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2006 TRIP REPORTS
October 6-8 | Vermont Hiking - Photos by Karin
By Joe Roth
Imagine a 4-day weekend with temperatures between 35 and 65, no bugs, fall
leaves at their peak, clear blue skies and calm conditions. Now put yourself on
the high peaks in Vermont, and you have exactly what we experienced the weekend
of October 5th. Tom Arter, Bob Ciecierega, Larry Telle and Joe Roth drove to
northern Vermont Thursday morning. We camped at the Little River State Park and
began our climbing early Friday morning. We found out that Bob was a human
alarm clock, getting everyone up about 5:30 AM. That allowed us to hit the
trail to Camels Hump shortly after sunrise. The night had been clear and fog
was lingering in the valleys as we ascended. Ice remained on the trees and some
of the rocks as we climbed the final rock mound. Views of the surrounding
mountains and valleys were about as good as it gets. On the way to Mount
Mansfield we stopped at Huntington Gorge to see how the river had created a
flume with many potholes along the sides. The largest were about 10 feet in
diameter and over 20 feet deep. We chose Hell Brook Trail for the Mansfield
climb. At the top of the ridge a sign listed the trail name with the brief
description of 'Straight Down.' We didn't want to think about that trail in the
rain. A quick climb over the Adam's Apple and up the Chin yielded views
stretching from the Whiteface to Mount Washington.
Friday night Jennifer Forney and Karin Topfer joined us at the campsite. If
you ever have to get somewhere fast, ask Jennifer to drive and Karin to
navigate. Then hold on. But they were not quite as fast in the cool morning air
on Saturday. Bob again had us moving well before sun up. We dropped one car at
the Appalachian Gap and drove to Lincoln Gap to begin the hike. The summit of
Mount Abraham provided 360 degrees of beauty. Small planes and gliders appeared
and kept us company the rest of the hike. We headed toward Mount Ellen over
some smaller bumps and passed the Sugar Bush ski areas. At the top of the Mad
River Glen ski lift there was a long line of people waiting for a ride down.
Wimps.
Sunday morning Bob . . . you get the picture. We broke camp and headed to
Rutland to climb Killington Peak. We found the Bucklin Trail to have the
perfect grade all the way until the last 300 feet of vertical. A short rock
scramble put us on top with about 100 other people who had taken the chair lift
to the top. More wimps. But they got their money's worth with perfect
conditions. After a trail lunch near the top we headed home. We caught the last
day of an ice cream sale at a shop in Rutland. Could it get any better? No one
could remember a finer set of hiking conditions for so long in the northeast.
| Sept 20-24 | Peak Bagging in the White Mountains - Photos by Karin
By Reinhard Gsellmeier
Our group of four aspiring Northeast 111er's (Art DeVries, Reinhard Gsellmeier,
Joe Roth and Karin Töpfer) arrived Wed. evening at Lafayette Campground in
Franconia Notch State Park. After a 5 AM wake-up by Reinhard (which set the
tone for the week and led to some "choice commentary" by some in our group),
we were on the trail to Owl's Head at 7 AM. After 8 miles and 3 major stream
crossings (the guys managed to rock hop with their boots on; Karin took the
safer option and waded across) we were at the base of the west face slide. It
was a beautiful day, and we were afforded a nice view across the valley to
Franconia Ridge while carefully negotiating our way up the slide. We first
reached the false summit, and then at Reinhard's insistence followed a rather
obscure herd path northward to the lesser known, but true summit (more "choice
commentary") where Karin found the "Owl's Head" sign after a search of
several minutes. On our return hike a brief detour to Franconia Falls was well
worth the effort.
Friday brought another beautiful day as we ascended
Franconia Ridge via the slick-rocked slide of the Flume Slide Trail. After
summiting Flume and Liberty, Karin and Joe elected to return to the trailhead
via Liberty Springs Trail and went to town for coffee and some exploring in the
Basin area. Art and Reinhard continued on to Lincoln and Lafayette, and along
the way they were treated to two sailplanes that put on a spectacular aerial
display as they repeatedly swooped low across the summits - with Art coaxing a
wave from one of the pilots. A campfire back at camp was a fitting conclusion
to a great day.
Sat. our good weather ran out, as we awoke to overcast skies
and drizzle that hung around all day. Nevertheless we had an enjoyable hike up
Canon and over to North and South Kinsman, and on our hike back stopped at
Lonesome Lake Hut for a brief respite from the weather. Saturday night we went
out to dinner in nearby Lincoln, and stuffed ourselves with some good ol'
fashioned barbecue (pulled pork dinners all around).
