Newsletter of the Cayuga Trails Club Founded in 1962 "to explore, enjoy, and preserve wild lands and places of natural beauty... " January-February 2004 Winter Edition Vol. 44, Nos. 1 & 2 Two Members Finish Finger Lakes Trail Hike for First Time! 11Java Joe" Completes Fifth End-to-End! Editor's Note: Twenty members of the Cayuga Trails Club have completed end-to-end hikes of the 563-mile-long Finger Lakes Trail (FLT). Long-time CTC member "Java Joe" Dabes finished his fifth end-to-end hike of the FLT on October 9, 2003. Incredible! He was the 167th person to hike the whole trail. CTC members Jay Zitter and Jim Connors were FLT end­ to-enders #169 and #171, respectively. Below are their stories. Jay Zitter' s FLT Hike Jim Connors' s FLT Hike was over 50 and had lived in the area almost 20 years ell, I finished the main Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) before I ever heard of the Finger Lakes Trail. Newly on October 26, 2003, and will go down in trail Idivorced, I wanted to do something different, something W lore as #171. As is customary, those who join I'd never done before. I joined the 1994 annual Earth the ranks of FLT "End-to-Enders" are asked to Day hike of the Cayuga Trails Club and found myself write about their hiking experience, so here goes. exploring the Cornell campus and the Cayuga Trail on an My first FLT hike was on April 28, 2000, on the Con­ outing led by Tom Reimers. I was hooked and promptly servation Trail south of Buffalo. Friend John Andersson joined the CTC. had been persistent in his invitations to go hiking, and I The first distance hike, however, didn't come until finally decided to join him at the spring 2001 gathering of 1998 when Bill and I joined Jack Van Derzee on the first the Finger Lakes Trail Conference (FLTC) in beautiful leg of his Tompkins County hike series, some 10+ miles. Ellicottville, New York. Camaraderie's were quickly Jack was my first hiking mentor. Although I had a sturdy formed on the trail with John, Jack Van Derzee, Phil Dan­ pair of hiking boots that Bill had thoughtfully given me for kert, Matt Underwood, and Vicky a nd P aul Gae ta. I en­ Christmas, that was about it in terms of equipment- no joyed Ellicottville's beauty, the Spot Coffee shop, and raingear, no stick, no first aid kit. After we drove the hour dancing at the corner pub. home to Virgil, we almost literally crawled from the car to Continuing my novice hiking career in 2000, I joined our front door, our muscles unused to the demand. While Jack Van Derzee's cross-county hike series of Steuben that hike was enough to whet my appetite, my motivation County and other hikes organized by Linda Sundloff to hike was conditional. For example, after doing a hike on Cruttenden and Jennifer Wilson. John Andersson led a FLT map M-12 (area east of Bath, New York) with Jack hike where I hit the trail for the first time with my wife to that ended in pouring rain, I canceled out ifthere was even be, Sigrid. The fall 2000 FLTC meeting was at Letchworth a hint of rain to come. State Park where I learned about drying wet hiking shoes My second mentor was Linda Cruttenden. Her adver­ on our cabin's oven door. It is here where the legend of tised list of kinder, gentler hikes appealed to me, and she "Jack the Muffin Man" was born, and, where I met "Gus." was doing the area in my neighborhood in 2000. We had Gus is the name that Warren Johnsen and I gave to an lots in common, and she had a great deal of sensible exuberant young boxer who energetically followed us on advice to hand on to a neophyte. The miles just flew! a 6-mile hike. We had to talk Jack into giving the hope­ Over the course of those first four hiking seasons, I lessly lost dog a ride home. Ah yes, 2000 was the start of leisurely covered only 100 miles of the trail, but Bill and I a wonderful hiking career. I had been bitten by the hiking adopted two miles of FLT to maintain east of Caroline, and bug. The year 2001 brought a cross-county hike of Chen­ I served briefly as an officer of the Cayuga Trails Club. ango County. I met a guy named Ed Sidote on my first continued on page 3 continued on page 5 Co-president's Message by Jennifer Wilson few early winter storms­ State to lend a hand, giving up a week of vacation or have confined me by retirement leisure. I hope members of our club will also A the window sill, gazing approach the FLTC to sign up as a volunteer. I can att~st off at the marching firsthand that these projects are a blast! You'll meet future white ranks of snow sweeping trail buddies, and you will be fed every meal if you work across the hills of Homer, a the whole week! So, I'm glad we can look forward to this poor substitute in my mind for project this year. myself charging around outside I'm also pleased that in 2003 we saw the long-awaited in hiking gear or on skis or publication of our newest edition of Guide to Trails ofthe snowshoes. It's a good time to Finger Lakes Region. This was a pet project of Betty sit with a mug of cocoa and Lewis, and we are ever so grateful to her for all her hard think about the year past and work resulting in a fine and useful publication. I'm grate­ the one to come. ful to Jack Van Derzee, who has kept the area stores As a new co-president in 2003 (with Phil Dankert), I supplied with the books, which have sold with such alac­ had high hopes. Our club was going to fix or replace the rity that the guide has already paid for its own production. Shindagin Lean-to that year! Anyone who has visited it Future sales allow us to keep our dues unchanged without lately would have scratched his or her head at this pre­ cutting back on the siZe or quality of our newsletter, as diction, because the ever more drunkenly leaning structure well as to support trail work and refreshments at some lately has sported a very large tree on its decaying roof, special events and our ability to annually "buy down" the making it unsafe for use [see closing notice on page 11]. cost of our dinner at the annual meetings. Figuratively speaking, several hundreds oflarge trunks During 2003, I'm glad to say we made a commitment to laid waste to this plan in 2003. A series of savage winter a major event to take place in 2004: a special hike series and early spring snow and ice storms decimated the across Tompkins County on the FLT. The FLTC is pro­ region's forests ofmainly human-planted pine plantations. moting the series as it has moved from Chenango and Very tall with weak and shallow root systems, the trees Cortland counties in the last two years, busing groups of came crashing down or snapping in two, bringing their up to 80 hikers. Our club will have major responsibilities brothers down with them, across the trails our club main­ in terms of organizing and running the Tompkins County tains. After some awe-filled contemplation of the devas­ series, and I'm grateful to Sigrid Connors for agreeing to tation-the club now even has a commemorative sign near oversee the project. Much will be asked of members as Shindagin Hollow donated by Bob Timmerman of the volunteer organizers, hike leaders, sag wagon operators, Sunshine Sign Co. of Dryden- it's as if we collectively etc. I took part in the Cortland series so I can attest that it rolled up our sleeves to make things right will attract many people new to hiking (maybe you '11 meet Led by Trails Chairman Tom Reimers, several large that special someone to help you finish the entire Finger work parties tackled different sections of the 91 miles of Lakes Trail on this series). So, by all means participate Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) System we maintain. Much of and please help out if you can. the work was heavy and risky, and several volunteers were I have a good feeling about 2004, even if a few more trained to use a chain saw to tackle the massive task Some trees topple this winter across our woodland routes! I hope landowners and volunteer section maintainers never asked members will want to join in the work and the fun of for the club's help, because they had finished the job maintaining and using our precious, bountiful resource of themselves. I'm proud to say that by National Trails Day hiking trails. in early June, we were able to reopen to the public the FLT System and Cayuga Trail, which we also maintain. Cayuga Trails is published six times each year and Although we did not gefto fix the lean-to this year, I'm is edited and published by Thomas J. Reimers. Comments and original contributions are welcome. happy to say the Finger Lakes Trail Conference (FLTC) Deadline for the 2004 early spring edition is Feb­ will sponsor an Alley Cat trail work project for the ruary 15, 2004.