Wednesday, July 16
Deputron Hollow, Danby
Hike report by Jim
Thirteen hikers and one dog met at the junction of East Miller and Marsh Rds for an out-and -back road walk of Marsh and Deputron Hollow Roads on a very sunny, very warm and very humid morning. This is hike number 25 on our list of regular hikes: https://www.ithacahikers.com/hike-25.
The hike starts with a downhill section of the paved portion of Marsh Rd, which soon transitions to a dirt surface seasonal road before meeting Deputron Hollow RD.
Turning onto Deputron Hollow Rd it’s a steady downhill stretch of seasonal road under the forest canopy for about a mile until the roadway transitions back to a paved section of road that terminates at Coddington Rd.
Everyone hiked at their own pace, with the lead hikers led by Leigh Ann reaching Coddington Rd by the turn-around time.
Everyone made it back to the cars at the usual time.
In talking over the hike, I think that I’ll be adding some alternate meeting locations for this hike that we can change up based on the season.
Saturday, July 19
Bob Cameron Loop, Connecticut Hill
Hike report by Dave Bock
On a comfortably warm morning with blue skies and puffy clouds 19 hikers met at the radio/cell towers atop Connecticut Hill for our scheduled hike of the Bob Cameron Loop. The trailhead, at an altitude of 2101’, is the highest point in Tompkins County (and in several contiguous counties). The BCL, named for a former manger of the Wildlife Management Area, is one of only 3 officially recognized trails there; the other 2 are the Van Lone Loop and the FLT. Two additonal hikers and a dog, late arrivals, stated their intent to catch up with the group, but were never seen again!
Walking the loop counterclockwise, we started with a long downhill trek, reaching the BCL’s low point at a stream crossing in well under an hour. Experienced hikers are well aware of what a long opening downhill trail portends, and they were not disappointed. About halfway up the climb on southern half of the loop and well ahead of schedule, we used the extra time to branch off the BCL onto some of the lesser trails in the WMA. These traversed an area of mixed forests and offered some obligatory mud before reuniting with the BCL about 1/2 hour later.
Even with the extra distance added, the group arrived back at the cars over 20 minutes early. At that point most of the hikers opted to head for home, but a hardy few continued along the FLT for a short out-and-back to fulfill the 2-hour goal. This full version of the hike covered just over 4 miles.
Sunday, July 20
Virgil Mountain, Cortland County
Hike report by Leigh Ann
Twelve hikers and one hiker dog met at the junction of Baldwin and O’Dell seasonal roads for this pleasant hike up the south side of Virgil Mountain on the FLT. The most exciting part of the hike for many people was, as usual, either disagreeing with Google about the right way to the trailhead or – at least as exciting – following what Google said. We lucked out this time: the weather has been dry enough that no one got stuck in mud coming up to the intersection/meet-up spot the way Google insists you go, which is from the south rather than the north. Google was really insistent this time, even to the point of telling people to go fifteen minutes out of their way to come up from the south if they were coming down from the north. Any other time of year, this could get a person stuck.
The route follows the FLT up the mountain at a gentle incline through shady fern glades and across a few stream crossings that are mellow at this time of year. It swings easterly near the top of the Greek Peak chair lift. It is a fun 5-minute detour from the FLT to get a top-down view of the ski slopes and valley to the north. From there, following the FLT gets you to the highest point in Cortland County, marked by a plaque. Some of the group got to the plaque before turning around. Everyone returned to the cars within two hours of when we began hiking.