By Sun. the group had
become conditioned to the 5 AM wake-ups, and we broke camp and were on the road
by 6 AM, stopping in town for breakfast. Overall this was a great trip with a
good group, the weather cooperated for the most part, we had a lot of fun, and
bagged some peaks in our Northeast 111 quest.
| September 8-10 | Algonquin, Iroquois, and Wright
Our group arrived at the ADK Wilderness Campground on Friday afternoon
and enjoyed a cookout and campfire. Early Saturday morning the hike began.
The small group consisted of co-leaders Bruce Tehan and Bob Krenzer, and
newly aspiring Forty Sixer Diana Weber. Diana proved to be an exceptionally
strong and adroit hiker. Bob, a very resourceful outdoorsman, came well
prepared. Bob carried an excellent collection of provisions for the hike.
Judging by the weight of his pack, Bob also possesses super-human strength.
Bruce found the ascent, descent, and spelling of Algonquin at the trail
register, extremely challenging.
During the ascent we enjoyed a beautiful
forest trail, a charming cascade, and sound advice from a helpful summit
steward. At the top of Algonquin we enjoyed looking at mountains as far as
the eye could see. Unfortunately the summit was encased in clouds and the
only mountain an eye could see was the one directly under our feet.
Inspired by such a magnificent view, the intrepid and slightly loopy group
pressed on to Iroquois. Upon 'bagging' Iroquois, we returned to the
Algonquin summit.
As we rested on Algonquin, it began to rain. 'The rain
clouds seemed to say,' as Diana pointed out, 'Alright I gave you Iroquois.
Now get off the mountain!' We promptly took the rain cloud's advice.
Thunder rolled in just as we descended below the tree line. We returned to
camp, deciding to save Wright peak for another day. After cleaning up, our
group enjoyed a good meal in the village of Lake Placid.
Upon returning to
the ADK campground, we attended a concert at the High Peaks Information
Center sponsored by ADK as part of a summer lecture series. A raucous crowd
of hikers, campers, and Lake Placid residents enjoyed a terrific,
rollicking, Celtic band called Inisheer. Bob, a history buff, especially
enjoyed the historical flavor of the music. Diana joined the spirited fans
for a dance around the Information Center. Bruce writhed around in pain due
to leg cramps.
Our rainy but fun trip ended Sunday with glorious weather as
we spent a leisurely morning at the Wilderness Campground and the village of
Lake Placid before heading home.
Trip leaders - Bruce Tehan and Bob Krenzer | August 11-13 | Annual Women's Trip: Indian Head and Fish Hawk Cliffs
By Donna McLendon
Seven hikers, Judy Immesoete, Judy York, Jen Forney, Vicky Southall, Lucy Piper, Lois Dannenberg, June Fisher and Donna McLendon, carpooled to Keene Valley on Friday afternoon. After settling in at The Hostel we shared a delicious potluck dinner.
Saturday was a beautiful day for the hike from the Ausable Club along the lovely wooded West River Trail. We paused to enjoy the falls and cascades at Wedge Brook and later at Beaver Meadow Falls. The trail then changes habitats, wandering between cliffs and the Beaver Meadow wetlands. A detour to the 150 foot high Rainbow Falls preceded lunch at Lower Ausable Lake Dam. After lunch we climbed Indian Head. The broad tiered rocks provided a wonderful place to relax and lounge in the sun. The view at Indian Head is terrific! Cradled between the sharply rising, forested sides of two mountains, Colvin and Sawteeth, is the long narrow Ausable Lake. The scene has been compared to a Norwegian fiord. There are also good views of the Great Range to the west and Nippletop to the east. We descended on the east side and hiked back by the scenic Gill Brook Trail. That night, tired but relaxed hikers enjoyed dinner at the Ausable Inn.
After breakfast Sunday we collectively decided to change trip plans and wandered through a few shops before heading home early. In all it was a great weekend: excellent company, good food, great fun and a beautiful hike. A special thanks goes to Lois for providing so much information about the flora and fauna encountered.
Trip leaders - Judy and Donna
| August 4-6 | West Canada Lakes Wilderness Weekend
Luke set up a great camp for us on the annual Sucker Brook maintenance trip.
We tackled some minor blowdown on Saturday and climbed nearby Snowy on Sunday.
Trip leader - Luke Ambrose | July 16 | Zoar Valley – Trails embraces the water
We had a great time last Sunday in the Zoar Valley braving the high creek and cooling off in the water.
