Peggy Oh!

[Tom Rankin]

I tried to make this brief, but it's 5 days worth of activity, and certainly not everything that happened on the trip. Other group members may add to this thread or start their own, feel free to do whatever you want!

The last few days of Winter. What to do? Climb as many peaks as possible!

Laurie and I decided to make the JBL trip even longer by hiking Saturday. We climbed Gothics and Armstrong. There were a few icy parts just before the junction between the 2 peaks, but we made it ok. We ran into Ken, John Swanson, and Nan while on the side of Gothics, all at the same time!

Sunday, we drove to the Rooster Comb trail head and met up with SkiDoc and Fred. We consolidated gear and people and drove up to the Garden. There, we met Dory and her sister. MCorsar, Tmax, Alistair, Pete and Cantdog had just started out ahead of us. TJay joined us later for an even dozen. The walk in was uneventful (but slow and tough on the shoulders with extra weight), except for the meeting up with the poor guy who fell off Gothics. (That is discussed in detail elsewhere). We got to the Camp, and found things more or less the way they should be. There are a few problems with the camp at this point, but aside from the stove not working properly, the rest are minor nits. I'm sending the ADK a letter about all the issues soon.

The heat works quite well! We kept the temperature in the upper 60's when we were awake, and a little lower to sleep. Many people brought sleeping bags, (which I had tried to advise against), but all I had was a tiny silk bag. This and sleeping on the 3rd level of bunks kept me adequately warm.

We didn't hike any more Sunday. I did stand around and boil lots of water. We knew we had to keep ahead of the water situation, or we would sit around all evening and the next morning waiting for hot water, instead of eating or hiking. This pro-active approach worked out pretty well. We brought lots of dried 'just-add-water' foods, that tasted pretty good for the most part. Amazingly, Pete had packed in a large bottle of beer for me! Thanks Pete!

Monday I wasn't feeling very well. I've been battling a cold for 2 weeks and I guess I'm hiking just enough to keep it with me! We were planning to go to Basin and maybe Saddleback. Fred, Laurie and I set out with Alistair and SkiDoc right behind us. They eventually passed us on the way to Haystack.

It snowed almost all day, lightly. The wind was blowing constantly.

We stopped at Slant Rock and I told Fred and Laurie that I wanted to turn back. They said would go with me. At this point, I stupidly refused to turn around, not wanting to ruin the hike. We had a small argument about who was right. Eventually, we agreed to continue on, slowly. I did end up feeling better, but I'm not really sure in retrospect that I made the correct choice. I'll the let the armchair hikers decide...

At Chicken Coop Brook, we rested briefly and searched for the herd path, but could not find any tracks. So, we decided to continue on the regular trail.

We made it up the seemingly interminable Shorey 'shortcut', and down to the Range Trail by 11:00. We took a break here and began the long slog up to Basin. It was icy and steep and tough, but we made it eventually. Laurie and Fred switched to crampons, but I managed to stay with the MSRs, barely! On the way up, we could see SkiDoc or Alistair heading up to the summit of Haystack. It was just a tiny figure moving against the horizon. We could tell the wind was giving them a good 'whuppin'!

We stayed very briefly on the summit of Basin, and then headed down. Almost immediately, we had another icy pitch to negotiate. We managed to skirt most of it. There are some steep drops down to the bump between Basin and Saddleback that we slid or climbed down slowly. Then we had to go over the bump and down some more steep sections. Finally, we were in the 2nd saddle. At this point, we could clearly see the daunting west face of Saddleback. The group decided to try to find the Chicken Coop Brook Slide, so we set off into the trees, heading basically down as fast as we could go. It turns out that this does not quite work. The slide is a little west of the saddle, but we soon saw it thru the trees. The slide was icy in places, but it was relatively easy to get down, compared to bushwhacking. At the bottom of the slide, we found almost blown over boot prints. We had noticed boot prints on and off from Shorey shortcut to the top of the slide. We more or less followed the tracks the rest of the way, but this was essentially trailbreaking/bushwhacking all the way down. There were several spruce traps, and the trail wound around both sides of the stream bed, gaining and losing elevation at times, in order to avoid blowdown. I was starting to feel pretty sick and miserable again. It seemed like hours before we finally found the leanto. It turned out the trail was made by Loren, a guy we had met Sunday. He told us that he had descended the CCB slide on Saturday. Later I realized I had 'met' him before.

