Hazier than yesterday, and the smell of smoke fills the air. The air quality needs to improve before I do longer or more strenuous hikes, so today I did a lovely 6.6 miles from Irish Hill Road (mile 275.2) to Chenango Street Parking (mile 268.6). This bit might be part of the Finger Lakes Trail..? On the maps, it is listed as just outside the FLT, but the trail itself has both white blazes (FLT blazes) and blue blazes (usual NCT blazes).
Started out with the kind of road walk I actually enjoy. Country road with pretty farmland views and no traffic. Smoke reduced visibility quite a bit, and I breathed through my nose to help filter out particles. Still, it was still a lovely walk. Slightly uphill too, so I got a smidgeon of elevation gain.
Next came the well maintained and narrow wooded bit that crosses Chittenango Creek. Cool and pleasant in that corridor. Then another roadwalk to Stone Quarry Hill, where there are outdoor sculptures to admire. Down the other side of the art park takes you through various bits of lovely tall hardwoods until you come out on Chenango Street on the outskirts of Cazenovia.
My original plan was to walk back to my car using roadwalk shortcuts, but my lungs requested an Uber so I obliged.
