tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66165548406197410882024-02-20T03:39:20.691-05:00I Should Go Hiking...Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-57175866334077808722016-09-17T10:37:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:24:47.680-04:00Dial and Nippletop 09/17/16Since the Buffalo Bills' home opener was on Thursday night 9/15/16, I had planned on taking Friday off of work and decided it would be a good time for a trip up to the High Peaks. So on Friday 9/16/16, I took off from Buffalo and made my way up to Keene Valley to spend the weekend at the Keene Valley Hostel.<br />
<br />
I arrived around 6:30 and unpacked my car. I was about to head off to Stewart's to grab a sub for dinner and something for breakfast in the morning when another hostel guest, Alex, asked me if I was heading that way. He only had his bike as he was biking around the Adirondacks and he asked to tag along. We both picked up some goodies and headed back to the hostel where I hung out for awhile before checking that everything was packed for the morning and getting to bed.<br />
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I didn't have the best night's sleep as the world's loudest snorer was also spending the night. I woke up a few minutes before my alarm went off at 6am and got up to start getting ready for the day. After getting dressed, taping my feet to prevent blisters, and warming up the breakfast sandwich I had bought at Stewart's the night before, I was off to the St. Huberts trailhead.<br />
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A little under 2 years ago, I had attempted to hike Dial and Nippletop but ended up not feeling well so I turned around after reaching the shoulder of Noonmark. Since it has been almost exactly 2 years since I had last successfully climbed a High Peaks, I was determined to finish the two peaks today.<br />
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After making sure I had everything and checking about 5 times to make sure my car key was secure in my pack, I locked my doors and headed down the road at 7am. I signed in at the register at about 7:15am where the guard was asking everyone what their plans were for the day. I started down Lake Road and made it to the turn off for the Henry Goddard Leach trail by 7:30am. Another hiker headed to Colvin and Blake was taking a picture of the sign and we talked for a few minutes before going our separate ways.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/4hC4yov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4hC4yov.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turn off for the Henry Goddard Leach Trail to Dial and... Nippletop</td></tr>
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I started making my way up, up, and up toward my first landmark, the shoulder of Noonmark. After hiking for about a mile or so from the road, I stopped for a break since I was feeling quite warm. I caught my breath, drank some water, and unzipped the legs from my pants. A group of 3 women came up behind me and passed by after we exchanged a few quick words. After talking myself into continuing on, I started going up again. I quickly ran into the 3 women again and passed by as they had stopped to take a break. For awhile I could hear them behind me until they finally caught back up and passed me again. I would be able to hear their voices ahead of me almost all the way until the shoulder of Noonmark which was helpful since I could kind of tell which way the trail would be going up ahead from the direction their voices were coming from. It was also somewhat encouraging to me, it made me want to keep up with them.<br />
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At 9:00am I reached the shoulder of Noonmark and once again ran into the 3 women. I walked out onto the open rock and enjoyed the views for awhile while taking pictures. A few other people would pass by during this time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/44pTMsI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/44pTMsI.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the shoulder of Noonmark</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/6uUFdnC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/6uUFdnC.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the shoulder of Noonmark</td></tr>
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After taking in the views as much as I could, I decided I was feeling good and was ready to continue on my way, not turn around and head back down like I did 2 years ago. So down I went to the col between the shoulder of Noonmark and Bear Den. For awhile I could again hear the women in front of me but I did end up losing them. Once I got down, I went right back up and made it to the summit of Bear Den at about 10:00am.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/qfHE9kE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/qfHE9kE.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gorgeous view from the summit of Bear Den</td></tr>
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Since there is nothing much to see at Bear Den, the summit is treed in, I soon continued on. With only 1.3 miles to go to the summit of Dial, I was ready to hit a High Peak summit! Soon I started hearing some voices ahead of me and hit the summit at 11:00am. I dropped my pack and climbed onto the summit boulder to take a look at the views.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/Mngq9yG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/Mngq9yG.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the summit of Dial</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/jZLmnZl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/jZLmnZl.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down the ridge toward Nippletop (not in view)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/j2jRInw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/j2jRInw.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the summit of Dial with a section of the Great Range in the background</td></tr>
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<br />
It was pretty breezy but the day was warm and humid so for awhile, it felt good to cool off. The clouds were beginning to cover the Great Range but the view was still awesome. After some pictures, I hopped back down off the boulder to let some other people have their turn. I put my sweatshirt on as the breeze was starting to feel chilly on my sweaty shirt and I ate a snack. Most of the people on the summit, including the 3 women from earlier, had continued on so I had the peak to myself for a few minutes. I took some video and a few more pictures from the boulder. As I was jumping down to get ready to start going again, a couple came up the trail. I packed back up and let them have some time on the summit to themselves as I continued down the trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/OOjLBGI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/OOjLBGI.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple on Dial's summit boulder</td></tr>
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The trail was pretty flat for awhile along the ridge which was a nice change from the ups and downs I had experienced so far. I started hearing some people up ahead and got excited that I was getting close to the summit of Nippletop even though I knew it felt like it was too soon. I turned a corner to find a couple enjoying some lunch at a big rock on the trail. I told them they got me excited thinking I was close to Nippletop and we all laughed. The guy commented that it did appear to be a high point of some sort. I later determined it must have been the second summit of Dial which happens to have the same elevation as the main summit of Dial but is missing the views.<br />
<br />
I hiked on as they finished up their lunch. Some more ups and downs finally brought me to the junction with the trail down Elk Pass. Two guys were there that had just come down from the summit of Nippletop. We had a short conversation and they stated it had been cloudy on the summit. We then parted ways as they continued on to Dial and I moved forward to Nippletop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/kQlGIBD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/kQlGIBD.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elk Pass trail junction</td></tr>
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The trail continuing on from the junction was narrow and surrounded by the stubby trees you find at higher elevations. Most of it was on bare rock where the soil had eroded away from hikers' steps. I rounded a corner thinking I had to be getting close, the summit is only 0.2 miles from the Elk Pass Trail junction. I was surprised to find that I was on a false summit, I could see the main summit a short distance away. So down and up I went again and a few minutes later, I arrived on the summit of Nippletop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/hwo5PLA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/hwo5PLA.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the summit of Nippletop</td></tr>
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The trio of women who I had seen often during the first half of my hike greeted me by exclaiming, "You made it! Congrats!" I dropped my pack and jumped up onto the rock to take in the fleeting views as the clouds quickly blew past.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/XaEeFWa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/XaEeFWa.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fleeting views from the summit of Nippletop</td></tr>
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After some pictures and videos and enjoying the breeze, I moved into the shelter of the stubby trees and sat down to have some lunch. More people arrived while I was eating. After lunch, I walked the short distance to the other side of the summit where I admired the awesome closeup views of the slides of the Dix range. I also found the "toilet," eww.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/1IUvm59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/1IUvm59.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close encounters with the slides on Dix</td></tr>
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I went back to the summit to see the views one last time and played photographer for another group (and they returned the favor) as everyone else had left the summit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/NPul5Gu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/NPul5Gu.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the summit of Nippletop</td></tr>
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A group of boy scouts showed up and as it was started to get crowded again, I began to make my way back down.<br />
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After spending an hour on the summit, it was a quick walk back to the Elk Pass trail junction. I found out I was out of water but I wasn't too worried because I knew there was water lower down the trail and I had brought my filter. I had gone through 2.5 liter already since it was such a warm and humid day. So I started down the steep trail. I felt like it was slow going, I was making sure to plant my feet safely to not twist an ankle, and a few groups passed me, but going down wasn't too bad. There were a few spots where I threw my poles down ahead of me and used my hands and feet to lower myself down some of the steeper stuff. It kept the hike exciting. I definitely would not have wanted to hike up this steep section.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/9C4UcZ0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/9C4UcZ0.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading down the steep Elk Pass trail</td></tr>
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After a long mile the trail let up as I made it to Elk Pass. I passed by one of the groups that had passed me as they set up camp near the ponds. I got to a wet spot and continued to the left. I followed along for a little while before determining there was no way I was still on the trail. I backtracked and found out that at the wet spot, I was supposed to have crossed over the water. I carefully picked my way across and came out dry on the other side.<br />
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I followed along the ponds for a little while. I thought about stopping for water but the ponds didn't look too inviting and I knew I would come up to a creek sooner or later. Past the ponds the trail continue through the woods. I had heard of bear encounters in the area recently and knew of someone who had seen one just a few week prior so I was a little on edge. Since I was by myself, I would click my poles together every so often to let anything around know I was coming.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/Kb8GHBe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/Kb8GHBe.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elk Pass Ponds</td></tr>
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I started hearing voices up ahead which reassured me. I followed the voices for awhile and finally caught up to them at the trail junction to Colvin and Blake. It was the 3 women I had been seeing all day. Both they and I were impressed that I had caught up to them, they had left the summit 30 minutes before I did.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/e6nlMt5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/e6nlMt5.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trail junction to Colvin and Blake</td></tr>
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We continued along together. I mentioned how I was out of water and one of them offered me an unopened bottle. I tried to refuse but she insisted, stating she wasn't going to end up drinking it and it would be less weight for her to carry. So I graciously accepted the water and quickly drank about half of it.<br />
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The trail seemed to drag on from here, we kept expecting to get to a junction but it seemed like forever until we actually got there. I stayed behind the 3 women and had a conversation with the last one in line. They had a pretty good pace going but I was able to keep up. We passed by a few campsites and were hiking along Gill Brook. I saw a good spot to get down to the creek to filter water and thanked and said goodbye to the 3 women. They offered to give me another water bottle but I declined since I had my filter and I wanted to take a little break anyways.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/x2IopXr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/x2IopXr.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The waterfall on Gill Brook I stopped at the top of to get water</td></tr>
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I walked out onto the rock right above a waterfall and filter some water. It was nice and cold and refreshing. I drank a bunch right away and added about a liter to my bladder. I got back on the trail and continued down about 100 yards and realized I was at the turnoff for the Gill Brook Cutoff Trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://imgur.com/qjdzcFq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://imgur.com/qjdzcFq.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trail junction with the Gill Brook Cutoff trail</td></tr>
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I was excited to know I was getting close to the road. The trail rolled through the woods and finally I could see Lake Road. The trail paralleled the road for a bit, I could see the road but felt like I'd never get to it!<br />
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I finally popped out on the road and took a short break. It had started to lightly rain. I continued down the hard road. I thought it would be nice to get back to the relatively flat road as opposed to the rocky and rooty trail in the woods but walking on the hard packed dirt hurt my feet. I took a few short breaks to get off my feet and after what felt like forever, the AMR gate came into view. I signed back out at the trailhead and continued the last half mile down the road. I was ecstatic when my car finally came into view.<br />
<br />
I was overjoyed to complete these two peaks after my failed attempt 2 years prior. At the time, only my feet felt sore from being on them all day. The rest of my soreness would catch up the next day. Overall, I felt great all day after getting past my usual wall in the first few miles. The 3 women that I hiked near or with for a decent amount of the day were very encouraging to me, even if they didn't realize they were. This hike got my High Peak count to double digits. Only 36 more to go!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/7ETOT" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures</b></a>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-76466739927599324992015-07-22T21:44:00.002-04:002017-09-05T16:25:52.559-04:00Peaked Mountain Pond Backpacking 07/18/15 - 07/19/15Saturday morning 7/18, a group of 4 of us from a Meetup group met up at the trailhead on Thirteenth Lake off of Beach Road to backpack into Peaked Mountain Pond. The weather had been looking iffy and it had been raining on and off all morning which caused a few potential members to drop out of the trip.<br />
