do_truancy
New member
Date: July 4, 2009
Route: Avalon Trail, A-Z trail, Mt, Tom spur, Willey Range Trail, Ethan Pond Trail, Kedron Flume Trail
Time: 5:15
It was the Fourth and I needed an independent hike, so I spotted my car at the Willey House and was dropped at the highland center by UFC. It was afternoon at this point and there was a 4th party to get back to so I was planning to zoom.
On the way up Avalon I met many peeps’ coming down wearing Poncho’s, one being Happy Hiker! And as was the case the first time I met her she was all smiles. We kept the greeting short because I didn’t want to get chilled. I heard thunder and was hoping by the time I touched Mt. Tom in little over an hour it would have moved off. Sadly the intro to the song Thunderstruck (AC/DC) got stuck running through my head for the rest of the hike. At the top of Mt Tom the rain ahnd thunder had indeed stopped. I could see over to Mt Field and out across the valley to Hale. After a pic or two, I headed over and up Mt Field.
There were no more people for the rest of the day. I was heading down Mt Field and could not see anything but gray. The trail kept going down and down some more, I was sure I was heading down to far and that I was heading north instead of south. I checked the compass twice and still had the feeling I had f’ked up somehow. Was I heading down the Avalon trail instead of going over to Willey? Damn it. I turned around and went back up Field to check the sign. I WAS going the right way, in fact I could only go the right way. That’s OK I could use the extra leg work.
The trail seemed to go way down before it started to go up to Willey. It was raining at the top of Willey so I did not hang out. It was steep heading off and I enjoyed lobbing my poles down the trail and scampering down on the rocks picking them up to do it again, I was getting good at hitting my targets. The Wiley trail turned into Ethan Pond and flattened out. The trail conditions were much easier then the Kilkenny Ridge Trail that I was walking on the day before. All was well. But then came another junction and Kedron Flume Trail was not even mentioned. However it seemed that this turn had to be the trail I wanted to take. About 20 mins down the trail I knew it was right because the FLUME was ROARING! WOW it was fantastic. Thank You UCF for making this suggestion. I took a few pics and began the twitching-switching-back-going-down trail to the Railroad tracks. After that it was another 30 mins down to the car.
It did feel odd that the Fugacity was the last car in the lot; when I left her there were quite a few cars. I change out of wet top and shoes, protected the seat, turned up the heat, changed the sound track in my head and drove out passing so many majestically powerful waterfalls. Hiking in the rain has its rewards.
Route: Avalon Trail, A-Z trail, Mt, Tom spur, Willey Range Trail, Ethan Pond Trail, Kedron Flume Trail
Time: 5:15
It was the Fourth and I needed an independent hike, so I spotted my car at the Willey House and was dropped at the highland center by UFC. It was afternoon at this point and there was a 4th party to get back to so I was planning to zoom.
On the way up Avalon I met many peeps’ coming down wearing Poncho’s, one being Happy Hiker! And as was the case the first time I met her she was all smiles. We kept the greeting short because I didn’t want to get chilled. I heard thunder and was hoping by the time I touched Mt. Tom in little over an hour it would have moved off. Sadly the intro to the song Thunderstruck (AC/DC) got stuck running through my head for the rest of the hike. At the top of Mt Tom the rain ahnd thunder had indeed stopped. I could see over to Mt Field and out across the valley to Hale. After a pic or two, I headed over and up Mt Field.
There were no more people for the rest of the day. I was heading down Mt Field and could not see anything but gray. The trail kept going down and down some more, I was sure I was heading down to far and that I was heading north instead of south. I checked the compass twice and still had the feeling I had f’ked up somehow. Was I heading down the Avalon trail instead of going over to Willey? Damn it. I turned around and went back up Field to check the sign. I WAS going the right way, in fact I could only go the right way. That’s OK I could use the extra leg work.
The trail seemed to go way down before it started to go up to Willey. It was raining at the top of Willey so I did not hang out. It was steep heading off and I enjoyed lobbing my poles down the trail and scampering down on the rocks picking them up to do it again, I was getting good at hitting my targets. The Wiley trail turned into Ethan Pond and flattened out. The trail conditions were much easier then the Kilkenny Ridge Trail that I was walking on the day before. All was well. But then came another junction and Kedron Flume Trail was not even mentioned. However it seemed that this turn had to be the trail I wanted to take. About 20 mins down the trail I knew it was right because the FLUME was ROARING! WOW it was fantastic. Thank You UCF for making this suggestion. I took a few pics and began the twitching-switching-back-going-down trail to the Railroad tracks. After that it was another 30 mins down to the car.
It did feel odd that the Fugacity was the last car in the lot; when I left her there were quite a few cars. I change out of wet top and shoes, protected the seat, turned up the heat, changed the sound track in my head and drove out passing so many majestically powerful waterfalls. Hiking in the rain has its rewards.
