adktyler
Active member
I always enjoy new and fresh trips and turning something typical into something a little out of the ordinary. That is what I attempted to do this morning as I climbed three small peaks in the Southern Adirondacks. I also wanted to do a solo trip, since I hadn't done one in quite awhile.
I began with Spruce, a short 2.2 mile round trip hike. I arrived at the trail head at 5:30am in the dark, cold, and rain. “I must have a screw loose or something to be out here doing this, and actually enjoying it” I thought to myself. After re-reading the description in my guidebook I began hiking (at 5:45), just as it stopped raining, thank goodness. The problem with hiking in the dark, though, up a trail that has about 2.6745 billion abandoned roads crisscrossing it, and no actual or consistent trail markers, is that it’s hard to follow. Within 5 minutes I had lost the trail. I followed a small stone fence until it disappeared, and then followed some little shiny things on the trees that were circular but about 10 times smaller than a trailmarker disk.
Eventually all signs of civilization disappeared, and I was left to fend for myself or backtrack and try to re-locate the actual trail. I decided to fend for myself and employ the help of my compass. I knew that I needed to go up, and that up went north, so I went up and north! After about 30 minutes I was close to the summit, and could finally but my headlamp away. By 6:20 I was on the summit enjoying the wind, newly-forming snow, and lack of pretty sunrise that I had hoped for. I spent about 2 minutes on top, and then began heading down on the actual trail. Even in the daylight I still had a hard time deciding what was a foot trail and what was not, but I made it down all right and was back to my car at 6:45am, making that unnecessarily unnerving hike take 1 hour.
My next stop was Hadley Mountain, a little steeper 3.6 mile round trip hike that was only a 25 minute drive from Spruce. It was nice to be able to set my own pace, and within 30 minutes of leaving my car at 7:30 I was standing on the summit of Hadley. MAN, was it windy! Of all the 23 High Peaks I climbed this winter, Hadley was winder than all of them combined! Climbing the tower was quite exciting because of this, and even down below I was being pushed over by strong gusts. I soon took shelter near the old observer’s cabin, had some food, and checked the map one more time for my upcoming adventure. At 8:30 I took a compass bearing and headed off for my second Spruce Mountain of the day in the fierce wind and thick snow. I couldn’t see more than 100 yards ahead of me, so I just followed the compass and climbed down into the valley.
The first part was quite tricky because of the steep, and often vertical, rock walls. It made it more exciting, however, and once below them the forest became open and easy to hike though. The wind and snow also let up, giving me a faint view of the landscape far ahead of me. The upper northwest face still had a lot of snow, at some points drifting as high as 2 or 3 feet, but it tapered off to infrequent patches down below. Most of the woods down in the valley were a conifer forest; with frequent scattered marshes throughout (I assume it would be dryer in the summer). I crossed several abandoned roads while hiking, none of which were marked on my map. After a little while I reached the stream I was aiming for, and followed it down to the beginning of the Spruce Mountain ridgeline. Then began a long hike up Spruce, one that made my legs cramp up from lack of use in the last several weeks.
The ridgeline was easy to follow, and I didn’t need my compass. The wind hammed me almost the whole time, but it was a warm wind so it didn’t bother me too much. By 10:30 I had reached the summit of Spruce, with very limited views of the surrounding peaks. There were lots of signs from people up there, including an extensive network of cairns and trailmarker disks, directing people to the northwest and west face where several trails descended the mountain. I found this interesting, since I was on state land and assumed those were all illegal. I spent about 5 minutes on the summit taking pictures, eating, and such. I then began my descent via the southeast vale. This was quite steep, but provided the most direct route to the valley. Once back in the valley, I began my final ascent back up Hadley, straight up the western face. This was steep, challenging, and held large boulder fields and deep snow pockets. It was a good finale for a fun climb. I used my compass to direct my ascent, and made it back to the summit by 12:00, making the round trip bushwhack for Spruce Mountain 3 ½ hours.
Back at the observer’s cabin there was a group of hikers from the Albany area, celebrating one of their participant’s birthdays. It was nice to see other people on the trail, especially on such a dreary day. I chatted with them for a few minutes, and then hit the trail again. I jogged back down to the car, and made it in 20 minutes, arriving at 12:30 exactly. Overall it was a fun, and fairly easy, little bushwhack. I brought a GPS with me, but didn’t need to use it; a map and compass were plenty. As far as wildlife is concerned, I saw an otter, a snowshoe hair, and about 20 dear. I’m curious if anyone else on here has done this route? It would be great beginners bushwhack, and a nice way to spice up a fire tower hike.