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After having introductions in the parking lot, Jason and I hit the trail a little after 10am while Greg and Bill paddled along Thirteenth Lake in their Hornbecks. A mile or so down the trail we met back up with them as they were getting the canoes ready to be carried the remaining 2 miles to the pond. Jason and I were already pretty sweaty from the heat and humidity so the light mist that was falling felt good. We took a break while Bill and Greg got situated before we all continued up the trail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/U6Ih4ZA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/U6Ih4ZA.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg paddling on Thirteenth Lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JsOm06P.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JsOm06P.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Misty morning on Thirteenth Lake</td></tr>
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We followed the trail along Peaked Mountain Brook as it started climbing. The creek was very pretty and there were some nice waterfalls along the way. The heat and humidity was pretty brutal and I was starting to get pretty tired out from the climb but right as I was about to stop for a break the trail flattened out and I was able to catch my breath. The rest of the trail to the pond was fairly flat with just some rolling ups and downs. By the time we got to the pond we were all ready for a swim. Lexie was the first to get her feet wet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/6XW9IQE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/6XW9IQE.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lexie took a dip as soon as we got to Peaked Mountain Pond</td></tr>
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Bill, Jason, and I continued hiking the short distance to the campsite while Greg got in his boat to paddle there. We all met up and sat around for a few before setting up camp. There was a bit of a breeze at the campsite and when we were just sitting around relaxing, the temperature was pretty tolerable. The sky even started to clear up and any threat of rain disappeared. Jason had forgotten his tent poles so our team building exercise was to jury rig his tent up. I think we did a pretty good job!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Qa4M5wE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Qa4M5wE.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jason untangling my rope for his tent</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/QnnlML1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/QnnlML1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guys inspecting our work getting Jason's tent to stand without poles</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/eWdN7Zm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/eWdN7Zm.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite on Peaked Mountain Pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Zu45yLp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Zu45yLp.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peaked Mountain from our campsite</td></tr>
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After getting everything situated and having some lunch (and waking Greg up from his nap), Jason, Greg, and I headed up the trail to Peaked Mountain. Bill stayed behind with Lexie since she is getting a bit too old for steep climbs. The half mile trail to the summit is pretty steep and it took us about a half hour to reach the top. Once there, the guys decided they were going to jump down to some lower rocks even though they weren't sure if they would be able to figure out how to get back up. I stayed up high in case I had to pull them back up (we did figure out how to get them back up safely). We stayed on the summit for about an hour just relaxing and enjoying the views of the surrounding mountains and of Bill paddling down on the pond. The black flies decided to swarm around me and they left me bleeding in a few spots.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/CJi0tzG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/CJi0tzG.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peaked Mountain summit marker</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Rtf6Kat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Rtf6Kat.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous views back towards Thirteenth Lake and Gore Mountain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/G8e5mwN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/G8e5mwN.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me enjoying the views of Peaked Mountain Pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ZWXuQUN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ZWXuQUN.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous views back towards Thirteenth Lake and Gore Mountain</td></tr>
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After we had sufficiently taken in all the views, we heading back down to the campsite. Bill had already gotten the fire going and was starting to cook his dinner. Greg, Jason, and I were very warm and sweaty from our hike so we all went to take a dip in the pond. Jason and Greg jumped right in but I was a bit more hesitant. After taking a few steps in, I thought I saw a leach so I went running back out. Not knowing where the leach went, I slowly started to head back in, being careful not to step off the rocks into the super mushy mud. I got myself in enough to get rinsed off and had fun watching the salamanders swim around. I didn't think the water was cold and refreshing enough but it was better than nothing.<br />
<br />
After our rinse, we cooked up dinner and enjoyed talking around the campfire and watching the satellites fly by overhead. The temperature had cooled down nicely where it was cool enough that you didn't need a jacket. After enjoying some adult beverages, we all went to bed at a decent hour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/rmNoThe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/rmNoThe.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill, Greg, and Lexie hanging out around the campfire</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/uqIfKkx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/uqIfKkx.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusk on Peaked Mountain Pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/j8Mcclo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/j8Mcclo.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the pond at dusk</td></tr>
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When I woke up the next morning, Bill and Greg were already up. After breakfast, Greg went for a swim around the pond and Bill went for a paddle. I hung out at camp taking some pictures and started to pack up my gear. A while later, Jason woke up and packed all his stuff up too before making his breakfast.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/rvkzZ34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/rvkzZ34.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning view from the fire ring</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/88tVGcs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/88tVGcs.jpg" height="293" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg taking a swim around the pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/4J9CVFv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4J9CVFv.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill and Lexie out for a paddle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/EfjM7qR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/EfjM7qR.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I thought this oil slick thing (most likely caused by decaying plants) sorta looked like a bear's face</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ksGTMwC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ksGTMwC.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting packed up and ready to hit the trail</td></tr>
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After everyone was packed up, we were ready to hit the trail. Greg was going to take one more paddle before the hike out so Bill, Jason, and I hit the trail knowing that Greg would catch up eventually. Along the way back, we stopped to take some pictures of the views.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Ke4IIqu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Ke4IIqu.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marshy area</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/z9aTwGg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/z9aTwGg.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red eft</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/3z5gTIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/3z5gTIC.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peaked Mountain across another marshy area</td></tr>
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Greg caught back up with us at one of the stream crossing before the major downhill section. We all agreed that going downhill in the heat and humidity was much better than going uphill, but that didn't mean we weren't still sweating our butts off. When we made it back to Thirteenth Lake, Bill and Greg again went to paddle the remaining section while Jason and I hiked the last mile back to the trailhead. Lexie followed me and Jason about halfway before realizing Bill wasn't with us and jumping back into his canoe when he stopped on shore.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Atkciex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Atkciex.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfall on Peaked Mountain Brook</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/9jgDtyv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/9jgDtyv.jpg" height="142" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Much sunnier day on Thirteenth Lake</td></tr>
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After we all made it back to the trailhead and dropped our gear off at our cars, we all went for a dip in the lake. It was very refreshing and felt good to wash all the sweat and dirt off. After floating around for a bit we decided we would have lunch at the Garnet Hill Lodge. After finally rounding everybody back up ;) we headed up to the lodge. The views were beautiful and the breeze felt great. We all enjoyed our sandwiches and a few cold ones (including 2 free ones!). My chicken pesto sandwich was incredible. After lunch, we all said our goodbyes and parted ways to head home. I ended up following Bill for awhile until he pulled off into a Stewart's to get a hot dog for Lexie (I assume).<br />
<br />
On my way home, I decided to drive down Jessup River Road to see if I could make it all the way to the Pillsbury Mountain trailhead since I'm planning on backpacking the West Canada Lakes Loop in September. I made it in my Pontiac Vibe without any issues whatsoever. It looked like there had recently been some work done on the section from Sled Harbor to the trailhead. There were areas with fresh gravel and other areas that look like they may have been recently graded. It was a fun drive and a nice little excursion to end my adventurous weekend.<br />
<br />
This was my third trip with this Meetup group and I enjoyed it as much as I had the last two. The company is always great and I really enjoy meeting everyone. These short weekend trips work perfectly for me too. I look forward to more trips like this in the future!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/q5t7L" target="_blank"><u><b>The rest of my pictures</b></u></a>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-88621644618209999942015-05-03T22:09:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:26:27.083-04:00Raquette Falls Backpacking 05/02/15 - 05/03/15A group of 7 of us from a Meetup group, including my younger brother Chad, met up at Corey's Road Saturday morning 5/2 to backpack to Raquette Falls. This was Chad's first backpacking trip and he was really looking forward to it. We hit the trail at about 9:30am. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/RYwbR1Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/RYwbR1Z.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to hit the trail!</td></tr>
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A little under an hour later we arrived at the junction with the trail to Shattuck Clearing. I remarked, "Holy crap, we went over 2 miles already?" Apparently I can hike much faster when someone else is setting the pace.<br />
<br />
We continued following the ups and down of the trail, which were all a bit longer than I had hoped, and ended up down near the Raquette River. The trail had been taken over by the river for a couple hundred feet so we found a herd path and made our way around the wet area. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Q2xWl8c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Q2xWl8c.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trail went through this section</td></tr>
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We passed by Raquette Falls lean-to #2, which was occupied, and made our way to Raquette Fall lean-to #1 near the DEC Outpost. A couple were there but had just stopped for a break and were about to continue on. We all were happy to get our packs off and just sat around for a bit before deciding on tent locations and setting up camp.<br />
<br />
After we had gotten all set up and ate some lunch, we went for a hike along the river to see the falls. We stopped at Lower Falls first and everyone took lots of pictures and explored around the area. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/MiF96Ey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/MiF96Ey.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower Raquette Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/2YdJFl5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/2YdJFl5.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad on a big boulder</td></tr>
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We then continued following the somewhat rugged footpath up to the Upper Falls. There wasn't as good of a viewing area to see Upper Falls but we stopped to take a few pictures and drink some water. Moving on, we followed the trail to the end which is the start of the canoe carry around the falls. We hung out here for a bit and Lexie took a swim <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/94qxfxP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/94qxfxP.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lexie taking a swim</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/2VhDGIM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/2VhDGIM.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking downstream towards Upper Raquette Falls</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/kpXioSM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/kpXioSM.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DANGER!!!</td></tr>
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Four guys in 2 canoes came flying around the corner of the river and pulled up to the carry. We decided to start moving back down the trail to give them more room to prepare for their carry.<br />
<br />
We hiked back to the lean-to down the canoe carry trail. I had been on this trail twice before on canoe trips and remember it being much worse than it was. Although, those times I was carrying a way-too-heavy canoe over my head. Once we got closer to the lean-to, some of us picked up some nice looking branches for firewood.<br />
<br />
Once back at the lean-to, we hung out a little more and then everyone went off to do their own thing for awhile. Chad and I hiked down to the little beach at the end of the canoe carry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/TuucuLO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/TuucuLO.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little beach at the end of the canoe carry</td></tr>
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While we were exploring around down there, an older couple paddled up in a canoe. Chad and I then headed up to check out the Ranger Cabin. It's still all boarded/locked up from the winter season so there wasn't much to see. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/EA64HsD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/EA64HsD.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad heading up to check out the Ranger Cabin</td></tr>
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Once everyone made their way back to the lean-to, firewood was gathered and chopped up and an attempt was made at getting the bear bag rope up. The rope got on the branch the first try, but it wouldn't come back down! The stick tied to the end got wedged up on the branch. This resulted in a lot of entertaining attempts to get the rope/stick unstuck. Eventually, everyone gave up. The rope was good enough to hang the bag for the night so we let it be and the next morning we had to leave the rope there for whoever uses the lean-to next. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/jvYnzBV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/jvYnzBV.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to get the bear bag rope OUT of the tree unsuccessfully</td></tr>
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Everyone was pretty hungry by this point so we all started getting out our own dinners. I had recently bought a dehydrator and had brought along some chili I had made and dehydrated earlier in the week as an experiment. It was a huge success! The chili was delicious and rehydrated awesomely! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ql13Tx0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ql13Tx0.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chili was amazing!</td></tr>
