First Talks and Treks Series: “Birds Everywhere” in Dryden, May 5

Finger Lakes Land Trust will host “Birds Everywhere” at 8 a.m. on May 5 at the Roy H. Park Preserve in Dryden.

The event is being held as a kick off to the Finger Lakes Land Trust’s Talks and Treks, a series of guided walks, led by volunteer naturalists, to the region’s natural areas that help educate youth and adults about the natural and cultural history of the Finger Lakes. This event’s guest speaker is Mark Chao.

Take A Hike – Finger Lakes NY

Events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 607-275-9487 or visit www.fllt.org.

Guidebooks at footprintpress.com.

Birding in Central & Western NY

Read Full Post »

Consider Joining a Cayuga Lake Dragon Boat or Paddleboard Team for July Fest – Learn More May 11 at Cass Park in Ithaca

by Dan Veaner , Lansing Star, link to original post

Ithaca Dragon Boat Club and Paddle-N-More announced a partnership Monday to get more people paddling.    The partnership is centering on the 8th annual Finger Lakes International Dragon Boat Festival this July, with the three joining forces to build more dragon boat, outrigger canoe and paddleboard teams.

“The mission of both our organizations is youth development and healthy living, so it seemed natural for us to participate and collaborate,” said Ithaca Y CEO Frank Towner.  “We have approximately 4400 members at the YMCA.  It was natural for us to come together and reach more people, utilize the Y for meetings and efforts of the Dragon Boat Club.  Then we met with Paddle-N-More to introduce more paddling sports to the community.”

The Ithaca Dragon Boat Club has two boats for practicing on Cayuga Lake.  Teams from the club have raced in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Princeton, and Montreal.  Co-founder of Finger Lakes International Dragonboat Festival and the Ithaca Dragon Boat Club Amy Kuo Somchanhmavong says members hope to compete in Rome at the World Cup Crew Championship in 2014.  She says the stand up paddleboard competition makes the Ithaca festival unique.

Right now the focus is on this summer’s festival.  All three entities plan to participate at an open house on May 11th, 1pm to 4pm at the Cass Park dock where they will meet with people interested in paddling, and get to try out stand up paddleboarding.

“We want to reach more people and form more teams,” Towner said.  “That is our biggest effort.  Last year we had 30.  We’d like to double that.”

Paddle-N-Moreis based in Lansing’s Myers Park, offering kayak, canoe, and stand-up paddleboard rentals and instruction.

New York Senator Mike Nozzolio sent a letter to be read at the press conference.
“The Finger Lakes International Dragonboat Festival is a unique and wonderful event that brings people together across generations and backgrounds,” Nozzolio said.  “Teams win by individual strength, they win by working together.  This festival exemplifies the values of cooperation and diversity.”

“Anyone can do this, so it’s a simple plan to get everybody as involved as they can,” Towner said.

Read Full Post »

Ithaca, New York’s Beautiful Gorges (PHOTOS)

Click here to see:   Ithaca, New York’s Beautiful Gorges (PHOTOS)

Take A Hike – Finger Lakes

Gorgeous of course – especially in fall. Go see for yourself using the guidebooks Take A Hike – Family Walks in New York’s Finger Lakes Region and 200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New York.

Read Full Post »

Enjoy A Fall Visit to Sapsucker Woods in Ithaca

By Connie Mertz For The Daily Item, link to original post

One of the most exceptional places to visit, particularly during October, when the trees are ablaze with color, is Sapsucker Woods. Located within a 10-minute drive of Ithaca, N.Y., it is a Mecca for bird enthusiasts. Each year, 55,000 visitors journey to this facility.

Take A Hike – Finger Lakes

Sapsucker Woods is also home to Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. “The Cornell Lab is a nonprofit, member-supported organization whose mission is to interpret and conserve the earth’s biological diversity through research, education and citizen science focused on birds,” commented Miyoko Chu, Director of Communications.

The sanctuary itself consists of 226 acres including more than four miles of wood-chipped trails plus a 10-acre pond. It is easy walking, family-friendly and, at the height of autumn, it is very scenic. Free guided bird walks are offered on weekends during the remaining months of 2009. Participants only need to meet at the entrance of the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity. (A trail map and directions can be found in “Take A Hike – Family Walks in New York’s Finger Lakes Region.”)

