krnaturalphoto's Blog 
Exploring More of the FLT
I had the opportunity to get out for a nice long exploration run today. I just had to decide where I wanted to run. I have really been enjoying exploring the Finger Lakes Trail and I decided I wanted to explore more of it. I wanted to run on a section that would be new to me. The question is where. There are so many options. I decided I wanted to go up to the Ithaca area and make a day of it. I was thinking about either starting in Danby State Forest or at the outlet of Robert Treman State Park and go up to Sweedler Preserve. I wanted to run about 8 miles out and back for a total of 16 miles. I decided that I would pick up where I have ended on the farthest out I have run in that direction, which is where the trail leaves Robert Treman State Park.
I wanted to make this a nice casual run and enjoy some nature. I took my phone and my GoPro so I could capture some images of the trails. That is part of what I love about trail running, it has allowed me to experience and capture nature where I never would have been able to before. This trail run did not go as I had hoped especially in the beginning. I continuously tripped and stumbled along the path. Just not picking up my feet. I don’t know if I was stumbling along the path because I wasn’t running hard and focused or what. It was just not going smoothly. At one point I tripped so hard that I just about peeled the sole of the shoe off of the upper. I ripped a big split in the shoes along the seam of the upper and the sole. Thankfully these were an old pair of trail shoes. They were actually the first pair of trail shoes I had ever had, but I loved them and I liked running in them occasionally. They had served me well but now their time had come. I will miss you my super light weight, minimalist, do it all Teva Sphere trail shoes.
Then there is the other aspect that didn’t go so well, and that is the exploring a new section of trail. There was a long stretch on the road where I didn’t see any trail blazes along the road or on signs or anywhere. Maybe I just missed them. But it was a long section of road where you begin to doubt yourself and think that you should have gotten off the road by now. I have in the past missed turns to get off the road. My friends that have gone on trail adventures with me will tell you all about it. Luckily I had bought the downloadable maps and was using them with the Avenza app so I had GPS telling me if I was on the trail or not, and I was on the trail the whole time I was on the road and eventually came to the area where I left the road. Eventually I came to another section that was confusing. I emerged from the woods into a large field that was mostly overgrown except for a few areas. Once again I did not see any obvious blazes; maybe I just missed them again. I headed out in one of the two different directions where the field had been cleared figuring one of them had to be the trail. Turns out I chose wrong, but after a short time I was able to meet back up with the trail without having to backtrack. It just meant some bushwhacking through an overgrown field. As I trudged along through this field I was watching the map on the Avenza app and I could see that I was going in the same direction of the trail but I was slowly getting farther and farther away from it. I was basically tracking parallel to the FLT. I must have missed something. I started to back track and figured I must have been supposed to turn out of the field and into the woods at some point, but I never saw a place to do that. Where I was at the time there was a thick hedge row where you couldn’t see the woods. Eventually I found a thinning in the brush and pushed through into the woods. Now just navigating by GPS on the map looking for trail blazes and watching as my dot on the map got closer and closer to the trail. Eventually I found it and was back on the FLT. This was at about mile 5 and I was about to give up and turn back because I was so frustrated with not being able to find the trail. I would have had to turn back without the Avenza app.
Thankfully I found the trail and I was off and running again. I finished out that 8 miles almost reaching Danby State Forest which I would have liked to get to but it wasn’t really worth adding any extra miles at that point. I turned and began the run back to my car. The run back turned out to be much less eventful. No getting lost. No tripping and falling. It felt much more enjoyable. Maybe it was due to the fact that the return trip was essentially a nice meandering 8 mile assent while the way out was an 8 mile climb. That could have something to do with it. Especially since I much prefer going down than up. The only event occurred when at one point I emerged from the woods and heard a loud buzzing. It was like there could be a bee hive nearby. I looked around and didn’t see anything. I figured there just must be bees out in the field of flowers that I hear. Then all of a sudden something stung me. I took off at a sprint. Not so fun when you have already gone over 10 miles and have 3 or 4 still to go, but I wanted to get away from whatever the hell had just stung me. As I ran I determined that I think it was a huge horsefly that had bitten me as it continued to chase me down the trail trying to bite me. I even swatted it out of the sky once but that did not stop it. Eventually it gave up the chase as I reentered a wooded area.
As I began to feel better about the run my creative juices began to flow. I recorded several videos of the return trip using my GoPro and I also took some still photos using both my GoPro and my phone. The downhills were nice. I could have run faster but this run wasn’t about speed or hard effort, it was about fun and enjoying nature. I never actually felt like I was pushing too hard at any point during the run, except when I was trying to escape that horsefly. I figured that since I never really felt like I was struggling either on the uphills or downhills that there must not have been too much climbing. I figured I would be below 2000 ft elevation gain. I was surprised when I checked my Strava and saw that I was at almost exactly 2000 ft. So I am happy to have gotten out for a run exploring a new section of trail and enjoying myself and still getting in a decent amount of climbing which is where I really need to work anyway when I train. So all in all it was a good day.
I ended the day with a nice soak in the creek. I really needed that. Despite not pushing myself very hard on this run I have been battling some issues with hip pain and ankle pain and that cold water felt soooooo good. IT was amazing. I think I have another opportunity to go explore some trails again soon. So it is either pick up where I left off here and start at Danby State Forest or go the opposite direction and start at the farthest point that direction I have been at Birdseye Hollow Park. Oh the hard choices one has to make.
Enjoy trails. Check out the FLT. Join me below at KRNaturalPhoto to stay up to date on new cool places to explore.