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After dinner we hung around the campfire talking and sharing stories. Bill, Chad, and I enjoyed some cold ones we had stored in the refrigerator the lean-to came with :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/DyzCoPi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/DyzCoPi.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Telling stories around the campfire</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/zGqSzFL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/zGqSzFL.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free refrigerator included!</td></tr>
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The next morning we all woke up whenever since there was no rush to leave. I was the last one up around 8:30am which I had expected, I'm not a morning person. After enjoying some breakfast we decided to hike over to Dawson Pond. We spent some time soaking in the views which included a shipwreck. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JgxYCLI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JgxYCLI.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shipwreck in Dawson Pond</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/4XIw0b7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4XIw0b7.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dawson Pond Outlet</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/A3je61x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/A3je61x.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birdwatching at Dawson Pond</td></tr>
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After hiking back to camp, we all started packing up for the hike back out. Unfortunately, none of our packs felt much lighter.<br />
<br />
We hit the trail and soon discovered that a lot of the downhills we enjoyed on the hike in were not as enjoyable as uphills on the way back out. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/v0w6GUq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/v0w6GUq.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creek we crossed over on the trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We ended up setting a pretty brisk pace and were back to the trailhead by 1:30pm. Bill went to sign us back in at the register and found that someone had left an unopened microbrew in the register! <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/vwrzQ1F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/vwrzQ1F.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill signing back out at the trailhead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After packing the cars up and changing shoes/clothes, we all said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways home.<br />
<br />
This was a fantastic trip with a great group of people. My brother thoroughly enjoyed himself and did a great job for his first trip, he was out in front hiking faster than the rest of us for half of the hike back out! I know he has already expressed interest in going on more trips which is great because it's so hard to find hiking partners. I'm looking forward to another trip in July with this Meetup group where I'm planning on introducing one of my friends to backpacking, although I'm not sure if he is going to fare as well as my brother did :)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/EwIXV" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures</b></a><br />
<br />
<a href="httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KROvxts9xpw" target="_blank"><b>Video clips of bear bag rope issues</b></a>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-76676409846623967512014-11-15T21:31:00.000-05:002017-09-05T16:26:51.884-04:00Not Dial and Nippletop 11/15/14Friday 11/14 I drove up to the Adirondacks with the
intention of hiking Dial and Nippletop on Saturday. I checked in at the
Roostercomb Inn and headed to Lake Placid for dinner. After a delicious meal
and an Ubu or two I headed back to the inn. Some other hikers were hanging out
around the fire and we talked for a little while before heading to bed around
10ish. They were headed to Tabletop and Phelps in the morning.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Throughout the night I kept waking up and in the morning
when my alarm went off I wasn’t feeling 100%. But I got dressed and packed my
last few items in my pack and headed to the parking lot at the Ausable Club. I
decided I wanted to at least attempt my hike and see how it went.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I signed in at the gate at 7am and started down the road. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/YXb2VOB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/YXb2VOB.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant in the morning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/mMUZl0p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/mMUZl0p.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some deer checking me out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My
plan was to do the route clockwise since I’d rather go down than up steep
sections and in case I didn’t finish until after dark, the road walk would be
easy with a headlamp. I made it to the turn off for the Henry Goddard Leach
trail by 7:15. I stopped to take off my softshell jacket and then headed up the
trail. The trail was covered with leaves and only had a slight dusting of snow
in areas.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/oN1rFhe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/oN1rFhe.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start of the trail from Lake Road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the spot where the trail turns a sharp right away from
the creek, I guess I must not have been paying attention because I missed the
turn and kept going straight along the creek. A minute or 2 went by before I
realized I was no longer on the trail and I backtracked to pick it back up
again. I was moving quite slowly and I saw there was a group of 5 a bit behind
me on the trail. They soon caught up and I let them pass. I would pass them
again before the shoulder of Noonmark where they had stopped to look at some
views a little ways off the trail. I encountered some ice up here but as it was
mostly flat, it wasn’t worth it to stop and put on my trail crampons.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/UXERlKv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/UXERlKv.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice trail through the conifers with only a dusting of snow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At about 9am I reached the shoulder of Noonmark. I stopped
to put my jacket back on and walked out onto the bare rock to soak in the views
and take some pictures. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/vRFxJ2r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/vRFxJ2r.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dix, Dial, and Bear Den</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/lhk2bJd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/lhk2bJd.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Range from the shoulder of Noonmark</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/oh4CKkN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/oh4CKkN.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the Great Range</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/N0ZAaKH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/N0ZAaKH.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marcy sticking her head out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/u8yKwT8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/u8yKwT8.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun still making its way up into the sky</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was pretty cold and the wind didn’t help. After my
fingers started to go numb, I made my way back to the trail. At this point, I
still wasn’t feeling my best so I stood there trying to decide if I should push
on or not. My knees were already starting to bother me and I wasn’t looking
forward to hiking out in the dark which looked to be inevitable at the pace I
was going. After arguing with myself for a few minutes, I decided it would be
best to quit while I was ahead and hike back out. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/QCSKYbe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/QCSKYbe.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noonmark through the trees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JAKBHVZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JAKBHVZ.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just in case you thought it was a hand trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/iEnDpy5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/iEnDpy5.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Going down</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the way down I encountered 2 groups of people headed up
to Dial and Nippletop. They were impressed thinking I had already summited Nippletop
and Dial coming from the opposite direction until I informed them otherwise. After
hiking back down the road, I took a quick detour behind the guard’s cabin to
take a look at the Ausable River. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/VanbucE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/VanbucE.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridge over the Ausable River</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After walking by the golf course and admiring
Giant’s looming presence, I walked across the street to quickly hike to the
base of Roaring Brook Falls. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/6sUSC7q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/6sUSC7q.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant keeping watch over the golf course</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/CVDUDem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/CVDUDem.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoom view of Giant's summit and slides</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/N7D2OcM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/N7D2OcM.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of Giant and the golf course</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The falls were icy and gorgeous. I also took a
trip across the brook to check out the campsites there.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/L1hCgtI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/L1hCgtI.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icy falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After hiking back to my car in the Ausable Club lot and
chatting with a father and son (I assume) heading out for an afternoon hike of
Round Mountain, I drove back to the inn for a shower and a nap. After I woke
back up, I headed back into Lake Placid for dinner before calling it an early
night and going back to sleep.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/rI9dlYb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/rI9dlYb.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The infamous barn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the morning I woke up feeling better and
packed up to head home. After a stop for breakfast in Lake Placid, I started
the drive home a different way than I normally go. I stopped at a fishing
access point on Upper Saranac Lake, part of the canoe carry from Stoney Creek
Ponds to Upper Saranac Lake. I walked across the little bridge there and
checked out one of the campsites on the lake.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/b1MibWR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/b1MibWR.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking out the campsite on Upper Saranac Lake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I then drove down Corey’s Road a
bit just to see what it was like. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/smYSIGR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/smYSIGR.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Corey's Road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After stopping for a few quick photos at
Tupper Lake, I drove by the sign pointing to Buttermilk Falls and immediately
turned back around to go check the falls out.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Cebep1S.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Cebep1S.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buttermilk Falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/SGF7w8E.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/SGF7w8E.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/46MeI1o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/46MeI1o.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoe carry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/1glbBuI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/1glbBuI.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool trees, "I'll never let you go!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I spent some time wandering
around there admiring the falls and exploring the canoe carry. I finally got
back on the road for good to complete my drive back to Rochester.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, it wasn’t exactly the trip I had planned but I still
enjoyed my few days in the Adirondacks away from home. I got to see some great
views from the shoulder of Noonmark and had a chance to check out a few places
I hadn’t been before. Dial and Nippletop will be waiting for me another day,
hopefully one with longer daylight hours.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/ObIir" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures </b></a></div>
Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-29793329679179671252014-09-19T23:40:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:27:19.284-04:00Algonquin 9/19/14Since I’ve started hiking in the High Peaks, my dad always seemed to
think I was just going on a nice, leisurely stroll through the woods
that ended on a summit. Even though I tried to explain it to him, he
didn’t quite understand the challenges the Adirondack trails have to
offer. So, I told him I was going to bring him on one of my trips to
show him what hiking a High Peak is really like. He was not too keen on
coming on my trip last March, way too cold he said, so we settled on a
fall hike. My brother, who wasn’t afraid of the cold and accompanied me
on my March hike, also joined us on our quest to hike Algonquin this
past weekend.<br />
<br />
Thursday 9/18 my dad and my brother drove from Buffalo to pick me up in
Rochester after work. From there we headed up to Lake Placid to spend
the night at the Town House Lodge. We arrived right around 11pm, checked
in, prepared our gear for the morning, and then went to bed with our
alarms set for 6:30am.<br />
<br />
The weather was supposed to be absolutely beautiful on Friday, sunny
clear skies with a high in the mid-50s. We woke up, finished packing up,
and drove to the Loj trailhead.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/XvJno58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/XvJno58.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our objective for the day, Algonquin!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was still plenty of parking when
we arrived at the Loj around 7:45ish. After one final “pit stop,” we hit
the trail at 8am. The weather was cold and crisp so we started with
gloves and fleeces. After hiking the first mile to the split to
Algonquin/Marcy Dam in 20 minutes, I was quite toasty and stopped to
delayer down to my t-shirt.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JULhmSL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JULhmSL.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the trail junction</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Moving on, my dad learned that the trail was going to be a bit more
challenging than he had expected. He was not too happy with all the
rocks and kept asking why someone couldn’t just move the trail 10 feet
to the right or left into the woods where it was nice and flat. <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="https://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif" title="Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)" />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/0lHNQqA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/0lHNQqA.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We got to a few small steeper sections and were having fun with it. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/VyVny1G.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/VyVny1G.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad and Chad making their way up a steeper section</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We
arrived at the waterfall by 9:30 and stopped to take a short snack and
photo break. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/nWbHS1Q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/nWbHS1Q.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty waterfall next to the trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/t50BHaR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/t50BHaR.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the waterfall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We then continued trudging up the rocky trail until the
trail turned slightly left and there was a short scramble. My dad looked
around and said, “Where’d the trail go?” I said, “Up!” to which he
responded with a couple expletives.<br />
<br />
We made our way over the step and had our first sightings of ice on the
trail. Around 10:15am we arrived at the junction with the spur trail to
Wright. We again stopped to take a snack break and watch a very fat,
