How well do we know the amazing place that we live? Join an off-season Yosemite National Park ranger-naturalist (and native of the Finger Lakes) for a multi-day, arduous walking adventure, back to Ithaca. Our journey will start on the shores of Seneca Lake. Walk stories of the land, practicing a language of landscape, as we make our way back to Ithaca. It will not be the same Ithaca that you left two and a half days before. This is a pilgrimage of sorts toward a deeper understanding of our place (and time) in this rich Finger Lakes landscape. Through the many miles we walk, we will hopefully come to a different understanding of both body and mind.
Sunday Afternoon
The seven of us met at 12:30pm on Sunday at the Children’s garden at Cass Park in Ithaca. Some participants walked there and some left their cars in the parking lot until our return. Transportation was provided in one vehicle to Seneca Lake. We walked down an old road and trails to a wild shore of the lake through a historic site of a literature, arts and recreation camp started by some progressive women and men in the late nineteenth century. We enjoyed tea and snacks on the beach while hearing stories about the camp and reading poetry from a book that was published by the group that started the camp. We noticed the strange coincidence that there were seven members of the group that started the camp...and also just like our group, there were 5 women and 2 men!
Later Sunday Afternoon
We hiked back up to our vehicle and were shuttled a few miles down the lake to two different wineries. There we sampled wines, discussed the idea of terroir, learned about the two wineries and different philosophies and practices related to growing grapes and making wine in the Finger Lakes and chose a wine to have with our dinner.
Sunday Evening
We were shuttled from the last winery to our campsite on the Finger Lakes National Forest, stopping at an archeological site along the way. We got settled in our tents and the group had time to explore the area on their own while dinner was prepared. Dinner consisted of all homemade products made with as many local and locally relevant ingredients as possible. This included handmade gnocchi, venison provided by a nearby hunter, a salad of wild edibles, homegrown sprouts and the year’s first local spinach, local apple cider (frozen since the fall) and bread and desserts made by my mother in Burdett. It was going to be a cold night so my father delivered extra blankets.
Sunday Night
After dinner we shared stories and enjoyed each other’s company around a campfire.
Monday Morning
We awoke for an early breakfast (prepared even earlier on the camp stove). Breakfast consisted of eggs from a homestead that we would be passing on the last day of the trip, local yogurt and granola, my mom’s bread, desserts from the night before, locally roasted coffee, teas from special places and cider. After breakfast we packed our lunches with a choice of three different kinds of my mom’s homemade bread, local ham, local cheeses and spinach, local apples, trail mix and desserts. Then we headed out on the trail. The first five miles followed trails through the Finger Lakes National Forest. We explored some of the natural and cultural history of the forest and took a break by a pond for tea and snacks.
Monday Afternoon
The rest of the day, we followed a small road along a boundary of the 18th century military land plots. We stopped for lunch on the edge of a small pioneer cemetery. Around 4pm, near the edge of the Village of Trumansburg, we stopped under a tree in the grass at a farm started in the 1940’s as a dairy farm. Here a new local chocolate maker met us for a brief history of chocolate and chocolate tasting of her fine truffles. Some of the family that owns the farm joined us for conversation and the chocolate tasting…and also brought some homemade fudge to share with us. Afterward we continued on to the village of Trumansburg, arriving at the McLallen House, our bed and breakfast, in the late afternoon.
Monday Evening
Everyone had some time on their own to settle into their rooms, shower (!) and read from the bed and breakfast’s book collection. We met before supper with the proprietress of the bed and breakfast for some conversation about the history of the house and a tasting of some Cayuga Lake wines and local cheeses. We then walked to the Hazelnut Café in downtown Trumansburg for dinner.
Monday Night
After dinner, some of us met in the living room of the bed and breakfast to carry on our trail spirit and sing some songs with the house guitar.
Tuesday Morning
We had an early, hearty breakfast prepared by the proprietress of the house including (but not limited to) some local sausage and fruit juices. We then headed out through the village of Trumansburg toward Ithaca. We stopped in a quirky Laundromat just to admire some of the unique decorations, names of the machines,…etc. On the way out of town, we took a path through an old growth forest then followed a country road the rest of the way to Taughannock Falls State Park. Here was a great opportunity to appreciate some of the amazing geologic story of the region. We continued on toward Ithaca along the route of the old “Black Diamond” luxury train. We followed this route for the rest of the day, with a few diversions along quaint country roads where bridges were out.
Tuesday Afternoon
We stopped for lunch in a grassy area along the trail and following the route of the early 20th century train, continued on toward Ithaca through fields, forests, and wetlands. We traveled over streams, near ponds and through a few backyards. At one stream crossing we stopped for a snack, tea and the sampling of another Cayuga Lake wine for those in the mood. We made postcards addressed to ourselves that would be sent out sometime later in the year. On the last stretch to Ithaca, we continued stories of the natural and cultural landscape, now bringing Ithaca into the picture. We shared perspectives about various historical events and were very much enjoying each other’s company after the few days together. Almost in Ithaca we made an amazing discovery of some hard to find and beautiful mushrooms (perfect to spark some discussion about the amazing fungal world!) and at last found ourselves sitting on the grass near where we had started our journey, not wanting it to end.
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