ColdRiverRun
New member
I have been saving these two for a perfect fall or winter day for what had felt like a very long time. The idea of getting clear views and walking across the ponds and scrub brush during a winter crust or a peak foliage hike standing next to the massive vertical drop of Wallface had serious sex appeal.
So with what look to be the perfect conditions I set off last Thursday the 5th. I knew I wasn't going to get an early start because of some work requirements but still had what I felt was plenty of time. Arriving at the Adk Lodge road I went through my, "should I pay the damn parking fee or just walk the extra mile each way?" question. I usually go 50/50 on this one in winter and today I chose to do the extra 2 miles of walking.
Once I got past the icy Heart lake loop the trail was in great condition. I ran into only two groups, both older couples just taking a stroll on a nice day. When I ran into the second couple past the 2nd branch of the Rocky Falls side trail they were looking kind of worn out. After exchanging greetings they asked if I knew how far it was to the leanto. I could tell it was one of those they want to ask a lot more questions so I stopped and immediately started to take off my pack and say, "well, let me look at my map" even though I knew it was only about .4 or less away. Sure enough I started getting the, "is there much more climbing" and such reassurance questions and I was all to happy to let them know that they were close and should continue and just take a nice break at the leanto. They were wearing big heavy ski jackets in weather that felt so warm I wanted to hike Pete Hickey shirtless style.
I stopped and grabbed a quick drink at the Scott Clearing leanto
I hit the junction in no time and then started to climb. This climb kinda sucked in that the sun had really done a job on the snow and I was making huge melon balls on the shoes. Plus I was now in solo break mode with a ton of gear because I was solo bushwhacking and if you can tell this trail doesn't exactly get too much traffic.
The trail overall was very easy to follow to the first ponds. And hardly any blowdown. All though I did have a tough battle with this Sequoia. It may have looked with the amount of snow on me that the tree won, but ohh no, I had the last laugh.
Scott pond was kinda cool and so was the drainage.
The trail after that really twist and turns. Along the way I ran into the sign that says the Adirondack lol is 6.25 miles that away, which made me LOL. Gotta love old ADK trail signs!
And then there he/she blows, Mc/MacNaughty pants! Wallface ponds were pretty good sized for being at this elevation I thought. The views looking back were also acceptable.
As I started up, the woods were so open you could of pointed in any direction and made a trail. I just followed a bearing semi loosely and just took the path of least resistance. I only ran it one maybe two spots that trees were actually touching me on both sides. Then as I approach the top it really opened up were there must be blowdown or short scrub. I missed the highpoint or sign highpoint by about 75ft, sorry Neil. Getting to the sign I had great views of the Sawtooth range. That's #3 in foreground and #1 back center and #2 back left high point.
To prove that the sign was still there to those that claimed it wasn't because they couldn't find it and how much better looking I am than Jason F and Steve D I took a summit hero shot.
I then got a little goofy LRiz style and made my best cutesy/mysterious face while flashing my gang sign.
I also took a picture of my pack to show that I carried it up there since I was solo. I screw around a lot but getting back home eventually and in good condition ranks pretty high on my real list. Most situations are very easy if you have the gear and are mentally prepared for them. It took me 58 minutes up from the edge of the pond in an enjoy the day pace and only 18 down through a open nicely slope decline.
Back at the ponds I took a moment to take stock and evaluate my condition and gear. I had only used the stuff I was wearing, had safety clothes and extra day clothes and had plenty of food and water so I decided to go for Wallface too. As I approached the junction of the Wallface ponds I noticed from the banks and the narrow channel that the section probably didn't have good ice. A whole bunch of thoughts of growing up a redneck and seeing this situation went through my head. Soft steep banks don't usually get good ice underneath them and since these ponds had potential for beavers I knew that beavers sometimes like to make dens in the banks if the water is deeper there. This is there usual MO in rivers and they will do it so that they have runs all winter if the ice gets deep and to avoid washing away of stick dens. Plus when they are going into and out of these bank dens they create a lot of air bubbles which get caught in the ice and tend to obviously make the ice weaker and thinner above there runs. Ok, redneck 101 over.