After a rest at the lean to, we plodded back to the camp. I was definitely sick. I didn't have much of an appetite, and I went to bed early.

Mercifully, I woke up feeling much better, but not up to the planned hike to Marcy. But Matt, Laurie and I decided we could do Saddleback, so off we went, at about 8:00. Saddleback is relatively easy compared to Basin. It's shorter and less elevation gain. And there are no horrendous icy sections to negotiate! So, having heard Pete's trip report from the day before, we ditched the axes, and crampons, and carried less food and water. The hike was a little slow. The grade was easy at first. It got steeper near the top, but there was essentially no ice. The weather cooperated today. It cleared up as we ascended and the winds were almost dead calm. The night before must have been different, as the trail at the top was almost completely covered with drifting snow, in spite of being extensively hiked the day before.

We stopped a few times going up the first bump to admire the imposing mass of Gothics. After going over the first bump were quickly to the true summit of Saddleback. The views were great! We spent quite a bit of time at the summit - eating, drinking and chatting. It was almost dead calm, and sunny. This might have been the best summit of the entire winter! However, we could see snow squalls assaulting the Macintyres in the distance. Mighty Basin stood before us, and the abyss between us and Basin was apparent. Looking down from the summit, the trail seems to vanish almost instantly, down a sheer cliff. How does anyone go down that side in the winter? I thought briefly about my trip to Saddleback last March, when I helped my friend Phil finish his Winter 46.

We took some pictures and then headed back down. There was some really good butt sliding on the way back. We gave Matt a quick lesson in the craft, and he seemed to be getting the hang of it! The whole trip took 5 hours.

Wednesday, we packed up and walked out. Pete's pack was a monstrosity!

It took 2 people to lift it on to his back! You can't see it all, but there are actually 2 backpacks, a bear vault, sleeping bag, and a milk crate! Not to mention the 'dead soliders' that he carried in full that Julie carried out for him.

Most of us had a great time. (There were 2 injuries, but I will let those folks speak for themselves). Even though I didn't get any new peaks, Laurie and I are almost in sync now with our W46 lists. I have 31 now, and she has 30. So, it was all good! I enjoyed meeting some new friends, and spending time with 'old' friends as well.

 

[Neil]

Sorry to here you were feeling under the weather Tom but it sounds like you kicked yer own butt and had a great hike anyhow. That pic of Pete and his pack is pretty durn funny. Imaging walking through the parking lot at the Loj and when the ranger stops you and asks casually (but it's not casual at all) where you're going you say, "Ah, the trap dike, I think, I have a pair of yaktracks and a cell phone so I'll be OK"

 

[MattC]

Day 1

My 5-day trip to the ADKs was pretty amazing-I only climbed two peaks, but I did hike over 30 miles total, learned a great deal, stayed at two nice places, and most importantly spent time w/ a whole bunch of great folks.

I headed up w/ Hike the 115 on Friday evening and a little north of Albany, we met up w/ T-max, who then followed us. Along w/ a crew of others (some VFTTers, some not), we spent two nights at a wonderful little family farm/lodge in Keene. We also climbed Marcy Saturday. Very easy hike for the first 6 and 1/2 miles, as the trail was in superb shape. Then came the summit dome, which was being pummeled by wind. We managed to get up there, and one of our number completed her winter round.

Before descending, I made the stupidest mistake I've ever made in the mountains. My hands were a little cold, so I thought I'd try to add a layer. Realizing that the two lower layers would not fit inside my mitts, I put the mitts away and stuck w/ the other two layers. These consisted of beat-up old windstopper gloves and a pair of those wool fingerless gloves w/ the mitt that flips over the fingers. I had never gone with this particular combo before. I still don't know what the hell I was thinking. Anyway, my good mitts went back in the pack.

Two minutes latter, I'm climbing down in the wind. My core is fine, my feet are fine. My hands are freezing and becoming number by the second. I wanted to keep moving, but I wanted to do something for my hands immediately as well. Jay H was right behind me-I stopped, and was putting my hands in my crotch, and was about to ask Jay to grab my mitts from my pack. All of a sudden, Bruce (I believe a non-VFTTer) was there handing me his big old bomber mitts, telling me to put them on. He had some good gloves out for his own hands. I put on his mitts, shoved my hands in his armpit for a few seconds, and then we started moving again. He also took my poles for a few minutes and tucked them under his arm. Within a few minutes, we were all out of the wind and my hands were fine. I felt like I had dodged a bullet.

