Peaked Mountain Pond Backpacking 07/18/15 - 07/19/15

Saturday 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.

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.

Greg paddling on Thirteenth Lake

Misty morning on Thirteenth Lake

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.

Lexie took a dip as soon as we got to Peaked Mountain Pond

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!

Jason untangling my rope for his tent

The guys inspecting our work getting Jason's tent to stand without poles

Our campsite on Peaked Mountain Pond

Peaked Mountain from our campsite

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.

Peaked Mountain summit marker

Gorgeous views back towards Thirteenth Lake and Gore Mountain

Me enjoying the views of Peaked Mountain Pond

Gorgeous views back towards Thirteenth Lake and Gore Mountain

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.

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.

Bill, Greg, and Lexie hanging out around the campfire

Dusk on Peaked Mountain Pond

Me and the pond at dusk

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.

Morning view from the fire ring

Greg taking a swim around the pond

Bill and Lexie out for a paddle

I thought this oil slick thing (most likely caused by decaying plants) sorta looked like a bear's face

Getting packed up and ready to hit the trail

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.

Marshy area

Red eft

Peaked Mountain across another marshy area

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.

Waterfall on Peaked Mountain Brook

Much sunnier day on Thirteenth Lake

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).

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.

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!

The rest of my pictures

Raquette Falls Backpacking 05/02/15 - 05/03/15

A 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.

Ready to hit the trail!

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.

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.

The trail went through this section

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.

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.

Lower Raquette Falls

Chad on a big boulder

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

Lexie taking a swim

Looking downstream towards Upper Raquette Falls

DANGER!!!

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.

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.

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.

Little beach at the end of the canoe carry

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.

Chad heading up to check out the Ranger Cabin

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.

Trying to get the bear bag rope OUT of the tree unsuccessfully

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!

The chili was amazing!

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 :)

Telling stories around the campfire

Free refrigerator included!

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.

Shipwreck in Dawson Pond

Dawson Pond Outlet

Birdwatching at Dawson Pond

After hiking back to camp, we all started packing up for the hike back out. Unfortunately, none of our packs felt much lighter.

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.

Creek we crossed over on the trail

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!

Bill signing back out at the trailhead

After packing the cars up and changing shoes/clothes, we all said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways home.

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 :)

The rest of my pictures

Video clips of bear bag rope issues