“You can hear the drum of a Pileated woodpecker, watch an osprey perched on a tree snag and stroll in a mature forest where the voices of a hundred species of birds animate your walk,” said public outreach associate, Charles Eldermire.

“Sapsucker Woods is a mosaic of wetlands and forest that attracts a diverse assemblage of birds and other animals. As trees die, they are left standing, which creates habitat valuable for cavity-nesting birds like woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches,” Eldermire adds.

This is only a taste of what awaits the traveler. “In the observatory, visitors may relax on one of the many chairs arrayed in front of the 30-foot wall of windows to look out over the pond, watch avian visitors to the Treman Bird Feeding Garden and use spotting scopes set up nearby,” staff writer Pat Leonard said.

Even the bird song heard by observers is live because of outdoor microphones strategically placed.

Visitors browse at the vast array of bird exhibits. One such encased display shows the hummingbirds of the world. “Wildlife artwork adorns the walls. A reconstructed study features bird murals by renown painter Louis Agassiz Fuertes.,” Leonard said.

Founded in 1954, the location of Sapsucker Woods was well known to researchers as well as the general public. “The birds and plants of this hilltop woodlot near the lake seemed to resemble the forests of the Adirondacks much more than other woodlots near Cornell…With the help of donors and local landowners, this regionally-important habitat was formally conserved as the Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, becoming home to the then ‘fledgling’ Cornell Lab of Ornithology,” Eldermire said.

Today, Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology, is a world leader in bird research and conservation. More than 250 scientists, including students and staff, strive to make important discoveries in bird conservation. “In the field and in the laboratory, scientists track and analyze bird diseases,” Chu explained. “Conservation scientists produce land managers’ guides aimed at conserving dwindling populations of scarlet tanagers, wood thrushes and other forest birds,” Leonard noted.

Researchers are also working with organizations and government agencies to learn how the use of wind power is impacting birds and bats. “Researchers sequence DNA from living birds or specimens to discover fascinating information about the relationships among species and their lifestyles,” Leonard continued.

The ongoing research and scientific studies is not limited to professionals either. “More than 100,000 people participate in the Cornell lab’s citizen-science projects. These projects are enjoyable for participants and they help collect widespread information that scientists need to understand the movement, distribution and changes in bird numbers through time,” Chu said.

Another citizen-based project is called Project FeederWatch. This simply asks the public to count birds at their backyard feeders from November to April. “This helps scientists track changes in bird numbers and movements from year to year,” Leonard said. “Since 1987, more than 40,000 people from the United States and Canada have taken part in the project.”

Another popular program is eBird, an online program that participants can not only keep track of their own bird lists, but can access information from others. “eBird takes in an average of one million bird observations per month,” Leonard emphasized.

Another fascinating statistic is that 500,000 visitors a month check out the “All About Birds” Web site.

The research and citizen-based projects are practically endless. And to think, this all started with a little parcel of ground from donors and local landowners more than 50 years ago.

For information on Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology and how you can get involved, visit http://www.birds.cornell.edu/

For the Great Backyard Bird Count, Feb. 12-15, 2010 www.birdcount.org

To learn about urban birds: www.celebrateurbanbirds.org

Read Full Post »

Ithaca Area Waterfalls

Here’s a wonderful pictorial tour of some Ithaca area waterfalls.

Anyone who wants to go explore these and other Ithaca area waterfalls would do well to pick up a copy of “200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New York – A Finders. Guide.” It’s loaded with maps & directions to lots of gorgeous waterfalls.

Read Full Post »

Beginner Backpacking on The Cheap By Carey Kish

Beginner Backpacking on The Cheap By Carey Kish

Another option for finding less expensive backpacking gear is to visit the used gear / consignment shop called Old Goat Gear Exchange in Ithaca NY.

Read Full Post »

Ithaca engineers complete draft of bike boulevard plan

By Dialynn Dwyer, ithacatimes.com , link to original post

A bike boulevard network in the City of Ithaca has moved closer to fruition with the development of a draft plan.

The draft is available for review and for public comment, and City Transportation Engineer Tim Logue said the plan will be circulated for approximately a month before returning to the Board of Public Works agenda for adoption in September.

