CNYHikes

     Springtime can be one of the best times of year to hike Central New York, so long as there isn't too much rain falling.  The streams are usually gushing from snow melt and the hills of the region are crowned in young-looking green from all the new leaf growth.  In the woods, the world seems to be coming back to life.  So in the middle of May, hiking the nearly 5-mile Virgil Mountain Loop seemed enticing to me.  There's much to see here, and in a relatively short amount of time.  The hike I will describe in this blog took me about 3 hours to complete, almost to the minute.      Several entries ago I described the Swedish Loop in Kennedy State Forest, a piece of wild land tucked away in southern Cortland County.  This time, a segment further east along the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT) in Kennedy State Forest brings one to the highest point in the county at 2132 feet above sea level, otherwise known as Virgil Mountain.  Greek Peak ski resort is also adjacent to the summit (there

     Southeast of the city of Syracuse, NY lies a vast region of hills and valleys known by locals as the "Southern Hills".  The area I describe encompasses roughly the villages of Tully, Pompey, Fabius, Preble, Deruyter, and well as the northern tier of Cortland County.  Forests are pretty deep here, and trails are plentiful.    The "Southern Hills" likely account for some of the best close backcountry hiking and camping for Syracuse, since most people in the metro area could reach these trails by car in thirty to forty minutes.  Morgan Hill State Forest, one of such state lands owned by the NYS DEC and covering a total of 5,284 acres, is mostly forested, with a few geological surprises thrown in.  There are a little over 11 miles of marked foot trails in the forest, most of which are part of the Onondaga Trail.   The Onondaga Trail runs for 39 miles and is a branch of the much longer Finger Lakes Trail .  I've hiked many segments of the Onondaga Trail , yet th