Trip leader - Tricia Cook. | July 2-5 | Franconia to Crawford Notch Backpack
by Karin Töpfer
Before the hike 8 of us met at the Highland Center at Crawford Notch,
and we were greeted with some torrential downpours in true Mt. Washington
style. This made some of us scramble for more raingear, until we discovered
a room in the basement that had tons of gear for free rental. All of these
precautions turned the rain off for the rest of the trip.
On Sunday morning
we took the shuttle bus to Franconia Notch and hiked up to Greenleaf hut on
the Old Bridle Path. The Franconia Ridge was in the clouds when we arrived,
but it periodically cleared up. So we just relaxed, watched the lake and the
passing clouds, and later on the sunset. Some of us learned about the green
features of the AMC huts including wind generators, solar panels, composting
toilets and efficient appliances.
Next morning we woke up to a spectacle of
beautiful sunshine mixed with some low clouds straddling the ridge, which
made for dramatic pictures. After breakfast we climbed Mt. Lafayette, the
highest peak in this part of the Whites, and continued across the rocky,
open ridge for a detour to Mt. Lincoln. This was a good beginning for the
peak baggers among us. We then continued over Mt. Garfield to Galehead Hut.
This 6 mile stretch is aptly described in the guidebook as the most tiring
hut to hut section in the White Mountains. The views from Mt. Garfield and
the delicious dinner at the hut made up for it. The summit of Galehead Mt.
was only 25 minutes away, and the peak bagging crew tackled it after dinner.
Next day's hike to Zealand hut was somewhat easier and most of us arrived at
the hut in good time to claim the bottom bunks, the trophy of hut-to-hut
hiking. The hike on the Appalachian Trail took us over South Twin, Mt.
Guyot, Mt. Zealand and to the edge of Zeacliff for a good overview of the
very pretty Zealand Notch. Zealand hut is a gem with a waterfall directly
next to it. We all found various ways to cool off and scrape off the dirt
and sweat from the prior 2 days.
Next morning we enjoyed one more creative
and didactic (think Brecht) piece of theatre by the hut 'croo', but by then
we had of course learned how to fold our blankets, to pack out our trash and
to leave a tip. Apart from that ask Eric about the peaches over a Yukon
Jack. A very mossy, and wet Adirondack style trail took us back to the
Highland Center, where we arrived just in time to meet a departing train.
Along the way, some scrub jays fed out of our hands. During this very
successful trip, Larry and Joe managed to climb 12 of 48 New Hampshire peaks
above 4000 ft. We drove back to Vermont where we celebrated this
accomplishment with the perfect pint of Guiness. This was a first for Lucy.
Thanks to Bill, Shae, Lucy, Larry, Joe, Ron and Eric for sharing the fun.
For pictures check out
http://www.kodakgallery.com/
Trip leader - Karin Töpfer.
| June 3 | What We Did for National Trails Day 2006 [Slide show]
Dan built a beautiful kiosk for the Rifle Range Trail. It will hold a big
laminated map of the trail printed by Ken. We placed it and put it firmly (and
level) into the ground. Many thanks to Dan, Dick, Ken, Jack, Danny, Jeff,
Bruce, Barb, Lydia and Karin for doing a great job.
Additional projects
included side cutting and leveling out the "pit" of the former pistol range.
We celebrated with bagels and goodies from EMS.
Despite the rain quite a
few people came out to enjoy the hike on the Rifle Range Trail led by Ron and
Margaret.
Coordinators - Karin Töpfer and Dan Young
| May 5-7 | Sucker Brook Trail Trip
By Luke Ambrose
This was the second annual spring inspection patrol of our adopted Sucker
Brook Trail in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness Area. Trip participants
included Dave Harrison, Dan Young, and myself.
We arrived at the trailhead
just after lunch on Friday and began the 7 mile hike to the Cedar River
lean-to. The weather was ideal as we removed blow down and performed
side-cutting along the trail. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of
black flies and the presence of several species of spring wildflowers. There
were numerous signs of moose activity on the trail in the form of droppings and
tree rubs, but no moose to be seen. While attempting to cross the Colvin
Brook, we encountered an unexpected obstacle; a beaver dam had flooded the
stream crossing. By bushwhacking upstream, the group was able to make a safe
crossing. Upon reaching the lean-to, we eat dinner and enjoyed a nice campfire
before retiring for the night.
On Saturday, we continued with trail
maintenance on the far end of the trail up to the junction of the Northville
Placid Trail. The weather, however, was not as nice as the previous day, and
we were soaked by intermittent showers. The rain made a dry lean-to and
another campfire very inviting at the end of a long days work.
The pleasant
weather returned on Sunday for the hike back out along the newly cleared trail.
