ALGonquin Bob
Well-known member
Thinking out loud... this might seem to be rambling, but your brain sort of freezes (among other things) after 13 hours in the cold: 
Pre-hike: “Let’s see... I’ve been hiking nearly every weekend for a while; Jane’s not real happy about my going again this weekend, but it’s winter for crying out loud - I have to hike! I think I’m ready to do Allen as a day hike; I’ll e-mail my hiking buddy, Doug.” (the only other time that I hiked Allen, I spent the weekend there with two nights at Skylight Brook) “No, Hillman1 says he’s had enough of Allen for a while, so maybe I’ll hike somewhere else – maybe the Great Range. No, change of plans again - Alistair wants to do Allen with me! No, Alistair’s plans changed...but I”ll do it anyway; I don’t mind long solo hikes.” (Turns out that Alistair hiked Henderson, Panther and Santanoni with Neil, Glen and Tom. Hillman1 is still up there – not sure what he did). “The weather forecast isn’t so good for Saturday; I’ll go anyway and see how it goes.”
Hike day: “It’s 5AM. Damn! I wanted to get up at 4, but I didn’t get to sleep ‘til midnight. It’s really cold, and it’s snowing. I don’t know about this. It was good to see Tom, Alistair and Neil this morning; that hike they’re doing sounds like a really long day. Why does it always take me 2 hours to get up and on the trail, even though I slept at the trailhead and my pack was ready? This time, I’m carrying my bigger pack with a sleeping bag, so a broken ankle isn’t a “death sentence”. (Dramatic, ain’t I?) “Well, I’m ready to hit the trail; I took so much time boiling water and arranging stuff, that it’s light already, so I don’t need the headlamp to start. It’s really cold."
"It’s weird crossing suspension bridges with snowshoes on. Neil said he broke through the ice on Lake Jimmy last week, so I’ll stay on the wooden plank causeway. I don’t see any sign of the hole that Neil made when he broke through; I wonder how deep it is here? There’s that sign to Adams – I wonder why they put up a sign that just says “Trail”, pointing left toward Adams, when the trail to Allen keeps going straight on the road. There’s a piece of paper that’s taped to the “Trail” sign that says “Adams”, but it’s written in faded felt-tip marker. Go figure. I wonder how many people go up Adams when they intend to do Allen? I think that a committee must have decided on that sign."
"It’s really cold. This all looks familiar. This part on the road along the Opalescent is really long. I see that the house trailer/cabin on the river has a new roof and siding – looks pretty good. I’m glad this suspension bridge doesn’t swing as much as the ones on the Flowed Lands trail. Woods, road, woods, road, gravel pit, woods, logging road, clearing, woods, tote road, forest... what a long approach! Lots of signs. I hope the ice bridge on the brook holds me. There’s that “Marcy” sign; got to take a picture of that for "Timmus", who’s doing a drawing of that scene (edited/corrected). My camera is frozen. My fingers are frozen. My face is frozen. It’s really cold. I’m glad that the sun is shining."
"It’s pretty cool doing a long solo hike like this. I think that when I get back, I’ll say, ‘Well, I knocked the bastard off’, with apologies to Ed Hillary. Allen as a day hike – never thought I’d be doing this, but it seems to be the most popular way to get Allen. I hope I’m off the mountain and on the way out by dark. I’m a really slow hiker. It’s really cold. I hope the ice bridge over Skylight Brook holds me. It did! Now to start climbing. This part doesn’t look as familiar – am I on the right path? There’s only one path up here, so I must be OK. Why is the trail going down? OK, it looks familiar again. In October, that’s a nice waterfall. Now it’s getting steeper – reminds me a little of Herbert Brook on Marshall. I like this part, but the 7-mile approach sucks! Think I’ll switch to crampons; why do all my non-hiking friends think “crampons” is such a funny word? I hear something - it’s two other hikers! My mouth is frozen. They must think I talk funny; I’ll see them on their way down. Six more hikers on the way up? I wonder how far back they are. This is a tough icy step to get up, and the tree overhead makes it harder; I’ll just leave my pack here."
"Summit at 2PM, right on schedule. Handheld self-portraits look weird. It’s cold, and no views, Got my GPS reading - time to start back down. There’s those other six guys – they’re going to traverse Allen and continue to Redfield and Skylight. Good luck, I couldn’t do that. It’s really steep here; I think I’ll try a butt slide. OK, that was a mistake; I’m lucky nothing’s broken. I’ll keep my crampons on for now, but my feet and legs hurt after a while. It’s much easier following a trail that 8 other hikers just went over. I’m glad it’s not snowing. Maybe I’ll see someone at that new cabin and they’ll offer to give me a ride out. Will it still count? No, I’ll just walk. It’s a really long walk. I’m cold. I should have carried just 2 liters of Gatorade instead of 3. I always carry too much food – I don’t get very hungry when I’m tired like this. I’m glad that I made the Opalescent bridge before I needed a headlamp; I can walk the road without a light. There’s the gate – time for a break. I’m really tired; this is a long effin’ hike. The hike out seems so much longer than the hike in. My head is frozen. The road is at the top of this hill. Finally, the road! Is that a light? It’s the other couple. They followed the “Trail” sign and walked halfway up Adams before realizing their mistake. The sign should say “Adams”. Duh. Lake Jimmy – there’s a man-sized hole in the ice that froze over already. That wasn’t there this morning. I wonder if one of the 6 backpacking trekkers fell through? I would have turned back and gone home. It seems so much longer on the way out. I’m cold, and really tired. I see headlights! There’s the parking lot! I have to pee! I did it, or should I say, ‘Well, I knocked the bastard off’”! -ALG
Pre-hike: “Let’s see... I’ve been hiking nearly every weekend for a while; Jane’s not real happy about my going again this weekend, but it’s winter for crying out loud - I have to hike! I think I’m ready to do Allen as a day hike; I’ll e-mail my hiking buddy, Doug.” (the only other time that I hiked Allen, I spent the weekend there with two nights at Skylight Brook) “No, Hillman1 says he’s had enough of Allen for a while, so maybe I’ll hike somewhere else – maybe the Great Range. No, change of plans again - Alistair wants to do Allen with me! No, Alistair’s plans changed...but I”ll do it anyway; I don’t mind long solo hikes.” (Turns out that Alistair hiked Henderson, Panther and Santanoni with Neil, Glen and Tom. Hillman1 is still up there – not sure what he did). “The weather forecast isn’t so good for Saturday; I’ll go anyway and see how it goes.”