grey mouse scurry around.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/rJ4Xawl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/rJ4Xawl.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Junction to the trail up Wright</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Past here is where things started to get much
steeper. We had some ice to deal with but we were able to work around it
without much of an issue. We slowly made our way up the steeper slab
portions taking many short breaks along the way to enjoy the views
behind us and rest our legs. My dad kept wondering why I chose to take
him up the hardest mountain on his first hike.<img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="https://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/images/smilies/smile.gif" title="Smile" /><span id="goog_86024141"></span><span id="goog_86024142"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/b1QUmSj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/b1QUmSj.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading up a steep section. It's a lot steeper than it looks in the picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As we reached treeline, we were tiring out so our pace stayed nice and
slow while we enjoyed the views and made our way up past the cairns and
yellow lines marking the trail. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/8rzyMIQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/8rzyMIQ.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad climbing up near the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/YNiyZq0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/YNiyZq0.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I told him he was going the wrong way but he didn't believe me! <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="https://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/images/smilies/smile.gif" title="Smile" /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We reached the summit at about 11:30am
and dropped our packs. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/3c4oFI2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/3c4oFI2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Success!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Vcz0oiN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Vcz0oiN.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We explored around the summit for a bit, taking
pictures and soaking in the stunning views, before sitting down to eat
lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect. Bright blue skies, very
little wind, not too hot, and cool enough to only warrant a sweatshirt. I
was thrilled we had all successfully made it to the top. My dad kept
asking when the helicopter was going to come by to take us back down. <img alt="" border="0" class="inlineimg" src="https://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif" title="Roll Eyes (Sarcastic)" /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Q8KOoIM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Q8KOoIM.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views towards Lake Placid</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/rzl7FGA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/rzl7FGA.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iroquois</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/9CW3qjm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/9CW3qjm.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the Captain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/MyAwPqh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/MyAwPqh.jpg" height="251" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colden with the Great Range in the background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/07gi8ML.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/07gi8ML.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with Colden and Marcy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JVI6HLj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JVI6HLj.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking small among some large mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We hung out on the summit for about an hour soaking it all in and
talking with some others. There were about 20 or so people hanging out
as well and some others had passed by to continue on to Iroquois. We
made the decision that Iroquois was not happening today and started
packing up for the hike back down. I could have easily stayed up there
all day.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/yrUXUoK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/yrUXUoK.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading back down</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the way back down, my dad kept commenting that he could not believe
we had climbed up all the steep spots. The slabs did seem much steeper
going back down. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ddfPyMb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ddfPyMb.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How the hell did we get up this on the way up?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There were a few slips, one resulting in my brother’s
thumb bleeding that a quick band-aid application fixed up. There were a
few small groups of people that passed us going down. Back down at the
junction to the trail to Wright, we stopped to discuss whether Wright
was in our sights for today. My brother was all for it being the
youngest in the group at 20 years old. My dad, being of an older vintage
at 59, has had knee issues for years and he was starting to feel them
on the way down so he said it was up to me if we would continue on to
Wright. I was recovering from a knee injury 4 weeks earlier and decided
that it would probably be best to quit while we’re ahead and continue
our hike down to the trailhead. Wright should be an easy one to come
back to.<br />
<br />
We continued rock hopping down the trail which we all agreed was easier
than rock hopping up it. We were back to the waterfall by 2:30 and
stopped to take a 15 minute break to refuel.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/UnGkeZo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/UnGkeZo.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back down to the waterfall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From here it seemed like it
took forever to get back to the junction with the Van Hoevenberg trail.
We were passed by a young couple who had passed us earlier and must
have gone up Wright before catching back up and passing us again. My dad
was very grateful on the descent that I had borrowed my friend’s
trekking poles for him to use. He said he might not have been able to
make it back down without them.<br />
<br />
We finally got to the junction at 3:50pm. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/i3oiy38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/i3oiy38.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back to the trail junction. 1 mile to go!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From here it was easy going
the rest of the way and we were back to the trailhead by 4:10pm
successfully completing peak #8 for me, the second peak for my brother,
and the first peak (and he says last) for my dad.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/coAWsND.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/coAWsND.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made it! 8 hours on the trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a great dinner at the Black Bear in Lake Placid, we hung out a bit
and played a round of cards before heading to bed pretty early. We were
all a little worn out from our day. My dad said he has never worked out
8 hours straight and does not plan on ever doing it again.<br />
<br />
Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast at the Saranac Sourdough
which has awesome breakfast sandwiches! We were going to do a quick hike
up to the falls on Cascade Mountain but saw as we were driving by that
they looked to be pretty dry. Instead we drove down past Keene Valley
and hiked (limped) to the base of Roaring Brook Falls.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Cx4iFDt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Cx4iFDt.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower section of Roaring Brook Falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/pzeFHKt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/pzeFHKt.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad doing some rock climbing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was nice but
overcast that day but all the trailheads we went by were packed. After a
stop at the Mountaineer we headed back to the hotel to grab my memory
card I had forgotten to put back in my camera and then drove to do some
kayaking on the Chubb River. We had a nice paddle to the carry and back
and managed to see some blue skies for a bit.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/arF3Z7a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/arF3Z7a.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paddling on the Chubb River</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/XmESzeY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/XmESzeY.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paddling on the Chubb River</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Saturday evening was spent wandering around Lake Placid doing some
shopping and sampling some beers. I always have to have an Ubu when I’m
there but I absolutely loved the Great Adirondack Brewing Company’s
Irish Red Ale. While drinking our beers at the bar at Great Adirondack
Steak and Seafood, we started talking to an older gentleman sitting at
the bar. We got talking about hiking and he said he had completed his 46
on Algonquin years ago and that his number is 365. We had a great
discussion with him about the peaks and hiking. Later, I looked up his
number on the 46er roster and discovered he finished in 1966 and his
last name is Lamb. Any relation to the Lamb sisters on the forum? I
cannot imagine how different the trails probably were back then,
especially the herd paths which might not have even existed yet. After
we finished our beers and left the bar, we concluded our evening at
Delta Blue. Their chicken and sausage gumbo was incredible!<br />
<br />
Sunday morning we packed up and hit the road after stopping for
breakfast sandwiches at Saranac Sourdough again. The drive home was nice
since we hadn’t seen the views on the way up because it was dark. The
leaves along the road had started to change and looked gorgeous. We had
an awesome trip and although my dad said he probably won’t be doing any
more High Peaks, he said he might be open to a canoe camping trip.
Despite all his jokes about helicopters and working out for 8 hours
straight, he did have a great trip and was very happy he was able to
join me for a hike up a High Peak.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/zXzeb" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures from our hike up Algonquin</b></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/ZjioX" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures from the remainder of our trip</b></a><b></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><a href="httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFW2Q2aDYPY" target="_blank">Video of a short climb on our way up Algonquin</a></b>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-87588993162734549362014-07-01T20:56:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:27:44.371-04:00Colden 7/1/14Because I had 3 holiday days off from work this week, 7/2 – 7/4, I figured why not use 2 vacation days and get the whole week off to spend some quality time in the Adirondacks! So early Saturday morning I started my drive up. Saturday and Sunday were spent backpacking near Clockmill Pond with 3 others plus a four-legged friend from a meetup. After heading back out of the woods Sunday afternoon, I headed up to the High Peaks to spend a few nights. I had planned to hike on Monday but the weather was looking a little iffy so I switched my Monday and Tuesday itineraries. Monday ended up being a nice day so I slept in a bit then took a short kayak on the Chubb River which was very pretty. On the way back to Keene Valley, I stopped at Cascade Lakes to eat lunch and take the short hike up to Cascade Falls.<br />
<br />
Tuesday 7/1 was my real hiking day. The plan was to hike to Colden via Lake Arnold. So Tuesday morning I woke up, finished packing my pack, drove to the Loj and I hit the trail at 7:40am.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/av5K1NZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/av5K1NZ.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Register at the Adirondack Loj trailhead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The hike to Marcy Dam was easy enough so I hiked along quickly since I knew that once I started going up I would slow way down. Along the way a guy on his way to Marcy passed me and commented on my fast hiking pace. I told him not to worry since I would slow down to a snail’s pace once I started gaining elevation. At 8:30 on the dot I made it to Marcy Dam. I took a quick stop to take some pictures and take my pant legs off since it was so hot and humid already.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/2dWjk8L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/2dWjk8L.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marcy Mud Flat and Colden in the clouds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/O9IT7Fp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/O9IT7Fp.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's left of Marcy Dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I headed off on the trail towards Avalanche Pass and made it to Avalanche Camp by 9am.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/5DGL88t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/5DGL88t.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming up on Avalanche Camps</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I then headed off on the trail to Lake Arnold which is where the climbing really starts. No more nice easy walking trails from here, lots of rocks to navigate over and around. At 9:50am I arrived at the junction to the crossover trail to Indian Falls. I stopped to filter a liter of water since I wasn’t sure how much I had gone through already and because the stream looked so refreshing. By 10:30am I had made it to Lake Arnold. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/eCUdaZY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/eCUdaZY.jpg" height="195" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Arnold</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The breeze had really started to pick up but it felt good on such a hot and humid day. I liked that from Lake Arnold to the summit the trail alternates between steep uphill sections and flatter sections. It gives you some time to catch your breath.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/NSAREiV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/NSAREiV.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit from Colden's false summit. So close but yet so far...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After passing Colden’s false summit I saw the first person I had seen since Marcy Dam. She was headed back down from the summit and looked like she was a summit steward from the way she was dressed. We said a quick hello and continued on our ways. A little further up I passed a couple who were also on their way back down.<br />
<br />
I finally made it to the summit at 11:50am. Just over 5 hours which is about what I expected my pace to be. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/eYdKAxd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/eYdKAxd.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the summit with Wright in the background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/waBUEos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/waBUEos.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The summit of Colden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I had the summit to myself and spent about an hour up there eating lunch and just enjoying the gorgeous views with the Captain. It was windy but it felt great on such a warm and humid day and the clouds were just high enough that there were still views. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/WP4j3UP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/WP4j3UP.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Algonquin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/QV2aSKu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/QV2aSKu.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at Avalanche Lake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/56M7IXM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/56M7IXM.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marcy in the clouds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/wID7nZH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/wID7nZH.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the Captain with Algonquin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ZvKsSxc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ZvKsSxc.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory "I'm pushing the boulder off the mountain" shot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/xNtSKWB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/xNtSKWB.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iroquois and Algonquin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At one point I noticed someone over on the false summit so I knew I would be gaining some company. Right as I was getting ready to leave he showed up. We did a quick introduction and took each other pictures. I then started heading back down at 12:45pm.