Finally, we stopped for a nice lunch in Oxbow Lake to celebrate a job well done
before the ride home.
| April 15
Saturday | Urban Hike - Rochester High Falls
Says Nancy . . .
What a wonderful day this was! It was exciting to be in the city. As thorough
as Carol was in putting this hike together, one just HAS to go back and linger
at the stops Carol chose.
This was a marvelous change of venue for a hike and
it just goes to show anyone that the creative people in this club are just
hoping that you will come along and join the FUN! Thank you Carol for a
wonderful day!
------------------------------------------------
For a change of pace, we'll "hike" for a
couple hours around downtown. This hike is guaranteed to be mud-free!
Starting at the Washington Square garage, we'll zig-zag to High Falls
and back, taking in architectural and artistic sights new & old, along
with multiple views of the Genesee River. Gather at the Washington
Square parking garage (across from GEVA) at 9:45.
Trip leader - Carol | Mar 3-5 | Cascade and Porter
By Donna McLendon
On Friday afternoon 9 winter hikers, Les Knox, Jim Dykes, Larry Telle, Deni
Charpentier, Tom Dinse, June Fisher, Bob Krenzer, Judy Immesoete and I,
carpooled up to The Hostel in Keene Valley for an 'unobsessed' climb of Cascade
and Porter. After a leisurely start in the morning, we arrived at the trailhead
before 8:30 AM. The decision was to start out with snowshoes. As always, hiking
through a snowy, forested, winter wonderland was magical. The col between
Cascade and Porter had deeper snow and a special thanks goes to Les, Jim and
Larry for breaking trail. As we neared the top the wind picked up strongly.
Since the sky was overcast, we quickly headed for Cascade. The top of Cascade
was also gray and VERY cold and VERY windy, so no one stayed there VERY long.
We returned to The Hostel to share a wonderful potluck dinner. Sunday morning
Les, Larry and Jim left early for a day of clear skies and beautiful views
hiking up Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge (I saw the pictures). The rest of us had
breakfast at The Noonmark Dinner and headed home early.
Special congrats goes to June and Bob for 1st winter peaks!
Judy and I thank everyone for a great weekend!
| Feb 4-5 | Central NY Snowshoe Weekend
By Margaret & Ken Reek
We enjoyed another non-snowshoeing snowshoe weekend in the Syracuse area
Superbowl weekend. While we didn't find any snow, we lucked out with the
weather and managed to miss the rain expected on Saturday (well almost -- about
100 yards from the car it started to sprinkle), and had some sun instead of the
predicted snow/sleet/drizzle on Sunday's hike.
Saturday we hiked in Green Lakes State Park, which features two incredibly
clear and deep glacial lakes and hundreds of acres of old growth forest. The
park is reminiscent of Mendon Ponds, but with camping, a golf course, and
trails for mountain bikes. That evening our group shared hors d'oeuvres in one
of our hotel rooms, then headed across the street to a wonderful Italian
restaurant for dinner.
Sunday we headed out to Howland Island Wildlife Management area near
Weedsport. When we got out of the cars we heard an unusual bird call and
looked up to see three bald eagles flying over us -- what a treat! We hiked
about five miles on wide flat trails throughout the refuge and saw lots of
Canada geese, beaver lodges and other evidence of wildlife. We also saw three
dandelions in full bloom; what a strange, strange winter this has been.
Our group consisted of Amy (a new affiliate who lives in Syracuse), Bob,
Carol, Clare, Dan, Dick, Judy, June, and leaders Ken & Margaret. All-in-all it
was an enjoyable weekend exploring different and interesting areas with new and
existing friends, even if we did leave the snowshoes in the car.
| Jan. 27-29 | ADK Winter Outing at Tug Hill
This outing takes place at the Mad River Club every year. We had great snow and
lots of sunshine. All the Waterways members had finally packed up their boats
and got the skis out. Some of us tried skijoling (skiing behind some overly
excited dogs) for the first time.
| Jan. 27-29,
2006 | Dix Mountain (Winter Backpack)
By Mary Warchocki (Trip Leader)
Participants: Andy Sansone, Art DeVries, Bruce Tehan, Bill Crowe, Paul Sheneman, Laura Williams, and Reinhard Gsellmeier
On Friday eve this determined group of 8 winter mountaineers met at the Maple
Leaf motel in Schroon Lake. The group was up and out by 6:30am Saturday
morning headed for breakfast. We encountered a minor setback at our favorite
local breakfast spot when we discovered they changed their hours of operation
and now opened at 7am. Armed with backpacks, snowshoes and crampons, we made
it to the Route 73 trailhead shortly after 8am. A light base, with some fresh
powder and occasional bare spots down low, told the story of a mild winter in
the Adirondacks. We backpacked to the Boquet River Lean-to at 4.2 miles.
