ADK Rick
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- Oct 6, 2003
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Not the timeliest of trip reports, but I had some trouble getting my pics up. There are here.
#39 for me, only 7 to go!
This was a solo trip for me..went up thursday night and stayed at the Hostel. Rained a bit in the evening, but the friday forecast was perfect. Woke up at 4:30 and got to the Upper Works at 5:55. Had to wait 15 minutes for enough light to get moving (I miss June!). Uneventful trip to Flowed Lands, arrived at 8:00 am. One leanto was occupied by a wild looking woman just climbing out of the rack. The view across Flowed Lands is beautiful, especially in the morning light. The only other wildlife I saw all day were toads, big fat ones, 9 in all. The first one scared the crap out of me..he was hanging out on a rock in the middle of the trail on the section that goes behind Flowed Lands, when I almost put my hand on him and he hopped right at me...Yowza!
I thought the Calamity Brook trail was pretty muddy...probably from the rain the day before. In fact the whole day was very muddy. Got to the dam at 8:40 and Uphill Leanto by 9:30.
I had trouble back in '02 here finding the leanto, and I did again this time. It's funny because all the guidebooks and trip reports say you can see the leanto from the trail...NOT TRUE! And to make it a little more confusing, the side trail to the leanto has a "designated camping" sign instead of a "leanto" sign, and usually there isnt a designated camping spot too close to a leanto, so I walked past this a few times before figuring it out. Also, the cairn to Redfield is (was) pitiful, like 4 stones. I beefed it up a little. The cairn for the old Cliff herdpath is hard to see when coming from the Opalescent train as it is sort of under/behind a little balsam tree. It is easy to see coming from the other direction. Anyway, between this messing around and taking a break I lost 45 minutes here.
I took the Redfield herd path and missed the turnoff for Cliff the first time. It is not that obvious, and there is no flagging as reported elsewhere. But you can turn right off the Redfield path almost anywhere over the first couple of hundred yards, the woods are open. I added a piece of orange flagging I found on the ground to mark this turn.
It was predictably boggy and soggy in the Cliff/Redfield col. It was sort of a relief to get to the Cliffs. The next 20 minutes are a blast! Rarely will find a place where you will gain so much elevation so fast...it is straight up! Once on top its another 20 or 25 minutes of bad bad blowdown. I see a lot of trip reports that say, Oh that herdpath is just as good as a marked trail. Well friends and neighbors, this is not one of them. It is fun for a while, but it gets old. Lots of climb overs and belly crawlers.
Made the summit at 11:15, just in time for a passing shower. So much for the perfect forecast. Not much for views, but lo and behold I scored a single ripe raspberry, growing right beneath the summit sign....that's a first for me!
Some limited views of Colden, Marcy, and Skylight are available.
Back to the car at 4:10 pm...a trip of about 16.5 miles, my longest hike of the year. Peeled off the muddy pants which I never took off all day (I had planned on shorts...but not on this one!) and hit the road...back to CT by 8:30. Whew. This little mountain kicked my butt!
ADK Rick
#39 for me, only 7 to go!
This was a solo trip for me..went up thursday night and stayed at the Hostel. Rained a bit in the evening, but the friday forecast was perfect. Woke up at 4:30 and got to the Upper Works at 5:55. Had to wait 15 minutes for enough light to get moving (I miss June!). Uneventful trip to Flowed Lands, arrived at 8:00 am. One leanto was occupied by a wild looking woman just climbing out of the rack. The view across Flowed Lands is beautiful, especially in the morning light. The only other wildlife I saw all day were toads, big fat ones, 9 in all. The first one scared the crap out of me..he was hanging out on a rock in the middle of the trail on the section that goes behind Flowed Lands, when I almost put my hand on him and he hopped right at me...Yowza!
I thought the Calamity Brook trail was pretty muddy...probably from the rain the day before. In fact the whole day was very muddy. Got to the dam at 8:40 and Uphill Leanto by 9:30.
I had trouble back in '02 here finding the leanto, and I did again this time. It's funny because all the guidebooks and trip reports say you can see the leanto from the trail...NOT TRUE! And to make it a little more confusing, the side trail to the leanto has a "designated camping" sign instead of a "leanto" sign, and usually there isnt a designated camping spot too close to a leanto, so I walked past this a few times before figuring it out. Also, the cairn to Redfield is (was) pitiful, like 4 stones. I beefed it up a little. The cairn for the old Cliff herdpath is hard to see when coming from the Opalescent train as it is sort of under/behind a little balsam tree. It is easy to see coming from the other direction. Anyway, between this messing around and taking a break I lost 45 minutes here.
I took the Redfield herd path and missed the turnoff for Cliff the first time. It is not that obvious, and there is no flagging as reported elsewhere. But you can turn right off the Redfield path almost anywhere over the first couple of hundred yards, the woods are open. I added a piece of orange flagging I found on the ground to mark this turn.
It was predictably boggy and soggy in the Cliff/Redfield col. It was sort of a relief to get to the Cliffs. The next 20 minutes are a blast! Rarely will find a place where you will gain so much elevation so fast...it is straight up! Once on top its another 20 or 25 minutes of bad bad blowdown. I see a lot of trip reports that say, Oh that herdpath is just as good as a marked trail. Well friends and neighbors, this is not one of them. It is fun for a while, but it gets old. Lots of climb overs and belly crawlers.
Made the summit at 11:15, just in time for a passing shower. So much for the perfect forecast. Not much for views, but lo and behold I scored a single ripe raspberry, growing right beneath the summit sign....that's a first for me!
Some limited views of Colden, Marcy, and Skylight are available.
Back to the car at 4:10 pm...a trip of about 16.5 miles, my longest hike of the year. Peeled off the muddy pants which I never took off all day (I had planned on shorts...but not on this one!) and hit the road...back to CT by 8:30. Whew. This little mountain kicked my butt!
ADK Rick
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. Then there's the summit with some respectable views along the way.
