WM C WHITNEY WA/Little Tupper lake and Rock Pond

11-13 July 2008

WM C WHITNEY WA/Little Tupper lake and Rock Pond

Chris and I feft Friday at 7:30am from Rochester. Arrived in 4.5 hours at the Ranger Station and put-in. Ate lunch and launched kayaks. Paddled around a bit and checked out site #7. Saw what appeared to be a bald eagle soaring and fishing. Site #7 had some really cool remnants of old mansions...specifically fireplaces. No photo (what was I thinking). We then paddled across the lake over to sites 21 and 22. We then checked out #10 which we had heard was the best. Well it had a beach, other than that it wasn't that great. Better than the south shore sites tho. Made camp and relaxed a bit. Then paddled around the island and past site #11 on the point. Saw 10 loons. Got a photo of 8 of them all at once. Made foil dinners and biscuits for supper. Boy were the mosquitoes bad! On Saturday we awoke early. Ate a quick breakfast and packed up lunch. We paddled the rest of the perimeter of LTL. Site #12 seemed very nice. Paddled upstream to Rock Pond. Carried over a few beaver dams and used the portage around the rapids. Rock pond was gorgeous. Really neat rock formations on the southern shore beyond the island. The island was an awesome spot for lunch and appears to be a great camp site. Even the snapping turtle agreed. He was there to greet us at the landing. The seagulls on the small island were not to happy as we approached,, so we turned away. Never found the portage to Hartigans. Paddled back to camp. On the way out, we passed almost everyone else from LTL going to Rock Pond, thus we ended up having both Rock Pond and LTL to ourselves. Took some naps as we had paddled about 12 miles. Made spaghetti with pesto for dinner. Wind picked up at night. Made the tarps flap in the wind. Still very windy in the AM. As soon as we started bfast the rain came. And boy did it come. We were drenched packing up camp. By the time we put-in and started back to HQ, the rain had stopped. It was still quite windy which helped us as it was to our backs. We had no idea of the time we left but it was 9:20 when we got to the car.

FLNF with Jeff

6 july-8july 2008

hiked about 6 miles with Jeff down/back interloken trail.

Went to FLNF for a solo night. Jeff joined me the next day. It was his intro to sleeping in the wild. He loved it, especially the hammock sleeping. Cooked brownies, and beef/rice burritos. gentle rain the second night. It was cooling and refreshing. Caught two largemouth in Fosters Pond (both about 6in).

Hickory Creek in the Allegheny Forest

21-22 June 2008. Hickory Creek in the Allegheny Forest in PA. Me, Glen, and Jen departed Sat AM. Arrived at the trailhead around noon. After signing in we hiked to Jacks Run counterclockwise. We had heard thunder rumblings in the distance but the sky was still clear. We continued to the 3rd campsite at Jacks Run. After setting up camp we made a fire and cooked dinner. Soon after we had finished the first of the rain began. It was light and refreshing. By 9pm we had a torrential downpour with the full storm. A group of hikers passed through on their way to another site? Slept soundly in the hammock though there is a small part of the tarp I need to seam seal a little better. Started a fire the next morning with wet wood. I surprised myself.12 miles total.

FLNF

Chris and I left Sat AM and parked off Potomac Rd near Foster's Pond. We hiked in the 100yds to the campsite. After setting up camp we hiked to Foster's Pond and then down the Interlocken trail to the Burnt Hill Trail. We passed the pastures and the radio tower. We met up again with the Interlocken and continued South. We took the Gorge trail almost to its Eastern Terminus where we stopped for lunch right at the property line in the Hemlocks overlooking the gorge. Back up the trail to the Interlocken and then continued to the Dunham Leanto. We came back to Fosters via the Interlocken. 10 miles total, 5hours start to finish. Made a fire, had a summer shower in the rain. Temp was 92*F (record high was 89*F set in 1955). Ate some sausage over the fire wrapped in tortilla. Slept soundly in the hammock till 6am. Came home right after breakfast the the Ovid Diner.

Trip to High Peaks (actually DIX MOUNTAIN WA).

Drove in with WinterWarlock (Scott) on friday night. We spent the night at the DEC campground in Wilmington Notch. On Saturday we met Kim (Adventurous) and Courtney (Leaf) and we climbed Mt Colvin and Mt Blake. It was exactly 5000ft of elevation (only because Scott held his GPS over his head at the car to give us the last foot). 15.85miles total. We went back to the campground and I cooked dinner for Scott, myself and Seth, Adam who we are planning on climbing a few more peaks the next day. I cooked NY Strips and Scalloped potatoes. Adam and Seth brought the beer. The next day I and Scott were to sore to hike the other peaks (me more than him, that knee problem of mine again...grrr). We bailed after a mile into the Eastern High Peaks from the Loj. Scott and I hiked into the Gorge and Wilmington Notch and then did some fishing in the Ausable River. No luck though Scott caught his forearm with a fly. We met up with Adam and Seth at the 46R banquet where Adam got his 46R certificate. Great trip boy is my body sore.

Hiking meetup Group Trip.

Another trip to Chub Pond (BLACK RIVER WF). Glen from March trip along with 5 others. Hi temp on Saturday was 78, low Sunday AM was 34. Forecast called for rain but we did not get any until after we went to bed Sat nite. Slight drizzle when we awoke, Dry hike out except for the ground. Loons were back to the pond. Dinner was pasta and sausage. B-fast was hash brown, sausage egg casserole. Slept in hammock first nite of the season. Slept like a baby!

Chub Pond in BLACK RIVER WF. Aarons Sausage Trip.

Me, Aaron, Rich, Toby, Chris, Todd, and Glen. This was Toby's first winter trip and the weather cooperated. Sunny days and frigid night (4.6*F). 11am Backpack with snowshoes to Chub Pond (4.4mi). Reading the shelter journal, it didn't seem like this was a well visited spot. Odd, considering its beauty and not so difficult terrain. Perhaps the other leanto is more popular. Collected wood, Aaron carried a dead pine tree across the frozen lake. It provided plenty of wood. Aaron cooked sausages on the fire. Sophomoroc humor followed for the next few hours. Clear sky at night, Capella, Sirius and Betelgeuse were the first stars to appear directly above the lake. The rest of the constellations filled in shortly after. Woke up in middle of night to hear coyotes. Apparently a few decided to check us out and one was keenly interested in Glen's tent. Hike out began with a steep hill for 3/4mile. At some point after we arrived, a few snowmobiles had packed down the trail which, until us, was undisturbed snow. Second 2 miles out went very quickly.

Feb 23-24, 2008 Five Ponds Wilderness Area

Me, Aaron, and Rich (Chris, and Todd were sick and had to bail) 11am Backpacked from Wanakena Trailhead to Janacks Landing Leanto (4.2mi). Ate lunch then continued to High Falls Leanto (8.7mi). After Janacks, we had to break trail (snowshoes in 3-feet of base with a few inches of new powder). Arrived at High falls at 4:30pm. Collected wood made fire. Ate smoked sausages for dinner. We were so hungry I cooked next morning breakfast (sausage hash). We all went to bed at 8pm. Cold night 4.1*F. Broke camp at 8:30 arrived back at trailhead at noon. (17.4mi)