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 A trail had been closed and rerouted so my FLT map from 2006 was outdated. 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.
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