Devil's Path

Devils Path
Where: Catskill Park, NY
# Days: 3
Mileage: 17ish
Mountains Bagged: Big Indian Mtn, Twin Mtn, Sugarload Mtn, Plateau Mtn, Hunter Mtn


Yay! Another trip in the Catskills. The more I go there, the more I love them. The mountains aren't necessarily tall, most of these are between 3500 and 4000 feet, but the terrain is challenging, and each trip has proven to be difficult and demanding, and I leave loving the mountains even more. This trip was no exception :)

This trip was taken with my good friend Tania. We set out on a very ambitious trip, which may have been our first mistake. We got up and over Big Indian Mountain, and because we had gotten started much later than planned, we camped between Big Indian and Twin. Nice campsite, nothing spectacular, but when the sun came up over Big Indian the next morning, it was quite beautiful. Unfortunately, getting going over Twin, Tania stopped me not too far up. She wasn't feeling too well, and after a long break and staring at the map and talking about our options, we agreed she would downhike a side trail back to the car, drive to a road crossing in about 6 miles, and meet me at the shelter 2 miles up from the road. Only one problem - we forgot to factor in the sun sets at 5pm now due to daylight savings, and wasn't so respectful of just how hard the terrain would be for me to hike the 9 miles to the shelter to meet up with her.

Going up and over Twin the rest of the way wasn't so terrible. Heading up Sugarloaf, however, I started to feel I was getting tired already. Thankfully, at the base of Sugarloaf, right before hiking up, I had met a mother and her son, and hiked up and over with them. They were great conversation, and made the climb a lot more enjoyable. Turns out, the son actually spent last summer working on Wildlife Management at the flight line at Eielson AFB in Alaska, so we had lots to talk about! Small world :)

When I started up Plateau Mtn, I quickly realized that this would not only be the hardest hike of the trip, but also that there was no way I was going to make it to the shelter before it got dark. At first, I was just going to pitch my tent when it got dark. But then I started feeling bad about Tania staying in the shelter alone, without a hot meal, and decided "what the heck, I love night hiking, I'll just night hike to the shelter!" The night hike was quite enjoyable, some of it I was able to do without a headlamp because the moon was so bright. There were field mice all around me squeaking away which made me smile, and I saw the most amazing sunset view over the valley. Well, around 8pm, I finally arrived at the shelter, exhausted and hungry.

The next morning, we hiked a nice easy hike up to Hunter, got a great view from the fire tower, enjoyed a tasty lunch, and headed back to my car. What a trip! I sit here tired, sore, exhausted, but still excited for whatever my next trip will be, just like always :)

Unfortunately, because Tania took the camera with her when she left me, I don't have any photos of my solo hike. We did get some photos though from before she left me and after we met back up, which I put up on my flickr:

www.flickr.com/photos/theashface

Hope you enjoy! Planning a winter trip hopefully in February, so stay tuned!!

Cranberry Lake

Cranberry Lake 50 Mile Loop
Where: Adirondack State Park, New York
# Days: 4
Mileage: 50 miles

Cranberry Lake is the third largest lake in the Adirondacks. Only a few years ago, some trails were connected and created to form a 50 mile loop around the lake. Matt and I had our eye on this trail for a few months, and we finally got the opportunity to do it this past weekend. The trail has mild elevation changes, goes past several smaller lakes and ponds, and on the whole is quite enjoyable. We had perfect weather except for some rain the last day, and camped in some beautiful campsites along the lake. And yet, those were 4 of the worst days spent on the trail I have experienced to date.

Why? Two words: deer flies. I cannot express enough how awful the deer flies were the entire 4 days we were hiking. We constantly had 10-20 flies swarming each of our heads, dive bombing us, landing on our shoulders, arms, hands, neck, and face and biting us. My skin crawls just remembering how many flies there were. It’s frustrating, because the flies were so bad, it was nearly impossible to enjoy how beautiful the trail and scenery were.

Despite the flies, however, I do look back at the trip and smile. That was the biggest trip I’ve taken since hiking the Appalachian Trail. We hiked big miles, and despite being a little sore, I’m quite happy with how my body held up. It also feels good to finish a big loop, my name is posted on the website as only the 303^rd person to do it, and I’ll get a patch as well. All in all, a good trip :)

UPDATE: here's a link to the Cranberry Lake trail for anyone interested in more information about the area: http://www.cranberrylake50.org/

Pictures on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/theashface

New Trip Updates

Well, several trips have occurred since my last update. Silly me :) Will do a quick update to the three trips worth mentioning.