“The basic idea is that we are looking at ways to encourage more walking and biking in the city, and there a number of different ways to go about that,” said Logue. “Some are infrastructure and some are not infrastructure. On the bicycle front we’ve spent some time over the last number of years installing bike lanes and bike racks and working on the Waterfront Trail.

“It has become fairly clear to us that though the bike lanes work for some folks they don’t really work for a lot of people,” he added. “A lot of people are looking for a quiet comfortable street to get out and bike and it doesn’t necessarily have to have no cars, but having fewer cars and slower cars would make a big difference.”

After doing research into other options available for creating biking areas conducive to the not-so-confident rider, it was decided that bicycle boulevards — or neighborhood greenways — were the most appropriate design strategy. Outreach in the fall and winter of 2011 was done in the Fall Creek and Southside neighborhoods to gauge interest and receive feedback on the idea for the plan.

“We worked on a plan mostly focused on what kind of streets would we like to look at as kind of bicycle/pedestrian priority streets,” said Logue.

After consultation with the fire department about what street they would prefer to use, it was decided that a boulevard along the length of Tioga Street connecting Fall Creek to the Commons worked best. A boulevard traveling from Plain Street and Corn Street, linked by Cleveland Avenue, serves as the boulevard connecting the Northside to the Southside. Other legs and spurs connect to parks (Wood Street), schools (Court Street) and popular destinations like the Farmers’ Market (Third Street).

“We tried to find streets where we could that carried less than say two or even three thousand cars a day, preferring if we could to get down to even less than a thousand cars a day,” said Logue. “We wanted to connect important origin and destination points — the schools, parks, commons, Farmers’ Market — places we thought people were very likely to want to walk and bike.”

Different from a bike lane, which is a designated painted space on the street meant for bikes, a bike boulevard still shares the street space with vehicular traffic. The stencil of a bike with the letters “BLVD” on the pavement indicates to drivers that there is something else going on they should be aware of.

“It’s still a shared street space, like all the streets are a place where you can ride a bike and drive a car at the same time, obviously not on top of each other, but you have to share the street,” said Logue. “The bicycle boulevard is just trying to raise awareness of those kinds of shared spaces and actually giving a little extra priority to bicycling particularly, but as a side benefit also to walking because it tends to be a quieter street, there’s a little less traffic, there’s a little more traffic calming.”

In addition to the designation of where the bike boulevards should be, the plan also lays out where bicycle-friendly, traffic-calming measures, like speed humps or speed tables, should be placed. Signage ranging from lowering of the speed limit to 25 miles per hour along the boulevards to way-finding signs for bicyclists and pavement markings are also laid out in the plan.

Perhaps the most potentially controversial piece of the plan is the proposal to reconfigure three intersections to reduce vehicular traffic along the boulevards by using a curb bump-out that would prevent one direction of vehicular access onto the street. At the proposed Tioga/Court Street intersection, for example, a bump-out would prevent access for northbound traffic up Tioga Street. The measure is aimed at discouraging the use of Tioga Street as a thruway to get to the high school or Route 13.

“If you’re driving from the Commons towards the neighborhood, you couldn’t go further north than Court Street,” explained Logue. “You’d be forced to turn. You’d still have other options, you could go to Aurora or Cayuga Street, but that would keep the boulevard street a little bit quieter and make it a little bit more bicycle friendly.

“Particularly for families, for older/younger folks who may not be so confident on their bicycles — that’s kind of what we’re going for. There’s not much that changes with the street itself,” he added. “It continues to be a street you can drive on, it continues to be two-way for traffic, it continues to have parking on-street, no changes to any of that. The only change is there’s just one access point where you can’t access heading up Tioga Street, you’d have to head around the block to get back on it.”

Bump-outs also are proposed for the intersections of Seneca and Corn Street (preventing northbound traffic north of Seneca Street) and Green and Corn Street (preventing southbound traffic south of Green Street). The aim is to reduce the number of vehicles using Corn Street to cut through traffic. Logue emphasized that the traffic diversion is an easy option for the city to experiment with before making permanent or removing if it does not work.

With the city facing a budget deficit of $3 million and personnel reductions, several options for the funding and implementation of the plan have developed.

