Tom Rankin
Well-known member
I joined Alistair at the end of Spruceton Road at 8:00 AM today for a jaunt up Westkill.
The temps were around 10F, with very light winds, and gorgeous blue sky.
We geared up and immediately put on snowshoes, and left them on all day. The snow is consolidating, but there was still 6-10" of it on average, with 0-2 feet being the range of what we encountered in drifts and anti-drifts.
The walk up to the falls was hopeful, as someone with very long legs had snowshoed that far. They even turned right and crossed the bridge, but then, they went to the lean-to. Drat! Well, I didn't expect the trail to be broken, so we started alternating trailbreaking up the mountain.
'Up' is of course not the only direction you go on this hike. There are a few small PUDs, and of course the bigger PUD near the top. I kept underestimating the time and distance that it would take us, I hope Alistair forgives me!
Around 11:15 we had made it to the look-out. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and there were some interesting clouds far off on the eastern horizon, causing 'looming' of the mountains in that direction. I snapped a few cell phone pics and made a quick video. After soaking in the views and munching, we made the quick hike to the summit and back. Alistair now has 1 W35!
We were back at the viewpoint, gawking and munching some more when a man came up the trail. He had started about an hour after us, and thanked us for our trailbreaking. No problem!
The hike back down was quick, about 1h 15m to the register. Someone had skied into the falls but we never saw them.
A nice day out in the woods, and great company!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w1a.jpg - Hunter and Tower
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w2a.jpg - Leavitt (SW Hunter)
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w3a.jpg - Looking into the clouds/looming
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w4a.jpg - Blackheads and ski runs or slides??
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w5.3g2 - Short Video
The temps were around 10F, with very light winds, and gorgeous blue sky.
We geared up and immediately put on snowshoes, and left them on all day. The snow is consolidating, but there was still 6-10" of it on average, with 0-2 feet being the range of what we encountered in drifts and anti-drifts.
The walk up to the falls was hopeful, as someone with very long legs had snowshoed that far. They even turned right and crossed the bridge, but then, they went to the lean-to. Drat! Well, I didn't expect the trail to be broken, so we started alternating trailbreaking up the mountain.
'Up' is of course not the only direction you go on this hike. There are a few small PUDs, and of course the bigger PUD near the top. I kept underestimating the time and distance that it would take us, I hope Alistair forgives me!
Around 11:15 we had made it to the look-out. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and there were some interesting clouds far off on the eastern horizon, causing 'looming' of the mountains in that direction. I snapped a few cell phone pics and made a quick video. After soaking in the views and munching, we made the quick hike to the summit and back. Alistair now has 1 W35!
We were back at the viewpoint, gawking and munching some more when a man came up the trail. He had started about an hour after us, and thanked us for our trailbreaking. No problem!
The hike back down was quick, about 1h 15m to the register. Someone had skied into the falls but we never saw them.
A nice day out in the woods, and great company!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w1a.jpg - Hunter and Tower
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w2a.jpg - Leavitt (SW Hunter)
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w3a.jpg - Looking into the clouds/looming
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w4a.jpg - Blackheads and ski runs or slides??
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/w5.3g2 - Short Video
