Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Edit: The Frown 
in the title was not intentional. We had a great time!
We were supposed to be spending the weekend up at BLM, but the strong winds and rain caused us to reconsider. So, after the worst of the storm had passed, we got up early and headed out Sunday for the day. We had a feeling there would be some blowdown and we were right! The goal of spending the day at the summit turned into over 5 hours of clearing blowdown off of the trails, on a hike that would usually take less than 2 hours! There were quite a few trees that had fallen on the trail. Some could be broken up or just dragged away, but many had to be sawn off. This was slow and tedious work. We did actually get a little help along the way from 2 guys that we met. Thanks guys!
We finally got to the summit around 12:45 PM. We weren't expecting a lot of guests, but we were surprised that 21 people showed up in the next 4 hours. They came in groups from 1, all the way up to a group of 11. There were no views, but everyone enjoyed going up in the cab anyway, and seeing a quick tour of the cabin.
It rained off and on during the day, and we never had any views at all. The winds were pretty much calm, but there were a few gusts. It never got above 55 all day at the top. The rain guage had 4.5" from the last 2 weeks!
The big negative of the day was having to clean up the lean-to. There was a lot of stuff that people had been leaving over time. They probably thought it was nice of them to leave it, but the place had become a mess. We packed out the following items:
14 water bottles, most full!
1 energy drink
1 punctured gallon jug
1 Bible!
1 machete!
1 sponge
1 brillo pad
5 cooking tongs
1 roll of toilet paper
2 paddle ball paddles
1 paddle ball
1 length of rope
1 ball of twine
1 can of bug spray
1 bug coil
1 water bladder
I realize some of this stuff is useful at a lean-to but as you can tell, the place had become a junk yard! And in the Catskills, porcupines would chew a lot of that stuff to shreds and make an even bigger mess. Bottom line, "LNT" and "Pack it in, Pack it out" were not being observed!
The walk out was a lot quicker than the walk up! In spite of the poor weather, we had a great time talking with people.
in the title was not intentional. We had a great time! We were supposed to be spending the weekend up at BLM, but the strong winds and rain caused us to reconsider. So, after the worst of the storm had passed, we got up early and headed out Sunday for the day. We had a feeling there would be some blowdown and we were right! The goal of spending the day at the summit turned into over 5 hours of clearing blowdown off of the trails, on a hike that would usually take less than 2 hours! There were quite a few trees that had fallen on the trail. Some could be broken up or just dragged away, but many had to be sawn off. This was slow and tedious work. We did actually get a little help along the way from 2 guys that we met. Thanks guys!
We finally got to the summit around 12:45 PM. We weren't expecting a lot of guests, but we were surprised that 21 people showed up in the next 4 hours. They came in groups from 1, all the way up to a group of 11. There were no views, but everyone enjoyed going up in the cab anyway, and seeing a quick tour of the cabin.
It rained off and on during the day, and we never had any views at all. The winds were pretty much calm, but there were a few gusts. It never got above 55 all day at the top. The rain guage had 4.5" from the last 2 weeks!
The big negative of the day was having to clean up the lean-to. There was a lot of stuff that people had been leaving over time. They probably thought it was nice of them to leave it, but the place had become a mess. We packed out the following items:
14 water bottles, most full!
1 energy drink
1 punctured gallon jug
1 Bible!
1 machete!
1 sponge
1 brillo pad
5 cooking tongs
1 roll of toilet paper
2 paddle ball paddles
1 paddle ball
1 length of rope
1 ball of twine
1 can of bug spray
1 bug coil
1 water bladder
I realize some of this stuff is useful at a lean-to but as you can tell, the place had become a junk yard! And in the Catskills, porcupines would chew a lot of that stuff to shreds and make an even bigger mess. Bottom line, "LNT" and "Pack it in, Pack it out" were not being observed!
The walk out was a lot quicker than the walk up! In spite of the poor weather, we had a great time talking with people.
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