“Right now we’re considering pursuing a Safe Routes to School Grant as our most likely source of funds that could afford to build potentially the whole network and address all the streets all at once, which would be a very nice way to do it,” said Logue. “Alternatively we could try and do little projects along the way, try to take advantage of other street work that was planned and increase the scope of work planned a little bit or go to Council and ask for special capital funding perhaps a little bit every year over the course of a few years.”

With the connections to schools made in the plan, and the possibility of expanding the plan to connect to Boynton (and the high school as a result) the Safe Routes grant seems the logical program to pursue, according to Logue. If not, Logue indicated that funding the project as a capital project would remain a possibility even with the budget difficulties the city is facing.

“Our total cost estimates to implement the entire thing could still be less than $100,000 dollars or approximately $100,000 dollars,” said Logue. “So that’s not out of line for two years of capital project funding. Even in a difficult budget season the city does continue to make capital investments and this would be a relatively small one. We usually have two or three million dollars’ worth of capital projects per year, so doing two years of $50,000 dollars is not a very large commitment of funds from the capital program.”

Of greater concern is the cost of long-term maintenance of the boulevards, particularly the repainting of the pavement markings, once they are installed.

“I don’t think it’s a deal breaker or an insurmountable hurdle, but it is something that we are very cognizant of,” said Logue. “We would look to if anything err on the side of more signs and less paint because the signs will last a lot longer than the paint. I feel pretty confident that we can continue to work on that and find ways to deal with that.”

To view the plan, visit www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/departments/dpw/engineering/traffic.cfm. Comments on the plan can be submitted to Logue at timlo@cityofithaca.org or (607) 274-6535.

Read Full Post »

Black Diamond Trail bridge construction under way

Written by Andrew Casler, Star Gazette, Link to original post WITH PHOTOS

Construction the Black Diamond Trail, a one-time railway and future recreation path, is chugging along. Work is focused on building a pair of bridges to span gorges where the trail route is interrupted. Construction started in May.

When the bridges are in place, and if right-of-way is obtained from a private landowner, the trail would connect Taughannock Falls State Park and Allan H. Treman State Marine Park, an eight-mile stretch from Ithaca to Ulysses.

At Glenwood Creek, old railroad remnants have been cleared away for construction of one of the bridges, and workers installed two 95-foot steel beams with a crane on Wednesday afternoon.

Workers will now pour concrete for the bridge’s back walls and deck. Bridge railing should be in place by the end of September, and the first bridge project could be done in mid-October, said Nicholas DeVincentis, project manager from R. DeVincentis Construction Inc. The construction budget is $486,000.

Finger Lakes Regional State Parks Director Tim Joseph said contracts aren’t finalized for Black Diamond’s other bridge, over Willow Creek. Work could start this fall if the contract is finalized soon.

“If the contract isn’t completed relatively soon, they may run into weather that keeps them from getting it done, and it may be spring before it’s finished,” Joseph said.

Bidding for construction of the Willow Creek bridge ended May 2. The apparent low bidder was Silverline Construction with a $392,718 bid.

With New York state not owning all the land that the trail crosses, a date for Black Diamond’s official opening is unclear. Holochuck Homes owns 60 feet of the trail, and negotiations to buy the land have stalled, Joseph said. New York state would need buy the property to officially open Black Diamond.

The trail project has been ongoing since the 1970s, but the recreation way was never officially opened, and funding for the completion of the trail isn’t in place. “For the next segment through the city, the city really has to take the lead on getting that part done,” Joseph said.

“And then the extension from Buttermilk Falls (State Park) out to Robert Treman, we don’t have the rights-of-way, and we’re not really in a position to get them at this point.”

Read Full Post »

Lyme disease more prevalent in Finger Lakes region than once thought

byDave Henderson, Ithaca journal, link to original post

According to the Center for Disease Control, New York has long been the national capital of Lyme disease. But for many years the only cases diagnosed locally came when a pet was infected elsewhere and traveled here.

Judging by the reaction I received from recently published warnings of above-average infestations of disease-bearing ticks this year, most folks still think Lyme disease is not a local problem. They are definitely mistaken.

There have been, over the last five years or so, an increasing number of cases where Lyme disease was diagnosed locally and determined to have been contacted locally. Yup, right here in River (or Lake) City.

