A buddy of mine joined me for this hike, and although we had planned to do all three peaks, I was only able to do the first two before it was close to our turn around time. He did all three as he was moving much faster. This actually turned out the best for me since I had developed huge blisters on each ankle; I was wearing my heavy leather winter boots to start getting them and the ankles broken in for the winter season. By the time I hit Blackdome, my heels were screaming!
The weather was beautiful for a late Fall hike, the sun was out the whole time, and there was barely a cloud in the sky. This was my first time doing this hike, but it was very easy to find the trailhead at the end of Barnum Rd. Parking is limited to about a half a dozen vehicles. The plan was for an out and back from Barnum Rd across the Range and back, we left the cars just before 10am.
There was a lot of water on the tail starting out, and small pockets of mud and water here and there until you reach the escarpment before the first first false summit before you get to Thomas Cole. We did not see anyone the whole time, although once and a while we heard voices, it turns out there were a pair of hiker just staying ahead of us, my partner caught up with them when he hit the side of Blackhead.
There were wonderful views when we hit the second false summit before Thomas Cole, which looked so far away and so tall, but it only took about a half an hour to 45 minutes to summit. After the second false summit, there was snow on the ground, but less then an inch. It just made things slick in some areas, but you never needed instep crampons/yaktrax or anything of the like. Above 3700ft the wind kicked in heavily as well which made things a bit chilly. I took the boots off to see how the ankles were doing as they were feeling tender on the hike up and I was worried about them since I have not worn the boots in a long time. They were blistered as I figured, so I took a few minutes to bandage them up with some Band Aid Blister pads that seems to have worked pretty well.
It was pretty uneventful heading up to Blackdome as well. There was some blowdowns here and there, mainly right on the trail. Hitting the summit though my ankles were crying, and some muscles were starting to act up too. I thought about it afterwards and we had been hiking pretty much non stop for over 3.5 hrs. Sometimes when the time and the miles go pass quickly, you forget to stop.
Rob wanted to hit Blackhead, and we still had a half an hour before our turnaround time. So I elected to turn around and head back, he continued onward, he was pretty much waiting for me to play catch up most of the hike in anyway, and I knew I would not have been able to be as fast him for the third peak, THEN head back up and over the two peaks.
It was really windy, I had hoped to stop and have some lunch at the view point on the southern side of the summit of Blackdome, but the wind was howling and did not make for a good lunch spot. The trip back was pretty uneventful, just had to keep an eye on the trail markers which seem to be lacking or damaged in many areas, luckily the ground pretty much reveals the trail.
I stopped past Thomas Cole for the first time to have some lunch, it was about 230pm. Rob caught up with me on the downhill after the first false summit, and we hiked out together, getting back to the car by about 330pm.
It was a great hike, I plan to go back and do all three again! Maybe do the three in winter, do an out and back but with an over nighter somewhere like the Batavia Kill Lean to. I played around with my eats and drinks too, big change was instead of a camel back with water and one or two bottles of water, I reveresed it, and for me it works better. I sweat a LOT, and to go through 3+ quarts of liquid is not unusal. I will definatly try this system again. When I got home I found I only went through 2 of the 3 litres from the Camelback and just a little of the water in the bottle I brought. Not once did I feel dehydrated and not once did anything some out too yellow...
Also I got a sample of a new Clif product in the mail last week, Clif Blocks, basically an electrolyte gummy square that is equal to a packet of energy gel. The strawberry flavor was great! I am going to using these things often. I also was in 'winter' eating mode, just kept snacking, probably the reason I did not need to stop and have a real lunch. Just a handful of the small Snickers and a few granola bars.
I was really surprised that on such a nice day that there were so few people out, not that I like to hike in a herd, but there was a pair ahead of us, and a pair hiking to Thomas Cole on my way out that I passed. There had been someone that had signed in at the register as hunting, so be careful out there!