There we dropped our packs and set up camp.
After setting up the tents and
making sleeping arrangements (Bruce and Art decided they would brave the
critters in the lean-to -- but more on that later in the story), we grabbed our
daypacks and headed for the summit of Dix. After crossing the river and
numerous small creeks, we came to the base of the Dix slide. After examining
the slabs of rock covered in ice, several of us commented on how perfectly
content we were to be hiking on the trail instead. Dix, as many of you know, is
the 6th highest peak in New York. It was at this point that the trail that the
guidebook describes the "unrelenting climb" (gaining 1600 feet in just a little
over a mile) And they mean it! The conditions at this point varied with some
soft powder over a hard icy base to hard pack snow with an icy crust. The
weather, however, could not have been more perfect. Mild temps (low to mid
30's), moderate winds and clear skies kept our spirits high and the views
spectacular! From the summit we had incredible views including Giant, Nipple
Top, Dial, Bear Den and the Great Range in the distance.
Back at the camp, we
enjoyed a clear night with star filled skies and 30 degree temps on a late
January night! Bill read "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service. The
conditions hardly seemed to reflect the "Yukon" depicted in the poem, however.
While Bruce and Art enjoyed a quiet, critter-free night in the lean-to, those
of us at the tents (up the hill) watched a tenacious mouse as he made several
attempts to break into our food bag, and listened as a pine marten circled our
tents in the middle of the night hoping to gain access to our food as well!
Now mind you this was after I had given my warning to Bruce and Art that they
might have trouble sleeping, as the lean-to tends to attract rodents! Sunday
morning we got up at 6:30am, packed up and leisurely hiked out missing the
rain. | Jan 20-22 | Adirondack Quest Weekend
By Margaret & Ken Reek
A group of hopeful hikers left Rochester Friday morning looking for clear
skies, deep snow and great companionship in the Indian Lake area.
When we arrived we found that we had all neglected to bring our ice skates
despite our incredible piles of gear. Every parking lot we encountered was a
veritable skating rink but it seemed the Zamboni machines were on strike, as
the ice wasn't smooth. Thankfully we did have 33 pairs of ice walking equipment
of various degrees of seriousness among the 13 of us at the motel to aid us in
our treacherous walks between cars and buildings. Please realize that the 33
pairs did NOT include any of the snowshoes we had (can you say "hopeless gear
heads"?)
The festivities started with a delicious potluck dinner in the condo unit
of our motel, proving once again that ADKers sure can cook, and we are all
afraid we're not going to bring enough. Saturday we hiked to Cascade Pond in
the Blue Ridge Wilderness and came out on the Northville Placid Trail.
The original plan was to also go to Stephens Pond, but the walking
conditions were tiring, and the weather was uncertain with the bouts of rain
threatening to become something more serious and high wind advisories in the
forecast. We enjoyed a cozy evening at the motel trying to eat our way through
the mountain of leftovers (and not succeeding) and playing games. The next day
was a glorious winter day in the Adirondacks -- a dusting of fresh snow, a
clear sunny sky and crisp temperatures. We hiked around Sagamore Lake, which
was a very pleasant hike, with glimpses of the old Great Camp on the shores of
the lake. We finished the trip with coffee in Inlet and a little shopping
(more gear!!) on the way home. Except for the deep snow we got what we had
hoped for.
Thank you to Art, Clare, Carol, Dan, Dick, Gary, Janice, Joanne and Mary
Lou for making this weekend so much fun.
| Jan 6-8 | Lower Wolfjaw
By Jim McLaughlin
The group of experienced winter campers and ice climbers headed up in two
cars on Friday. Four of us headed back in to set up camp while two others met
us at camp around midnight. The next morning was clear and cold. We climbed
Benny Brook Slide with no problems. The snow was perfect and the ice cover was
even better. We had a lot of fun as we took our time to the top to enjoy the
exposure. We headed back down after spending some time on the summit of Lower
Wolfjaw. It was still very cold but with no wind and bright sun it was perfect
spot to break. When we returned we were pleasantly surprised when the caretaker
at John's Brook invited us into the warming hot for hot chocolate. On Sunday we
hiked out and myself and one other person stayed an extra day for ice climbing.
Everybody did very well, and congratulations to Tom Kaltenbach, who climbed his
first slide. Thanks to Mike Uchal, Amanda McLaughlin, Mike Traxler, Tom
Kaltenbach and Dale Platteter for a great trip.
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