adktyler
Active member
Allen, 2/21/2009:
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to hike a mountain walking backwards? I do…sometimes. This has nothing to do with this trip report, but I couldn’t think of a good way to begin, so that’s what you get. My father and I and my best friend woke up at 3am on Saturday morning. After a nice breakfast, we headed for the Allen trailhead. Having been warned that this hike made for a LONG day, I spent much of the car ride preparing myself mentally for a long hike, in addition to sleeping. Because of the sleeping part, and the fact that I was the navigator, we happened to miss our turn. This, combined with the poor driving conditions, made us almost 30 minutes late for our rendezvous with the two other hiking parties we had planned to accompany. “Oh well,” I told myself, as we left the parking lot by 7am and continued to keep a pretty good pace in the beginning. Our two groups had gone in ahead of us, so the trail was nicely packed down. Two nice gentlemen began hiking about 5 minutes before us as well, and would end up participating in a fun game of hiking tag for the remainder of the day. After about 15 minutes we had caught up with them, and passed them. After about another 15 minutes, I saw a sign written in the snow next to the trail that said “Hi Tyler,” this made me smile! After about another 15 minutes we caught up with our group. It was excellent to meet adkpiper (ADKHP forum) for the first time; he is a delightful and knowledgeable outdoor enthusiast. I also met up with my snow-message writer and new hiking friend this year, 46erDan. It was a pleasure to see them and the rest of the people in their group. We hiked with them to the Opalescent River, which happens to be quite frozen over currently, and I only saw one small hole of exposed water.
After crossing the river, we said our temporary goodbyes to Dan, adkpiper, and the rest of their crew, and hiked on ahead. Within 5 minutes we overtook yet another group who were, as usual, delightful. Now it was time to break trail, one of the downfalls of a faster pace. The snow depth was only 2 or 3 inches, however, and had an excellent base to it, so we didn’t have too much work to do. A light snow had been falling, which was very interesting as the sky was only partly cloudy. After a little while we reached the trail split-off between Allen and Marcy. We kept right on moving, and for the remaining “gradual” part of the trip I remember little but the cadence of my footsteps, and the homemade blazes on the trees. Speaking of which, what’s up with those? There was an excessive overkill of awkwardly-cut plastic trailmarkers, some as close as 10 feet between each other on the path. As far as I am concerned, these are pretty ridiculous, though I don’t know if I would have been as frustrated had we had no clear trail to follow. After awhile we hit the base of the steep part. This is where things got fun. We had been breaking up to 6 inches of snow at this point, and our 2 friends who began before us had now caught up. I was a gentleman, and let them go ahead of me, conveniently also providing me with a break from traipsing through deep snow.
The remainder of the trudge between there and the slide can be categorized as “challenging.” We played several rounds of tag with the other two men, as each of us tired ourselves out with the deep snow and steep terrain. By the time we reached the slide, we were all pooped. I do appreciate all the nice work done by past hiking parties this year of making a firm base for us to rest on! About half way up the slide, the group we had passed shortly after the Opalescent caught up with us. We now invited them into the game of tag, and they kept close on our heals. Finally, after a rather insufferable amount of time, we reached the summit! The two guys before us had made it first, and my father, best friend, and I were second. The summit sign was even further below knee level than I had seen in previous photos this year, and we had to stoop down to have our picture taken. After about 2 minutes the group behind us made it up, and about 10-15 minutes after that our friends Dan, adkpiper, and their whole clan arrived as well. There was much rejoicing. Views were limited, and consisted of mainly Skylight, and a few, blurry surrounding peaks.
After spending about 20 minutes on the top, we said more temporary goodbyes, and began the long descent. Right before the slide I ran into arm (ADKHP forum and VFTT), and soon after that Donna (VFTT) as well. Now when I say “ran into” I don’t exactly mean I physically ran into them, I just passed them, smiled and said hello, and kept hiking. Just thought I’d clear that up. With our sleds carrying us at breathtaking speeds after the slide, we were soon back down to the bottom of the steep part. We then passed the group we had passed after the Opalescent who had left the summit before us. I hope you are keeping track of all these groups. Soon afterward, the sky seemed to clear up, and clear views of surrounding peaks and valleys ensued. We took our time hiking back to the gravel pit, and eventually the “little Flowed Lands.” Once there, all three of us soaked in the deep blue sky, warm rays from the sun, and vistas of Adams, Allen, and other mountains in the area. The walk from there back to the car, though long, was delightful and I savored the beauty and harmony of it all as we took our time. My last hurrah was when I came up with the brilliant idea to hike the last mile in 15 minutes. I was already quite soar and exhausted, but wanted to go out with a bang, so I half jogged, have sped-walk back to the parking lot. It took me 17 minutes, pretty much a fail I suppose being two minutes longer than I desired. Arriving at our cars by 5 o’clock made the entire trip take 10 hours, which I was quite happy with. I saw the two young men who began the trip right before us, said my goodbyes as they drove off, and hung out around the car until the rest of my group showed up. Then, after saying farewell and congratulations to the other hiking assemblies, my father and I drove off to sleep and get ready for Sawteeth the next day. I will write that report next, as a reply to this beginning thread, later...when I do that, the title of this thread will make more sense!
