Hopkins Trail to Marcy, trail work almost done!

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BlackSpruce

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In late winter Gary and I started to worry about our dwindling summer activities and decided that it was high time to adopt a few more trails. So we contacted the ADK and officially became the stewards of Orebed, Shorey’s, The Range Trail between the bottom of the cables on Gothic to Haystack Brook and Hopkins. Of course we did not relinquish the ones we adopted in years passed as one has to keep in shape to be able to accumulate winter rounds of the 46... 2010 is an overall light year regarding blowdown so we managed our engagements without help even though the work done by Nate and Jessica, respectively caretakers at Colden and Johns Brook along the lower section of Orebed was greatly appreciated. Hopkins we knew was a much bigger job as it had not received much care the last few years. Luckily we found a few brave climbers with energy and competence to spare. We are extremely thankful as not everyone is able and willing to hike 5 miles and then for hours repeatedly bend over while cutting and then go home knowing that in a few days he or she will be back for more of the same. Mind you we are fully aware that Forty-Sixers and particularly Ws only need a night, two at the most, to forget either mud or pain...
Surprise! Surprise! On Tuesday June 30 as Alex R., Anton S., Gary K., Matt C., Phil C., Tyler M. and I left the Garden we found a 5-mile ribbon of Adirondack black gold marking the route to the Hopkins Trail. It was so wet that Bushnell Falls #1, the lean-to sitting at the very beginning, seemed to have been positioned in the middle of a shallow pond. At least residents only had to slightly extend their arms to reach running water, a clear bonus with the present trail conditions. Under an ever-changing sky we managed to take good care of two (2) miles of the 2.8-mile trail before calling it quit for the day. One in our group was kind enough to climb to the Van Hovenburgh trail and reported much less blowdown to clear but plenty of side-cutting for our next and hopefully last visit of this year Thursday July 8.

*** Near the lean-to while side-cutting Gary found a camera Innovage Outdoor 10x25 /303ft at 1000 yds.***
 
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