I gave Bruce back the mitts and thanked him profusely. He shrugged it off w/ a smile, saying that he had used the mitts for the same purpose w/ other friends several times before. I can't say how thankful I am to this guy. I realize this is all a bit off topic for the Peggy O report, but I really wanted to share the story and it didn't seem to quite fit in over on Wu's "rescue" thread. Anyhow, I learned that Mt. Marcy in March is not the place to "experiment" w/ glove systems. I'm still trying to digest this whole experience.

That night back our lodgings, the whole crew relaxed w/ beer, wine, lots of incredible food, and lots of laughs. There was a little nylon string Yamaha guitar and I played a bit. It felt incredibly good to be using my fingers, needless to say, and I realized how much I sometimes take for granted. The whole day and night was one I'll never forget. And this was all in the first day!!

Matt

 

[MattC]

Days 2 and 3

On to Peggy O! On Sunday, T-max and I departed from our Mt. Marcy friends of the previous day. We headed in from the Garden at about 10 AM, noting that Pete, Julie and Alistair had already signed the register. On the way in, we passed the Peggy O crew that was coming out, in addition to the injured Gothics guy and the rangers. We also stopped to chat w/ Lorin, who we had met on Marcy the day before, and who was coming back from Bushnell Falls.

Ski Doc caught up w/ us close to camp, and we knew Laurie and Tom weren't far behind. We got to camp, had lunch and T-max and I headed for Big Slide about 20 minutes after Julie and Alistair. A mile or so in, T-max fell and hurt her arm. I managed to get a sling together on my third try and we headed back to camp. She insisted she was able to carry her pack on her good shoulder, despite my pleading that she drop it for me and someone else to come back for. She was right-more on that later. Back at camp, everyone filtered back and soon we were all giving our jaws a workout on food and chatter.

The next day, Terri decided that she did in fact want to walk out and have her arm looked at. We had formed something of a plan the previous night.
I'd walk her out and she'd see how she was with driving. I'd drive her car back down to Keene if necessary. We needed to at least get her full pack out and enough in my small daypack for me to come back in. She again insisted on carrying my daypack while I carried her backpack, even though I figured I could have carried both packs or dragged one like a sled.

Anyhow, we got out in a couple hours, and she was able to drive surprisingly easily. We got Laurie's car at Rooster Comb so I could drive it back to the Garden, and Terri was able to contact her folks by phone-she had to go get her dog and get her arm checked out. The situation was well in hand and I bid her a sad farewell. It was such a drag that she had to leave, but it was satisfying that we had handled the whole thing about as smoothly as we could. My second major lesson of the trip-when helping a hurt friend, it's okay to let them do as much as they say they are able to do in helping themselves. As long as the hurt person is not delusional, hypothermic, etc., if they say they can carry a pack, let 'em carry the damn thing-it helps the situation. Thanks Terri for being firm about all that and Laurie for your well-timed, eloquent advice.

I had a quite, uneventful walk back to the cabin and spent the afternoon restin', eatin' and shootin' the bull w/ good ol' TeeJay. Again the crew filtered in and I enjoyed hearing about the days exploits. More food. At this point it was a race against time-every ounce you ate was one less you had to carry out in a couple days!

Matt

 

[MattC]

Days 4 and 5

On Tuesday AM, half of the remaining crew departed, leaving Julie and Pete, who were headed for Lower WJ, along with Tom and Laurie, w/ whom I set out for Saddleback. Tom described the later quite well above. It was just a really nice hike and I was pretty blown away by those views of Gothics.

Everyone was back at camp by early afternoon and four of us killed the afternoon playin' Gin Rummy while Pete did his gourmet thing and regaled us w/ discussion of everything and anything. I learned something else about Laurie-in addition to being a great friend and amazing outdoorswoman, she is one kickass Gin Rummy player! She pretty much pulverized the rest of us, but it was all in good fun.

We all ate, chatted, and retired all at once around 9. It was like the Waltons or something!

Wednesday morning we packed up, cleaned up and headed out. Pete left first, toting that... thing The rest of us caught up close to the Garden and we all said tired goodbyes and hit the road. I got a ride back w/ Laurie and Tom, stopping in Latham for lunch at Malt River. Thanks to you both for everything.