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/25rbVfW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/25rbVfW.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and some Macs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My goal was to have a faster pace heading back down and I got off to a good start.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/mvmwSUZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/mvmwSUZ.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to climb back down through the boulders</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was back to Lake Arnold just before 1:45pm, already having cut about 30 minutes off my uphill time. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/cgMypQl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/cgMypQl.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bog bridges near Lake Arnold</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was past here things went downhill some more, and not in the good way. About halfway between Lake Arnold and the Indian Falls crossover trail, I stepped awkwardly on a rock with my right foot and seriously rolled my ankle. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ZadRfZw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ZadRfZw.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trail or creek? (Or both?) I injured my ankle a little further down the trail from here</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Luckily, there was a big rock right there which I immediately fell sitting onto. If it hadn’t been there I probably would have fallen over. I sat there in pain for a few minutes before evaluating my situation. I was still able to move my ankle and toes so I stood up and gingerly tried to put some weight on it. It hurt but it was manageable. I decided I was going to hike down to the crossover trail, which couldn’t have been more than a quarter mile away, and then attend to my ankle some more.<br />
<br />
I slowly made my way down the trail and got to the junction about 15-20 minutes later. I stopped, took off my shoe and sock and iced my ankle in the creek. It was very swollen already and I still had 4 miles to get back to the trailhead. After icing it for about 10 minutes and filtering some water while I was there, I wrapped my ankle, took some ibuprofen and a few swigs of Captain Morgan, and began to carefully make my way back down the trail. Thank god I had trekking poles or it would have made for an even slower, more painful descent.<br />
<br />
I didn’t see anyone else on the trail until just after Avalanche Camp. By this point I was really hurting and just wanted to be out of the woods. A woman came up behind me and I mentioned I had sprained my ankle. She graciously asked if I needed some gummy bears or a hug or anything. I thanked her and said I was doing ok, just moving slowly. She gave me a hug anyways and hiked with me for a few minutes before speeding off ahead. Just talking to her for a few minutes and knowing I was so close to Marcy Dam really lifted my spirits and I tried to pick up the pace a little.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/p1d9vuK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/p1d9vuK.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easier trail near Marcy Dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I finally made it back to Marcy Dam around 4pm. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/fd2cGqn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/fd2cGqn.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marcy Dam, a sight for sore eyes (and ankles)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After crossing over the new bridge I hiked down to the water near the dam to soak my ankle again and eat a snack. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/0QiOlkS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/0QiOlkS.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colden from Marcy Dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/YV6CLhU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/YV6CLhU.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What's left of Marcy Dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/wQkeojg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/wQkeojg.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colden from Marcy Dam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After about a 20 minute break, I was ready to conquer the last section of trail and get back to somewhere I could really ice my ankle. With the flatter, easier to manage trail, I slowly but surely made it back out. I still think I made great time even with my injury. I was back to my car by 5:30pm, 9 hours and 50 minutes after starting that morning. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/oEiHlsJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/oEiHlsJ.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back to the parking lot at 5:30</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I happened to run into the woman who offered my gummy bears back at the parking lot and she was glad to see that I had safely made it out.<br />
<br />
Luckily, that was the last day of my trip. I drove back to Rochester Wednesday afternoon and went to Immediate Care to get my ankle properly checked out. Fortunately, nothing is broken but there is lots of swelling and bruising. So I will be taking it easy for a while. Unfortunately I had misplaced my decent camera somewhere between the Clockmill Pond trailhead and Keene Valley so I had to take my crappier one with me up Colden so my pictures aren’t the best <br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/Tle9n" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures</b></a><br />
<br />
<b><a href="httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cictCaGiI84" target="_blank">Video from the summit of Colden</a></b><br />
<br />
<b><a href="httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xmWPrQTIj8" target="_blank">Video from just below the summit of Colden</a> </b>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-83088345213587822472014-06-08T20:58:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:28:12.486-04:00Chub Pond 6/7/14 - 6/8/14<div class="MsoNormal">
I recently joined a few meetup groups in hopes of finding people
to hike, camp, and backpack with. A little over a week ago, a new event was
posted on one that caught my eye. It was an Adirondack backpacking trip being
organized by DuctTape. His name caught my eye as I have seen him posting on
the <a href="https://adkforum.com/" target="_blank">ADKForum</a>. So, I took a look at the itinerary and decided to sign up to go.
The trip was a 2 day, 1 night backpack to Chub Pond in the Black River Wild
Forest. When I mentioned to my coworkers that my plans for the weekend were to “go
backpacking in the Adirondacks with strangers” they all thought I was insane.
They were fully expecting me to be murdered :)</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saturday morning I drove to the Bushnell Basin park and ride
to meet up with the rest of the people going on the trip. When I got there a
little before 8am, Russ (DuctTape), Eric, and Eric’s business associate (aka
dog) Megan where hanging out in the parking lot. Soon, Tiffany and Bethany
showed up as well. We all introduced ourselves, got the cars packed and were on
the road by about 8:30am. We made two stops for snacks and bathroom breaks
along the way and made it to the trailhead around 11:30. We ate lunch in the
parking lot, got our packs situated, and then started our hike.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/90ZqVYx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/90ZqVYx.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gull Lake outlet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The trail into Chub Pond is nice and wide since it is a snowmobile
trail. We were able to walk two across which made it easier to talk with each
other and get more acquainted.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Lr9IC0V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Lr9IC0V.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking into Chub Pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There were some wet and muddy spots but no one got
their feet wet as the wet spots were easy to skirt around or there were rocks
or logs to step on. At one point, something that must have been large and very low
flew by overhead. It was <i><b>INSANELY</b></i> loud. We all were looking up but none of us
saw any planes through the trees. We made it to Chub Pond lean-to #2 only 1.5
hours after leaving the parking area.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/oDjRp6H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/oDjRp6H.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chub Pond lean-to #2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The weather was absolutely perfect. It was warm, sunny, and there
were a few nice fluffy clouds that looked great in pictures. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/dGBSA3C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/dGBSA3C.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chub Pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The bugs were
definitely out but they really weren’t biting much. Some of us put our headnets
on for a little bit but as soon as we got a nice smoky fire going, the bugs
were much less of a problem near the lean-to. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/GopuNTZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/GopuNTZ.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocking the headnet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Bethany set out to hike around
the pond to see lean-to #1. She didn’t quite make it all the way there due to
the wet trail near that lean-to. She did mention she saw a couple with a tent
set up at the other end of the pond.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soon after we got ourselves situated at the lean-to, Eric
pulled out the minikeg he had lugged the 4.5 miles in. We were told we had to
finish it before we left the next morning because he wanted to carry it back
out empty. No complaints here. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/eJiGhW0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/eJiGhW0.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric and the "dutch oven"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For the rest of the afternoon and evening we each
did a little exploring on our own. Most of our time was spent just hanging out
at the lean-to talking, sharing stories, and giving each other advice on other
hiking or backpacking trips. Russ really has a wealth of information about the
Adirondacks and Eric did as well.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/zCS6zOe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/zCS6zOe.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I explored around the Chub Pond inlet a little</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it got darker, the stars started to come out. The moon
was pretty bright and we got the see the convergence of the moon and Mars. We
also saw 3 or 4 satellites zipping by overhead. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ZlQLlW5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ZlQLlW5.jpg" height="180" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chub Pond at dusk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If I remember correctly, we got
to bed a little after 10. Apparently Tiffany’s water bottle had opened up in
her pack and soaked her long johns. Luckily, it was a very comfortable
temperature for sleeping outside.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday morning I got up around 8:30. I was the last person
up but we were in no rush. We leisurely had breakfast and packed up camp. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/wNWXQcR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/wNWXQcR.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out, eating breakfast, drinking beers?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We were
back on the trail by about 10:30am. We again were moving at a pretty good pace
and made it back to the trailhead in 1.5 hours. Along the way, we saw some red
efts and there were a bunch of salamanders hanging out near the bridge over the
Gull Lake outlet. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/4e14O7i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4e14O7i.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red eft</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the drive back we were planning on stopping at Lacy J’s
diner on route 365 but once we got there, we saw it was closed and looked to be
for sale as well. This resulted in a bit of random driving around Rome before
we finally decided to stop for lunch at La Roma Pizzeria in Rome, NY. After
picking up some subs, we got back on the road and made it back to the park and
ride by about 3:45.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had a great time. It was an easy, relaxing trip and a good
start to the summer hiking/backpacking season. I met some people I would be interested
in going on trips with again. I also got
a bunch of information about other trips and areas within the park. I wish
there were more meetup events like this one!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/pU4Qz" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures</b></a></div>
Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-57010107565419203052014-03-16T20:47:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:28:36.478-04:00Lower Wolfjaw 3/16/14Saturday afternoon my brother and I drove up to the Adirondacks for his
first High Peak and my first actual winter High Peak. We arrived in the early evening and got our stuff unloaded at the Keene Valley Hostel. We then jumped back in the car to get gas and so I could show Chad some of the sights. First stop was the Garden trailhead where I ended up getting stuck in the snow when trying to turn around in the parking lot. Chad got out of the car to push me out and a few embarrassing minutes later we were on our way back down the narrow, slippery, snow covered road. Next we stopped for gas, some beer and M&Ms and then continued on all the way to the Adriondack Loj. While we drove down to check out the Loj, which I had actually never seen despite camping and hiking there, I pointed out to Chad the different High Peaks I recognized. Once we got back closer to Route 73, I stopped and jumped out of the car into the wind to take a few pictures. We then headed back to the hostel to hang out before going to bed. We had a big day ahead of us tomorrow.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/eUt3wQb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/eUt3wQb.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was pretty windy out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Leading up to the
trip I had contemplated hiking either Colden or Lower Wolfjaw with the
option to add on Upper Wolfjaw depending on how we felt. Based on the
cold and windy weather forecast, it ended up being in the single digits all day, I decided on the Wolfjaws. <br />
<br />
Sunday morning, 3/16, we got to the parking area at the Ausable Club and
started the hike up the road at 7am. We signed in at the register at
7:15. At least 1 or 2 people had signed in for Lower Wolfjaw the day before so we were expecting broken trails. There was a pair of guys putting
their snowshoes on at the register that said they were planning on
taking the West River trail to Sawteeth and head back on the East River
trail. They took off behind the ranger’s cabin and we headed down Lake
Road. We were wearing snowshoes but there were some bare boot prints and
microspikes would have been fine as well. We took the turnoff after the
Ladies Mile which headed to the East River trail, Cathedral Rocks, and
Bear Run. This wasn’t broken out but it was a quick hike to the bridge
to get to the West River trail. Here we met back up with the pair from
the register. They stated they had been breaking trail the whole way so
far and we continued to break trail along the West River trail all the way to the junction with the
trail to Canyon Bridge. We initially were taking turns being in front but I couldn't keep up with the pace so the pair ended up ahead of us. As we got closer to the junction with the trail to Canyon Bridge, I could see a single guy hiking up the trail on the other side of the gully. The single guy got to the junction before us and was gone before we got there. Once we reached the junction, we stopped to take a break for a few minutes. We continued up the West River trail and
another pair of guys passed up. We met back up with them at the junction with the Wedge Book trail where we stopped to take a snack break. The West River trail wasn’t broken out
past here so the pair from the register who had initially planned to do
Sawteeth decided to back out of that plan and head up to the Wolfjaws.<br />
<br />
With the two pairs of guys ahead of us, my brother and I brought up the
rear. We climbed slowly, taking lots of short rest breaks, and soon we
got to the flat section of trail before starting a steep climb again.
