First trip of 2026 -Beaver Pond on the Bristol Hills Branch of the FLT

 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.

Two night trip to Sugar Hill

 Originally I was planning on visiting a series of lean-tos along the Raquette River, accessing them from a nearby trail. The forecast had the temps below zero, so my potential hiking partner was a no-go. Not wanting to spend 3 nights in the ultra cold alone, I opted for a two night trip in the Finger Lakes area with him instead. The temps would be significantly milder with a low in the high teens.

Picked up Dan at his house on Tuesday morning and we drove to the Sugar Hill State Forest, parking at Tower Rd. We loaded our packs & pulks and first climbed the hill to the tower past the horse stalls and camping area. We then descended to the Twin Lean-tos and made camp. Plenty of downed wood in the area which we brought up to the first lean-to.

Had lunch and then took a day hike to the Parks Hollow lean-to where I had Thanksgiving in 2022. Saw my entry in the book as well as Jackson's from June 2024. It has been six months since he passed away unexpectedly. 

After a short break and brief look at the nearby cellar hole we headed back to camp. It would be mostly an uphill hike back. Total about 4-5 miles.

Dinner, campfire and libations followed. Made it well past hiker midnight before we retired. Clear night so temps eould be dropping. No Geminid meteors were sighted. Could hear the wind racing through the hollow all night, but little hit us directly. 

Wednesday morning I restarted the fire and made coffee. Dan slept in later than usual but we had nowhere specific to go today. His breakfast did not agree with him, so we waited until closer to noon before we set out on our day hike to the Van Zandt lean-to. My two maps had conflicting trails and the reason soon became apparent. A trail had been closed and rerouted so my FLT map from 2006 was outdated. Right near the intersection of the new and closed trail I found a massive shed in the area where the deer were scratching for acorns. We followed the new trail which had some ruts from trucks driving illegally on the snowmobile trail (we saw where they by-passed the locked gate). Crossing route 21 and back on trail, total about 2 miles to the lean-to. 

After a break we tried to find another old trail which would connect to a lane that eventually joined the FLT. The old trail was not obvious, so we just headed in the direction of the old woods lane. Just before a creek crossing Dan spotted a blood trail. We followed it for a bit and then noticed human tracks also. Figuring the hunter already tracked down his harvest, we turned back and pressed on across the creek and hit and old woods lane. Followed it a while before we realized it was heading due east and not south as the lane we wanted. Typical for Dan and I to just walk and talk following a man-made trail and not notice we either passed a turn or like time headed in the wrong direction. We took a bearing and turned 90 degrees off the lane and headed uphill to intersect with the FLT. We could have continued on the old lane, but it would have necessitated crossing private property. So the bushwhack was the proper decision.

After crossing route 21 again we soon came across another blood trail, this time accompanied by tracks of a sled. Since it followed the trail, it most likely was a hunter dragging out his kill. The sun was getting low by now, so we headed straight back along the trail to camp. Made dinner and sat by the fire. 

Night time temps were a little warmer than previous night. After coffee & breakfast we broke camp and headed back to the car taking the lower route. Again saw the sled tracks with a few blood spots. Back at the waiting car before 11am. Good trip, great company. RIP Ranger Jackson.