Did I mention that this whole trip was amazing? It was by turns exhilarating, sobering, inspiring, humbling, happy, sad, scary, funny, introspective, boisterously social, steeped in tradition, irreverant, stimulating and banal. For everyone I was w/ at Rivermead, Camp Peggy, and on the trail, thanks for being a part of it.

Matt

 

[TMax]

The Thrill of Victory...The Agony of Defeat!

I guess I'll add my piece of the story...

As Mcorsar describes, a small group of us (including myself, Mcorsar, Hikethe115, HarryK, Guinness, JayH, and other non-VFTTer's Bruce and Bonnie) joined Nancy in a hike of Marcy for her winter 46 completer on Saturday the 18th! It was a wonderful day. We started out from the Loj parking area on a cold morning with amazingly stable trails to follow. This made the hike easier than in the summer until we reached the trail junction just below little Marcy. The trail sign had nearly disappeared under the snowfall. The winds started to get pronounced. Hikethe115 stopped to put on extra layers and I continued on, watching others ahead of me get pummeled by the wind! At one point on the cone, I just stood there, hunched over looking at a wide section of smooth ice wondering if I would get blown off the mountain . Up comes Hikethe115 and I say "I can't fight this wind!" She offerred to turn around with me (thank-you Dawn) which gave me the motivation to continue. As many of you know, it can be a real strength and spirit sapper fighting that kind of wind! Then we ran into Mcorsar who was concerned about his hands and getting down quick! Just below the summit some hiking God (all I remember seeing was a blue jacket...was it you Loren?) got in my face and with an amzingly high level of enthusiasm said "You're almost there, it's just ahead, you're doing great!" I literally felt his positive attitude rub off on me, stood a little straighter and pushed to the summit where HarryK was waiting with his camera. I could have smacked him when he insisted Dawn and I climb to the top of the summit rock but we did! A quick couple of photos and off we went. When we got back into the little protected area just below the summit the wind was absent and the sun was shining. The hike out I felt the need to just keep moving so I got out ahead of everyone (other than Guinness and JayH of course). Stopped at the privy at Marcy Dam (I swear it was only for a moment!) and Harry, Bruce, and Nancy caught up with me. I asked where Dawn was...no one had seen her. Along came Matt who also hadn't seen her since she got out in front of him. I had a moment of concern, believing she had stepped off the trail somewhere and gotten in trouble. The others, being far wiser than I suggested we get to the trailhead to see if she was there. Initially, I wanted to return up the trail to look. After a few tense moments, decisions were made and we all eventually continued on. As it turned out, Dawn got by me while I was in the privy and was at the trailhead. We had a wonderful celebration that evening and discussed the curve balls winter hiking had thrown at us that day.

Sunday Mcorsar and I headed up to Peggy O'brien with full packs. We stopped and chatted with just about EVERYONE who was coming down the trail including Loren (who we'd met on Marcy the day before) and several people who spoke about the rescue of the hiker who fell on Gothics. We got many good trail reports and SLOWLY made our way up. Just short of the camp, skidoc caught up to us rushing along so he could bag a peak before the day was over. We settled in at the camp and then headed up Big Slide. It was a nice day for hiking, alternating between sunshine and small snowsqualls. I was bare-booting it and Mcorsar put on snowshoes (smart thinking Matt!) In a ridiculously easy section of trail, I lost footing in a stream bed and went down, HARD on my right arm. I have no visual memory for several minutes but I do recall feeling a little panicky because I knew I was in a stream and wanted to get up before I got wet. My leg was held down by some blowdown I had slid under and I felt trapped. It was a scary feeling but I slid out of my pack, rolled over and managed to get on my feet. About this time Mcorsar came around the corner and thought I was puking! I guess I said something like "I'm hurt bad" and I was blubbering. Much to his credit, he quickly started pulling gear out of his pack to help out which really helped to calm me down. He got my arm destabilized and fed me some motrin. Matt was clear and calm in asking questions and in giving directions which was enormously helpful. Now I don't ask for or accept help very well but I certainly learned how to be more gracious about it. As Matt said, I refused to give up my pack, partly because as a frequent solo hiker, I've learned that my pack could mean my life and partly because I didn't want to admit I was unable to fully get myself out. It was a slow trip back down the mountain and near the bottom we ran into Dory and Amy. By that time I think I was a little shocky and getting cold. I mentioned to Matt I wanted to lay down and nap I think his reply was something like "not now, keep walking." We made it back to Peggy O and I just sort of zoned for awhile. When Skidoc returned from his hike he gave me encouragement to eat and drink (funny how we always forget that even when we know it's so important) and after I did so, I felt better. It was a tough night trying to sleep between the pain and TeeJay's snoring! But when I got up in the morning I felt much better and promptly announced I would be staying in camp. Well let me tell you, you could have cut the tension with a knife! Skidoc says "what's the injury look like?" and I replied "don't know, haven't looked." He suggested I check that out before I decide if I'm staying. So off I go to try to remove my base layer to check out my arm. OUCH It hurt so badly I couldn't even get my arm out of the sleeve so I walked back into the dining room and said, "change of plans, I'm going out." You could see the relief on everyone's faces. Sorry all for being pig-headed. We let everyone get off on their hikes for the day and then Matt and I headed back to the Garden. With Matt graciously carrying out my full pack. As I said in an earlier post, thank-you all for your support. I learned a great deal about being part of a group instead of a willful individual . And Matt, as others have said on this board, you're a real stand-up guy. My mistep profoundly impacted your vacation and you just saw it as part of what you do as a member of this community and as a friend. Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you.

