Connecticut Hill Wildlife Managenent Area - Bob Cameron Loop

     Over the last month, I've read a couple of interesting articles that described studies showing time outside in the forest can actually lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, and provide a person a better sense of their self and their communities.  This was great news to me, and not surprising - because we live in such a frenetic world that is definitely artificial and many times just plain unhealthy.  This is one of the reasons I personally love to be outside in the woods every so often.  These hikes are a natural sort of filter for me and a chance to explore beautiful places that I consider myself lucky to reside near.
     With this in mind, I remembered a great little loop hike I had done a couple of years ago down near the Ithaca area which, in addition, happens to be part of the "Emerald Necklace" greenbelt I described in a few recent blogs.  The Bob Cameron Loop, named after the man who, years ago, used to manage these wild lands, is part of the ever more expansive Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area.  11,237 acres in size, Connecticut Hill happens to be the largest wildlife management area in all of New York State.  A few other interesting things about it before I continue: it is in the northern fringes of the Appalachian Plateau which stretches far down south through Tennessee and Alabama.  This land is also home to the northernmost reaches of the timber rattlesnake (fortunately I have not come across one yet!).  And it contains the highest elevation in Tompkins County at an impressive 2099 feet above sea level.
     The 2.7 mile Bob Cameron Loop is, of course, not very long, but is nonetheless a rugged circuit of solitude among the rocky soils and steep cut, almost mountain-like hillsides that make up the region southwest of Ithaca.  Since this is technically Appalachian forest in spite of being in upstate New York, I find the woods here a shade different in a way that's a little hard to describe.  For one, the trees seem taller, older, and the greens of the forest take on a deeper, more primeval look.  The under story is filled with giant ferns by late summer, and peering through the trees, it's hard to see far in some places.  South of the Finger Lakes and into the mountains of Pennsylvania, the forests begin to slowly blend into their more mid-Atlantic brethren with stately oaks, hickories, and beeches, and that can be seen here in Connecticut Hill.
     By mid to late August, much of Central New York is relatively dry from less average rainfall that occurs in springtime.  My hike here was almost dry, save a few stream crossings (and even those were trickles by comparison to other hikes I've done this year.)  But that was okay, because I wasn't searching for waterfalls on this outing.  The trailhead where I started was off of Black Oak Road, which runs pretty much straight north to south from Enfield, NY to Newfield, NY.  The Finger Lakes Trail crosses Black Oak Road here, so this is where I started my hike.  Keep in mind the small yet increasingly popular city of Ithaca is only a few miles east of here.
     I went west on the FLT, but it would only be for a brief time, passing under lush, low-canopy growth, then this hilly telephone line right-of-way, and then into a more familiar forest setting.

     I could, truthfully, already feel myself relaxing by the time I reached the orange-blazed Bob Cameron Loop Trail.  I turned right here, heading west again, before reaching something quite out-of-place in the woods: a mailbox.  But this is here for good reason: it's another Wegman's passport station where hikers can register that they've been here.  I like the idea of these, and they're encouraging more people to get outside.

     The orange trail went both left and right at this junction.  I turned left, which meant I hiked this loop in a clockwise direction (also suggested by a local hiking book).  This trail was even prettier than I remembered it from two years ago, and very quiet.  The well-groomed path, maintained by those great volunteers of the Cayuga Trails Club, sneaked under a glade of young trees, then passed this blood-orange colored fungus.  I weaved through mature forest of oak, maple, hickory, and tall hemlocks, eventually crossing and following northwest a gully.

     The forest here is deep and almost primitive:

     A carpet of lycopodium, an ancient plant that is also named club moss:

     This stretch of the loop, turning back north and then east, was where I encountered some steeper hills absent from much of this hike.  And then I found this offshoot trail that wasn't blazed but did have this conspicuous wooden "ski" sign.  All told, I passed quite a few unnamed offshoot trails that I believe are used by cross country skiers in winter.  Connecticut Hill does get more snowfall than its neighboring valleys and flood plains.

     The last stretch of the loop passed through a forest mixed with conifers (some of them red pines likely planted in the 1930s).

     A parasitic fungus known as "Indian Pipe":

     Since this was a short loop like I mentioned and it took me just over an hour to finish, I definitely felt the strong urge to explore more while I was here, so that's what I did by continuing west on the white-blazed, long-distance FLT.  The Finger Lakes Trail travels across the entire expanse of Connecticut Hill WMA for a total of 9.3 miles length, so that makes this a major segment through Tompkins County.

     The FLT crossed Black Oak Road again in a southeast direction, passing this older memorial bench built in 2002, then traversed the edges of some private lands.  Once the trail steered south and then southwest again, I find myself hiking through healthy, undisturbed woods where hills gently rolled and I couldn't hear a road anywhere.

     Signs of a makeshift campsite near a stream bed:

     The trail crossed a wetter area as evidenced by what I think was a vernal pool.

     An opening of lush grasses:

     After crossing dirt Connecticut Hill Road, I came into a beautiful glen of hemlocks and wider creeks that just seemed so picturesque and hidden.

     Further on, I had to ascend a longer uphill climb before reaching this pure stand of red pines.

     And beyond that, the path passed through large open fields which are in the higher elevations of the management area, I've learned.  This was my chosen turn-around point, but not before stopping to take one more picture of a second field under some pretty ominous-looking clouds (it never rained, though).

     This hike took me took me about 3 and a half hours, keeping in mind I added more after completing the initial loop.  For sure, I soon intend to return here and pick up where I stopped so I can hike a whole other part: the Van Lone Loop which is much longer.  Beyond that, the FLT continues westward, threading more wonderful places like Texas Hollow and its natural bogs, Finger Lakes National Forest, and the awesome Watkins Glen State Park.  Miles and miles of exploration through Tompkins and neighboring Schuyler Counties to be enjoyed someday!