Hike day: “It’s 5AM. Damn! I wanted to get up at 4, but I didn’t get to sleep ‘til midnight. It’s really cold, and it’s snowing. I don’t know about this. It was good to see Tom, Alistair and Neil this morning; that hike they’re doing sounds like a really long day. Why does it always take me 2 hours to get up and on the trail, even though I slept at the trailhead and my pack was ready? This time, I’m carrying my bigger pack with a sleeping bag, so a broken ankle isn’t a “death sentence”.
(Dramatic, ain’t I?) “Well, I’m ready to hit the trail; I took so much time boiling water and arranging stuff, that it’s light already, so I don’t need the headlamp to start. It’s really cold.""It’s weird crossing suspension bridges with snowshoes on. Neil said he broke through the ice on Lake Jimmy last week, so I’ll stay on the wooden plank causeway. I don’t see any sign of the hole that Neil made when he broke through; I wonder how deep it is here? There’s that sign to Adams – I wonder why they put up a sign that just says “Trail”, pointing left toward Adams, when the trail to Allen keeps going straight on the road. There’s a piece of paper that’s taped to the “Trail” sign that says “Adams”, but it’s written in faded felt-tip marker. Go figure. I wonder how many people go up Adams when they intend to do Allen? I think that a committee must have decided on that sign."
"It’s really cold. This all looks familiar. This part on the road along the Opalescent is really long. I see that the house trailer/cabin on the river has a new roof and siding – looks pretty good. I’m glad this suspension bridge doesn’t swing as much as the ones on the Flowed Lands trail. Woods, road, woods, road, gravel pit, woods, logging road, clearing, woods, tote road, forest... what a long approach! Lots of signs. I hope the ice bridge on the brook holds me. There’s that “Marcy” sign; got to take a picture of that for "Timmus", who’s doing a drawing of that scene (edited/corrected). My camera is frozen. My fingers are frozen. My face is frozen. It’s really cold. I’m glad that the sun is shining."
"It’s pretty cool doing a long solo hike like this. I think that when I get back, I’ll say, ‘Well, I knocked the bastard off’, with apologies to Ed Hillary. Allen as a day hike – never thought I’d be doing this, but it seems to be the most popular way to get Allen. I hope I’m off the mountain and on the way out by dark. I’m a really slow hiker. It’s really cold. I hope the ice bridge over Skylight Brook holds me. It did! Now to start climbing. This part doesn’t look as familiar – am I on the right path? There’s only one path up here, so I must be OK. Why is the trail going down? OK, it looks familiar again. In October, that’s a nice waterfall. Now it’s getting steeper – reminds me a little of Herbert Brook on Marshall. I like this part, but the 7-mile approach sucks! Think I’ll switch to crampons; why do all my non-hiking friends think “crampons” is such a funny word? I hear something - it’s two other hikers! My mouth is frozen. They must think I talk funny; I’ll see them on their way down. Six more hikers on the way up? I wonder how far back they are. This is a tough icy step to get up, and the tree overhead makes it harder; I’ll just leave my pack here."
"Summit at 2PM, right on schedule. Handheld self-portraits look weird. It’s cold, and no views, Got my GPS reading - time to start back down. There’s those other six guys – they’re going to traverse Allen and continue to Redfield and Skylight. Good luck, I couldn’t do that. It’s really steep here; I think I’ll try a butt slide. OK, that was a mistake; I’m lucky nothing’s broken. I’ll keep my crampons on for now, but my feet and legs hurt after a while. It’s much easier following a trail that 8 other hikers just went over. I’m glad it’s not snowing. Maybe I’ll see someone at that new cabin and they’ll offer to give me a ride out. Will it still count? No, I’ll just walk. It’s a really long walk. I’m cold. I should have carried just 2 liters of Gatorade instead of 3. I always carry too much food – I don’t get very hungry when I’m tired like this. I’m glad that I made the Opalescent bridge before I needed a headlamp; I can walk the road without a light. There’s the gate – time for a break. I’m really tired; this is a long effin’ hike. The hike out seems so much longer than the hike in. My head is frozen. The road is at the top of this hill. Finally, the road! Is that a light? It’s the other couple. They followed the “Trail” sign and walked halfway up Adams before realizing their mistake. The sign should say “Adams”. Duh. Lake Jimmy – there’s a man-sized hole in the ice that froze over already. That wasn’t there this morning. I wonder if one of the 6 backpacking trekkers fell through? I would have turned back and gone home. It seems so much longer on the way out. I’m cold, and really tired. I see headlights! There’s the parking lot! I have to pee! I did it, or should I say, ‘Well, I knocked the bastard off’”! -ALG
Last edited:
