lumberzac
New member
Part 1
Question: What does a native (or is that naive) Adirondacker do when recent rains mean there will be too much mud and muck in the Adirondacks to go backpacking?
Answer: He goes hiking in Vermont to do a section of the Long Trail, because everyone knows the Long Trail is always dry and mud free. {end sarcasm}
Actually we knew what we were well aware what we were in for and the Long Trail didn’t disappoint. We saw plenty of mud, but only a few spots were ankle deep or more. The participants of this trip were Sherpaman, his dog The Goat, and myself. Our plan was to hike from Brandon Gap to Lincoln Gap. Our Journey began Saturday afternoon with a 4 hour drive to Lincoln Gap to drop off a car, well finding the gap was a little bit harder than we thought from the West side and we ended up making a round about way by driving through Appalachian Gap, down to Rt. 100, and up Lincoln Gap Road from the East. Brandon Gap was much easier to find and we found ourselves at the parking area at about 9pm. We rushed south up the trail towards the Sunrise Shelter in a hope to make it to the shelter before it got dark enough to require headlamps. We made it only to find the shelter and surrounding tent sites occupied by a group of 10 hikers. The group said the saw a few places suitable for a tent around the junction of the Long Trail with the Chittenden Brook Trail, but this was 1.5 miles in the wrong direction, so we made our way back towards the gap. We managed to find a small semi level spot well off the trail that was large enough for the tent that would work fine for us as long as we didn’t get a downpouring rain; we seem to have a knack for finding these undesirable spots in the dark. We setup camp and got ready for a long uncomfortable night, two guys, a dog, plus gear in a Zeus II Exo on uneven ground can be a bit cramped.
Saturday morning we awoke to the downpour we were hoping not to get. It took close to an hour for the rain to stop and my sleeping pad was the only thing that kept my sleeping bag dry. We quickly packed up and hiked back to my car just as the next string of storms moved through. After the rain finally stopped we once again hit the trail. The hike up Mt Horrid was pretty steep and really got the blood and sweat flowing. We took the side trail to the top of the cliff where the wind made it hard to stand. We didn’t hang out on the cliff too long and soon found ourselves pushing northward over the summit of Mt Horrid. It was somewhere in this section that we began to see moose sign in the trail. First tracks than many large piles of poo. Haven’t the moose heard of LNT?
They left quite a mess all over the trail. We made a stop at Cape Lookoff where we got a nice view of the inside of a cloud. Sherpaman told me that he had the same view the last time he hiked that section of trail 5 years ago. That was pretty much the tone for the morning hiking the trail, see lots of moose sign (at one point I heard something stomp its feet a couple times off in the woods, but never saw anything) and get socked in views at any of the lookouts. By the end of the morning the sun finally came out and it had become a hot and sticky day. We took a couple breaks as the day went, one at Sucker Brook Shelter, and one at Lake Pleiad where The Goat took a swim to cool off. Our final push was to the Boyce Shelter. At the shelter we only saw two other hikes, the first looked at us as he simply said, “I’m in the zone.” The second smiled and nodded as he walked by. We would end up running into these two the next day. We cooked dinner and hung around the shelter for a few hours before we went to sleep around 8.
Saturday night and Sunday mileage – 15 miles
Elevation Gain - 5106’
Elevation Loss - 4055’
I'll post Part 2 when I finish writing it.
Question: What does a native (or is that naive) Adirondacker do when recent rains mean there will be too much mud and muck in the Adirondacks to go backpacking?
Answer: He goes hiking in Vermont to do a section of the Long Trail, because everyone knows the Long Trail is always dry and mud free. {end sarcasm}
Actually we knew what we were well aware what we were in for and the Long Trail didn’t disappoint. We saw plenty of mud, but only a few spots were ankle deep or more. The participants of this trip were Sherpaman, his dog The Goat, and myself. Our plan was to hike from Brandon Gap to Lincoln Gap. Our Journey began Saturday afternoon with a 4 hour drive to Lincoln Gap to drop off a car, well finding the gap was a little bit harder than we thought from the West side and we ended up making a round about way by driving through Appalachian Gap, down to Rt. 100, and up Lincoln Gap Road from the East. Brandon Gap was much easier to find and we found ourselves at the parking area at about 9pm. We rushed south up the trail towards the Sunrise Shelter in a hope to make it to the shelter before it got dark enough to require headlamps. We made it only to find the shelter and surrounding tent sites occupied by a group of 10 hikers. The group said the saw a few places suitable for a tent around the junction of the Long Trail with the Chittenden Brook Trail, but this was 1.5 miles in the wrong direction, so we made our way back towards the gap. We managed to find a small semi level spot well off the trail that was large enough for the tent that would work fine for us as long as we didn’t get a downpouring rain; we seem to have a knack for finding these undesirable spots in the dark. We setup camp and got ready for a long uncomfortable night, two guys, a dog, plus gear in a Zeus II Exo on uneven ground can be a bit cramped.
Saturday morning we awoke to the downpour we were hoping not to get. It took close to an hour for the rain to stop and my sleeping pad was the only thing that kept my sleeping bag dry. We quickly packed up and hiked back to my car just as the next string of storms moved through. After the rain finally stopped we once again hit the trail. The hike up Mt Horrid was pretty steep and really got the blood and sweat flowing. We took the side trail to the top of the cliff where the wind made it hard to stand. We didn’t hang out on the cliff too long and soon found ourselves pushing northward over the summit of Mt Horrid. It was somewhere in this section that we began to see moose sign in the trail. First tracks than many large piles of poo. Haven’t the moose heard of LNT?
They left quite a mess all over the trail. We made a stop at Cape Lookoff where we got a nice view of the inside of a cloud. Sherpaman told me that he had the same view the last time he hiked that section of trail 5 years ago. That was pretty much the tone for the morning hiking the trail, see lots of moose sign (at one point I heard something stomp its feet a couple times off in the woods, but never saw anything) and get socked in views at any of the lookouts. By the end of the morning the sun finally came out and it had become a hot and sticky day. We took a couple breaks as the day went, one at Sucker Brook Shelter, and one at Lake Pleiad where The Goat took a swim to cool off. Our final push was to the Boyce Shelter. At the shelter we only saw two other hikes, the first looked at us as he simply said, “I’m in the zone.” The second smiled and nodded as he walked by. We would end up running into these two the next day. We cooked dinner and hung around the shelter for a few hours before we went to sleep around 8. Saturday night and Sunday mileage – 15 miles
Elevation Gain - 5106’
Elevation Loss - 4055’
I'll post Part 2 when I finish writing it.