Here we saw and heard some people up ahead of us. We finally ended up
catching up with a total of 7 other people and found out they had been
taking turns breaking trail the whole way up. Apparently the people who had signed in at the register in the previous days had altered their plans and had not actually ended up going up the Wolfjaws. My brother and I stayed in
the back due to our (really my) slow pace. And ended up catching back
up to the group at the col. We did some quick wardrobe changes, ate another snack, and
headed up the last bit towards the summit.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/9RkQmWX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/9RkQmWX.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nearing the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We finally made it to the
summit at about 1pm. The views weren't the best, it was hazy and snowing a little. We took a few pictures with my brothers phone to
prove we made it, unfortunately my camera and phone were frozen.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/LykSg0H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/LykSg0H.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views from the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/tDkbDGx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/tDkbDGx.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views from the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Emc5zW1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Emc5zW1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proof we made it to the summit!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/7vewZT8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/7vewZT8.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad on the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We then
headed back down to the col with quite a few initially unplanned
sitting-glissades on the way back down.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Uh7wRBg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Uh7wRBg.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the way back down to the col</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/6E4ZpeC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/6E4ZpeC.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad on the way back down to the col</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once back to the col we chowed
down on our St Patrick’s Day bagel sandwiches. After about a 45 minute break we started the hike back down. Upper Wolfjaw was not going to happen today.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/2Vw6ibQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/2Vw6ibQ.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green bagels for St. Patrick's Day!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the way back down we made great time now that the trail was decently
packed down. I had brought along some plastic sheets and we put them to good use butt-sliding down the steep sections of the trail. At one point I ended up sliding into a tree which left a pretty nice bruise on my upper left thigh. We played leapfrog with another guy/girl pair along the
way. We made it back to the junction with the West River trail in 2
hours. Once back at the junction to Canyon Bridge, we continued on the West River trail, the same way we came up. From here the time seemed to drag on. It appeared everyone else had taking the trail back to Canyon Bridge so the only tracks were ours from earlier that day. We were happy to see Lake Road again. We took off our snowshoes at the register and were back to the car by 5pm.<br />
<br />
All together it was a good hike. I was definitely very tired and slow. I
knew it had snowed a lot the previous Wednesday but I guess I was still hoping
the trail would be nice and packed down 4 days later, but no such luck. That makes High Peak #6, winter peak #1 for me and High Peak/winter peak #1 for my brother, Chad.<br />
<br />
On Monday 4/17, Chad and I went to Whiteface to do some skiing and snowboarding. It was a clear sunny day and the views were great!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/PmRSzIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/PmRSzIA.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Placid from Little Whiteface</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Em4Yz5Y.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Em4Yz5Y.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards the summit of Whiteface</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/qH2745p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/qH2745p.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Lake Placid</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/iCBh9LA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span id="goog_170282123"></span><span id="goog_170282124"></span><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/iCBh9LA.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Champlain in the distance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/GpYxGUR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/GpYxGUR.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The High Peaks from afar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/CsbDm3k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/CsbDm3k.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marcy, a shiny looking Colden, and Algonquin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/oOBDEnv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/oOBDEnv.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad on Little Whiteface</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/vaptZqt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/vaptZqt.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whiteface Ski Area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was still pretty tired out from the previous day's hike, although not as sore as I thought I would be. The conditions weren't the greatest either, not necessarily icy, but it was very scrapey. We did a few easier runs then I went to take a break while Chad hit some of the harder slopes. After lunch I went out for a few more but wasn't feeling very comfortable with my tired legs and the conditions. So I went and hung out in the sun on the patio while Chad did a few more harder runs. We then headed into Lake Placid to do a little shopping and had a delicious St Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage at the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery to top off our trip. On the way back to the hostel we stopped at the Adirondack Loj road and Marcy Field for a few final pictures.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/A7NI1j3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/A7NI1j3.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colden and Algonquin dominate</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/4iekp2x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4iekp2x.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower Wolfjaw (the right point of the notch in the mountain) from Marcy Field</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/CguhC#0" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures</b></a>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-72366233167459179532013-12-20T10:28:00.000-05:002017-09-05T16:29:08.437-04:00Big Slide 11/23/13<div abp="634">
<div abp="861">
The weekend before Thanksgiving I decided that it was time
for me to stop procrastinating and head back up to the Adirondacks for some
hiking. I had been itching to get back to the High Peaks region since my backpacking trip
at Cranberry Lake in September. Cranberry Lake was nice but I was ready to get
another High Peak under my belt.<o:p abp="635"></o:p></div>
</div>
<div abp="636">
<div abp="864">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div abp="637" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div abp="638">
<div abp="867">
So I left work an hour early Friday at 4pm 11/22 and headed
up to Keene Valley from Rochester. The weather was very crappy, it was dark and
raining, so I decided to take the less entertaining route of route 90 to
Amsterdam and then north on 87, as opposed to cutting across on route 8 at
Utica. It took me exactly 5 hours to reach my destination and pulled into the
Keene Valley Hostel’s driveway at 9pm. I grabbed my gear and headed inside. I
quietly walked upstairs with my headlamp not knowing if anyone else was there
sleeping. There was one occupied bed so I selected my bed and headed back
downstairs to hang out for a bit before hitting the sack. I ended up going to
bed around 11pm and quickly fell asleep. At about 1am, I was woken up by a
group of 4 coming into the hostel and getting straight to bed. I fell back asleep
soon after and slept soundly until my and the 4-some’s alarms went off at 6am.
I grabbed my stuff and headed downstairs to get ready exchanging sleepy good
mornings with the 4 guys who had arrived so late the night before. I made it to
the turn off of route 9 before realizing I left my camera back at the hostel so
I turned around and went back to grab it. I made it back to the Garden parking
lot, signed in at the register, and hit the trail at 7:15am.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div abp="641" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div abp="642">
<div abp="870">
The trail had a very light dusting of snow and the ground
was frozen which was nice wince there was no mud to deal with. </div>
</div>
</div>
<table abp="643" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="644">
<tr abp="645"><td abp="646" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="647">
<div abp="876">
<a abp="648" href="https://i.imgur.com/ggtS1zqh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="649" alt="Testing" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ggtS1zqh.jpg" height="263" title="Test" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="650"><td abp="651" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="652">
<div abp="882">
Very light dusting of snow near the trailhead</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="653">
<div abp="884">
At the ledge
before the First Brother I stopped to take a few pictures of the hazy views in
the morning light. The views were not the best today due to the clouds and
snow. These were the best views I saw all day as the snow showers slowly
increased during my hike. The tops of the peaks were mostly blanketed in the
clouds but it was still a nice sight. All the slides were white with snow and I
can see how the views from the Brothers would be absolutely gorgeous on a clear
day. </div>
</div>
<table abp="654" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="655">
<tr abp="656"><td abp="657" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="658">
<div abp="890">
<a abp="659" href="https://i.imgur.com/ejSBy84h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="660" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ejSBy84h.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="661"><td abp="662" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="663">
<div abp="896">
Early morning views from the first ledge</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table abp="664" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="665">
<tr abp="666"><td abp="667" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="668">
<div abp="902">
<a abp="669" href="https://i.imgur.com/u36dDggh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="670" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/u36dDggh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="671"><td abp="672" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="673">
<div abp="908">
Earl morning views of the Great Range</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table abp="674" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="675">
<tr abp="676"><td abp="677" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="678">
<div abp="914">
<a abp="679" href="https://i.imgur.com/At3IGnph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="680" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/At3IGnph.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="681"><td abp="682" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="683">
<div abp="920">
Views as the trail follows the ledge</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="684">
<div abp="922">
I came to a spot in the trail where it looked like the trail kept going
straight up, very steeply, but then realized there was a switchback to my
right. It was here I ran into my first little scramble. I boosted myself up
without too much of a problem and continued on my way. It was about this point
I decided to put on my Trail Crampons as I had been having to take very careful
steps to avoid not slipping. I had never used them before and boy what a
difference they make!</div>
</div>
<div abp="687">
<div abp="927">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div abp="688" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<div abp="689">
<div abp="930">
Soon I hit the scramble to the First Brother and scaled it
easily. It was somewhere on the First Brother I think I lost the trail and made
my way around the Northern side of the bump where I then met back up with the
trail. I didn’t even notice my mistake until I came back down. </div>
</div>
</div>
<table abp="690" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="691">
<tr abp="692"><td abp="693" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="694">
<div abp="936">
<a abp="695" href="https://i.imgur.com/lBlMLUAh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="696" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/lBlMLUAh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="697"><td abp="698" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="699">
<div abp="942">
Scramble up to the First Brother</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="700">
<div abp="944">
I scrambled up
and over the Second Brother and then followed the trail into a very pretty
woods section. The pines looked very nice with their light dusting of snow. Through
here the snow increased a bit, still not nearly enough to warrant snowshoes
which I had decided to leave in the car. A couple came up from behind me and I
let them pass through. </div>
</div>
<table abp="701" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="702">
<tr abp="703"><td abp="704" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="705">
<div abp="950">
<a abp="706" href="https://i.imgur.com/8APxYnph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="707" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/8APxYnph.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="708"><td abp="709" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="710">
<div abp="956">
Gorgeous trail</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table abp="711" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="712">
<tr abp="713"><td abp="714" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="715">
<div abp="962">
<a abp="716" href="https://i.imgur.com/qa2GOszh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="717" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/qa2GOszh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="718"><td abp="719" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="720">
<div abp="968">
Increasing amount of snow</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="721">
<div abp="970">
I finally reached the junction with the trail to the summit
and the Slide Mountain Brook trail.<o:p abp="722"></o:p></div>
</div>
<table abp="723" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="724">
<tr abp="725"><td abp="726" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="727">
<div abp="977">
<a abp="728" href="https://i.imgur.com/sK8j75lh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="729" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/sK8j75lh.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="730"><td abp="731" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="732">
<div abp="983">
Trail junction</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="733">
<div abp="985">
The sign pointing to the summit had fallen
and was sitting against a tree pointing straight ahead. I went the way the sign
pointed, following the footprints of the couple ahead of me, and got about 20
yards before the “trail” and footprints ended. I turned back around to the
