bryan
New member
date: 3/10/13
trails: blueberry ledge trail, rollins trail, kate sleeper trail, east sleeper spur
conditions: parking in good shape. packed snowshoe track all the way on blueberry ledge trail. firm in the morning, but soft by afternoon. some sections were chewed up and postholed from the prior day. the snow was nicely loaded in on the upper ledges making for good snowshoe conditions all the way up. descending was slightly tricky with the sticky snow balling up, but otherwise the ledges are in great shape. kate sleeper trail was untravelled with heavy wet snow. sinking in 6-12 inches for the most part. some minor blowdown to the col then the fun started. there is some major blowdown leaving the col on the sleeper side which is a preamble for what is to come. the damage from sandy was incredible stretching all the way to the summit of east sleeper. the forest is laid flat in the level section leading to east sleeper with the trail pretty much totally obscured other than a few blazes here and there and some signs of maintenance. it really looks like a tornado rolled through. the semi consolidated snow allowed me to carefully walk over much of this, but as conditions change that may be asking for trouble. route finding was tricky, but i managed to stay near the corridor, but lost it entirely at the end of a big open stretch so just headed up the peak to the east of the corridor through decent woods cutting back over to it on the final ascent of the peak. once climbing there were sections of good corridor followed by blowdown that would have to be gotten around. this continued to the summit spur which i came at from the west as the trail was obliterated in the last stretch before. path of least resistance to the summit. some friends came through enroute to tripyramid as i was heading back so the trail should be busted out all the way through now.
equipment: once on the trail i wore snowshoes the whole hike. as always i had crampons for the ledges just in case.
comments: another beautiful and warm day. awesome views from the ledges. i had of course heard about the sandy damage on the kate sleeper trail, but words really do it no justice. it just goes on and on. each time i thought i had gotten through it i would come to another large section of downed trees. the canopy is just completely gone. it is going to take a lot of work to get this cleaned up. i imagine the snowpack provided an advantage as i could tip toe over much of what would otherwise be a jungle gym. some interesting views back to whiteface that had not been there before.....great to be out and to see some familiar faces out there today.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: blueberry ledge trail, rollins trail, kate sleeper trail, east sleeper spur
conditions: parking in good shape. packed snowshoe track all the way on blueberry ledge trail. firm in the morning, but soft by afternoon. some sections were chewed up and postholed from the prior day. the snow was nicely loaded in on the upper ledges making for good snowshoe conditions all the way up. descending was slightly tricky with the sticky snow balling up, but otherwise the ledges are in great shape. kate sleeper trail was untravelled with heavy wet snow. sinking in 6-12 inches for the most part. some minor blowdown to the col then the fun started. there is some major blowdown leaving the col on the sleeper side which is a preamble for what is to come. the damage from sandy was incredible stretching all the way to the summit of east sleeper. the forest is laid flat in the level section leading to east sleeper with the trail pretty much totally obscured other than a few blazes here and there and some signs of maintenance. it really looks like a tornado rolled through. the semi consolidated snow allowed me to carefully walk over much of this, but as conditions change that may be asking for trouble. route finding was tricky, but i managed to stay near the corridor, but lost it entirely at the end of a big open stretch so just headed up the peak to the east of the corridor through decent woods cutting back over to it on the final ascent of the peak. once climbing there were sections of good corridor followed by blowdown that would have to be gotten around. this continued to the summit spur which i came at from the west as the trail was obliterated in the last stretch before. path of least resistance to the summit. some friends came through enroute to tripyramid as i was heading back so the trail should be busted out all the way through now.
equipment: once on the trail i wore snowshoes the whole hike. as always i had crampons for the ledges just in case.
comments: another beautiful and warm day. awesome views from the ledges. i had of course heard about the sandy damage on the kate sleeper trail, but words really do it no justice. it just goes on and on. each time i thought i had gotten through it i would come to another large section of downed trees. the canopy is just completely gone. it is going to take a lot of work to get this cleaned up. i imagine the snowpack provided an advantage as i could tip toe over much of what would otherwise be a jungle gym. some interesting views back to whiteface that had not been there before.....great to be out and to see some familiar faces out there today.
bryan
[email protected]