One more comment...I CAN'T BELIEVE BIG SLIDE HAS DEFEATED ME...TWICE Now I'm thinking I should be saving it as my finish! If I could get anyone to go with me

 

[Jay H]

Great reports Matt and Terri, I just was amazed at this:

TeeJay's snoring

What??? You mean TeeJay actually stopped drinking for a while to actually snore???

You really should go over the Brothers to Big Slide anyway, lots of good views from the Brothers...

As they say, the third time is the charm.

Jay

 

[Tom Rankin]

Pics:

http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/Basin.JPG Basin from Saddleback
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/Marcy.JPG Marcy from Saddleback
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/Gothics.JPG Gothics from Saddleback
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/PeggyO.JPG Peggy O'Brien Camp
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/ImMelting.JPG Icicles melting on Peggy
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/LaurieandMatt.JPG Laurie and Matt viewing Gothics
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/TomandGothics.JPG Tom in front of Gothics

 

[Dory]

I already have my big Saddleback post up but I just wanted to add another big T H A N K Y O U to Tom for organizing the trip and keeping us all organized at Peggy. It was such a great opportunity to meet some VFTT'ers and real kindred spirits.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Just a few comments from me.

I had a great time. I'm glad I was able to join in at the last minute.

I'll second what everyone else said. Matt's a great guy, and those who can call themselves his friends are lucky.

Tom: Thanks so much for everything. I feel bad about only having one beer for you.

Although I hauled in a lot, I did cut back on some things to minimize my weight. Yes, I had an 8 pound cast iron tortilla press (necessary), but I left my down booties in my car (not necessary). I may be stupid, but I'm not crazy.

Related to that, I found out a new interesting way of estimating temperature. It works when you are in a building that has a steel grate at the door, as well as an aluminum threshold on the door. At temperatures from about +10F up to +20F, bare feet stick to the steel, but not the aluminium. Below +10F, they start sticking to the aluminium as well. This is useful to know, and can be a source of impressing people with you knowledge... "How cold is it?" "Dunno. Let me take off my shoes and go outside to find out."

That 'thing' I was hauling on my back. It took up the whole back seat of my car, and when I went through customs, the agent said, "How many people are traveling with you?"

I was really impressed with the bubbly enthusiasm of Dory.

T-Max: I'm just impressed.

I still don't understand how that card game works.

I'll let y'all know in a week or so if there was any effect from drinking the water from the wrong pot.

Here a picture:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmpadk/pic1.jpg

Here's a picture of the cabin from Lower Wolfjaw

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmpadk/pic2.jpg

And some dead soldiers:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmpadk/pic3.jpg

And I'm still wondering how come nobody wanted any Thai basil on their oatmeal.

 

[skidoc22]

Yet another tale

I have to say that it was interesting to try to answer the question "so who are you going with?" "A bunch of people who met on the internet?" Doesn't really sound all too good. "I don't really know?" Sounds worse. So I settled on " a sort of a loosely associated hiking club." Quizzical looks but no real questions.

