From Ithaca I’d be gradually making my way back to Buffalo through the Finger Lakes region. That meant cutting across the glaciated landscape, which in turn meant a lot more climbing than I’d been doing so far. Today’s route (once we got down the damn hill to Buttermilk Falls) would start with 500m of climbing, some of it steep, as we headed towards Watkins Glen and Seneca Lake. The weather was lovely, so with some rest and recuperation behind us, we were in for a great day.
After camp breakfast we got rolling at about 9:30, did the descent from the campground (set a PR on Strava!), then started the big climb getting out of Ithaca. As is usually the case around the Finger Lakes, the road directly away from the lake was quite steep, but then became more slow and steady.
Once we got to the top we had a super-fun descent through turning trees. We did some re-routing on the fly to try to avoid steep climbs, and found a seasonal dirt road that was the perfect vibe for us.
As we approached the town of Odessa we thought, hey, it’s about time for a snack, and immediately we came upon the OCD (Odessa Coffee Depot). Their tag line is “Good coffee, crappy donuts, and bad attitude.” It was a fun spot (love the R2-D2 trash can). John got good coffee and an Entenmann’s donut; I got an affogato (bike touring rule: always have the ice cream). Very nice stop.
From Odessa to Seneca Lake we dropped the rest of the altitude we’d gained. We’d later have to earn most of it back to get over the next ridge, but for now we had lunch on the lake in Watkins Glen.
There were two options heading out of Watkins Glen; State Highway 14 along the lake, or the quiet roads higher up the ridge. Even though it meant climbing some stupid-steep hills, we chose the inland option. Very nice roads through farmlands; both of us took a lot of photos and videos.
In researching Finger Lakes bike touring, I’d found a recommendation for the Keuka Outlet Trail, a rail-trail along a former canal between Keuka Lake and Seneca Lake. Getting there required dropping down off the ridge to a small town called Dresden, and a snack at a restaurant called Trail’s End.
Keuka Outlet Trail was definitely worth the diversion; a more natural trail than some of the other rail-trails we’d ridden, with several waterfalls along the way. It was the first time on the trip I’d preferred the gravel bike I was riding to my 700x28c road setup that Southwest had prevented me from bringing.
When we reached Penn Yan, the western end of the trail, we were nearing sunset, and getting tired. We decided to take the state highway instead of a hillier route through the farmlands to Keuka Lake State Park.
As at Buttermilk Falls, the campground was uphill from the park entrance; about 70m of bonus climbing before we got to our spot. The campground was fairly nice but we were the only ones there without an RV and a dog.
This would be John’s last night camping, so we cooked up the food we had and crashed hard. It was a pleasant evening and I slept without the rain fly, seeing stars through the tent fabric.