Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Wow! What a great day, what great views, and what a great mountain Yard is!
Yard truly belongs on the 46R list, and the ADK HH list, but more on that later!
Lauire and I woke up at 4:30 and were on our way by 4:55. The stars were still shining brightly and I stopped to admire the Milky Way for a few moments before we left. We hit the Garden by 8:00 and got ready to hike. It was crystal clear and about 15 degrees. The wind was dead calm and remained that way all day. There were only 2 cars in the Garden parking lot, an all time low for either of us! (You can do Yard with less mileage from the South Meadows or over Big Slide, but we chose this path to avoid extra driving and extra elevation gain).
Soon, we were on the trail. There was some ice, flowing water and mud, but most of the mud was frozen. Once in a while we would break thru, but that's what water proof boots and gaiters are for!
The walk out to JBL was the same old path we had done many times before, but I never get tired of it. There was hoarfrost almost every step of the way, some 6" high! There were chipmunks and squirrels, woodpeckers and junkos, and we even saw a few deer prints. The ice formations in the streams were fascinating. The Great Range starts to show itself thru the naked trees, and you get a sense of anticipation. And how many people know that there is a survey marker right in the middle of the trail, about half way to JBL?
We made the 3.5 mile walk out to the Lodge in about 1:35. The first stream crossing was low enough that we rocked hopped and didn't need the high water bridge. By this time, we had layered off at least once each. The porch at the Lodge was delightful, with the morning sun shining down on us. We stopped and had a snack, and double checked the maps posted on the walls.
Then we walked behind the lodge and continued on the Klondike Notch trail. This was a new trail to both of us. It is not used a whole lot, and it is fairly soft underfoot. There are a few blowdowns to skirt, but it was no big deal. The trail rises like the typical Catskill mountain: Up for a while and then almost level; repeat, ad infinitum...
After about a half hour we were at the junction to go up Yard. This was the best part of the trip. We could see more and more of the Great Range as we walked. The guide book said there was a view of Marcy, but didn't say much more about views. It took a while for Marcy to come into view. First we had Gothics and Saddleback and Basin, then Haystack then eventually a little peak at Marcy over Howard. But we weren't done yet. We saw Colden, Algonquin, Wright and Iroquois, and eventually even more around to the West, vanishing off in the distance. Most of these views were thru gaps in the trees and so it wasn't perfect ... yet!
Along the way, we came to several huge cliff sections, and the trail went right under the feet of each one. Most of the cliffs were covered with icicles, and one was at least 10-12 feet long already! The trail had a little ice on it here, and we each slipped a couple of times, but it was not really time for crampons yet. There are a few places where you have to scramble up thru narrow openings in the rocks, and use your hands, but it was not terribly difficult or icy in these spots.
By now, the sun was beating down on us and I was down to shorts and one shirt, with no gloves or hat. The woods alternated between being clear, and having a little frost, or at times a dusting of snow on the trees and the ground, depending on where the sun could get thru the conifers. As we neared the summit, there was 1-2" of snow on the ground. Just before the summit, there is a very short herd path out to a view point. From here we could see the entire great range spread out before us in all its glory. That is, if you are tall enough! There were a few sticks poking into our view, but that was ok, I managed to hold the camera up high enough to get some good shots.
There is a clearing near the summit. At first we thought this was it, but we decided to keep going. Dropping a few feet, we came to a sign marking the trail to Big Slide. There was also a herd path here, which we followed to a small bump that is the true summit. We returned to the clearing and had lunch. It was sunny, calm and almost downright warm! The sky was clear and we could see a dead tree framed in front of it, a beautiful sight. Just before we left, we noticed another concealed herd path going right out of the clearing. This goes about 30 feet to another view point. But this one has a large rock you can climb up on and get an even better view! We could see all the way from Giant over around to Wright and even beyond. We were losing our perfectly blue sky, but I took some more pictures and a quick video.
For the walk down, I strapped on stabilicers. I probably could have done the trail without them (Laurie did), but this gave me a little extra grip and confidence. I took them off when we got back to the Klondike Notch trail. We met no one on the trail the entire day. We stopped over at the closed bridge and took a few pictures. Neither of us had ever seen the bridge before, let alone crossed it. It seems that the prohibition to stay off it has only made it more prominent! It has metal supports, metal beams running the length of the bridge, and metal guide wires. We wondered if it really was that weak, aside from the erosion around the base.
Back at the Garden, there was a guy answering the call of nature, and an old man with a ski pole, who was beginning a trek up to the Brothers. We assumed he was a local (he didn't have a car) who does this all the time and didn't bother to ask him if he knew what he was doing starting a hike at 3:30 in late fall!
As luck would have it, there were 2 cold beers in the trunk, and thankfully they had not frozen!
We drove back and passed thru the Ausable Club and got some great views of Noonmark and Giant as the sun was setting. As we drove down the Northway the sunset turned the clouds an amazing variety of colors.
Totals: 12 miles over 7 hours and about 3000' of elevation gain.