And some videos of the summit and excessive trailmarkers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c76uCVMJTHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GS1sQbYRdw
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to hike a mountain walking backwards? I do…sometimes. This has nothing to do with this trip report, but I couldn’t think of a good way to begin, so that’s what you get. My father and I and my best friend woke up at 3am on Saturday morning. After a nice breakfast, we headed for the Allen trailhead. Having been warned that this hike made for a LONG day, I spent much of the car ride preparing myself mentally for a long hike, in addition to sleeping. Because of the sleeping part, and the fact that I was the navigator, we happened to miss our turn. This, combined with the poor driving conditions, made us almost 30 minutes late for our rendezvous with the two other hiking parties we had planned to accompany. “Oh well,” I told myself, as we left the parking lot by 7am and continued to keep a pretty good pace in the beginning. Our two groups had gone in ahead of us, so the trail was nicely packed down. Two nice gentlemen began hiking about 5 minutes before us as well, and would end up participating in a fun game of hiking tag for the remainder of the day. After about 15 minutes we had caught up with them, and passed them. After about another 15 minutes, I saw a sign written in the snow next to the trail that said “Hi Tyler,” this made me smile! After about another 15 minutes we caught up with our group. It was excellent to meet adkpiper (ADKHP forum) for the first time; he is a delightful and knowledgeable outdoor enthusiast. I also met up with my snow-message writer and new hiking friend this year, 46erDan. It was a pleasure to see them and the rest of the people in their group. We hiked with them to the Opalescent River, which happens to be quite frozen over currently, and I only saw one small hole of exposed water.
After crossing the river, we said our temporary goodbyes to Dan, adkpiper, and the rest of their crew, and hiked on ahead. Within 5 minutes we overtook yet another group who were, as usual, delightful. Now it was time to break trail, one of the downfalls of a faster pace. The snow depth was only 2 or 3 inches, however, and had an excellent base to it, so we didn’t have too much work to do. A light snow had been falling, which was very interesting as the sky was only partly cloudy. After a little while we reached the trail split-off between Allen and Marcy. We kept right on moving, and for the remaining “gradual” part of the trip I remember little but the cadence of my footsteps, and the homemade blazes on the trees. Speaking of which, what’s up with those? There was an excessive overkill of awkwardly-cut plastic trailmarkers, some as close as 10 feet between each other on the path. As far as I am concerned, these are pretty ridiculous, though I don’t know if I would have been as frustrated had we had no clear trail to follow. After awhile we hit the base of the steep part. This is where things got fun. We had been breaking up to 6 inches of snow at this point, and our 2 friends who began before us had now caught up. I was a gentleman, and let them go ahead of me, conveniently also providing me with a break from traipsing through deep snow.
The remainder of the trudge between there and the slide can be categorized as “challenging.” We played several rounds of tag with the other two men, as each of us tired ourselves out with the deep snow and steep terrain. By the time we reached the slide, we were all pooped. I do appreciate all the nice work done by past hiking parties this year of making a firm base for us to rest on! About half way up the slide, the group we had passed shortly after the Opalescent caught up with us. We now invited them into the game of tag, and they kept close on our heals. Finally, after a rather insufferable amount of time, we reached the summit! The two guys before us had made it first, and my father, best friend, and I were second. The summit sign was even further below knee level than I had seen in previous photos this year, and we had to stoop down to have our picture taken. After about 2 minutes the group behind us made it up, and about 10-15 minutes after that our friends Dan, adkpiper, and their whole clan arrived as well. There was much rejoicing. Views were limited, and consisted of mainly Skylight, and a few, blurry surrounding peaks.
After spending about 20 minutes on the top, we said more temporary goodbyes, and began the long descent. Right before the slide I ran into arm (ADKHP forum and VFTT), and soon after that Donna (VFTT) as well. Now when I say “ran into” I don’t exactly mean I physically ran into them, I just passed them, smiled and said hello, and kept hiking. Just thought I’d clear that up. With our sleds carrying us at breathtaking speeds after the slide, we were soon back down to the bottom of the steep part. We then passed the group we had passed after the Opalescent who had left the summit before us. I hope you are keeping track of all these groups. Soon afterward, the sky seemed to clear up, and clear views of surrounding peaks and valleys ensued. We took our time hiking back to the gravel pit, and eventually the “little Flowed Lands.” Once there, all three of us soaked in the deep blue sky, warm rays from the sun, and vistas of Adams, Allen, and other mountains in the area. The walk from there back to the car, though long, was delightful and I savored the beauty and harmony of it all as we took our time. My last hurrah was when I came up with the brilliant idea to hike the last mile in 15 minutes. I was already quite soar and exhausted, but wanted to go out with a bang, so I half jogged, have sped-walk back to the parking lot. It took me 17 minutes, pretty much a fail I suppose being two minutes longer than I desired. Arriving at our cars by 5 o’clock made the entire trip take 10 hours, which I was quite happy with. I saw the two young men who began the trip right before us, said my goodbyes as they drove off, and hung out around the car until the rest of my group showed up. Then, after saying farewell and congratulations to the other hiking assemblies, my father and I drove off to sleep and get ready for Sawteeth the next day. I will write that report next, as a reply to this beginning thread, later...when I do that, the title of this thread will make more sense!
And some videos of the summit and excessive trailmarkers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c76uCVMJTHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GS1sQbYRdw
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