Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Once again, we set out for the cabin at the top of the mountain. We knew it was going to snow, so we headed out early, starting out by 8:40 and leaving our car near the exit of the PA that we knew would be plowed under when we returned.
The first surprise (my motto for BLM - "Never a dull moment!") was that someone had tried to drive up the old road!
Unlike last year, when someone only made it 100' before giving up, this person made it about 2 miles, almost to the turn off for Graham. I'm guessing they had chains, otherwise they never would have made it so far. I'm not sure what the goal was, but they eventually turned around and made it out, apparently safely.
The trail before the snow storm was covered with about 2" of crusty snow/ice that had fallen a few days before. Knowing that a big dump was coming, we brought just snowshoes, and they bit the frozen stuff quite well. We walked slowly, being weighted down with the weekend's worth of gear. It was still sunny and calm, with the temps around 10. The woods were beautiful, being covered with about an inch of the fluffiest snow you can imagine. Some places also had rime ice.
On the last push to the summit, I spotted a snowshoe hare racing across the trail. They really like the top of BLM, their tracks are everywhere! There were also bird tracks, maybe a bobcat, squirrels, coyote, fox, deer, and weasel as well. Only the bears were missing!
Just as we got to the top and started getting settled, Catskillhiker, his wife, and their pooch showed up. They had come up from the Beaver Kill side, and the last part of the road was not plowed! They stayed a while and then headed down they way they came. Nice to meet you!
I got one great view from the tower before heading back to the cabin. It was still clear in every direction for miles and miles. Laurie missed it, so no photo.
It turned out our 2 guests were the only human guests we would have all weekend. Oh well, all that planning for naught! I hope everyone was safe elsewhere. We passed the day slowly heating up the cabin to about 70, thanks to a large stack of wood and a worthy stove!
As the day went on, it started to snow. It snowed for quite some time, all thru the night and into late morning. I got up 4 times to feed the fire, keeping us toasty warm. In the morning, we had about 6" of new powder, but it was hard to tell, because it had been very windy. The tower was covered with ice and snow, and Laurie took quite a few pictures.
During the morning, we had another mammal visitor, a mouse! He ran around the cabin as I chased him with a broom, hoping to shoo him out the door. After a brief tussle, he ducked under the wood pile, and that was the last we saw of him. I set a trap for him, so maybe he's found the treats I left for him by now! Bwahahaha!
We hung around till 2 and then headed down. The trail looked really cool. We met no one, and had the unbroken trail to ourselves. It's cool to break trail while descending! Back at the car, we had to shovel out, but it only took 5-10 minutes and we were on our way to Laurie's parents down the road, where we gratefully accepted hot soup and tea!
The first surprise (my motto for BLM - "Never a dull moment!") was that someone had tried to drive up the old road!
Unlike last year, when someone only made it 100' before giving up, this person made it about 2 miles, almost to the turn off for Graham. I'm guessing they had chains, otherwise they never would have made it so far. I'm not sure what the goal was, but they eventually turned around and made it out, apparently safely.The trail before the snow storm was covered with about 2" of crusty snow/ice that had fallen a few days before. Knowing that a big dump was coming, we brought just snowshoes, and they bit the frozen stuff quite well. We walked slowly, being weighted down with the weekend's worth of gear. It was still sunny and calm, with the temps around 10. The woods were beautiful, being covered with about an inch of the fluffiest snow you can imagine. Some places also had rime ice.
On the last push to the summit, I spotted a snowshoe hare racing across the trail. They really like the top of BLM, their tracks are everywhere! There were also bird tracks, maybe a bobcat, squirrels, coyote, fox, deer, and weasel as well. Only the bears were missing!
Just as we got to the top and started getting settled, Catskillhiker, his wife, and their pooch showed up. They had come up from the Beaver Kill side, and the last part of the road was not plowed! They stayed a while and then headed down they way they came. Nice to meet you!
I got one great view from the tower before heading back to the cabin. It was still clear in every direction for miles and miles. Laurie missed it, so no photo.
It turned out our 2 guests were the only human guests we would have all weekend. Oh well, all that planning for naught!
I hope everyone was safe elsewhere. We passed the day slowly heating up the cabin to about 70, thanks to a large stack of wood and a worthy stove! As the day went on, it started to snow. It snowed for quite some time, all thru the night and into late morning. I got up 4 times to feed the fire, keeping us toasty warm. In the morning, we had about 6" of new powder, but it was hard to tell, because it had been very windy. The tower was covered with ice and snow, and Laurie took quite a few pictures.
During the morning, we had another mammal visitor, a mouse! He ran around the cabin as I chased him with a broom, hoping to shoo him out the door. After a brief tussle, he ducked under the wood pile, and that was the last we saw of him. I set a trap for him, so maybe he's found the treats I left for him by now! Bwahahaha!
We hung around till 2 and then headed down. The trail looked really cool. We met no one, and had the unbroken trail to ourselves. It's cool to break trail while descending!
Back at the car, we had to shovel out, but it only took 5-10 minutes and we were on our way to Laurie's parents down the road, where we gratefully accepted hot soup and tea! 
