Guinness
Active member
On Friday morning I realized there were no scheduled things-to-do on Saturday. During lunch I went home a packed up a daypack for quick trip to the ADKs. It was raining very heavy in the Niagara Falls region and I packed all the gear into a Dry Bag, which fit the daypack perfectly. Let it rain! At least all my gear would remain dry.
Leaving Niagara Falls late in the afternoon, I arrived at the Loj parking area around 10:30. There I crashed in the back seat of the Taurus for an uncomfortable evening. By 6:00 am I was getting ready and by 7:00 started up the trail. The trails were in good condition this morning, almost too good. Arriving at the rock outcropping just before the summit, I had to button down every flap, as the winds were huge this morning. There was ice covering the standard route going right, so I chose to go left around the rock outcropping. A couple of times the wind caught me and almost made me lose my balance. I love poles! Without them I would have gone down.
You would have never guessed it was December. I did not use the insteps all the way to the summit of Cascade, but on the trail to Porter I did put them on and they remained on until I was half way back down Cascade. I was back at the car before noon. A little slow today, but that is OK. I got back in my car and returned home early enough to watch a movie. What a way to spend a Saturday. Drive 14 hours, hike less than 5 and sleep all cramped in the back seat. On the way home I used route 8 and there I hit winter conditions, even seeing a SUV in the ditch.
To summarize, the trails were icy above 3,000’ and insteps would be helpful to save the trails. Insteps should be used on the way down for stability. There was no rain while I was on the trail. All along the trails water was flowing. Most disappointing, there was NO SNOW on the mountains today. Next weekend off to the MacIntyre Range.
Leaving Niagara Falls late in the afternoon, I arrived at the Loj parking area around 10:30. There I crashed in the back seat of the Taurus for an uncomfortable evening. By 6:00 am I was getting ready and by 7:00 started up the trail. The trails were in good condition this morning, almost too good. Arriving at the rock outcropping just before the summit, I had to button down every flap, as the winds were huge this morning. There was ice covering the standard route going right, so I chose to go left around the rock outcropping. A couple of times the wind caught me and almost made me lose my balance. I love poles! Without them I would have gone down.
You would have never guessed it was December. I did not use the insteps all the way to the summit of Cascade, but on the trail to Porter I did put them on and they remained on until I was half way back down Cascade. I was back at the car before noon. A little slow today, but that is OK. I got back in my car and returned home early enough to watch a movie. What a way to spend a Saturday. Drive 14 hours, hike less than 5 and sleep all cramped in the back seat. On the way home I used route 8 and there I hit winter conditions, even seeing a SUV in the ditch.
To summarize, the trails were icy above 3,000’ and insteps would be helpful to save the trails. Insteps should be used on the way down for stability. There was no rain while I was on the trail. All along the trails water was flowing. Most disappointing, there was NO SNOW on the mountains today. Next weekend off to the MacIntyre Range.
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