PA Ridgerunner
Active member
Fran and I set off under a mostly cloudy sky, for our first hike out of the Upper Works. Quite a few cars in the lot, yet even with our late start of 6:40 we were the first folks on the trail that day. Very excited to finally see the Opalescent and to cross those cool bridges along the way!
As advertised, the Calamity Brook trail was a wee bit muddy...and this after 3-4 days of no rain. Pretty manageable on the way in, but sorely tested my good humor on the way out! Mostly this was a very enjoyable walk with nice scenery along the way. Can somebody I.D. these pretty blue flowers?
Almost walked by the Henderson monument without seeing it. Notice the coins people have left. Is there a story behind this?
Arrived at the Flowed Lands and hung around for a while to soak in the views.
The section of trail between the Calamity Lean-to and Herbert Brook was very pretty, and the trail was in pretty decent shape. In no time we were at the cairn marking the herd path. The new lean-to was the perfect spot to take a break and have a snack before ascending the mountain. Lovely views of, and from, the lean-to.
The clouds were thinning as we started up the herd path. Almost immediately I spotted a Pine Marten scurrying up a tree. He stopped about 6 feet up and just looked at me, then ran down, up another tree and again just looked at me. Unfortunately by the time Fran caught up with the camera he was long gone!
As we had read, this path along Herbert Brook is stunningly beautiful. It was such a nice walk, with so much "eye candy" that we hardly felt like we were climbing.
We were so taken with the beauty of this brook that we hardly noticed the calf-sucking mud pits about half way up the mountain.
(Tried to stay on the slabs to avoid them on the way down, but it was too slippery.)
As we continued the ascent dark gray clouds started to roll over the range and we were a bit concerned that we might get soaked by what passes for mostly sunny in the dacks. Not to worry, though. As we made the final push up to the summit, the dark clouds mostly disappeared and we enjoyed some wonderful views from the path and from the ledge 20 yards beyond the summit.
Chatted with a few folks on the summit, had our pb&j sammiches, and headed back down. Again, just a delightful walk on, for me at least, the most beautiful section of woods I've yet seen. Ran into a young man from California who was ascending the brook solo...it was his first visit to the Adirondacks and he was absolutely smitten!
As we came off the herd path things were much busier on the trail. A group of scouts had arrived at the new lean-to and were busy setting up camp and filtering water in the brook. We met a large group from Charlottsville, VA who were occupying lean-to and tent sites near Flowed Lands. Spoke with one of the adult leaders of this group who expressed his utmost respect for these mountains. Said he had hike at 18,000 feet in South America, but it wasn't nearly as tough as these mountains. ROCKS!!
The last 4+ miles out was a death march for me, which took me by surprise. I guess I underestimated this hike. Thought that it would be easier than Seymour -- same mileage, but not such a wicked climb. Wrong! The rocky, muddy Calamity Brook trail really wore me out and my feet were killing me. Yet in spite of my whining, Fran kept her excellent spirits throughout!
All in all a fantastic day in the woods!!! And did I mention?? NO BUGS. notta, zilch, zippo!!!
Note: Webshots is being totally uncooperative. That's why I embedded these photos and haven't provided a link to the album. Looking into a different online service for future use.
As advertised, the Calamity Brook trail was a wee bit muddy...and this after 3-4 days of no rain. Pretty manageable on the way in, but sorely tested my good humor on the way out! Mostly this was a very enjoyable walk with nice scenery along the way. Can somebody I.D. these pretty blue flowers?
Almost walked by the Henderson monument without seeing it. Notice the coins people have left. Is there a story behind this?
Arrived at the Flowed Lands and hung around for a while to soak in the views.
The section of trail between the Calamity Lean-to and Herbert Brook was very pretty, and the trail was in pretty decent shape. In no time we were at the cairn marking the herd path. The new lean-to was the perfect spot to take a break and have a snack before ascending the mountain. Lovely views of, and from, the lean-to.
The clouds were thinning as we started up the herd path. Almost immediately I spotted a Pine Marten scurrying up a tree. He stopped about 6 feet up and just looked at me, then ran down, up another tree and again just looked at me. Unfortunately by the time Fran caught up with the camera he was long gone!
As we had read, this path along Herbert Brook is stunningly beautiful. It was such a nice walk, with so much "eye candy" that we hardly felt like we were climbing.
We were so taken with the beauty of this brook that we hardly noticed the calf-sucking mud pits about half way up the mountain.
(Tried to stay on the slabs to avoid them on the way down, but it was too slippery.)As we continued the ascent dark gray clouds started to roll over the range and we were a bit concerned that we might get soaked by what passes for mostly sunny in the dacks.
Not to worry, though. As we made the final push up to the summit, the dark clouds mostly disappeared and we enjoyed some wonderful views from the path and from the ledge 20 yards beyond the summit.
Chatted with a few folks on the summit, had our pb&j sammiches, and headed back down. Again, just a delightful walk on, for me at least, the most beautiful section of woods I've yet seen. Ran into a young man from California who was ascending the brook solo...it was his first visit to the Adirondacks and he was absolutely smitten!
As we came off the herd path things were much busier on the trail. A group of scouts had arrived at the new lean-to and were busy setting up camp and filtering water in the brook. We met a large group from Charlottsville, VA who were occupying lean-to and tent sites near Flowed Lands. Spoke with one of the adult leaders of this group who expressed his utmost respect for these mountains. Said he had hike at 18,000 feet in South America, but it wasn't nearly as tough as these mountains. ROCKS!!
The last 4+ miles out was a death march for me, which took me by surprise. I guess I underestimated this hike. Thought that it would be easier than Seymour -- same mileage, but not such a wicked climb. Wrong! The rocky, muddy Calamity Brook trail really wore me out and my feet were killing me. Yet in spite of my whining, Fran kept her excellent spirits throughout!
All in all a fantastic day in the woods!!! And did I mention?? NO BUGS. notta, zilch, zippo!!!
Note: Webshots is being totally uncooperative. That's why I embedded these photos and haven't provided a link to the album. Looking into a different online service for future use.
