Preston Pond 2026: Tribute to Tammy

 Met the crew at the Stewarts Shoppe in Long Lake just before ten AM. We caravanned to the Upper Works lot and deployed our gear. Five of us plus a dog, two pulks. We headed up towards Henderson at around 11:30. A bit of a late start. The trail to the lake was broken out and some faint tracks still visible. Some wind out on the lake, but not that bad. Around the turn, I took the lead and broke trail. Mostly crusty snow but a few spots where lighter snow had drifted up. It was Glen, George and I taking turns up the lake. In the deep snow, Jet would hop through it instead of taking the easier way in our wake. 

A short break at the Henderson lean-to. 1:20 minutes to traverse the mostly flat 1.75 miles. This is about the normal time. The next 1.75 miles would be on unbroken trail with deep snow. It was very slow going. At the second bridge (broken) I took the lead. For the next mile and a half it would be me, George and Glen in front. With Jet following George and Glen with a pulk, I would do the majority of the main trail breaking. At spots I was sinking into the deep snow hip deep. Most of the time it was up to my knees. It would take us over 5 hours to reach Preston, and another 20 minutes to across the pond to the cabin. The sun was just below the mountains as we set out onto the pond. The waning twighlight was beautiful. We stopped momentarily to rest and appreciate it. Too tired to dig out my phone to capture it. Looking back, I wish I had. Glen put on his headlamp for the remaining 100 yards up to the cabin. Total of 7 hours to do less than 4 miles!

Once inside we all started on different chores, lighting the woodstove, starting dinner, breaking a trail to the outhouse were the major ones. I had dinner duty. The typical bratwurst and rolls. I also brought some creamy potato soup which was a great way to start and warm us up. The temp was already dropping considerably. We saved dishes for the morning when we could dig out a hole in the creek to get water. 

We all slept in. The sun was out before any of us got out of bed. The kitchen was cold. Ceiling covered in frost. I started some water for coffee. George made breakfast. Only one egg had cracked on the way in. Great filling breakfast.

We were all way to tired to anything other than chores at camp. Glen and Matt dug out a hole in the creek, I broke a trail and dug out our sump hole for waste water. Georgecleaned up our dishes from dinner snd breakfast, Teresa starting shoveling off the roof of the cabin. The stove pipe for ghe kitchen stove was completely buried. We checked the bunk room chimney the previous night before we started the stove in there. Sam arrived today, took him less than half the time. He mentioned it was minus 5*F when he was at the parking lot in the morning. We figured it was in the minus teens up here over night. 

Did some playing around at the cabin in the afternoon. With the kitchen chimney now unburied, we could get this stove lit. As the temperature of the kitchen rose, the now melting frost would drip down. Matt made chili for dinner.

Up a little earlier on Saturday. The snow from the roof is now piled up so high it blocks quite a bit of the sunlight. Sam re-started the kitchen stove and I put on water for coffee. Sam made breakfast. Was not as sunny today. Mostly overcast. After cleanup, Glen got ready to hike out to Henderson to meet up with his friend Aaron. Just before he set out, Carla arrived. She day hiked in with somd resupplies for us including donuts from Stewarts. We all hung out mostly in the bunk room around the stove. 

Glen returned with Aaron. Said it took less than an hour to get to the lean-to on Henderson. Carla said goodbye and headed back out. Glen & Teresa made dinner, chicken & biscuits. After cleanup and relaxing a few of us turned in early. Those who didn't stayed in the kitchen enjoying cigars and bourbon.

Sunday was departure day. Same morning routine as Saturday with the addition of packing up and securing the cabin. Final project before we left was to replace a chimney elbow in the bunk room stove. 

Headed out around 10:30. Back at cars in about 2.5 hours. 

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.