Also the trail markers were really lacking in many areas, sometimes I had to stop and really look around, quite a hassle. This was more obivous in the East to West direction then West to East. This is a trail that probably should be re-blazed sometime soon. We had brought headlamps along in case we took to long and needed them, and I am glad we did'nt, it would have been a real pain to try to navigate by trail markers at night.
The weather was beautiful for a late Fall hike, the sun was out the whole time, and there was barely a cloud in the sky. This was my first time doing this hike, but it was very easy to find the trailhead at the end of Barnum Rd. Parking is limited to about a half a dozen vehicles. The plan was for an out and back from Barnum Rd across the Range and back, we left the cars just before 10am.
There was a lot of water on the tail starting out, and small pockets of mud and water here and there until you reach the escarpment before the first first false summit before you get to Thomas Cole. We did not see anyone the whole time, although once and a while we heard voices, it turns out there were a pair of hiker just staying ahead of us, my partner caught up with them when he hit the side of Blackhead.
There were wonderful views when we hit the second false summit before Thomas Cole, which looked so far away and so tall, but it only took about a half an hour to 45 minutes to summit. After the second false summit, there was snow on the ground, but less then an inch. It just made things slick in some areas, but you never needed instep crampons/yaktrax or anything of the like. Above 3700ft the wind kicked in heavily as well which made things a bit chilly. I took the boots off to see how the ankles were doing as they were feeling tender on the hike up and I was worried about them since I have not worn the boots in a long time. They were blistered as I figured, so I took a few minutes to bandage them up with some Band Aid Blister pads that seems to have worked pretty well.
It was pretty uneventful heading up to Blackdome as well. There was some blowdowns here and there, mainly right on the trail. Hitting the summit though my ankles were crying, and some muscles were starting to act up too. I thought about it afterwards and we had been hiking pretty much non stop for over 3.5 hrs. Sometimes when the time and the miles go pass quickly, you forget to stop.
Rob wanted to hit Blackhead, and we still had a half an hour before our turnaround time. So I elected to turn around and head back, he continued onward, he was pretty much waiting for me to play catch up most of the hike in anyway, and I knew I would not have been able to be as fast him for the third peak, THEN head back up and over the two peaks.
It was really windy, I had hoped to stop and have some lunch at the view point on the southern side of the summit of Blackdome, but the wind was howling and did not make for a good lunch spot. The trip back was pretty uneventful, just had to keep an eye on the trail markers which seem to be lacking or damaged in many areas, luckily the ground pretty much reveals the trail.
I stopped past Thomas Cole for the first time to have some lunch, it was about 230pm. Rob caught up with me on the downhill after the first false summit, and we hiked out together, getting back to the car by about 330pm.
It was a great hike, I plan to go back and do all three again! Maybe do the three in winter, do an out and back but with an over nighter somewhere like the Batavia Kill Lean to. I played around with my eats and drinks too, big change was instead of a camel back with water and one or two bottles of water, I reveresed it, and for me it works better. I sweat a LOT, and to go through 3+ quarts of liquid is not unusal. I will definatly try this system again. When I got home I found I only went through 2 of the 3 litres from the Camelback and just a little of the water in the bottle I brought. Not once did I feel dehydrated and not once did anything some out too yellow...
Also I got a sample of a new Clif product in the mail last week, Clif Blocks, basically an electrolyte gummy square that is equal to a packet of energy gel. The strawberry flavor was great! I am going to using these things often. I also was in 'winter' eating mode, just kept snacking, probably the reason I did not need to stop and have a real lunch. Just a handful of the small Snickers and a few granola bars.
I was really surprised that on such a nice day that there were so few people out, not that I like to hike in a herd, but there was a pair ahead of us, and a pair hiking to Thomas Cole on my way out that I passed. There had been someone that had signed in at the register as hunting, so be careful out there!
Also the trail markers were really lacking in many areas, sometimes I had to stop and really look around, quite a hassle. This was more obivous in the East to West direction then West to East. This is a trail that probably should be re-blazed sometime soon. We had brought headlamps along in case we took to long and needed them, and I am glad we did'nt, it would have been a real pain to try to navigate by trail markers at night.
