May 28, 2025
Drove past Ithica from Syracuse on May 29, 2025 to do the Interloken Trail. The original plan was to out-and-back it twice, once from the north and once from the south. Unfortunately, both ends were horrible. I counted three water bars in the six miles I hiked. The trail is almost all deep deep deep mud…and with horse poop thrown into the mix since this trail is open to horses. I got tired of the fight-the-muck-for-your-shoes game and ended up bailing. Drove to the southern end to try the trail that way, but after a couple tenths of a mile the muck started again and didn’t stop. The southern end intersects with the North Country Trail, by the way.
During my drive to the southern trailhead, I passed a point where the trail crosses the road and enters a pasture filled with cows. I stopped and helped a forest ranger herd two escapees back inside the gate. The ranger told me the National Forest rents out the pasture to local farmers, and that these cows had just arrived and seemed confused as to where they were.
