Balsam Lake, Graham, Doubletop 4/15/06

[Doodles]

Number 33, 34, and 35 in the books.

Another good day of hiking with great people.

Katherine and Steve picked me up at New Paltz and continued on to the DB trailhead at the end of Beaver Kill Rd where Ronnie was waiting for us to arrive. We had a 9:00 start under cloudy skies and about 55 deg. We had a nice climb up to the Balsam Lake fire tower where we took our first break under fog and cloud-in conditions which made for no views.

After a short break we continued on towards Graham up the old road. By this time the skies were clearing up and temps were warming up. At the summit we stopped for lunch and enjoyed the views under the cleared warm skies.

After lunch we broke out the maps and compass to get our agreed upon bearings for Doubletop. With an agreed plan, we set off for our last peak. All was going well until we took a break at the stream in the col between Graham and Doubletop. I had discovered that my pack pocket had unzipped and dumped its contents (wallet, phone, candy bar, map). At this point (for me) this was not such a good day anymore. From here I will say it's a really long story, but the wallet and map was recovered (which made me verrrry happy). I will be participating in an Easter cell phone hunt bright and early tommorrow morning.

We all did summit and sign in at the canister on Doubletop and then bushwacked down to the Beaver Kill and out on the NH trail back top the PA.

Trail conditions were good and this was a very enjoyable route to grab these last three peaks for me along with some great hiking companions. I will get to climb Graham one more time tomorrow morning. I figure for the sake of variety, I will go up from the other side from Mill Brook Rd.

 

[CrisisBill]

Any luck finding the cell phone? I wanted to join you guys on this hike but had unexpected guest and had to hang around and do "The Old Family Thing"

 

[Doodles]

Easter Morning Cell hunt a success.

My daughter and I hiked up to Graham early this morning. I backtracked the GPS track for the bushwack towards Doubletop and using a second phone we were able to find the lost phone. This really was like finding a needle in a mountain. I will consider this the ultimate Easter hunt. And we were only 15 minutes late for the Easter meal.

 

[mudhook51]

Your karma must be good!

 

[coldfeet]

Now that's a good reason to buy myself a gps...

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Hey Doodles, great weekend! Congrats on your 33-34-35 peaks and also your successfull Easter hunt. Great job!

 

[Doodles]

Coldfeet,

Until you buy that GPS, make sure you clip the zippers together on you backpack pockets. That might save you the Easter Cell hunt I did. I was very lucky to actually get all my stuff back since it was lost on a bushwack where we were switchbacking on steep terain.

Zer0-G had a good idea also. He said he puts all his small items in a small blaze orange pouch which would make it much easier to spot should it be dropped.

Lessons learned. I will never put valuables like wallet, phone, keys, GPS in an outside pocket. I will bury them deep inside the main pack.

Outside pockets should be reserved for TP, for quick access.

 

[MattC]

Outside pockets should be reserved for TP, for quick access.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyhow, congrats! You really tore through the 35. Are you going to submit a tally sheet?

Also glad your hunt was successful. Funny about that-the first time I climbed Graham, I met a woman up there who had just 'whacked over from Doubletop. She realized she had just lost her jacket with her cell phone in the pocket. She went a short ways back into the woods, recovered it and was back on the summit in ten minutes or so. It seems that the Graham Mountain cell phone imps are mischevious, but at least they're forgiving.

Matt

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

Glad this one had a happy ending. And I'm glad you left out incriminating evidence to the nature of the lost wallet.

 

[Jay H]

Congrats Doodles on the 35 and the cell phone tracking service... Sounds like an interesting story to tell the grandchildren at the very least...

jay

 

[Zer0-G]

Congrats indeed - However, the real "incriminating evidence" mentioned by pudgy_groundhog is a real howler. My sides are still hurting from laughing so hard for so long.
Has anybody seen my glasses?

Doodles, did you manage to find the candy bar?

p.s. Yup. I put my money, car keys and credit card, the three things "I can't live without" and "can't leave in the car" in a small blaze orange stuff sack. 3" x 4". Usually buried deep in my pack or in a fanny pack that is sutured (so to speak) to my hips.

 

[Doodles]

As a matter of fact, the candy bar was found also. That must of been my reward for climbing Graham 3 1/2 times in 2 days.

Zer0-G,
I wish your glasses weren't buried so deep in your pack along with the orange stuff sack.

I can't wait to see what lessons will be learned the next outing we join up on, since a pattern seems to be forming when we hook up.

 

[Zer0-G]

Well, I used to keep them on a string around my neck since I only need them for reading. But I kept sweating on them rendering them useless. So I keep them under cover now and I am way too lazy to bring them out every time I need to read something.
Besides, if we all weren't so convinced that Peter was there before us...

Hey, lessons are good. Can't complain about lessons. Hard or easy, both ways are good.