So, looking at the sticks I knew that there was not much activity so I decided I would just try it anyway and hug the bank. Sure enough I broke through. I was able to immediately grab to trees since it didn't just fall right through but had a bunch of snow covering slowing my dip. I splashed around but only ended up getting my outer boots and snowshoes wet. Little snow on them then bang off and I was all set to continue.
I thought of doing some Bear Grills techniques like stripping down buck naked and rubbing snow on myself then say things like, "boy, what I wouldn't do for some tea and crumpets right now! Oh, how I would enjoy a cup of ol' Grey!" but since I figured this wouldn't help to much why not just move on.
I chose a route going up Wallface that I had heard many a horror story on. But summer time horror stories can become winter delights and sure enough it was too bad. I could tell it would of been crazy in summer but the nice crust did its work. It actually really opened up towards the top because of the blowdown fields. The views off the top towards the cliff were great but the wind was in my face so I forgot to take pictures. But I did take some of the summit area for your viewing pleasure. You can tell what fun that area would be during the summer trying to sniff out the highpoint.
On the way down I had a beautiful view of the Mac range and sunset.
I quickly remembered if you are going to make a mistake with direction going NE off of Wallface make sure it is more N than E! I took the ridge all the way to the junction down below. I had lost light for about 15 minutes before I hit the junction of the streams. I figured this would be the best place to pick up the trail but I had to go to the two headlamp technique where you slowly scan with the one on your head and move one in your hand quickly over the same area to pick up any reflections. I'm glad I did because the few trail markers were worn and faded and the only thing I saw was a reflective thumb tack someone had put into a tree at the crossing. Trip out to the trail head and the extra mile to the car didn't seem to bad reminiscing about such a day.
Only two hikes left for the ADK 100, I can't believe I actually was able to save Hurricane to finish on.
This TR was brought to you by the bushwhacking trail food of old.
So with what look to be the perfect conditions I set off last Thursday the 5th. I knew I wasn't going to get an early start because of some work requirements but still had what I felt was plenty of time. Arriving at the Adk Lodge road I went through my, "should I pay the damn parking fee or just walk the extra mile each way?" question. I usually go 50/50 on this one in winter and today I chose to do the extra 2 miles of walking.
Once I got past the icy Heart lake loop the trail was in great condition. I ran into only two groups, both older couples just taking a stroll on a nice day. When I ran into the second couple past the 2nd branch of the Rocky Falls side trail they were looking kind of worn out. After exchanging greetings they asked if I knew how far it was to the leanto. I could tell it was one of those they want to ask a lot more questions so I stopped and immediately started to take off my pack and say, "well, let me look at my map" even though I knew it was only about .4 or less away. Sure enough I started getting the, "is there much more climbing" and such reassurance questions and I was all to happy to let them know that they were close and should continue and just take a nice break at the leanto. They were wearing big heavy ski jackets in weather that felt so warm I wanted to hike Pete Hickey shirtless style.
I stopped and grabbed a quick drink at the Scott Clearing leanto
I hit the junction in no time and then started to climb. This climb kinda sucked in that the sun had really done a job on the snow and I was making huge melon balls on the shoes. Plus I was now in solo break mode with a ton of gear because I was solo bushwhacking and if you can tell this trail doesn't exactly get too much traffic.
The trail overall was very easy to follow to the first ponds. And hardly any blowdown. All though I did have a tough battle with this Sequoia. It may have looked with the amount of snow on me that the tree won, but ohh no, I had the last laugh.
Scott pond was kinda cool and so was the drainage.
The trail after that really twist and turns. Along the way I ran into the sign that says the Adirondack lol is 6.25 miles that away, which made me LOL. Gotta love old ADK trail signs!
