Flooding on the way -Cold River

 

Headed into Cold River country by way of Corey's Rd. Kalie, Jim and Ben also joined me. With the LUVA paperwork out of the way we headed down the trail to the Calkins Brook lean-tos. Jim and Ben were out in front and were soon out of view. I tried to tell myself it is a result of their over 6ft heights and respective stride lengths. In reality, I am just slowing down.

At the junction of the foot trail and horse trail I wondered if they took the wrong trail. Notblong after I did not see any fresh tracks in the mud, so I assumed they took the foot trail. At the nect junction I called out for them since the foot trail intersected the old road as well. No reply. I drew an arrow in the dirt and my name. I figured if they were ahead of us, we would meet them at the lunch lean-to. If they were behind they would see my arrow. 

The old roadway is quick walking. 2 hours after we started, Kalie and I were at Calkins. So were the mosquitoes. I made a smudge fire. A few minutes later Jim and Ben arrived. They had waited for a bit, and then backtracked to the horse trail and eventually saw my arrow. 

With the group reunited, we had lunch and chatted. With the fire out, we set out for the remaining 5 miles to the Cold River. Again Jim and Ben were out in front. I paused at the spring and filled my water bottle. After, the trail got thicker with growth and blowdown. At the next main junction to Latham Pond Jim and Ben were waiting. About a mile later we hit a low area which was flooded. The deepest was over our boots. At least the old roadway made the ground underneath solid and not a mucky mess.

We turned and headed to Cold River #3 which a few others had recently arrived. They were up at CR4 swimming but decided to relocate here. So we went to CR4 to make camp. On our way the others from their party passed us going the other way.

A bit over 11 miles in 5.25 hours. I gathered some wood, and made another smudge fire. It was still rather early but I was tired having gotten up at 3am, and driving 5 hours. I did manage to make it past 9pm before hitting the sack.

Like usual I was up early. Did not sleep as well as I hoped. Ben was also up. Got the fire started and made some coffee. Jim was next to emerge. Kalie likes to sleep in, so we tried to stay quiet. The plans for the day were to day trip to Seward, and possibly Ouluska to dig privy holes.  Jim had wrenched his back so he would head back to Calkins for the night. We would meet him the next morning on our way out.

We packed day bags including shovels and saws and the lean-to books. Ben and I headed out first. Kalie would follow. The trail had considerable blowdown which we would take care of on the return. The Cold River never disappoints along this stretch. We did dig out some drainages aling the way. 

At Seward I went to work on digging a new hole. First attempt I uncovered the buried trash from the old lean-to roof.  Had to start again. The ground is not easy to dig here. The organic material on top is a web of roots, then a rocky layer with large roots. Then sand, and rock. Ben took a turn with the shovel and found even more roots deep in the mineral soil. After a few hours of digging we had enough. Ben jumped into the hole so Kalie could take a photo of the depth.

We rested at the lean-to. Even though it was not very late I opted to save Ouluska for another time. As we rested a group arrived. They had met Ben earlier atvthe trailhead. I saw their entry in the register as heading to Duck Hole and then Shattuck. I told them the lack of campsites at Shattuck now, and mentioned the one right near our lean-to they were welcome to use.

We had some trail work still to do on the way back. Ben and Kalie were out in front moving downed trees and cutting the smaller obstacles. I took care of the larger. We did a great job clearing that section. It needed it.

Back at camp I set up my hammock and made another smudge fire. Kalie received word from Jim via their satellite devices that he was at Calkins and cleared a "metric shit ton" of blowdown. The group from Seward arrived. One in their party had tripped and "face planted". It appeared she may have broken her nose. Yikes. They chose to camp nearby. We would see them often as they came to the river's edge. Also spoke with one of the guys from CR3 when he stopped over to swim. He asked about trail crews, and lean-to work and how to help out financially. I told him we were working with ADK but also told him of a number of organizations including lean2rescue. 

 I do not think I made it past dark before I was in my hammock.

