NY>Finger Lakes NF>Jan-Feb Inaugural Frozen Fingers Hang

Hey Everyone -

This is going to be the planning thread for the inaugural Frozen Fingers Hang.

I had originally started a thread here wondering if there was a winter hang in New York. There are some folks that do a hang in the Northern Adirondacks in February, but there was nothing in the Central New York Area.

Through the thread linked above, we have decided to organize a hang in the Finger Lakes National Forest (hence the name "Frozen Fingers). HF member Miguel help us find a location that has winter access by car, but the camping area is about a half mile from the parking lot. It's still a pretty secluded area, smack in the middle of a national forest. Being close to the parking area means that we can easily bring in firewood and supplies as needed, and be reasonably close if someone needs to bail out.

Here's a description of the camping area from Miguel:
The camping site is near the north end of Foster's Pond. It's about a five to ten minute hike in from the road to the campsite. The area is about eight miles north of Watkins Glen NY off of Rt 414....East side of lake. If you are checking out maps, you turn off Rt 414 on to Rt 2 (Picnic Rd) go 4.4 miles to T, turn left and go 1.1 miles to parking area on left....directly across from Chicken Coup Rd. It's simple to find.

I'll post a poll to see what the preferred date is.

Post a thread on here to let us know who is interested. There appears to be plenty of space in two separate areas for at least a dozen campers, but probably a lot more.

I hope to see you there!

David

Jan 25-27th is the 6th Annual NJ Winter Hang not sure how many will be available. Not sure how many will be able to swing Feb 1-3rd there may be a few of us still recovering from the previous weeks hang. :laugh:
Jan 4-6th is the 2nd Annual Winter NEHHA, again there may be a few of us still recovering from the previous weeks hang, so the 11th - 13th might be tough.

There's also the issue of getting permission from the little lady. I have hangs scheduled for 12/22 - 12/23, 1/4-1/6 and 1/25/-1/27. I'm starting to get dirty looks.

Imagine if the NE had a hang sceduled every weekend that way there would be at least one fir whatever weekend "she who must be obeyed" allows us to go.

I have a backpack trip on the 11 thru the 14th Jan And one in Feb that I'm not sure of the date. I want to make this one too. I just hope it isn't a date conflict in either month. I want to go!

I can make any of the dates work, as long as the decision is made soon. I need to put in for the time off from work as soon as possible to ensure coverage so I can take off.

I had no idea there were so many organized group hangs until I started this thread. I'd love to go to all of them if I had the time.

Once we get some more participants on this new thread, we can start talking about snowshoe hikes to do on Saturday and possible Sunday. I know there is a fire tower just north of this site, so that would probably be a great destination.

David

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by adkphoto

I had no idea there were so many organized group hangs until I started this thread. I'd love to go to all of them if I had the time.

Once we get some more participants on this new thread, we can start talking about snowshoe hikes to do on Saturday and possible Sunday. I know there is a fire tower just north of this site, so that would probably be a great destination.

David

---

The only two fire towers that I'm familiar with are on Sugar Hill which is south west of our site (west of Watkins Glen) and the other is on Connecticut Hill which is quite a bit east of us between Elmira and Ithaca.

Our site is actually on the Interloken Trail which is a spur off the Finger Lakes Trail. From our site (Fosters Pond), the Interloken trail continues north for about five to six miles and stops. It's about four to five miles south from Fosters back to the Finger Lakes trail. There are other trails which cross and run parallel to the Interloken trail which make for a variety of loop trails.

There are many really nice sections of the Finger Lakes Trail within a very short drive of our location. I have a complete map set of the Finger Lakes Trail and can make some copies of that area, if folks want to venture farther away.

For those who may be inclined there are MANY wineries along Rt 414 overlooking the Lake with daily wine tastings. Many are within a twenty minute drive of the camp site.

Miguel

Greetings

What's the average snow fall for the area at that time of the year? My winter camping gear requires a toboggan to haul it all.

Cheers

Brian

I'm glad Miguel chimed in. I was thinking that Sugar Hill was north of our campsite. It's a good thing he's here to correct me!

David

@BrianWillan
Normally, there would be at least a couple feet of snow on the ground by the end of January, but if we get a repeat of last winter, there might not be much at all. Hard to predict at this time, but I would guess that there will be enough snow to support a sled.

David