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Story
Didn’t actually run the course but I wanted to stop here to see if Lick Brook was running because I never manage to actually see the falls with any water.
With the FLRC challenge director’s blessing, I started my challenge on April 7 (just after Skunk Cabbage) so that I could finish all the courses before I relocate to Edinburgh, Scotland next week. I ran this one by myself on Friday afternoon after my last day of work at Cornell.
On this one I previewed the RunGo directions before heading out, but I did not preview the driving directions to the start and so I automatically turned off Route 13 at the sign for Treman. That took me on a little tour of some farmland that was not near the start at all before I got back out to the road and found my way to the actual parking area.
Conditions were muddy right off the bat in the field/meadow-like area before the railroad bridge. The trail dried out a lot as it began to climb, but then you’re climbing some pretty serious grades and knowing that I had the Hoctathon today (and a cold), I chose to walk them. It was a good decision as I felt full of energy getting onto the flatter singletrack areas as you approach South Hill Cider and enjoyed running through that part and onto the road section. I also had a blast on the lake trail, where I hadn’t been since I moved to Ithaca in the middle of the 2021 challenge, and took these pics from the bridge:
As I came off the lake trail, the path was blocked by two fallen trees - a recent fall from the looks of it:
Things were uneventful throughout the way back, but there was quite a bit of mud on the field section near South Hill and again at the very end. I headed to Wegman’s after the run and got a few odd looks because this was the state of my leggings and shoes:
This course is about a mile and a half from my house so I decided to jog there. I felt some pep in my step on the way and a planned easy run became a harder effort.
I started in the middle on King Road and opted to run the Lick Brook leg first. Going down was easy enough. Navigating the roots, rocks, trees, and turns kept me from going fast enough to get tired. Once I hit the bottom I was able to pick up the pace and enjoy the flat, smooth trails out to the canonical start/finish. I tapped the sign and made my way back.
Then came the hard part. Normally I am a big fan of running 200 meters, but I strongly prefer to traverse it horizontally rather than vertically. Oh well. My quads and glutes were protesting greatly by the time I crossed Town Line Road, and I still had to do some more climbing to get back to King Road.
Eventually I made it off the trails and onto my preferred surface. I thought of Joni Mitchell’s aptly-titled “Refuge of the Roads” (in which she sings “I was running like a white-assed deer”). By this point I was running much slower than a white-assed deer, but I knew I only had to do a loop around Lake Treman so I soldiered on.
Somehow there where a lot more stairs on the east side of the lake than I remembered. I walked up the longest set and ran the others. The west side of the lake was more forgiving, but I did have to stop to climb under and over some fallen trees. After that it was back to the refuge of Yaple Road and a final hill, although it barely felt like a hill at all compared to the rest of the course.
Trailipop… -sicle, -tart, …
Either way, this is a great-tasting course. ‘Popped’ in here next. For the first and maybe the last time, I used the railroad bridge to cross the creek. Lick Brook Falls were as pretty as I’ve ever seen them and much better than the nothing of last year. I’ll forego a photo, since I think it’s been posted already. Mostly barren trees afford nice views of the many falls along the trail right now.
Upon reaching W. King Road, I decided to accommodate today’s pair of trail shoes and turn right to take the optional trail course to upper Buttermilk. Today’s pair has been jealous of it two brother pairs, which have been caked with mud for weeks. By the normal standards for this section, it wasn’t too muddy and wet:
Feet are bound to get wet anyway, so might as well enjoy it!
I pic’d so many wildflowers along the course, but I’ll just go with classic trillium:
I hope the railroad bridge is optional, since I bypassed it on the return leg.
The water felt so nice on my feet! Only calf deep at most and very clear!
Rachel, Michelle, and I hiked this course this morning. It just started to rain during the last half mile.
Finger Lake Running Challenge? More like hiking challenge. That seriously kicked my butt. The trail was beautiful though, and I had a great time.
I haven’t been to the Brook Creek falls since the last time this trail was part of the challenge like 2 years ago, and I totally forgot how pretty it is.
The wind was chilly, but weather held out until about the last mile.
Heads up, there is a tree down on the Treman Lake section.
Continuing the discussion from Treman Trailipop Star Posts:
Took a friend with me today that’s never did a trail course and she loved this one. Met a few other challenge runners on the trail today and quite a few other people hiking in the great weather this morning.
Nice trail…should have looked at it a bit closer before going so I would have been more mentally prepared for the uphill… 
…I think maybe the switchbacks would have been easier… although I did get off course somehow and added on a good 1/4 mile more of straight hill than I needed. I must have felt that it needed more of a challenge in the moment? I definitely plan on repeating this later in the summer.
Had a lovely time on this trail with @heathercobb3 and @medardia today. The spring wildflower are on full display and we were all grateful to do those hills before it gets too hot!
A nice overcast day to get out onto the trails with Frodo. 
Decided I’m going to try and get the more challenging of the courses done sooner (before the summer heat hits) than later if I’m doing them with the dog.
I made the very false assumption that Frodo would be pulling me up some of the hills to take off the burden 
boy was i mistaken! Instead he decided to stop and pee on nearly every tree stump, and take his sweet time smelling all the trilliums, may apples, sweet grasses and other dogs on the trail. 
Once we got to the upper buttermilk section which he was more familiar with, we found a bit more of our flow with a slow take his sweet ol time run…and as relieved as I was to be able to finally go downhill, the way down was rather precarious being strapped to a dog and avoiding all the roots. All in all, a solid canicross adventure on some really beautiful parts of the local trail systems indeed!
Grateful for all of the nice water along the way for Frodo, but definitely time for a nap now
