The Beaver Pond lean-to is one of the closest to me with the exception of probably Darien Lake. The latter require a (free) permit which puts them out of reach for last minute trips. The weather was giving us a slight warm-up before the plunge again this weekend. So Berns joined me for a quick overnight.
We arrived at the unplowed parking lot. Some tracks from a high clearance vehicle entered and exited the lot. Neither of our vehicles would be able to get, and worse out. We began to shovel hoping once we removed the first few feet of salt-ridden plow snow it would just become lighter. It did not. After at least 20 minutes we had barely made a dent. My mood soured. D noticed a house down the road and decided to see if they would allow us to park in their driveway over night.
He did not return for a while, hinting at a promising result. I continued to shovel, but at a slower pace. Even with the extra time, still little progress was made. D returned with the good news. He spoke with the gentleman at the house. An older guy who had been a canoe guide with a large driveway. With his permission we dropped our gear at the trailhead, and drove our cars to the house.
After a short walk back to the TH, we started on the trail. It was unbroken and deep. Snowshoes and the pulk sleds were slow going. Only about a mile though to our campsite. After briefly moving through the woods and over some logs through a swamp, we skirted the field to where the trail re-entered the woods. Soon after we csme to a woods lane which had no tresspassing signs clearly indicating it was not the trail. With deep unbroken snow, it took us a minute to see where our footpath continued. Once we regained our trail we followed along a flat area along a plateau. A frozen pond appeared to the north which provided our location on the map. The trail then turned away from the pond. At the top of a steep ravine we could see a frozen stream below, with our trail markers. We took it slow down the steep pitch. Crossed the stream and followed it upstream to the pond. Following the perimeter of the pond we then kept a lookout for the side trail to our campsite. In the distance I spied the lean-to, we followed our trail a fair bit more until we intersected the well marked side trail to the lean-to.
It was only a mile, but a tough one. A short break, then collecting firewood. We spent the afternoon collecting wood with snack breaks. Soon after we lit the fire, Jim arrived. He had mentioned he would try to sneak over for the day. He was also not able to get into the parking area, but he knew someone up the hill. So he parked there, and bushwhacked to the pond until he found our tracks.
We all hung out, Jim tested out his quilt system but finally opted to pack up snd head home. It was right at dusk so he put on his headlamp and would follow his tracks back out.
Berns and I had dinner. We chatted around the fire. The stars were bright. Approaching 10pm we climbed into our downy cocoons for the night. At one point I heard what I thought was a crackling fire. Odd, b/c we had dispersed the wood in the fire so we would not waste it by burning while we slept. I rolled over and sure enough a small section was alight.
The temp dropped lower that expected by a few degrees, those last few made for a frigid morning. Later I would hear from Jim that it got down to 10degF. We restarted the fire, made coffee and breakfast.
No rush, but we packed up as time allowed. We had discussed avoiding the steep ravine by taking a shortcut across the pond. The ice was solid until we were mostly across, and then a section of ice had a slushy layer between the ice and snow. A short climb up to the trail we broke the previous day. The trail gradually climbed for most of the way until the field came into view. From here we could see the trail then sloped down along the field to the swampy section. We opted to avoid the log bridging in the swamp as it was difficult with the pulks. D had noticed my pulk always falling off, so he had cut across the swamp. We followed his tracks.
Back at the road, I left my gear and we walked to our awaiting vehicles. The kind gentleman was not at home so we were unable to thank him in person. Berns left a note. He noticed the sunburn on my face. I had put on sunscreen the day before, but did not think of it this morning. An error I often make in winter.
Lean-to number 179.
