DSettahr
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Spent 2 nights in the Blue Ridge Wilderness this past weekend- one night at the lean-to on Wilson Pond, and one night at the lean-to on Cascade Pond. Had the whole area to myself- didn't see a single other person the entire time!
Trails were a bit wet in spots, and with a blowdown here or there, but otherwise in good shape. It's obvious that the Wilson Pond trail, as well as the trail from Rock Pond to Cascade Pond, get very little use. The Wilson Pond lean-to also obviously doesn't get used much.
Since going from Wilson Pond to Cascade Pond via trail goes pretty far out of the way, I decided to bushwhack directly from Wilson Pond to Cascade Pond instead. Pretty easy going for the most part, nice open forests- as long as you stay away from the shoreline of the ponds along the way. It got quite thick around Brady and Mitchell Ponds.
I also made some interesting discoveries on the bushwhack- a well used herd path (seems to be a short cut to Wilson Pond from Grassy Pond, used by "those in the know"). I also found an old wood stove rusting in the woods. Nearer to Cascade Pond, I found a neat rock overhang- big enough that a couple people could fit under it and find protection from the elements. Judging from the old fire ring I found beneath it, it's been used for overnight shelter before... pretty neat.
Made it to Cascade Pond before noon, so after setting up camp in the lean-to there, decided to head over to Stephens Pond. I camped at the Stephens pond lean-to back in January 2007, on the last night of a 10 day snowshoe expedition from Piseco to Lake Durant, and hadn't been back since. Funny how your mind plays tricks on your memory- nothing was as I remembered it!
Stephens pond wasn't very far from Cascade Pond, and I made it there and back in little over an hour, including time spent hanging out at Stephens Pond. So I decided to check out Rock Pond via the trail to Blue Mountain Lake. This trail descends through a neat gully though along the way. Made it all the way out to the trailhead and back to the lean-to well before dark.
Sunday morning, I awoke to a dreary, foggy, wet day. Spent most of the morning hanging out in the lean-to before packing up and heading out, following the old carriage road (now marked with yellow DEC markers) back to the Grassy Pond trailhead.
Definitely a great area to spend a weekend in... I'll be back at some point to climb the two Blue Ridge peaks for the Hundred Highest...