junction and found the real trail to the summit. I made a mental note to move
the sign when I got back there but someone had already fixed it by the time I
came down.</div>
</div>
<table abp="734" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="735">
<tr abp="736"><td abp="737" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="738">
<div abp="991">
<a abp="739" href="https://i.imgur.com/ByrvEXCh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="740" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ByrvEXCh.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="741"><td abp="742" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="743">
<div abp="997">
This "trail" didn't go very far</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table abp="744" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="745">
<tr abp="746"><td abp="747" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="748">
<div abp="1003">
<a abp="749" href="https://i.imgur.com/LkTOFV6h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="750" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/LkTOFV6h.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="751"><td abp="752" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="753">
<div abp="1009">
The real trail to the summit</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="754">
<div abp="1011">
The final climb to the summit was steep and icy but I was
able to navigate it fine with my spikes and a little help from the trees next
to the trail. I stopped and took a few pictures of Big Slide’s big slide and
continued my way to the summit. </div>
</div>
<table abp="755" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="756">
<tr abp="757"><td abp="758" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="759">
<div abp="1017">
<a abp="760" href="https://i.imgur.com/ptdvHDBh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="761" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ptdvHDBh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="762"><td abp="763" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="764">
<div abp="1023">
Big Slide's big slide</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="765">
<div abp="1025">
Just below the summit I ran into the couple I
had let pass me early eating lunch in the shelter of the trees. They greeted me
by saying “You made it!” and pointed that the summit was right over the last
scramble. It was about 11:30am when I made my way up to the summit to take some
pictures and enjoy the cloudy snowy views. </div>
</div>
<table abp="766" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="767">
<tr abp="768"><td abp="769" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="770">
<div abp="1031">
<a abp="771" href="https://i.imgur.com/Dg6znpJh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="772" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Dg6znpJh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="773"><td abp="774" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="775">
<div abp="1037">
Not the best views today</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="776">
<div abp="1039">
I then made my way back down to
where the couple was in the trees to enjoy my lunch. While eating, a group of 4
summited coming from Yard. They were all very excited to be at the top and took
out a few beers to celebrate their accomplishment. I climbed back up to the
summit to ask them to take a picture of me and I enjoyed some of my Captain
while they enjoyed their beers until I got cold and retreated back to the
shelter of the trees.</div>
</div>
<table abp="777" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="778">
<tr abp="779"><td abp="780" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="781">
<div abp="1045">
<a abp="782" href="https://i.imgur.com/4WkzzXrh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="783" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4WkzzXrh.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="784"><td abp="785" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="786">
<div abp="1051">
I made it! On the summit</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table abp="787" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="788">
<tr abp="789"><td abp="790" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="791">
<div abp="1057">
<a abp="792" href="https://i.imgur.com/0NGpQcrh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="793" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/0NGpQcrh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="794"><td abp="795" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="796">
<div abp="1063">
The Captain</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="797">
<div abp="1065">
I refilled my bladder from the Nalgene I had in my pack and
the packed back up to start the trek back down. My fingers were freezing and I
put my heavy gloves on for a bit to warm them back up. I stopped at a couple
viewpoints on the way back down to the junction to take some pictures.</div>
</div>
<table abp="798" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="799">
<tr abp="800"><td abp="801" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="802">
<div abp="1071">
<a abp="803" href="https://i.imgur.com/TEBmXA9h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="804" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/TEBmXA9h.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="805"><td abp="806" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="807">
<div abp="1077">
Views of the Great Range</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table abp="808" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="809">
<tr abp="810"><td abp="811" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="812">
<div abp="1083">
<a abp="813" href="https://i.imgur.com/kQdvf2Bh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="814" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/kQdvf2Bh.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="815"><td abp="816" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="817">
<div abp="1089">
Taking the ladder back down to the trail junction</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="818">
<div abp="1091">
I passed
a good amount of people along the way that were headed up to the summit. A few
of them would overtake me on their hike back down. By the time I was back to
the trail junction I was warmed up and switched back to my light gloves. The
hike down was pretty uneventful. I passed by a tree that had fallen and had a
cool hole in the roots so I took a few pictures of me looking through it.<o:p abp="819"></o:p></div>
</div>
<table abp="820" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="821">
<tr abp="822"><td abp="823" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="824">
<div abp="1098">
<a abp="825" href="https://i.imgur.com/XXP9nXGh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="826" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/XXP9nXGh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="827"><td abp="828" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="829">
<div abp="1104">
Perfect hole in the roots of a fallen tree</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="830">
<div abp="1106">
By
the time I got back to the Second Brother the snow had picked up and any views I
had before were gone for the day. </div>
</div>
<table abp="831" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="832">
<tr abp="833"><td abp="834" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="835">
<div abp="1112">
<a abp="836" href="https://i.imgur.com/O012Cjrh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="837" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/O012Cjrh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="838"><td abp="839" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="840">
<div abp="1118">
Looking to the First Brother from the Second Brother. No more views today</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="841">
<div abp="1120">
Right before the Frist Brother I came to the
spot I think I went wrong in the morning. I could see faint, snow-covered
footprints heading left but I looked right and saw a trail marker. This is
where I finally came upon the cool rock overhang I had seen so many pictures
of. I had wondered how I missed it on the way up. While I was checking it out a
couple guys came down and looked confused about which way the trail went at the
same spot I had. I yelled to them that there were trail markers this way. They
thanked me and I asked them to take a picture of me under the rock overhang
which they were happy to do. I thanked them and we continued down the trail,
they moved faster than I did. I took my time descending the First Brother being
extra cautious as I was tired. The sun had melted off much of the little bits
of snow and ice that were on the open rock earlier in the day.</div>
</div>
<table abp="842" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody abp="843">
<tr abp="844"><td abp="845" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="846">
<div abp="1126">
<a abp="847" href="https://i.imgur.com/2YpURMRh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img abp="848" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/2YpURMRh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
</td></tr>
<tr abp="849"><td abp="850" class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div abp="851">
<div abp="1132">
Cool natural rock overhang</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div abp="852">
<div abp="1134">
The last mile or so seemed to stretch on forever. I was
tired and starting to hurt a bit. I rolled my ankles a few times when I was
being lazy about where I stepped but there were no major injuries. I finally
made it back to parking lot around 3:30pm. I threw everything into my car and
head back to the hostel for a nice hot shower followed by a delicious hot roast
beef sandwich smothered in gravy at the Noonmark Diner. The rest of the evening
was spent hanging out and talking with Sarah who was the occupant of the bed
when I had arrived the previous night. We bonded over the fact that we were
both from Rochester and that we are young females who go hiking solo. At one
point I went to get something from my car and a cat showed up and let itself
into the hostel when I opened the door. It was very friendly so we let it hang
out for a while. I hit the hay around 10pm and slept in late the next morning
before packing up and exchanging info with Sarah for possibly carpooling on
future trips. I headed back to Rochester via the more interesting route along
route 8 to Utica which also cut at least 30 minutes off my drive. Big Slide was
High Peak #5 for me and it was a great trip. Now that it’s a month later I’m
itching to get back up there again!</div>
</div>
<div abp="853">
<div abp="1136">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div abp="854">
<div abp="1138">
<b abp="855"><a abp="856" href="https://imgur.com/a/L65QA" target="_blank">The rest of my pictures</a></b></div>
</div>
<div abp="857">
<div abp="1142">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div abp="858">
<div abp="1144">
<o:p abp="859"></o:p><br /></div>
</div>
Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-75121581740286225592013-09-30T15:56:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:29:38.760-04:00Cranberry Lake 50 "Take 2"<div>
Last year, my friend Todd and I set out to backpack
the entire CL50 loop over 4 days starting in Peavine Swamp. Due to our lack of
backpacking experience (this was my first multi-day backpacking trip) and the
weight of our food and gear (probably should have upgraded my 12 pound tent when
I updated the rest of my gear), we ended up cutting the trip short. We had
planned to make it to High Falls the first night after starting at the Peavine
Swamp trailhead but we didn't even make it that far. We ended up spending the
night at campsite #21. I never got a chance to thank DSettahr last year in
helping show me which campsites along the Oswegatchie River were accessible from
the trail, so thanks DSettahr, you really helped us out! We were tired, sore,
and blistered so we decided early the next morning to cut our trip short and
continue around the High Falls loop and back out through Peavine Swamp over our
next 3 days. We spent our next 2 nights at Janack’s Landing and the Inlet
lean-to. We had a good time but definitely wanted to go back and finish what we
had started.<br />
<br />
So this year Todd and I met again at the Cranberry Lake
state campground on Wednesday 9/18.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/6LcHjlGh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/6LcHjlGh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at the state campground (#68)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JbQU2ubh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JbQU2ubh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cranberry Lake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
I drove up from Rochester and he drove up
from New Jersey. The trip started off with a bang as I got my car stuck on a
stump at the campsite… </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Eu1HCjUh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Eu1HCjUh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stump that attacked my car</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
I swear I didn’t see it! Luckily, the maintenance workers
at the campground were kind enough to pull me off using their dump truck and a
few 2 x 4s the next morning, thanks guys!<br />
<br />
We hit the trail Thursday
around 11:00am starting at the Burntbridge Pond trailhead. Not 10 minutes down
the trail, an American Marten jumped across. I thought it was a bobcat at first
until it jumped back across the trail and I got a better look. Very fluffy
looking thing. The trail was pretty easy and we had a good pace going. We passed
by a pair of dayhikers before we hit the intersection to the Dog Pond loop
trail. We stopped to take a quick snack and photo break at campsite #10 along
the lake. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/HLZ4f01h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/HLZ4f01h.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eating a quick snack at campsite #10 on Brandy Brook Flow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/pSswlPYh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/pSswlPYh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brandy Brook Flow on Cranberry Lake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our goal for day 1 was to get to the campsite at Curtis Pond. We
passed by East Inlet which is gorgeous and continued up the trail past a lot of
huge glacial erratics. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/usPJUuAh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/usPJUuAh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East Inlet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To me, the hardest part of the trail was between East
Inlet and Curtis Pond due to the amount of uphill hiking but it was also getting
towards the end of our day so we were tired out which didn’t help. We made it to
the campsite by 4:30pm if I remember correctly. We changed out of our hiking
boots and set up camp. We were hanging around when a very loud splash noise
startled us. We decided it had to either be a very large fish jumping or a bird
landing that we didn’t see. We quickly found out this was not the case. There
were a few beavers swimming around and doing some very loud tail slaps. Very
cool to see. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/mUJ1f6Jh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/mUJ1f6Jh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beaver at Curtis Pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/qrZf5SUh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/qrZf5SUh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curtis Pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/s7VvU5Lh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/s7VvU5Lh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campsite at Curtis Pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We cooked up some Hawk Vittles for dinner (delicious!) and got to
bed by 9pm with plans for our alarm to go off at 7am the next morning.</div>
<br />
I
don’t remember hearing the alarm the next morning but I woke up at about 7:20am.