What a great day!
Yard truly belongs on the 46R list, and the ADK HH list, but more on that later!
Lauire and I woke up at 4:30 and were on our way by 4:55. The stars were still shining brightly and I stopped to admire the Milky Way for a few moments before we left. We hit the Garden by 8:00 and got ready to hike. It was crystal clear and about 15 degrees. The wind was dead calm and remained that way all day. There were only 2 cars in the Garden parking lot, an all time low for either of us! (You can do Yard with less mileage from the South Meadows or over Big Slide, but we chose this path to avoid extra driving and extra elevation gain).
Soon, we were on the trail. There was some ice, flowing water and mud, but most of the mud was frozen. Once in a while we would break thru, but that's what water proof boots and gaiters are for!
The walk out to JBL was the same old path we had done many times before, but I never get tired of it. There was hoarfrost almost every step of the way, some 6" high! There were chipmunks and squirrels, woodpeckers and junkos, and we even saw a few deer prints. The ice formations in the streams were fascinating. The Great Range starts to show itself thru the naked trees, and you get a sense of anticipation. And how many people know that there is a survey marker right in the middle of the trail, about half way to JBL?
We made the 3.5 mile walk out to the Lodge in about 1:35. The first stream crossing was low enough that we rocked hopped and didn't need the high water bridge. By this time, we had layered off at least once each. The porch at the Lodge was delightful, with the morning sun shining down on us. We stopped and had a snack, and double checked the maps posted on the walls.
Then we walked behind the lodge and continued on the Klondike Notch trail. This was a new trail to both of us. It is not used a whole lot, and it is fairly soft underfoot. There are a few blowdowns to skirt, but it was no big deal. The trail rises like the typical Catskill mountain: Up for a while and then almost level; repeat, ad infinitum...
After about a half hour we were at the junction to go up Yard. This was the best part of the trip. We could see more and more of the Great Range as we walked. The guide book said there was a view of Marcy, but didn't say much more about views. It took a while for Marcy to come into view. First we had Gothics and Saddleback and Basin, then Haystack then eventually a little peak at Marcy over Howard. But we weren't done yet. We saw Colden, Algonquin, Wright and Iroquois, and eventually even more around to the West, vanishing off in the distance. Most of these views were thru gaps in the trees and so it wasn't perfect ... yet!
Along the way, we came to several huge cliff sections, and the trail went right under the feet of each one. Most of the cliffs were covered with icicles, and one was at least 10-12 feet long already! The trail had a little ice on it here, and we each slipped a couple of times, but it was not really time for crampons yet. There are a few places where you have to scramble up thru narrow openings in the rocks, and use your hands, but it was not terribly difficult or icy in these spots.
By now, the sun was beating down on us and I was down to shorts and one shirt, with no gloves or hat. The woods alternated between being clear, and having a little frost, or at times a dusting of snow on the trees and the ground, depending on where the sun could get thru the conifers. As we neared the summit, there was 1-2" of snow on the ground. Just before the summit, there is a very short herd path out to a view point. From here we could see the entire great range spread out before us in all its glory. That is, if you are tall enough! There were a few sticks poking into our view, but that was ok, I managed to hold the camera up high enough to get some good shots.
There is a clearing near the summit. At first we thought this was it, but we decided to keep going. Dropping a few feet, we came to a sign marking the trail to Big Slide. There was also a herd path here, which we followed to a small bump that is the true summit. We returned to the clearing and had lunch. It was sunny, calm and almost downright warm! The sky was clear and we could see a dead tree framed in front of it, a beautiful sight. Just before we left, we noticed another concealed herd path going right out of the clearing. This goes about 30 feet to another view point. But this one has a large rock you can climb up on and get an even better view! We could see all the way from Giant over around to Wright and even beyond. We were losing our perfectly blue sky, but I took some more pictures and a quick video.
For the walk down, I strapped on stabilicers. I probably could have done the trail without them (Laurie did), but this gave me a little extra grip and confidence. I took them off when we got back to the Klondike Notch trail. We met no one on the trail the entire day. We stopped over at the closed bridge and took a few pictures. Neither of us had ever seen the bridge before, let alone crossed it. It seems that the prohibition to stay off it has only made it more prominent! It has metal supports, metal beams running the length of the bridge, and metal guide wires. We wondered if it really was that weak, aside from the erosion around the base.
Back at the Garden, there was a guy answering the call of nature, and an old man with a ski pole, who was beginning a trek up to the Brothers. We assumed he was a local (he didn't have a car) who does this all the time and didn't bother to ask him if he knew what he was doing starting a hike at 3:30 in late fall!
As luck would have it, there were 2 cold beers in the trunk, and thankfully they had not frozen!
We drove back and passed thru the Ausable Club and got some great views of Noonmark and Giant as the sun was setting. As we drove down the Northway the sunset turned the clouds an amazing variety of colors.
Totals: 12 miles over 7 hours and about 3000' of elevation gain.
What a great day!
