Wednesday, June 11
Connecticut Hill, Newfield
Hike report by Dave Bock
10 hikers and a dog met on the west slope of Connecticut Hill for a 4 mile loop hike following trails mostly new to the group. The day was comfortably warm with an occasional breeze, and while we encountered some wet areas there was less mud than the recent rains threatened to offer. Led by Dave G, we briefly walked east on Van Loon Rd (Schuyler County) before turning into the woods. The trail passed across the top of an old gravel bank, traversed mixed forest around the end of a large DEC cut, and then ascended to hit the road again farther east. After crossing the road, the group walked through a grassy field to an abandoned logging road, then veered off into the woods again. A relatively fast pace allowed time to visit the site of CtHill’s “lost coal mine”, a bogus venture by a local landowner to try to sell his property a century ago. Heading west from there, a newly cleared trail afforded hikers their first look at some of CtHill’s western woods as we returned to the cars.
View Nancy Lorr’s photo album.
Saturday, June 14
The Abbott Loop from Bald Hill Rd., Danby SF
Hike report by Jim
The Ithaca Hikers hosted an FLTC Founders Day hike on part or all of the Abbott Loop in the Town of Danby in memory of FLT founder Erv Markert. This is hike # 19-A on the Ithaca Hikers hike list of regular hike locations: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-19.
Joining the Ithaca Hikers were members of the Cayuga Trails Club as well as several out-of-town hikers who RSVPd to the hike through the FLTC hike registration process.
Weather conditions were cool and a bit overcast; overall, good hiking weather. The usual points along the Abbott Loop were a little muddy, and the stream crossings had a good amount of water flowing after the recent frequent rains.
The hike took place on map sheet “The Abbott Loop”, available in paper or electronic formats at: https://fingerlakestrail.org/…/purchase-individual-maps/.
Here is a short synopsis of the contributions Mr. Markert made to the FLT:
Erv Markert held the position of Trail Committee Chairman for over 20 years. The FLT was less than 50 miles on the ground when Erv took his place as Trail Manager.
In June of 1964, along with some friends he flew more than 350 miles in a small plane piloted by Fred Hiltz scouting out routes in the eastern part of New York State.
He also served as FLT president from 1971-1973. Erv graciously made a place for the FLT office in his home and though he recruited help for some of the endless tasks associated with record keeping, he and his family were the folks who answered the phone when anyone needed something or had a question.
Erv heard about the trail from a news article and attended [the] first meetings. Erv and his wife Kathy met Wally Wood on the trail of the Bristol Hills Branch one day. Wally knew a good thing when he saw it because soon afterward, he knocked on the Markert’s’ door and proceeded to talk Erv into taking the position of Trails Manager.
During those 20 years he worked tirelessly for the FLT and was the perfect public relations liaison with the Appalachian Trail Conference and other groups.
He served on the Board of the National Trail Council, North Country Trail Advisory Board and was instrumental in the establishment of the New York State Trails Council.
When asked why he became interested in the FLT his reply was simple: “I have always been interested in the outdoors but hunting and fishing didn’t answer all my needs. The Trail offered a chance for my family to do something together.”
Erv’s legacy is truly phenomenal. When he received the Wally Wood Award in 1985 the main trail was 420 miles and branch trails totaled 196 miles. Most of those miles were nurtured by the intelligence and carefulness of Erv Markert.
A total of 24 hikers met for this hike. There were two hikes offered: a short two hour out-and-back hike, led by Casey C. The second option was a complete loop of the 8+ miles pf the Abbott Loop, led by Leigh Ann. Seven hikers opted for the full loop, with the remainder doing the shorter out-and-back hike.
All hikers left from the junction of Station and Bald Hill Rd, setting off on the seasonal portion of Bald Hill Rd. Reaching the Abbott Loop hikers turned onto the orange blazed trail and climbed towards the Pinnacles, which offered a good view across the valley.
Continuing down the other side of the hill the trail passes through some nice stands of evergreens until it reaches another part of the seasonal section of Bald Hill Rd. Casey’s group crossed over the road and continued on the Abbott Loop until reaching the hour mark, at which time they simply turned around and re-traced their route.
For those hikers who did the shorter hike, miles hiked to be applied towards your 2025 FLT50 or FLT100 patches were 4.5 miles. Obviously, those hikers doing the full circuit of the Loop would use the 8+ miles of the loop towards their patch.
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Five hikers took four hours to do the 9.1-mile hike of Abbott Loop from the junction of Bald Hill and Station Roads. Trail conditions were substantially better than on Wednesday when I last did the loop, because Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were substantially drier than the previous three days. The trail was lovely and parklike in some places, a stream-crossing obstacle course in others, and lung-busting long and steep in others. Spirits were high. We took four breaks of 5-10 minutes each, which were excellent for snacks, fluid balance, story telling, and taking pictures of wildlife. The biggest non-human animal we saw was a 3-foot black rat snake that was trying to warm itself up on the return leg of Bald Hill Road. It was having limited success because the day was overcast and about 60 degrees. Other than this snake, one toad, and many, many, many efts, we had the trail to ourselves.
