Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Third time's the charm, or so they say. More on that later...
Laurie and I missed getting to the true summit of Cliff last weekend, so we tried again yesterday, 1/29/07. We started from the Loj this time. We had heard that hikers 'P' and 'R' had done Cliff/Redfield from the Loj recently, and that some of Laurie's friends might be doing it this weekend as well.
Anyway, we got up early and started out just after 6:00 AM, the first people to sign the log book! It was very cold, below 0, and a very light snow was falling. The clouds more or less cleared up as we hiked, and we had a pretty sunny day, with very light winds. By 10:00, we had reached the Uphill leanto. We went over Avalanche Lake, and Lake Colden, and made pretty good time. We took a break here, and I cached a few items to lighten my pack. Laurie chose to build character!
Interestingly, even though this route is longer, we got to the leanto 1/2 hour faster than from Upper Works, staying on the trails. The next time we go, I think we will try to cross over Flowed lands. This should be the shortest and fastest route.
The herd path was easier than last time, but not a whole lot easier. At the false summit area, we could see the tracks that had been made a few days earlier, and we could even see our old tracks from a week ago, so not much snow had fallen. We could not always tell whose tracks were whose, so we ended up repeating many of our previous mistakes and wasting a fair amount of time. Eventually, I found a path that continued farther than any of our previous attempts, and it turned out to be the path to the true summit! Thank GOD! In no time, we were over on the true summit, which by eyeball indeed looks to be higher than the false summit. By this time it was about 12:00. The views from the top were worth every step to get here!
We got back to the leanto around 1:00 and took another break. The herd path to Redfield did not look like it had seen a lot of use recently, and this would have made for a REALLY long day, so we figured we would save it for another trip. 18 miles in one winter day is enough!
We retraced our steps and ended the trek at the Loj at about 4:30. On the way down, we met a young ranger, who was skiing with no hat or gloves on! We were bundled up a lot more than he was, and just barely staying warm!
Now that I have finally reached this summit I will state that I did not really ever reach it before, having been told by another 46R (on a foggy day) when I went the first time that the false summit was indeed the top. Eventually, I realized that this was not correct, and I figured I would get to Cliff someday, during my winter round. Maybe this was the 'mountain gods' way of punishing me, making me go 2x in winter before I finally got to the true summit!
So now, FWIW, I am finally and truly a 46'R and a 115'R ...
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c1.jpg - Looking at Colden from Cliff
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c2.jpg - Close up of Colden
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c3.jpg - A robin in a mountain ash bush!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c4.jpg - Algonquin and Iroquois
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c5.jpg - Close up of Shepherd's tooth
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c6.jpg - Colden from Rt. 73
Laurie and I missed getting to the true summit of Cliff last weekend, so we tried again yesterday, 1/29/07. We started from the Loj this time. We had heard that hikers 'P' and 'R' had done Cliff/Redfield from the Loj recently, and that some of Laurie's friends might be doing it this weekend as well.
Anyway, we got up early and started out just after 6:00 AM, the first people to sign the log book! It was very cold, below 0, and a very light snow was falling. The clouds more or less cleared up as we hiked, and we had a pretty sunny day, with very light winds. By 10:00, we had reached the Uphill leanto. We went over Avalanche Lake, and Lake Colden, and made pretty good time. We took a break here, and I cached a few items to lighten my pack. Laurie chose to build character!
Interestingly, even though this route is longer, we got to the leanto 1/2 hour faster than from Upper Works, staying on the trails. The next time we go, I think we will try to cross over Flowed lands. This should be the shortest and fastest route. The herd path was easier than last time, but not a whole lot easier. At the false summit area, we could see the tracks that had been made a few days earlier, and we could even see our old tracks from a week ago, so not much snow had fallen. We could not always tell whose tracks were whose, so we ended up repeating many of our previous mistakes and wasting a fair amount of time. Eventually, I found a path that continued farther than any of our previous attempts, and it turned out to be the path to the true summit! Thank GOD! In no time, we were over on the true summit, which by eyeball indeed looks to be higher than the false summit. By this time it was about 12:00. The views from the top were worth every step to get here!
We got back to the leanto around 1:00 and took another break. The herd path to Redfield did not look like it had seen a lot of use recently, and this would have made for a REALLY long day, so we figured we would save it for another trip. 18 miles in one winter day is enough!
We retraced our steps and ended the trek at the Loj at about 4:30. On the way down, we met a young ranger, who was skiing with no hat or gloves on! We were bundled up a lot more than he was, and just barely staying warm!
Now that I have finally reached this summit I will state that I did not really ever reach it before, having been told by another 46R (on a foggy day) when I went the first time that the false summit was indeed the top. Eventually, I realized that this was not correct, and I figured I would get to Cliff someday, during my winter round. Maybe this was the 'mountain gods' way of punishing me, making me go 2x in winter before I finally got to the true summit!
So now, FWIW, I am finally and truly a 46'R and a 115'R ...
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c1.jpg - Looking at Colden from Cliff
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c2.jpg - Close up of Colden
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c3.jpg - A robin in a mountain ash bush!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c4.jpg - Algonquin and Iroquois
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c5.jpg - Close up of Shepherd's tooth
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/c6.jpg - Colden from Rt. 73