The trip up Hadley and Spruce # 2:
Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/adktyler/SpruceHadleySpruce?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSE463PupfmuwE#
Videos to come hopefully tomorrow.
I began with Spruce, a short 2.2 mile round trip hike. I arrived at the trail head at 5:30am in the dark, cold, and rain. “I must have a screw loose or something to be out here doing this, and actually enjoying it” I thought to myself. After re-reading the description in my guidebook I began hiking (at 5:45), just as it stopped raining, thank goodness. The problem with hiking in the dark, though, up a trail that has about 2.6745 billion abandoned roads crisscrossing it, and no actual or consistent trail markers, is that it’s hard to follow. Within 5 minutes I had lost the trail. I followed a small stone fence until it disappeared, and then followed some little shiny things on the trees that were circular but about 10 times smaller than a trailmarker disk.
Eventually all signs of civilization disappeared, and I was left to fend for myself or backtrack and try to re-locate the actual trail. I decided to fend for myself and employ the help of my compass. I knew that I needed to go up, and that up went north, so I went up and north! After about 30 minutes I was close to the summit, and could finally but my headlamp away. By 6:20 I was on the summit enjoying the wind, newly-forming snow, and lack of pretty sunrise that I had hoped for. I spent about 2 minutes on top, and then began heading down on the actual trail. Even in the daylight I still had a hard time deciding what was a foot trail and what was not, but I made it down all right and was back to my car at 6:45am, making that unnecessarily unnerving hike take 1 hour.
My next stop was Hadley Mountain, a little steeper 3.6 mile round trip hike that was only a 25 minute drive from Spruce. It was nice to be able to set my own pace, and within 30 minutes of leaving my car at 7:30 I was standing on the summit of Hadley. MAN, was it windy! Of all the 23 High Peaks I climbed this winter, Hadley was winder than all of them combined! Climbing the tower was quite exciting because of this, and even down below I was being pushed over by strong gusts. I soon took shelter near the old observer’s cabin, had some food, and checked the map one more time for my upcoming adventure. At 8:30 I took a compass bearing and headed off for my second Spruce Mountain of the day in the fierce wind and thick snow. I couldn’t see more than 100 yards ahead of me, so I just followed the compass and climbed down into the valley.
The first part was quite tricky because of the steep, and often vertical, rock walls. It made it more exciting, however, and once below them the forest became open and easy to hike though. The wind and snow also let up, giving me a faint view of the landscape far ahead of me. The upper northwest face still had a lot of snow, at some points drifting as high as 2 or 3 feet, but it tapered off to infrequent patches down below. Most of the woods down in the valley were a conifer forest; with frequent scattered marshes throughout (I assume it would be dryer in the summer). I crossed several abandoned roads while hiking, none of which were marked on my map. After a little while I reached the stream I was aiming for, and followed it down to the beginning of the Spruce Mountain ridgeline. Then began a long hike up Spruce, one that made my legs cramp up from lack of use in the last several weeks.
The ridgeline was easy to follow, and I didn’t need my compass. The wind hammed me almost the whole time, but it was a warm wind so it didn’t bother me too much. By 10:30 I had reached the summit of Spruce, with very limited views of the surrounding peaks. There were lots of signs from people up there, including an extensive network of cairns and trailmarker disks, directing people to the northwest and west face where several trails descended the mountain. I found this interesting, since I was on state land and assumed those were all illegal. I spent about 5 minutes on the summit taking pictures, eating, and such. I then began my descent via the southeast vale. This was quite steep, but provided the most direct route to the valley. Once back in the valley, I began my final ascent back up Hadley, straight up the western face. This was steep, challenging, and held large boulder fields and deep snow pockets. It was a good finale for a fun climb. I used my compass to direct my ascent, and made it back to the summit by 12:00, making the round trip bushwhack for Spruce Mountain 3 ½ hours.
Back at the observer’s cabin there was a group of hikers from the Albany area, celebrating one of their participant’s birthdays. It was nice to see other people on the trail, especially on such a dreary day. I chatted with them for a few minutes, and then hit the trail again. I jogged back down to the car, and made it in 20 minutes, arriving at 12:30 exactly. Overall it was a fun, and fairly easy, little bushwhack. I brought a GPS with me, but didn’t need to use it; a map and compass were plenty. As far as wildlife is concerned, I saw an otter, a snowshoe hair, and about 20 dear. I’m curious if anyone else on here has done this route? It would be great beginners bushwhack, and a nice way to spice up a fire tower hike.
The trip up Hadley and Spruce # 2:
Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/adktyler/SpruceHadleySpruce?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSE463PupfmuwE#
Videos to come hopefully tomorrow.
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