Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Yes, we've been there umpteen times and written TR's about a lot of them, but this one stands out.
Friday afternoon we started up to the cabin, hoping to beat the thunderstorms. Bzzt! Not going to happen! Bzzzt! That sound was heard around us MANY times, and closer and more frequently as we neared the cabin! The closest bolt was less than a second away!
But we made it to the relative safety and comfort of the cabin. It rained all night long, on and off. Crack! Bzzt! Boom!
The next day we got up and took a short walk to the lean-to to clean it up and brush out the access trail. We had only gone a few minutes when we saw a large doe standing about 10 feet from the trail. It just stood there and watched us for a minute before sauntering off. Nice!
The lean-to was in good shape, and we machete'd and trimmed the trail back to a more useful state.
About 30 people showed up on Saturday, in spite of the threat of rain. Kmorgan and Itty-Bitty (A Catskill legend) were there from a group hike. Nice to meet you!
The last group took the cake! 6 young women showed up, wearing long dresses with bathing suits underneath, and all at least wearing running shoes or hiking boots. The leader asked us where the lake was! If you are not familiar with Balsam LAKE Mountain, the LAKE is on private property and can not be seen from either the PA, the trail, or the summit. They were a little bummed, but they started to take out of their packs:
Gin and Tonic!
Lime Juice
Tea Sandwiches
Ice Cream in an insulated bag
Strawberries
Baseball Gloves and Ball
Towels
(and a noticeable absence of regular hiking gear, except the boots).
They proceeded to have a bachelor-ette party at the top of the mountain! The Bride-to-be was not disappointed at all, and seemed to be having a great time. We took them up in the tower and chatted with them for a while and then left them to their party. They played a little catch with the baseball and had a blast. They were very neat and left not a trace of their festivities. We offered them some lights for the way down, but they assured us that they would be fine. (I think they had adequate time to get down before dark).
Afterwards, we watched a huge anvil shaped cloud in the distance, as it flashed and moved over the mountains.
Sunday, we got up to foggy skies that made a really nice shot of Doubletop.
It cleared up more than we thought it would, and eventually people started showing up, group after group, so we were constantly going up and down the tower, showing people the views. Harry Rampe was there, as well as Jbreen, another VFTT member, with his son. Nice to meet you too!
Suddenly or so it seemed, there were dark clouds, thunder and lightning coming from Graham and Doubletop, which is East of the tower. We also saw a 'funnel cloud'! We figured a storm had already blown around us and we were safe. Wrong!
Within minutes, lightning was falling from every compass point around the tower! We rushed up and secured the cab, and just as we headed back down, another bolt sounded nearby! We made it down safely, but that was too close!
All of the guests soon left, and we prepared to leave as well. We were hoping that the storm would pass over, but it seemed to linger, so we put on rain gear and headed down. It seemed like 'The Fellowship of the Ring' trying to cross the mountain, being hounded by the weather as we went back down. The lightning seemed to always be right over us, and the rain came down steadily. In spite of this, we could see the sun shining down in the valley!
When we got back to the car and drove a short way to Laurie's parent's house, it was dry! Oh, well! We related the weekend's events to Laurie's parents and headed off for dinner. The capper of the trip was seeing a black bear cub scamper across Rt. 28!
Other wildlife (besides the 6 women! ) included, chipmunks, snowshoe hares, snakes, and a red squirrel, as well as an assortment of birds, bugs, butterflies, bees, mushrooms, frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.
Never a dull day in the mountains!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b1.jpg - A doe, a deer, a female deer...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b2.jpg - Snowshoe hare
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b3.jpg - The 'Girls'!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b4.jpg - Girl party!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b5.jpg - Anvil-shaped cloud
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b6.jpg - Fog over Doubletop - Looks like snow!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b7.jpg - Funnel cloud!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b8.jpg - Cute little beggar!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b9.jpg - Not so cute!
Friday afternoon we started up to the cabin, hoping to beat the thunderstorms. Bzzt! Not going to happen! Bzzzt! That sound was heard around us MANY times, and closer and more frequently as we neared the cabin! The closest bolt was less than a second away!
But we made it to the relative safety and comfort of the cabin. It rained all night long, on and off. Crack! Bzzt! Boom!The next day we got up and took a short walk to the lean-to to clean it up and brush out the access trail. We had only gone a few minutes when we saw a large doe standing about 10 feet from the trail. It just stood there and watched us for a minute before sauntering off. Nice!
The lean-to was in good shape, and we machete'd and trimmed the trail back to a more useful state.
About 30 people showed up on Saturday, in spite of the threat of rain. Kmorgan and Itty-Bitty (A Catskill legend) were there from a group hike. Nice to meet you!
The last group took the cake! 6 young women showed up, wearing long dresses with bathing suits underneath, and all at least wearing running shoes or hiking boots. The leader asked us where the lake was!
If you are not familiar with Balsam LAKE Mountain, the LAKE is on private property and can not be seen from either the PA, the trail, or the summit. They were a little bummed, but they started to take out of their packs:Gin and Tonic!
Lime Juice
Tea Sandwiches
Ice Cream in an insulated bag
Strawberries
Baseball Gloves and Ball
Towels
(and a noticeable absence of regular hiking gear, except the boots).
They proceeded to have a bachelor-ette party at the top of the mountain! The Bride-to-be was not disappointed at all, and seemed to be having a great time. We took them up in the tower and chatted with them for a while and then left them to their party. They played a little catch with the baseball and had a blast. They were very neat and left not a trace of their festivities. We offered them some lights for the way down, but they assured us that they would be fine. (I think they had adequate time to get down before dark).
Afterwards, we watched a huge anvil shaped cloud in the distance, as it flashed and moved over the mountains.
Sunday, we got up to foggy skies that made a really nice shot of Doubletop.
It cleared up more than we thought it would, and eventually people started showing up, group after group, so we were constantly going up and down the tower, showing people the views. Harry Rampe was there, as well as Jbreen, another VFTT member, with his son. Nice to meet you too!
Suddenly or so it seemed, there were dark clouds, thunder and lightning coming from Graham and Doubletop, which is East of the tower. We also saw a 'funnel cloud'! We figured a storm had already blown around us and we were safe. Wrong!
Within minutes, lightning was falling from every compass point around the tower! We rushed up and secured the cab, and just as we headed back down, another bolt sounded nearby!
We made it down safely, but that was too close!All of the guests soon left, and we prepared to leave as well. We were hoping that the storm would pass over, but it seemed to linger, so we put on rain gear and headed down. It seemed like 'The Fellowship of the Ring' trying to cross the mountain, being hounded by the weather as we went back down. The lightning seemed to always be right over us, and the rain came down steadily. In spite of this, we could see the sun shining down in the valley!
When we got back to the car and drove a short way to Laurie's parent's house, it was dry!
Oh, well! We related the weekend's events to Laurie's parents and headed off for dinner. The capper of the trip was seeing a black bear cub scamper across Rt. 28! Other wildlife (besides the 6 women!
) included, chipmunks, snowshoe hares, snakes, and a red squirrel, as well as an assortment of birds, bugs, butterflies, bees, mushrooms, frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.Never a dull day in the mountains!
Pics:
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b1.jpg - A doe, a deer, a female deer...
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b2.jpg - Snowshoe hare
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b3.jpg - The 'Girls'!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b4.jpg - Girl party!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b5.jpg - Anvil-shaped cloud
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b6.jpg - Fog over Doubletop - Looks like snow!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b7.jpg - Funnel cloud!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b8.jpg - Cute little beggar!
http://viewsandbrews.com/temp/b9.jpg - Not so cute!
