Wednesday, August 14
Virgil Mountain, Cortland County
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Sixteen hikers took the FLT from the Virgil Mountain Trailhead on O’Dell Road up and across the top of Virgil Mountain, stopping briefly for views down the chair lift. The temperature was excellent for Ithaca summer, the sky was clear, and the light had entered early fall. There was almost no moisture on the trail. Although this hike had 707 feet of elevation gain in just over four miles, round-trip, the gentle and consistent slope made that amount of gain surprising.
Saturday, August 17
Lake Road southeast of Dryden
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Eighteen hikers converged at the parking area where the Jim Schug Trail crosses Lake Road. Four decided to take the FLT over Havington Hill, and everyone else stretched out for some mileage on the Jim Schug Trail. I led the Havington Hill group, and we did an out-and-back hike from the meet-up spot to the end of the blue trail spur (third field). This was about four miles and 875 feet of elevation gain, which we did in about 1 hour 45 minutes. The trail has been cleared for the most part after the storms a few weeks ago, and the few newly downed trees that are still in the trail were easy to get around (e.g., where the FLT heads south into the woods in the second field). The entrance field and the section between the stream crossing and the third field were remarkably dry – almost no mud anywhere.
Hike report by Jim
Eighteen hikers met on Lake Rd in the Town of Dryden to hike area trails. Typically, on this hike the group splits into two separate groups, with one group heading over Havington Hill on the Finger Lakes Trail, and the other group hiking the flat Jim Schug Trail towards the village of Dryden. The Havington Hill hike is hike # 34-1, while the Schug Trail hike is #34-2 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-34.
Leigh Ann V led the group that opted to hike over Havington Hill, and I assume that she will be submitting her own hike report. I led the remainder of the hikers on the Schug Trail.
The morning was cool and overcast, with some low levels of humidity. I found that we were sharing the trail with a variety of bicyclists, joggers and walkers.
The group I was with had an uneventful out-and-back hike, turning around at the halfway point and re-tracing our route back to the cars. A light rain, more of a sprinkle, began to fall as we neared the parking area. Leigh Ann’s group had already left by the time we got to the trailhead.
Welcome to Melissa, Katarina and Lawrence on their first hike with the group!
Sunday, August 18
Alex & Michele Gonzalez Hiking Sanctuary & Preserve, Virgil
Hike report by Jim
Sixteen hikers and three dogs met in Cortland County for a hike of various trails within the Alex and Michelle Gonzalez Hiking Sanctuary and Preserve. This is hike # 36 on our list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-36.
Leigh Ann led the hike. Both paper and digital trail maps of this trail section listed as ” The International Loop” are available for purchase through the Finger Lakes Trail Conference at : Link here. Sale of the maps benefits the FLTC and help defray costs associated with the upkeep of our trail system.
The turn-out for the hike was better than I expected, given the wet weather we’d had overnight. The trails were muddy in spots, and water was flowing in the streams, but overall condition were still very good for an August hike. Several hikers commented that the trails we hiked today were in excellent condition despite the damage from recent windstorms in the area.
It was one of the gloomier hikes I’ve been on recently; Leigh Ann likened it to the mid-day gloom you would associate with an eclipse.
Setting off from our cars on Daisy Hollow Rd the group hiked into the preserve, jumping almost immediately onto the yellow blazed Jose Trail. This is turn led into the blue blazed Irvin Trail, which runs along or crosses over Christina Creek for a good length of its overall distance. We passed a small group of campers at a bivouac site; these were the only other people we saw on trail all morning. Much of this section of the Irvin Trail is a switchback, so the footpath sticks close to the creek even as the trail climbs the hillside away from Daisy Hollow Rd. Eventually the Irvin Trail reaches a flat section that runs north and east before connecting to the Spanish Loop Trail.
The hikers took the Spanish Loop trail as far as Adams Rd before turning around, stopping along the way to check out some small ponds and make a trail journal entry. Eventually the group left the Spanish Loop on the return leg of the hike and returned to the Irvin Trail and from there the red blazed English Loop, which passed through some nice stands of small pines on its way back to Daisy Hollow Rd.
We got back to our cars a few minutes early; I will need to continue to tweak our regular route here to use our full hiking time more effectively.
A warm welcome to hiker Rogelio and his canine hiking partner Sheridan on their first hike with the group!