An informal group of local veterinarians have been tracking the disease and warning patients and anyone else who’ll listen. The data is not formally quantified because there is currently no full-proof diagnostic tool for Lyme and not everyone locally tests regularly for it, anyhow.

But the aforementioned group of concerned doctors does test regularly. Doctor William Wilhelm, who lives in Tioga County and runs the Endicott Animal Hospital in Broome County, says the group has found alarming numbers of positive cases – as high as 10 percent of dogs tested proved to be positive in some offices.

The word should be out. This is the prime season for tick infestation and its subsequent infections. Check yourself and your pets and have your vet check them regularly.

Ticks are most active at this time of year because they are in their nymph stage and their small size allows them to hook on and feed unnoticed for a longer period of time.

The Tick-Borne Disease Alliance suggests wearing a hat, long sleeves and avoiding shorts and tucking shirt tails into pants and pant legs into boots when spending time outdoors to reduce the amount of skin exposed to ticks. Ticks are easier to spot on light-colored clothing.

It also suggests treating clothing with Permethrin, an insecticide that repels and kills ticks. An EPA-approved insect repellent should be applied to exposed skin, and stay in the center of woodland trails while avoiding deer paths altogether.

Again, check for ticks on you and/or your pets as soon as you get indoors and don’t delay showering. Bathing as soon as possible will help remove unattached ticks.

Remove your clothes and put them in the dryer at high heat for about 30 minutes to kill any ticks.

Read Full Post »

Cayuga Waterfront Trail Connects Waterfront Attractions in Ithaca

By Michael Nocella | Ithaca.com / link to original post

Take Your Bike – Finger Lakes

In 2001 Rick Manning had a vision: a trail that would connect all the main attractions along the shore of Cayuga Lake. Now, almost eleven years later, his vision is close to fruition. If all goes according to plan, all six miles of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail will be completed and open to the public by this time next year.

“It just seemed like a natural fit to me,” said Manning. His own consulting firm has taken the initiative for planning the trail. “A lot of communities like Ithaca do trails, but it wasn’t happening here for whatever reason. It seemed like a feasible project. I couldn’t think of a good reason why it wouldn’t be doable.”

He did, however, know what kind of things just might stand in the way of such a project from taking off. “Anytime you’re talking building a trail, two things come into play,” he said. “Funding and right of way. Long linear projects such as this touch or are adjacent to properties that usually step on some toes. There’s always some land owners who feel violated.”

The first obstacle, funding, has been largely taken care of, thanks to the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce. With their support and guidance, sufficient funds for the project have been raised one way or another, whether they came by state or federal means. “We knew we wanted to be part of this from the moment Rick brought it to us,” said Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce president Jean McPheeters. “We always had visitors come here who wanted to know the best way to walk around the lake,” she said, “and we really didn’t have an answer for them. Now, we do.”

Although McPheeters and the chamber of commerce were behind Manning and his vision, finding financial support was still an adventure. Originally thought to be a five-year project, difficulties along the way have more than doubled that timeframe. “Money has really been the main reason it’s taken so long to get where we are,” said McPheeters. “It’s one of those vicious cycles were, the longer it takes, the more expensive things get, and when things get more expensive, the longer it takes to find money for them.”

When asked what kind of emotions will come into play when this winding route to the finish line is completed, McPheeters smiled. “I’ll be so excited to see this completed,” she said. “It will be so satisfying to go to Cass Park, go to Stewart Park, and other stops along the way and see people using it in its entirety. Complete joy is probably the best way to describe it.”

Unfortunately, it will still be a little while before McPheeters can experience her day in the sun. Although money has been the biggest reason for the length of the project, the “right of way” obstacle has come into play just as Manning suspected it would.

The trail project was organized in three phases. The first phase was centered on a two-mile trail loop around Cass Park and was completed in 2003. Trail furnishings and trail features, including the trailhead, the inlet overlook and the Miller Grove, were funded with private contributions that allowed for the development of many distinctive spaces and amenities along the trail.

Phase 3, which includes a trail through Stewart Park all the way to the Ithaca Farmers Market, was recently finished and has already seen its fair share of users. “When the trail is fully completed, it’s impact is going to be significant,” said Fernando de Aragón, director of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council. “We might not see a decrease in peak hour traffic but the flow of other traffic– recreational trips – will see a change. The ability to get to the places the waterfront trail connects by a nice, safe path is something the city has always needed. It will add a whole new dimension to Ithaca.”