And then there he/she blows, Mc/MacNaughty pants! Wallface ponds were pretty good sized for being at this elevation I thought. The views looking back were also acceptable.
As I started up, the woods were so open you could of pointed in any direction and made a trail. I just followed a bearing semi loosely and just took the path of least resistance. I only ran it one maybe two spots that trees were actually touching me on both sides. Then as I approach the top it really opened up were there must be blowdown or short scrub. I missed the highpoint or sign highpoint by about 75ft, sorry Neil.
Getting to the sign I had great views of the Sawtooth range. That's #3 in foreground and #1 back center and #2 back left high point.To prove that the sign was still there to those that claimed it wasn't because they couldn't find it and how much better looking I am than Jason F and Steve D I took a summit hero shot.
I then got a little goofy LRiz style and made my best cutesy/mysterious face while flashing my gang sign.
I also took a picture of my pack to show that I carried it up there since I was solo. I screw around a lot but getting back home eventually and in good condition ranks pretty high on my real list. Most situations are very easy if you have the gear and are mentally prepared for them. It took me 58 minutes up from the edge of the pond in an enjoy the day pace and only 18 down through a open nicely slope decline.
Back at the ponds I took a moment to take stock and evaluate my condition and gear. I had only used the stuff I was wearing, had safety clothes and extra day clothes and had plenty of food and water so I decided to go for Wallface too. As I approached the junction of the Wallface ponds I noticed from the banks and the narrow channel that the section probably didn't have good ice. A whole bunch of thoughts of growing up a redneck and seeing this situation went through my head. Soft steep banks don't usually get good ice underneath them and since these ponds had potential for beavers I knew that beavers sometimes like to make dens in the banks if the water is deeper there. This is there usual MO in rivers and they will do it so that they have runs all winter if the ice gets deep and to avoid washing away of stick dens. Plus when they are going into and out of these bank dens they create a lot of air bubbles which get caught in the ice and tend to obviously make the ice weaker and thinner above there runs. Ok, redneck 101 over.
So, looking at the sticks I knew that there was not much activity so I decided I would just try it anyway and hug the bank. Sure enough I broke through. I was able to immediately grab to trees since it didn't just fall right through but had a bunch of snow covering slowing my dip. I splashed around but only ended up getting my outer boots and snowshoes wet. Little snow on them then bang off and I was all set to continue.
I thought of doing some Bear Grills techniques like stripping down buck naked and rubbing snow on myself then say things like, "boy, what I wouldn't do for some tea and crumpets right now! Oh, how I would enjoy a cup of ol' Grey!" but since I figured this wouldn't help to much why not just move on.
I chose a route going up Wallface that I had heard many a horror story on. But summer time horror stories can become winter delights and sure enough it was too bad. I could tell it would of been crazy in summer but the nice crust did its work. It actually really opened up towards the top because of the blowdown fields. The views off the top towards the cliff were great but the wind was in my face so I forgot to take pictures. But I did take some of the summit area for your viewing pleasure. You can tell what fun that area would be during the summer trying to sniff out the highpoint.
On the way down I had a beautiful view of the Mac range and sunset.
I quickly remembered if you are going to make a mistake with direction going NE off of Wallface make sure it is more N than E! I took the ridge all the way to the junction down below. I had lost light for about 15 minutes before I hit the junction of the streams. I figured this would be the best place to pick up the trail but I had to go to the two headlamp technique where you slowly scan with the one on your head and move one in your hand quickly over the same area to pick up any reflections. I'm glad I did because the few trail markers were worn and faded and the only thing I saw was a reflective thumb tack someone had put into a tree at the crossing. Trip out to the trail head and the extra mile to the car didn't seem to bad reminiscing about such a day.
Only two hikes left for the ADK 100, I can't believe I actually was able to save Hurricane to finish on.
This TR was brought to you by the bushwhacking trail food of old.
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