Trip #1: Night Hike through Palmerton Superfund Site, November 2010

Location: Appalachian Trail

# Days: 2

Miles Hiked: 7ish

Okay short trip, but was awesome. Rocket and I began the hike around 10:00pm. The Superfund Site is a ridge in PA that has been heavily smelted for zinc. As a result, the entire hike is almost completely bare. The climb out of Palmerton is just rocks. A mile long rock scramble to the top of the ridge. After that, low grasses and shrubs can be found, and an occasional tree. It's quite barren, reminds me of something out of a grim Dr. Seuss book.

Rocket and I night hiked a few miles up the rocks and through the low grass, everything entirely lit up by the moon. We rarely turned out headlamps on. It was amazing! We set up our tent near a small grove of trees, and had a spectacular view of the city. Woke up, and hiked the remaining couple miles to the next road where we got picked up. That rock scramble is considered the rockiest section of the Appalachian Trail south of the White Mountains.

When we went through this section last summer, there were blueberry and raspberry bushes everywhere, so we are looking forward to going back this summer for some berry collecting :)

Trip #2: Catskill Mountain Cirque, February 2011

Location: Catskill Mountains

Mountains bagged: Blackhead Mtn, Blackdome Mtn, Thomas Cole Mtn, Windham High Peak

# Days: 3

Total Miles: 20ish

This hike also started as a night hike, taken with a group of people from work. Rocket was not with me on this trip, which is the first time in forever! :( This was probably the most difficult hiking I've ever done! Fresh snow had fallen before we arrived and began out hike around midnight. We snowshoed a mile in to the first shelter, set up camp (most of us tented), and set out the next morning breaking trail for most of the remainder of the trip.

Over the next two days, we climbed 4 mountains, 3 of them over 3500' (and are also among the top 5 highest peaks in the Catskills). The terrain was intense, steep, and icy. Could be considered non-technical mountaineering. Was absolutely amazing, the feeling of climbing those mountains, knowing all that hard work would get us to the top. As my first trip in the Catskills, I am definitely looking forward to another trip!

One thing I feel important to add is I was able to test out my new 0 degree Marmot Coloir bag, and I must say I love this bag. I am a cold sleeper, and have had problems in the past staying warm on cooler nights. Each night was in the teens, probably less, and each night I slept toasty warm. In fact, the last night I was warm, and slept in just my thermals. I would definitely recommend this bag to anyone thinking about getting it.

Trip #3: Appalachian Trail

Location: AT

# Days: 3

Miles Hiked: 25

This was intended to be a more relaxing trip on the AT for Rocket and I. Not a whole lot to say about this trip, we didn't climb any significant mountains, but it was nice to get out on the trail, carrying a few extra luxury items in our packs, not worry about hitting large miles, and could stop early, set up a nice camp, and just enjoy a relaxing evening in the woods.

The second day we had plans to go farther, but found an amazing campsite next to a beautiful babbling stream, and decided to stop for the evening. Both nights we enjoyed a wonderful fire, almost full moon, and a meal consisting of more than just ramen and instant potatoes :)

One thing we've learned is that we're both kind of addicted to backpacking, but in a thru-hiking setting. End to end hiking provides such a sense of accomplishment. Weekend backpacking is pleasant and can be very relaxing, but there's something special about walking the entire length of a trail, whatever that length may be. We look forward to more thru hiking, though our next hike or two will likely not be nearly as extreme as the AT.

Trip #4: Wittenburg, Cornell, Slide Trail
Location: Catskill Mountains
# Days: 2
Miles Hiked: 10.2

This was admittedly short for a 2 day trip, but we got a late start the first day and had plans to climb at least 2 more mountains, but due to poor weather, we cut the trip short. Rocket and I did an out and back trip, which isn't quite as fun as a loop, and we didn't have two cars to have it start and finish at two separate trail heads. All three of these mountains are over 3500'. Rocket and I are working towards being a part of the 3500 Club, meaning we climb all 35 peaks in the Catskill Mountains that are over 3500'. Since I took the winter trip, I have a few more climbs than Rocket, so he has some catching up to do :)

Not too much to say about this trip. We were hoping to hit a couple mountains via bushwhacking (walking through the woods without a trail, using a map and compass to guide you) and herd paths (an inconsistent unmarked trail), but we decided given the weather and whatnot to ditch that plan. There are a handful of the mountains over 3500' in the Catskills that are trail-less summits, and I am excited to tackle those soon.

Neither Matt nor I have a camera, so what photos we have from the last 3 trips we have taken since the Appalachian Trail we had to rely on our phones to take. Hoping to get a camera soon so I'll have more to share!

Photos from the hikes up on my flickr

www.flickr.com/photos/theashface

I'll keep you updated better on trips I do in the future!