Headed up on Sunday and met Tom and Laurie at the Roostercomb parking area. Soon after, Fred zipped in - both of us realizing I had just passed him on the Northway. We had met just two weeks before on a bushwhack in the Dix range. After a time we left for the Garden as no one else apparently needed a ride up. On the way in we met a few groups on the way out including the fellow who fell on Gothics. We heard all the stories of the trails from the day before and headed on in to Peggy O.

As I planned to hike LWJ that afternoon and it was already almost 11AM starting out I tried to move along. Most of the others were ahead of us so I caught up and joined Tmax and Mcorsar. Turning around to talk with them was a bad idea in snowshoes. Now I know what it's like to be an upside down turtle! Tmax offered me a hand but thinking I'd likely just pull her down as well I managed to unturtle myself and stand back up. An inauspicious start to the days hiking adventures.

At the camp we met Alistair, Pete and Cantdog. Pete had to unfortunately make another trip back to the Bear Brook Leanto where he deposited half of his 70#s of gear. Virtually everyone was hiking Big Slide that day but having done the same on a previous trip I had planned to do LWJ (missed the previous year). I don't generally like to hike solo in the winter but I felt comfortable that everyone knew my plans and were tuned in to my anticipated due back time.

Didn't see anyone on the trail till after the col but met two guys on the way down from the summit both with crampons, one with ice axe. They had lost a GPS but unfortunately I hadn't seen it. Despite the icy conditions I was able to make the round trip in my MSR snowshoes using ski poles with only one slip on the descent. On return trip about 3-4" of new snow fell and when I met the guys at the WJ leanto they had given up hope of finding the GPS. After chatting a bit and a powerbar I strolled on back to Peggy O.

Once there I was alerted to Tmax' injury. All she kept saying was, "it'll be fine and I'll be hiking Haystack and Basin in the morning with you guys." It was pretty clear as the evening progressed and the situation wasn't improving that this was not going to be the case. We all tried to keep her spirits up but knew she was going to need to get the heck out of there in the AM. As noted above, the rest is history. Kudos to Matt for forsaking his hike for the day to make sure she got out and back to civilization OK.

I don't think any of us (besides TeeJay) got much sleep that night - all getting used to the sounds of 12 people in a space smaller than your average motel room. As Matt noted - it was interesting listening to the rhythms of 12 people sleeping in one place.

To be continued...

 

[skidoc22]

Part two

On day two I planned on hiking Haystack and Basin and descending down Chicken Coop Brook. I was going to be relegated to a solo hike for most of it due to Tmax and Matt's departure, when Alistair decided to join me. Alistair kept telling me how slow he was going to be (having hiked the Dix range with him before I didn't believe a word of it). Turns out we hit all of our goals at or before target times. The trip over Little Haystack and Haystack was made more interesting by the wind than the ice and snow. I was pleasantly surprised that there was enough bare rock and "fuzzy ice" to make it doable.

Despite a hike over 4 of the 5 Dixes two days prior, Alistair agreed to try for Basin only a 1.3 mile jaunt from the base of LH. I didn't alert him to the "Ascent 1725' " sign. We charged down to the col in about 2 feet of untrodden snow then the real climb began. We slugged our way up Basin over the steep icy trail and followed Tom, Laurie and Fred's little side routes around the dicier parts. Once atop Basin with limited views we decided to continue toward Saddleback and down the CCB drainage. Fortunately the trail was already broken out down toward the brook. We cut over to the right for the bottom half of the slide after following Tom's tracks and then down the brook - up, down, and all around the blowdown. After about an hour I checked the GPS thinking we were about halfway down, but lo and behold, we were only 1/4 mile from the leanto. At the leanto we stopped for a bite and changing some wet clothes then cruised on back to Peggy O. quite pleased with our days outing.

Having recently eaten I wasn't in the mood to prepare anything for dinner so I just sat and hung out with the gang, noteably Dory and her sister Amy who entertained us with their joys and not so joys of buttsliding tales. I was concerned after hearing about the dazed and confused part but Dory was feeling no significant aftereffects (fortunately). As luck would have it Dory and Amy had some extra pasta so I was invited to partake. Right up until the bite into the boullion cube it was the best shrimp and crab rotini casserole I ever ate. After I was able to get the salty taste out of my mouth it returned to being the best shrimp and crab rotini I ever ate.

