Rusk 8-15-07

[Peakbagr]

This trip came about rather quickly. I was getting ready for a quick trip up Windham with Bookah and get an early morning message from Dick and Jo that their trip up north fell thru due to weather. A quick phone call and we were rolling down the Spruceton Road in a couple of hours. We took the carriage road trail up Hunter to the hairpin turn and then jumped into the woods for the 'whack. Pretty open woods for a while as we ducked the pricker bushes. As we neared 2,800', the Spring storm damage manifested itself. By itself, no big deal, but growing everywhere were waist high nettles and blackberry bushes entangled with the blowdown. Further complicating things were the wide areas of ferns we sought as a respite from the 'biting' bushes. In some places the green jungle was shoulder high, and it all hid the rocks, ledges, holes, and fallen trees, tremenously complicating what should have been a really easy whack.
I was up the same route 22 months ago, but the storm damage really caused a problem. We hit the canister, took some pictures, and had lunch. I had a preplanned remedy for the pickers, though. Head off a different side of the peak and pick up a woods road at 3,000'. After a very steep descent with our footing hidden by the greenery, we headed right for where I remembered it. Althought the upper reaches of the woods road were completely covered by ferns, it was an elevator ride back down the mountain with its lower half as pretty as a woods road can be.
Planned to be a short and sweet trip, the blowdown and prickers complicated our progress somewhat, but nice to sneak out for an unexpected 'whack mid week.

Bookah 60/100
Peakbagr 124/420

 

[bubba]

...but growing everywhere were waist high nettles and blackberry bushes entangled with the blowdown.

Ahhhh, so now I know what's worse than tramping through nettles!! Yuk!!

Well, if the berries were anything like those up on my property at the lake, you had a fine dining experience.

 

[rhihn]

Ahhhh, so now I know what's worse than tramping through nettles!! Yuk!!

Well, if the berries were anything like those up on my property at the lake, you had a fine dining experience.

Not a lot of them, but there was one place where we could sample them. And not far down the mountain was fresh bear scat, so we weren't the only one's sampling... As I mentioned on adkhighpeaks, the last 600 feet or so were slow going indeed. Those rocks, which I call "Carole King" rocks (the earth moved under our feet!) are everywhere in the Catskills, and even the large, seemingly stable ones just slipped away. Also, some sort of vines are growing up there, wrapping themselves around small trees and around the nettles. These vines acted just like trip wires. You haven't lived until your feet are ensnared by one of these puppies, which you can't see because you can't see your feet, and you fall into a patch of nettles and blackberry bushes!

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Nice TR guys. The Catskill grid is getting tougher to accomplish. These bushwacks are more and more painful since this years storm. Just have to rough it I guess.

 

[Edelweiss]

The pics of prickers, nettles and blowdown don't do the terrain justice but you'll get the idea. Even Bookah was slowed down by the stuff - not her usual bounding, exuberant self. However, she certainly seemed to enjoy the few water seeps and the stream near the end of the hike.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesh...de=fromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1