Slept great. Awake very early so tried to stay quiet. Ben was also awake. I quietly packed up and made some coffee. Kalie was up not long after (early for her). We were back on the trail 15 minutes before we planned. Except for the flooded section and the brush,  the trail was in good shape thanks to Jim's work. I again paused at the spring to get water. The bugs were starting to get bad at Calkins even with the fire so we didn't rest super long. It was 6 miles left to the cars starting with a long uphill. We were back to the cars before 1pm. Ben suggested getting milkshakes at Stewarts. That sounded like a fantastic way to end the trip. 

Colvin Brook and NPT

 As the adopter of the Colvin Brook lean-to, and steward for part of the NPT in the area, I visit at least twice a year for maintenance and trail clearing. Last time to Colvin Brook was with Lance and Justin. We walked through the flooded section of the NPT. I guess Lance didn't get enough because he came along again. Also Dan was in tow, but he paddled to the Carry lean-to and went to fish a nearby pond. He would meet us at Colvin Brook.

The gate at Wakely was still closed so this added 1.3 miles to our day all along the dirt road. The black flies were horrendous at Wakely Dam, but as we hiked they were rather non-existent. At about 11am the sky opened up on us. It lasted at most 20 minutes. The rain was cold. Stark contrast to the 80 degree air. After the rain the temperature was a bit cooler. At the flooded section I was in/out of my water shoes quickly as I did not want to linger for the black flies to find me. I needed to use the thunderbox at Carry, so I told Lance I would meet him there. After finishing up and signing into the log book, I waited a bit for Lance. I then went back to the main trail and called for him... no reply. I put an arrow woth sticks on the ground and headed towards the Sucker Brook trail hoping I would catch up with him.

At the junction there was no sign anyone had made the turn. From here I would need to clear trail on the NPT all the way to Cedar Lake. I dropped my pack with its rain cover on it. Took my daypack with rain & emergency gear and my saw and headed down the NPT. I gave myself a two hour turn-around time. I marked an arrow in the leaves to show which direction I headed. Cleared quite a bit of blowdown. I only made it to the "woodstove crossing" campsite before I headed back. I was tired. Stopping to cut blowdown and move the debris from the trail is exhausting. I downed some water. Cleared some drainages on the way back. At the junction I could now see some tracks headed towards Colvin Brook.

I stopped at my favorite water source and filled up my bottle. I would save any cutting of downed trees for the way out. At the Cedar River I could see Lance in the lean-to. He waved as I put on my water shoes to ford the Cedar River. The cold water felt great on my sore ankles.

 Lance had collected some firewood already. I would add to the pile. We both set up our gear in the lean-to. A hummingbird visited and hovered in front of the lean-to for a few moments. Not much later we started the fire. Smoke to keep the bugs at bay, and to get some coals for the kebabs Lance was making for dinner. He was just about finished cooking when Dan arrived. Since he paddled most of the way he transported the beer I brought. He said it needed to be chilled so we made a spot in the river for it.

Dinner was great. The beer and conversation afterwards was also delightful. I do not recall staying up very late. A few times in the middle of the night I awoke to what I thought was rain. It was just the river. I tossed around a few times on my sleeping pad. The hammock is still my preferred camp bed. But I still slept ok. I was up early, so I started the fire. Lance was also awake, said he slept terrible. Poor guy.

After coffee and breakfast Dan headed out to get a little fishing in before we would rejoin each other for the ride home at 12:30. I cleared some blowdown on the way out. I filled up water just before the NPT and we headed back. Another rest at the Carry lean-to. Lance wasn't able to get his water bag deep enough at the river's edge, so we would have to stop again aling the way. At the flooded section the blackflies found us and again at the spring box where Lance filtered some water. He was moving slow and we rested a fair bit.

We arrived at Wakely with perfect timing to meet Dan. After saying farewell to Lance, I drove down to the boat launch to help Dan with his canoe. He had a few fish for the cooler.