ward
New member
Groundhog day. If you,ve seen the movie with Bill Murray you know what i mean. It was the Sewards revisited.
Met the Slamdog at the thruway thursday eve. I was running a tad late as i forgot one critical item.......My boots!
Headed up to my place in speculator for the nite. Got up at 4:30 am and by 5:30 headed for the loj to do Tabletop. The one i couldnt get in September due to the lightning storm.There were'nt many cars in the parking lot , probably due to the impending rain. I told Slammy he could wait in the car as he already had Tabletop, but he insisted on coming along.
As we were preparing to head out a couple stopped and asked "" which way to the peak?"" We both looked at each other and asked "" which one?""
Left the parking lot about 7:30 and hit marcy dam just as the rain started.
Hit the summit a little after 10 and was back in the parking lot by 12:01
Sat outside the loj for a few minutes trying to decide if we should head for uphill leanto from the loj or drive around to Upper works.
Just then a young hiker ran up and asked ( with a french accent)
if we were going to rt 87. Turns out he had run all the way from indian pass to catch a ride back to Montreal, but arrived too late.
Well that settles it we're going to upper works with a stop at the noonmark dinner and rt 87. Stuffed his gear in the car and awaaaayy we went.
As we pulled in to the dinner he said he would stay in the car as he had no money. I told him i thought Slammy and i could come up with a couple o bucks between us to buy him a cheeseburger. Now i gotta tell ya, I,ve seen the Slamdog inhale food before , but this kid downed a bacon cheeseburger and fries in record time. He says he just graduated with a masters degree in mechanical engineering , but wants to be a park ranger. He has to leave to go back to France in a week. Said he discovered the high peaks too late.
We dropped him at the north way and wished him the best of luck.
Got to upper works as the rain was spitting off and on.
About an hour in it was now raining hard . Made the decision to stay at calamity leanto for the nite. By the time we reached calamity leanto it was pouring and we were wet. Settled in as the wind changed directions and nicely started blowing rain in the front of the leanto. Cant get much worse we thought. Well it seems Slammy had set up his sleeping bag right under a hole in the roof. which by now water was pouring in on to his sleeping bag.
The next morning it was quite evident how much rain we recieved during the nite. The trails were either swamps with boot sucking mud. deep water holes or running streams. I must admit though , that the Opalescent was now running hard and the numerous falls and flumes were awesome.
Made it to uphill leanto about noon , dropped packs and headed for Redfield. What can i say , the trail was wet and muddy. After about three hours of slogging through the wet, we reached the summit to views of ..Fog
heade back down and wwere debating to try Cliff. About half way down it started pouring once again .itwas obvious Cliff would have to wait till tomorrow. Which by the way turned out to be a good choice.
In my opinion Cliff is one of the most challenging trails there is.
The blowdowns....whooweeee Where is Pete hickey and his axe when you need him.
Now i,m going to tap my compadre Slammy for his half of the update........Slammy???
Met the Slamdog at the thruway thursday eve. I was running a tad late as i forgot one critical item.......My boots!
Headed up to my place in speculator for the nite. Got up at 4:30 am and by 5:30 headed for the loj to do Tabletop. The one i couldnt get in September due to the lightning storm.There were'nt many cars in the parking lot , probably due to the impending rain. I told Slammy he could wait in the car as he already had Tabletop, but he insisted on coming along.
As we were preparing to head out a couple stopped and asked "" which way to the peak?"" We both looked at each other and asked "" which one?""
Left the parking lot about 7:30 and hit marcy dam just as the rain started.
Hit the summit a little after 10 and was back in the parking lot by 12:01
Sat outside the loj for a few minutes trying to decide if we should head for uphill leanto from the loj or drive around to Upper works.
Just then a young hiker ran up and asked ( with a french accent)
if we were going to rt 87. Turns out he had run all the way from indian pass to catch a ride back to Montreal, but arrived too late.
Well that settles it we're going to upper works with a stop at the noonmark dinner and rt 87. Stuffed his gear in the car and awaaaayy we went.
As we pulled in to the dinner he said he would stay in the car as he had no money. I told him i thought Slammy and i could come up with a couple o bucks between us to buy him a cheeseburger. Now i gotta tell ya, I,ve seen the Slamdog inhale food before , but this kid downed a bacon cheeseburger and fries in record time. He says he just graduated with a masters degree in mechanical engineering , but wants to be a park ranger. He has to leave to go back to France in a week. Said he discovered the high peaks too late.
We dropped him at the north way and wished him the best of luck.
Got to upper works as the rain was spitting off and on.
About an hour in it was now raining hard . Made the decision to stay at calamity leanto for the nite. By the time we reached calamity leanto it was pouring and we were wet. Settled in as the wind changed directions and nicely started blowing rain in the front of the leanto. Cant get much worse we thought. Well it seems Slammy had set up his sleeping bag right under a hole in the roof. which by now water was pouring in on to his sleeping bag.
The next morning it was quite evident how much rain we recieved during the nite. The trails were either swamps with boot sucking mud. deep water holes or running streams. I must admit though , that the Opalescent was now running hard and the numerous falls and flumes were awesome.
Made it to uphill leanto about noon , dropped packs and headed for Redfield. What can i say , the trail was wet and muddy. After about three hours of slogging through the wet, we reached the summit to views of ..Fog
heade back down and wwere debating to try Cliff. About half way down it started pouring once again .itwas obvious Cliff would have to wait till tomorrow. Which by the way turned out to be a good choice.
In my opinion Cliff is one of the most challenging trails there is.
The blowdowns....whooweeee Where is Pete hickey and his axe when you need him.
Now i,m going to tap my compadre Slammy for his half of the update........Slammy???
with anxious anticipation and gaiters!
