This blog is the fourth in a series exploring hiking and traveling with your faithful, four-legged, friends in Cortland County. Do you have a favorite trail or place in Cortland County that you love sharing with your dog? Perhaps, you snapped the perfect photo of you and Fido exploring locally? I want to know about it! Email me at Candace@experiencecortland.com and just maybe we'll see you in your neck of the woods!
WHERE: Freetown Finger Lakes Trail (marker M20) Hoxie Gorge State Forest
HOW FAR: Approximately 2 miles as an out and back or 1.6 miles if you choose the loop.
DIFFICULTY: Easy, mild incline and several seasonal water crossings.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED: Trekking poles or cleats for ice, the 10 essentials (for you and your dog) and a towel for your muddy pup.
PARKING: Hoxie Gorge Freetown Road (42.5378583,-76.0702884) Small lot next to the logging road.
Just because it's winter doesn't mean we have to pack up our trekking poles. As a matter of fact, during these blustery days and long nights, our need to connect with nature is often its greatest. So, I am sharing with you my secret spot, my winter sanctuary. It's my escape on both bad days and blue-sky days. The babbling brook, weaving tough a hillside forest, is the perfect reprieve for when you just need to get out of your head and into the woods.
Even though Truckee and I hadn't been to Hoxie Gorge since last fall, as soon as I pulled onto Freetown, Trux began singing me the song of his people. Heading northwest on Hoxie Gorge/Freetown Rd, I spot the old wooden state forest sign on my right, signaling that we are nearly there. I pull into the parking lot, about a quarter mile further on the left, next to a logging road.
Today, instead of hiking northeast, down into the gorge, we're trekking the southwestern leg of the Finger Lakes Trail (M20) up the hillside. It's a mild incline but often icy in places this time of year, so I grab my trekking poles, strap on my day pack and clip Truckee to my waist belt before heading into the woods. The trailhead is conveniently located in the corner of the parking lot, so we simply follow the sounds of the brook into the woods.
Snuffling his way through the crunchy snow, Truckee immediately spots a treasure, a broken arrow, under the first trail marker. I toss it in my pack (remember, leave no trace), a stark reminder that we share these woods with hunters during the fall. We follow the noisy little brook up the hillside, and I am delighted by the traces of green that persist during the deepest of winter. Moss-covered logs and tenacious Ostrich ferns peak through the snowscape. Dried old Turkey Tail climb the trees chasing the sun, and deer tracks litter the forest floor, temporary fossils in ice.
As you make your way up the hillside, be sure to keep the creek to your left. The FLT trail blazes are white and often hard to spot, with the snow stubbornly clinging to the trees. Today, however, the sun is warm and casts dancing shadows along the forest floor. Birds are already calling from the treetops, and I wish this false spring would last forever.
Eventually, when you are nearly three-quarters of the way to the precipice, you'll cross over the brook. Make sure you pay close attention, as the rocks can be slick and the ice at the edges brittle. Truckee helps himself to big gulps of fridged spring water as I break up the ice with my trekking poles. The water here is rarely more than a few inches deep, and a good pair of hiking boots will more than suffice. There is a small hemlock grove here, full of good sniffs, and I soak up the sun like a fat toat on a log while Truckee investigates.
Just before the crest, the woods thin, and you will discover a vernal pond on your right. Even in the thick of winter, its edges are lined with a carpet of watercress. Truckee leans hard into his harness, pulling me toward the murky water. Even in the heat of summer, I would forbid such an indulgence. There's no stench more rotten than that of a dog soaked in stagnant pond water.
From here, it's just a short (but noticeably steeper) jaunt to the top. Alas, much like most east coast hikes, there are no views. While the peak is in a small clearing, you are hemmed in by dense forest. This is where the old logging road intersects with the Finger Lakes Trail. You can turn your hike into a loop by taking this shortcut back to your car rather than retracing the meandering FLT. Hikers beware; this rutted two-track often vacillates between an ice rink, mudslide and a creek.
However, fortune favors the brave. You'll quickly find the road flanked to the north by a deep, dark forest. The DEC website describes it as follows, "Certain sections of the woods are so rich and dense that they have the ability to make travelers feel as if they are in another world." I would have to agree with this assessment, as there are places so tenebrous the sun doesn't penetrate it, even on a bright winter's day. When Truckee leans in and rumbles into the darkness, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and we hurry our way down the hill.
We arrive back at our vehicle as one very muddy pup and one beaming hiker. Before we even made it home, I am already planning our next hike. Happy hiking!
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