The additional section was also quite hilly. Combined with the warm summer day, only packing enough water for a shorter hike, I was hurting and parched by the time I returned to my car.

New Pack

Reading Time: 8 minutes Another hike with my friend Tim, this one nearly 19 miles. We started from Cheningo Solon Pond (M21) and made our way to Cuyler Lincklaen Road (M22) and back. I had acquired a new backpack – an overnight style pack – and wanted to test it out. The start of the hike was damp and wet with a brief rain shower on the drive to the trailhead. Fog flowed through the trees in the early morning before burning off and leaving the air damp and humid. Clouds persisted most of the day with a few breaks of sun. The road walk from Stoney Brook Road to Cuyler Lincklean Road and back presented us with two interesting sights.

Foggy Fall

Reading Time: 7 minutes As September neared its end Fall arrived and the leaves began to change color. I planned out my next, and possibly last, hike of the season. Rain moved in overnight, but ended before dawn leaving the trail and roads wet. Fog hung low and quited the sounds around me. My hike took me along and across several small country roads, beginning and ending with a long road walk.

“Marathon” Hike: July 1, 2012

Reading Time: 11 minutes After my first few hikes on the FLT I decided that I wanted to complete the entire trail; an end-to-end (E2E). I knew that it would take me years to complete the entire trail, so by the end of my second year of hiking (2011) I added some short-term goals to accomplish along the way. I wanted to do an overnight hike and I also wanted to try to hike a “marathon”, 26.2 miles, in a single day. My first overnight hike would wait until September 2013, but I had already started increasing my mileage in 2011. My first 20+ mile hike was June 2011 at 21.82 miles, and the next in July at 24.57 miles. Although, that was an unplanned distance and I was left hurting after.

During the cold winter months of the beginning of 2012 I began planning; I decided I would do my marathon hike that year. I knew I needed to build up my endurance and distance. I would need to keep increasing the mileage with each hike. My first hike in 2012 was my “warm-up” and was only 16.23 miles. The next hike in May I increased the mileage to 21.18 and then 24.38 in June. I was ready.

First Overnight: September 7 – 8, 2013

Reading Time: 15 minutes My first overnight hike on the FLT. I had planned out my hike well in advance. I would start from Beech Hill Rd and head west to Campbell Mountain lean-to. My previous hikes that year had been 16 – 20 miles so I expected that I could hike the 14 miles to the lean-to. The week leading up to the planned hike I checked and re-checked the weather forecast. The weather looked to be good with no rain in the forecast and nice temperatures.

April 27, 2014

Reading Time: < 1 minutes FLT Map: Layen Rd (M17) west to Hines Rd (M16)   Authors Note: I am re-posting some previous hikes.  I may go back and write up a longer narrative in the future.   Another hike on my E2E. This one started out cloudy, chilly and drizzly, not great hiking weather. The sun did finally break […]

May 11, 2014

Reading Time: < 1 minutes FLT Map: Tower Rd (M16) west to Todd Rd (M16)   Authors Note: I am re-posting some previous hikes.  I may go back and write up a longer narrative in the future.   A short hike, only 11 miles, but it was a gorgeous day for a hike. Broke out my hiking/camping hammock and relaxed […]

May 26, 2014

Reading Time: < 1 minutes FLT Map: Beech Hill Rd (M31) east to Mill Brook Ridge Trail (M31)

Memorial Day was a great day for a hike. Getting closer to the eastern end of the FLT. This hike was between Beech Hill Rd and Alder Lake.

Balsam Lake Mountain Overnight Hike

Reading Time: 13 minutes My second attempt at an overnight hike on the FLT. My first attempt had not gone as I had planned and I wanted to redeem the overnight hike. This hike would take me up Balsam Lake Mountain and over the highest point on the FLT, 3660 feet. My camp destination would be Beaver Meadow Lean-to a little north of Alder Lake. The weather was perfect, highs in the low 70s and an overnight low in the low 40s. I also got a bonus side trip to Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower complete with incredible views.

August 16, 2014

Reading Time: 9 minutes My previous hike in July had left me with one more hike before I would reach the end of the FLT. I decided to leave that hike for the fall and hopefully get some great pictures with the leaves changing color, unfortunately that hike was still a little too early and the leaves had not changed much. Since I was holding that hike for later I needed another hike. The route on M28 had recently undergone a major change so I decided this was a good time to go back and work on that reroute. The entire reroute would take two hikes, but I could get part of it done this time.

This hike would take me from the Apex Boat Launch on NY 268 near the Cannonsville Reservoir, up to the old O&W Railroad bed and down along old NY 10. I would criss-cross the new NY 10 at several points before joining up with my previous track that went up Beers Brook Rd.