Excelsior Glen trail guide/map collaboration

A place to discuss waterfalls. Including the parks that house them and the hikes to get to them.

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Matt
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Ok... I think the map is excellent. Thanks for all the detail. It's far ahead of what I had. Thanks.
Should we add the extension to Jolly Rd and alternate parking?


Now for the trail guide... most of which is based on the writing Andy added to the map...


Difficulty: Moderate to Very difficult. There is a combination of creek walking and moderately strenuous trail climbing along the outskirts of the gorge. Less strenuous if you take advantage of the trails. Very difficult if you creak-walk and climb the waterfalls all the way. Is this good, can I lock it down?

Distance: The Finger Lakes Trail is about a half-mile one-way. The trails to the lower falls is just a 10th of a mile one way. A hike/climb directly up the gorge all the way to the last falls is roughly a half-mile one way.
based on the measurements Google Earth gives me.

Markings: A Finger Lakes trail kiosk and trail register can be found at the first junction, just a tenth of a mile in. The trail is clearly marked with white blazes on the trees. The other trails are unmarked.
good?

Description:
The Finger Lakes Trail: (green) Initially, the FLT heads north between the cliffs along the Rt 414 and the guardrail until it hits the gully, where it makes a 90 right/east turn and heads into the glen. The trail is quite narrow through here, descending for a short way, then climbing back up a steep slope to a slightly leveled area. The FLT Trail Register box is on a tree to your right. As you look at that tree, you can see the white blazes to the right, leading further up the hill. The trail loops up the hill towards the road, then turns back and starts a long, steep ascent. There are actually two routes through here. One is the old FLT, and follows closer to the rim of the gorge. It is steeper, and footing is not as good, although it is shorter and more scenic (IMO). The white blazes have been removed from the trees, but a keen eye can spot the discolorations left behind and follow the trail.

The new FLT is a reroute that was done within the past couple years. It takes a more gradual (but still fairly steep) incline going south along another rock wall then turns almost 180° back around on itself, continuing the gentler incline east/northeast to merge with the original trail. From there, it gets a bit steeper as it follows the gorge rim up to Excelsior Falls. Near the top after it levels out, it does follow what may be an old farm road or herd path, and it takes an easily missed turn OFF that path to the left/northeast where it heads towards the glen for the crossing. Stay alert for this turn -- you end up exiting the woods into a farmer's field if you miss it. The trail slopes gently back down to the creek, and crosses at the crest of a nice waterfall. The adventurous can leave the trail early and get into the creek for a great view of this falls head on.

Follow downstream for the spectacular view from the top of Excelsior Falls (AKA Empire Falls). Go upstream for a few more smaller cascades. Continue on the FLT to emerge on Jolly Rd. *NOTE* The majority of the FLT north of the creek crosses private property. Please respect the landowner who has graciously allowed the volunteers of the FLT Conference to build and maintain this trail for our use.
Sound easy to follow to me. Good?

Lower Falls Creek-walk: (blue) Moderate difficulty. Carefully climb down the side of the drainage culvert and into the creek, then head upstream a short distance for a spectacular view of the lower falls.
Sound easy to follow to me. Good?

Creek Walk and Climb: (red) Very difficult. Experienced hikers and climbers only. See our safety tips prior to taking this path. This part of the creek-walk starts at the base of Emerald Falls. The beginning and ending portions of this route are what makes it 'advanced.' It starts with the climb of Emerald Falls, advances on mostly level terrain through the creekbed for rest of the way, then ends with climbing Excelsior Falls (Empire Falls) and intercepting the FLT.
I know it's more complicated than this, but I think this is enough for now. Good?
spec
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Matt wrote:Ok... I think the map is excellent. Thanks for all the detail. It's far ahead of what I had. Thanks.
Should we add the extension to Jolly Rd and alternate parking?


Now for the trail guide... most of which is based on the writing Andy added to the map...

..snip..

...Falls, advances on mostly level terrain through the creekbed for rest of the way, then ends with climbing Excelsior Falls (Empire Falls) and intercepting the FLT.
I know it's more complicated than this, but I think this is enough for now. Good?

So far so good! I need to correct the upper part of the FLT as it is on our map right now, and yes I would like to put the Jolly Rd end of things on there. That needs to wait til I or someone can get up there and plot it. Oddly, for as many times as I've been to Excelsior, I've never done that end of the trail, tho I have scouted it using the FLT maps and Schuyler tax maps, and I've driven by the trailhead on Jolly Rd. There is room for 4 or 5 cars at that end.

I also need to plot the new FLT vs. old FLT in that lower stretch there. I plan on taking my pedometer when next I go so I can confirm trail distances. All in all I say its coming together nicely.
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spec
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I just put a yellow line in for a rough idea of where the new FLT reroute goes. I will correct that when I get the plots. I figure to put that in green, and put the old FLT in yellow when it's set.
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Matt
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Ok.. the page may go live before you can correct it, so I'll have a disclaimer in there about it all being approximate.
spec
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Matt wrote:Ok.. the page may go live before you can correct it, so I'll have a disclaimer in there about it all being approximate.

Ah, ok -- I didn't realize this was going live so quickly. What I will do for right now: a) download what's there into Earth and save it so I've got a backup. On the live map: b) remove the gorge crossing trail. I've never been up that trail so I can't testify to it's quality or character right now. When I get data for that, I will re-add it. c) swap the colors on the old vs. new FLT sections. d) estimate a correction to the upper part of the FLT where it hits the glen that I also wanted to get data for before I changed it.


And an edit for the trail guide:

".... There are actually two routes through here. One is the old FLT (marked in yellow), and follows closer to the rim .... "
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spec
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Ok -- my changes to the map are complete until I get more data. The description -- "Excelsior Glen is on a 69 acre parcel..." there's some javascript code that somehow got injected in there, and I'm unable to edit that box to fix that.
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Matt
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Ok... Looks good.... I'm hoping to get it live this weekend. Thanks!
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Matt wrote:Ok... Looks good.... I'm hoping to get it live this weekend. Thanks!

My pleasure!
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