That dimension, however, won’t come into the picture until the last and central portion of the trail – phase 2 – is completed. This last piece of the waterfront trail puzzle will connect the Cass Park Trail (Phase 1) to Inlet Island, Ithaca’s West End, Cornell and Ithaca College boathouses, and the farmers market. It will include construction of a trail bridge, two trailheads, trail furnishings, amenities, interpretive signage, and numerous other trail features. It is, however, the only phase of the trail that does not sit on city property. The fact that the boathouses of both Cornell University and Ithaca College are part of Phase 2 is making for complicating trail making. “It required a lot of patience, a lot of listening,” said McPheeters.

But they were patient. And they did listen. So now what? Now, it starts to get fun.

One of the most exciting aspects for Manning when designing the logistics of the trail was connecting all of the main attractions along the waterfront like they have never been before. From Cass Park, to Ithaca Children’s Garden, to the Ithaca Farmers Market, all the way to Stewart Park  – not mention stops in between –Manning knew there was immense potential for Ithaca residents and visitors to experience the waterfront in a connected way through the trail.

To make things even more appealing, some of these attractions are doing their own facelifts in an effort to make the waterfront trail worth the walk. Stewart Park is hoping for more than a facelift, however. If Scott Wiggins has anything to say about it, the historic site will get a complete makeover.

Wiggins, who is the managing director at La Tourelle Resort, also leads the not-for-profit group Friends of Stewart Park, who are dedicated to the rejuvenation and rehabilitation of the park. The Cayuga Waterfront Trail Initiative (CWTI) initiated a study of the state and needs of Stewart Park in 2008 funded by a grant from the Strategic Tourism Planning Board. This resulted in the 2009 Stewart Park Rehabilitation Action Plan (SPRAP). The plan details and prioritizes park enhancement projects and informs the plans to be carried out by the Friends of Stewart Park. “For those who can remember it, Stewart Park use to be one of Ithaca’s most beloved locations,” Wiggins said. “We want to bring it back to those glory days. While we might not be allowed to swim at Stewart Park anytime soon, there’s no reason the rest of its magic can’t be brought back.”

Projects for Stewart Park include renovations of the Cascadilla Boathouse and the installation of a $250,000 to $400,000 playground.

There is also a movement called Ithaca Motion Picture Project, which is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is the rehabilitation of one of the park pavilions. In the early 20th century it was the Wharton Studio building, where over 100 silent films were directed and produced by filmmaking brothers Theodore and Leopold Wharton. These, along with other fixtures in the park, will not only make the park a great place for new faces, but also a nostalgic place for older ones.

It is Wiggins’s hope that all of these renovations will be completed in time for the park’s 100th anniversary, on July 4, 2021. “It would be incredible if we can bring back Stewart Park to its original glory for its centennial celebration, wouldn’t it?” he said. “It is tremendous the amount of excitement and connectivity the waterfront trail is bringing to the table and we know Stewart Park will be a huge part of that.”

As Wiggins strives to make Stewart Park the iconic public facade it once was, Erin Marteal and the Ithaca Children’s Garden are making there own renovations in an effort to give Ithaca’s youth intriguing outdoor recreational options. By renovating their edible garden and labyrinth, and adding a brand new hands-on “Anarchy Zone,” which will let kids run wild with imagination, Marteal is hoping any youngster passing through the garden on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail stop by and stay for a while. “We are building an area that is simply an awesome place for kids to hang out and play,” she said. “It’s safe, fun and is surprisingly one of the best spots to do some birding on the trail.”

Marteal can expect plenty of visits. Even with one-third of the trail not available to the public, one aspect of Manning’s original vision is already coming into focus: an increase of Ithaca pedestrians, bikers and joggers. “The hope is that using the trail to get from one destination to another will be a lot more fun and healthy than sitting in traffic,” Manning said. “It’s a great place to walk and enjoy active living. I think the spirit of Ithacans really caters to that type of lifestyle, they’ve just been lacking the resources to do so.”

Not anymore.

The Cayuga Waterfront Trail is mapped & described in the guidebook “Take Your Bike – Family Rides in New York’s Finger Lakes Region.”

Read Full Post »