We slowly and lazily got out of bed and packed up camp. We were on the trail by
9:30am. Around 10am, before we got to Dog Pond, we ran into Vthiker77 and
exchanged pleasantries. He said he had left Chair Rock at 7am that morning.
Chair Rock was our goal for that day. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Nygj5ahh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Nygj5ahh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dog Pond, the beaver dams make a cool infinity pool effect</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A little further on we ran into a friendly
hunter who informed me it was early bear season. Turning onto the Otter Brook
trail, the trail widened up quite a bit and it was easy hiking. We passed by
some remnants of old camps and crossed between different wilderness designations
many times. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/pXpM6FDh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/pXpM6FDh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner's ready!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Although this was technically our longest day based on mileage, it
didn’t seem too bad as the trail was pretty easy the whole way. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/bBFwdiSh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/bBFwdiSh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Otter Brook trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We arrived at
campsite 17 on Chair Rock Flow around 2:30. I sliced up some summer sausage and
Vermont cheddar cheese I had brought for a classy appetizer before dinner.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/l9tEevvh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/l9tEevvh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campsite #17 on Chair Rock Flow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/ngUApxVh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/ngUApxVh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We might be backpacking but we can still eat classy snacks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We
went and checked out the bridge over Chair Rock Creek and took some pictures.
The flow is a very pretty area and I got some great pictures of the changing
leaves.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/e8K3zaTh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/e8K3zaTh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chair Rock Creek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/RrxN3HEh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/RrxN3HEh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chair Rock Flow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next morning our alarm went off at 7am again and this time I
heard it. We packed up camp and were on the trail by 8:30am. The goal for today
was to get to the Cowhorn Pond lean-to. Based on the forecast I had seen before
heading out on the trip it was supposed to rain all day today. The skies were
overcast but we didn’t see a drop until after we had set up camp for the night.
The trail started out with a bunch of uphill hiking and then lots of back down
through switchbacks near South Flow. When we got to Six Mile Creek we stopped to
take some pictures. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/yGqiAlYh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/yGqiAlYh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Six Mile Creek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We then continued on to the intersection with the Six Mile
Creek trail where we took a left and hiked down to see Sliding Rock Falls. I had
already slid down the previous year and Todd decided the water was too cold so
after a few pictures we headed back up the trail towards the lake to the
intersection with the Olmstead Pond trail. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JqL6sczh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/JqL6sczh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sliding Rock Falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We passed by the ponds and got a
little confused when we got to an intersection with a trail to Simmonds Pond.
The trail was not marked on any of my maps but it had trail markers which threw
me off. Luckily we were able to pick the correct trail to continue on and saw a
CL50 marker a little ways down it. We stopped at the Olmstead Pond lean-to for
lunch. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/PWC0reKh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/PWC0reKh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Olmstead Pond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From skimming through the lean-to journal it seems like this is a popular
lunch spot. We tried to pump some water but my water filter had been acting
funny since the night before. We each got enough water to make it to Cowhorn
Pond and I decided I’d look into fixing my filter once we got there. Back on the
trail we made it back to the Six Mile Creek trail and were soon walking along
the ridge towards Cowhorn Pond. We made it to the lean-to by 1:30pm and set up
our tent and the bear bag rope. We both felt more comfortable sleeping in the
tent than in the openness of the lean-to. I tried to fix up my water filter but
had no luck so we decided to boil water to have for the trail the next day. I
think the check valve on my filter is broken. After we got everything set up it
started to rain pretty hard so we hung out in the lean-to for the rest of the
night. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/Yo0mJdDh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/Yo0mJdDh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxing and keeping dry in the lean-to at Cowhorn Pond while it rains outside</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After running the stove for almost 2 hours straight and boiling multiple
pots of water (for dinner and for water the next day) we ran out of fuel. We
ended up with about 3 liters of water between the 2 of us for the next day plus
I had iodine tablets if we needed them. We hit the hay a little earlier due to
the rain with our alarms set for 6am the next morning.<br />
<br />
We woke up bright
and early the next morning excited to get off the trail and back to
civilization. It was still raining slightly and it was chilly so we donned our
rain jackets and hit the damp trail by 7:30am. We were to the Cat Mountain
junction by 9am where we decided to skip the side trip up Cat Mountain due to us
wanting to get off the trail plus there would have been no views due to the
clouds and rain. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/6ZBiTnVh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/6ZBiTnVh.jpg" height="400" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High Falls trail junction</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Next was the junction with the High Falls trail by 9:30,
Janack’s Landing junction by 10am and we were to the Wanakena trailhead by
11:30am. We took a celebratory photo, jumped in my car, and drove back to the
Burntbridge Pond trailhead to pick up Todd’s car. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/eagMOFMh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/eagMOFMh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made it! At the trailhead in Wanakena</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We changed into clean dry
clothes and then headed to the Pinecone for a celebratory lunch. I had some
delicious French onion soup, an amazing jalapeno and Monterey jack burger and a
Yuengling. After lunch, Todd and I said our goodbyes and hit the road. I wanted
to get home to see the Bills game and was able to make it home with 7 minutes
left in the first quarter. It was not a good game…<br />
<br />
Overall it was a great
trip! We were both very glad we were able to go back and finish what we had
started. We averaged about 7 or so miles per day which was a good distance for
us with our full packs. The trail was in great condition, some muddy spots but
nothing of much concern. The trail crews have done some great work between
Janack’s Landing and Wanakena since last year, there are some new bridges over
very wet and pond-like areas of beaver activity that we had some issue getting
around last year. The weather was absolutely gorgeous except for the last day
and the leaves had started to turn. We even had the full moon Thursday night.
For right now, this trip has satisfied the Adirondack withdrawal I seem to go
through every 6 months or so but hopefully I’ll be able to get back up there
soon! Thank you to everyone on the forum that provided us valuable information
both this year and last year for our trips.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://imgur.com/a/AcVKX" target="_blank">The rest of my pictures</a></b><br />
<br />
<a href="httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF38ArP0SoA" target="_blank"><b>Video from the first night at Curtis Pond</b></a>
Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616554840619741088.post-2518834871673501572013-03-26T13:12:00.000-04:002017-09-05T16:30:04.235-04:00Cascade and Porter 3/26/13Preface: I am writing this almost a year after this trip so details are a bit foggy<br />
<br />
On Monday, March 25th, 2013 I drove up to the Adirondacks for my first trip back to the High Peaks since my initial trip 6 years earlier. Monday was spent driving around Keene Valley and Lake Placid and just enjoying myself and the views. I spent the night at the Keene Valley Hostel in preparation for my first hike up a High Peak in 6 years the next day.<br />
<br />
The next morning I woke up and didn't end up hitting the trail until about 10am. It was a late start but I wasn't too worried about it. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Blue skies with some clouds. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/iLbvEQDh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/iLbvEQDh.jpg" height="400" title="" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hitting the trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The trail was packed down and I could have easily gotten away with spikes if I had them. Since I did not own spikes at the time, I wore my snowshoes the whole way for traction. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/MDWn8o3h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/MDWn8o3h.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice packed down trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/BvKKkpyh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/BvKKkpyh.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost there!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the way up I passed an older gentleman that commented on my late start. Once I hit the open rock of the summit I took off my snowshoes and attached them to my pack for the final short scramble. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/YB78GLfh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/YB78GLfh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bare summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There was one spot I had a little bit of difficulty with I think due to my large, overpacked, pack. I had packed everything and the kitchen sink due to this being my first "winter" hike (it was technically spring by this point) and the fact that I was hiking solo. A mother, daughter and their dog caught up behind me and helped me up the one spot. Once at the summit, I spent about an hour just hanging out and enjoying the views. The winds weren't too bad and the temperature was probably in the 40s and it was partly sunny. The clouds were moving and I was able to see some great views in between the clouds. A little bit of snow fell too.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/f0uCz8Kh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/f0uCz8Kh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the summit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/4ETmxzSh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/4ETmxzSh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice views in between the clouds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/FsAvjpEh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/FsAvjpEh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Captain on the summit of Cascade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After enjoying some of the Captain and some summer sausage, I left the summit at about 1pm and started over to Porter. I started out without putting my snowshoes back on but the trail over to Porter wasn't as packed down so I did end up stopping to reapply my snowshoes. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/3XbNRh0h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/3XbNRh0h.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowy trail to Porter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After about 30 minutes I reached the summit of Porter. By this point, many of the clouds were gone and it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day. I had the summit to myself and again spent about in hour just soaking it all in. I took many pictures, sent a few text messages and called my dad who didn't answer. Who knew there was 3G signal on top of a High Peak! I enjoyed a bit more Captain will basking in the sunshine and I did not want to come back down, it was too gorgeous. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/2AS25hqh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/2AS25hqh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at Cascade with Whiteface in the distance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/RL4wUJxh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/RL4wUJxh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me on the summit of Porter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/rQ6rNeuh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/rQ6rNeuh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the Captain on Porter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/qLQwMKth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/qLQwMKth.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views of the Great Range</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/SQ0p96Lh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/SQ0p96Lh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views of the Great Range</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally, after an hour, I decided it was time to head back. I packed back up, put my snowshoes back on and started the hike back down. After 30 minutes I was back to the junction with the trail up Cascade and after another hour I was back down to the trailhead. I flew down that mountain! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/k0duEDHh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/k0duEDHh.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunny blue skies peeking out</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/MTtaXFph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/MTtaXFph.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Marcy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the way down I kept hearing a helicopter in the distance and saw one through the tree carrying a basket beneath it. I checked if there were any rescues when I got home but I never found any so I figured they were just out training.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/yPC70A3h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/yPC70A3h.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back at the trailhead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My hike was absolutely amazing and it reaffirmed my love for the High Peaks. I am now determined to hike them all.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.imgur.com/7V0a9pgh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://i.imgur.com/7V0a9pgh.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End of a great hike</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next few days I spent some more time in the snow. Wednesday, March 27 I hiked the West River trail to Beaver Meadow Falls and walked back up Lake Road. Thursday, March 28 I decided to go snowboarding at Whiteface which was so much fun. The conditions were great, very springlike. This was my first solo trip and I had so much fun. I will definitely be going back to the High Peaks for more trips in the future and probably more solo trips elsewhere too.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://imgur.com/a/b4H7A#0" target="_blank"><b>The rest of my pictures</b></a><br />
<br />
<b><a href="httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHRUBRm9ck8" target="_blank">Video on the summit of Porter </a></b>Kaliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11485870007258871899noreply@blogger.com0Cascade Mountain Foot Trail, Lake Placid, NY 12946, USA44.2126784 -73.87365419999997644.2012974 -73.893824199999969 44.2240594 -73.853484199999983