After chatting for a long while, hearing about more stories and adventures, and Tom's astronomy lesson, we all hit the hay, this time tired enough to sleep through TeeJay's snoring.

On the third day a number of us bid farewell to the remaining crew and hiked out as planned back to the Garden and civilization. As has happened many times before, we left on the day it would have been perfect to be on top of a mountain. On the way out Dory, Amy, Alistair and I planned to head to the Red Robin in Albany for lunch. My wife met us there, got a table and marvelled at the war stories from the past few days. She just kept shaking her head a lot and thinking "better you than me!"

I want to thank everyone for a sharing a great time - especially Tom for arranging and managing the trip. I think for a group of 12 people many of whom were previously unacquainted it went remarkably well. I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with you all. I hope to see or hike with you all again some time in the future.

Mike

 

[Pete_Hickey]

... I think for a group of 12 people many of whom were previously unacquainted it went remarkably well.

Yeah, this is something that struck me. Everyone got along well. There was no tension, fights, bad moods, grumpy people, etc.

We would have been a horrible group for a reality TV show.

 

[Dugan]

At temperatures from about +10F up to +20F, bare feet stick to the steel, but not the aluminium. Below +10F, they start sticking to the aluminium as well. This is useful to know, and can be a source of impressing people with you knowledge... "How cold is it?" "Dunno. Let me take off my shoes and go outside to find out."

Glad to see you had your boots on for the carry-in!

 

[teejay]

The rest of the story

I set out from the Garden later in the day than the rest of the Peggy Oh! gang, as planned. As usual my pace was faster than it needed to be but I was feeling pretty good for being a bit out of shape. When I arrived at Bear Brook lean-to, it looked occupied as there was some strange looking gear near the front, a pack frame and a milk crate. Looked like part of some trail crew's stuff. But there wasn't any sleeping gear or clothes. Odd. Hickey?? Nah, he's way ahead of me. Right? Sure nuf, not 50 feet up the trail from the lean-to a lone figure approached. As we neared I heard, "Is that teejay?" 'Twas indeed Hickey. It seems his pack (in Tom's pic)was too heavy, even for him. So he had split his load and hiked in to the camp, then trudged 2 1/2 miles back to pick up the rest of his load. We finished the hike in at a much more relaxed and comfortable pace.

The rest of the day was spent renewing old friendships and making new ones, enjoying some very fresh, spicy, chopped-on-the-spot salsa that Pete made (thanks for truckin' in all that extra weight, Pete), eating dinner, drinking wine and listening to all the accounts of the day's hikes and injuries.

Tuesday I decided to just hang at the cabin and relax. Did a bit of exploring of the area and waited for Matt to return from his walk out with Terri. I was relieved that everything had worked out so well and that she was able to hit the road to return to meet her parents near Troy. The rest of the day was talk with Matt, lots of it, then dinner and more just like the day before.

I learned a few things on this trip. One is that I don't need to climb a mountain to have an unbelievably great walk into the woods. Thanks, Tom, so much for organizing this.

Two, having a give-away drawing is a great idea made even better when you've just won the grand prize yourself. Think I'll give that a try sometime.

Three, some people think I snore. In my own defense, I think you're just light sleepers.

teejay

 

[teejay]

One other thing I learned,

and this is very important, I learned that your feet will NEVER, EVER stick to iron, aluminum, titanium, nobendium or any other metal no matter how cold it is, if you're wearing down booties.

teejay

 

[Pete_Hickey]

.... some people think I snore. In my own defense, I think you're just light sleepers.

I must say this in TeeJay's defense. He was not the only one snoring.

One night reminded me of being at a jazz concert. Just as each instramantalist does a solo for a while, it seemed that everyone was taking turns snoring. Then (at t end of the song) they ALL came back in together!

Also.... there must have been a lot of people sleeping, because not too many people snore while awake.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

....barefoot....

Glad to see you had your boots on for the carry-in!

When going for water on a steep-ish icy section, I found out that tonails are not match for crampons... In fact not even boots.. Bare feet are more grippy than many boots in teh summer on dry rock, but on packed snow and ice, they don't work too well.... Also, my crampons are step-in, and my feet don'T have the grooves, so I had to wear my boots.