First missed peak..Balsam lake..catskills

coldfeet · Jan 29, 2005

Well, I tried, but better safe than sorry, gotta happen sooner or later and i'm sure it won't be my last.

Camped out last night with my buddy Jackcannine from Liberty. It was -2F in Livingston Manor..got to the trailhead late at 9:45..12-16in powder, unbroken trail..Well her goes the new guy again! What a pain! I figured once we got past the clearing it wouldn't be as deep, FORGET ABOUT IT! I don't understand, the easy hikes are killing me..It took us 3 hours to go 1 1/2 miles. My friend says he's slow, but I know he has a bum hip and he pushed himself for me to bag the peak..I just kept turning around saying we should quit. But we decided to hike 1/2 hour then a little more, then more. Instead of the peak, our goal was a lean to about 3/10 short of the peak. We did get to it and relaxed but it wasn't worth it to go to the peak. When we left we saw a young couple at the lean to sign, they were hitting the peak. I asked them what time they started their hike and when they told me app 12:15 I could have fainted. It took them app 1 1/2 hours to do what we did in 3 hours. Guess my trail breaking helped out a few more than i thought. The catskill 3500 club is going their tomorrow, have fun! PS temps went from somewhere around 5 to 33 during that time..

SherpaKroto · Jan 30, 2005

coldfeet: breaking trail is a killer. You needed to lift your snowshoes that 12-16 inches on each and every step. The couple you met got to walk on your consolidated snow tracks, just floating along at a nice easy pace. Despite what you think, they were thanking you with every step. They owe you one

teejay · Jan 30, 2005

Just a little further

Coldfeet,

I climbed Balsam Lake Mt. a few years ago under somewhat "better" conditions. It was Father's Day and I was with my daughters, perfect. I remember when we reached the 3500' elevaton sign, just after the lean-to turnoff, we had essentially reached the summit ridge and there was no additional climbing beyond that point. It turns out, and the topo map confirms this, that the leanto is actually above 3500', but DEC moved the sign above the lean-to, to "legalize" it.

Hey, I'll give you a second chance in a couple of weeks as I may be back for a day trip to BL Mt.

teejay

Jay H · Jan 30, 2005

Hey David, I saw your post on the catskills 3500 yahoo group. What teejay said. Sometimes, it seems harder in snowshoes than just bareboots when the trail is unbroken and there is 8+ inches of light powder. Can't predict which trails are broken in, unless you glue your eyes to the VFTT trail condition report and shag peaks that you read a report on. That's the joy of the adventure.

Balsam Lake is a great peak, nice choice! Teejay, post the hike or send me a PM when you plan on going to Balsam Lake. I've been there twice, but it's a nice short hike, maybe I'll join you. Out of the the times we've joined, I've never seen you hike.

Jay

coldfeet · Jan 31, 2005

Thx guys, I'd like to try it again one day. I did think about barefooting it but the thought disappeared quickly.

Rick · Jan 31, 2005

Coldfeet -
Keep an eye out for the AMC Yoga class up there in the fall

When I was heading up there from Graham a couple of years ago I ran into about 30 woman hiking up the mountain in a big group - I got to the summit and climbed up the firetower for some views.

The women all arrived and formed a huge circle and laid down on pads and started doing Yoga. I watched curiously on for a while, thinking is this some new age fad. Then the instructor in the center invited me to join and everybody looked up and said "yeah come on down!!!" (I was thinking me Me????? Yoga????? Maybe YoGurt!!!!!!) but I declined.
I spoke to some of them later and this is an annual AMC outing - It was pretty cool to see them do it on Balsam Lake Summit.
PS We met Friday at the gathering - Congratulations on your winter summit!