WBL w/Bill, Justin, and Moody

 Joined Justin on a trip he has made a few times. Bill also made the trek as did Moody, but just for the day. After signing in at the register I expected to start bushwhacking but instead there was an obvious path. 

I asked if this was in Bill's book and do not recall the response. He did mention he took Barbara M on this path when he first took over the series as she had not known about this path.

It wasn't before the pretty brook came into view. There are falls and cascades upstream, but the path and our eventual destination did not follow the brook. Streamside was a nice spot for a lunch break. 

We continued on, the weather was nice. In the 60s with enough of a breeze to keep the bugs away. The path had been going uphill slightly and now began a steeper climb. When the path eventually became obscured, flagging helped guide us. 

After passing through a short draw we came to a marshy pond. Our next saddle to pass through was on the other side so we made our way around counter-clockwise. Every once in a while signs of old trail clearing were apparent; cut logs mostly.

Following the other side of the pond, we needed the second drainage to follow up and over the saddle to Birch. This drainage had multiple splits but was easy enough as we just went up. Mostly open woods.

As we approached the saddle we tried to find where justin had camped with no luck. Also did not find it on the return trip.

The drop down from the saddle was not as prominent as the climb and we were soon at our destination. Water level was low as we stood on the grassy area which had been underwater at some point. The low level allowed us to follow the lake edge rather easily. At the outlet was a nice flat rocky area.

From here we explored down the outlet a ways, finding the location of a now dispersed hunting camp about a quarter mile away. Some artifacts still remained. 

Back at the lake we looked for a place to camp. We finally chose a spot on the N. Shore. Moody headed back. Bill, Justin and I had a nice relaxing camp for the rest of the afternoon and evening. The black flies did appear shortly, but a smudge fire helped.

I am surprised I was able to stay up as long as I did considering how early I was on the road. When I finally climbed into my hammock it was not long before I was asleep.

The night time temps were quite cool. Great for sleeping. With the sky being clear, I did mot deploy the tarp so I was able to see the stars through the tops of the trees. In the early morning a pink cloud was directly over head. It moved eastward as the sun rose.

We arose slowly, had coffee breakfast and packed up even slower. Whe opted to continue around the lake. The shore line was easy, but soon we found ourselves in thick brush inland. I pushed back down to the shoreline and navigated over the skeletons of the downed trees. 

We did not pause much on the return trip. Except for a few small climbs through the draws it was mostly downhill. Back at the register we noted Moody had signed out a little after 5pm. A short bit of real trail and we were back at the cars.

Great trip. Good to get together with the guys again (and Bella, I forgot she joined us too.)

Annual Trail Maintainence on the NPT

 While I have historically gone to the Cold River for Memorial Day weekend, I needed to get to my section of the NPT and do some maintainence. Stopped at Chef Darrel's Diner in Blue Mountain Lake on the way. Always good food, and Chef is fantastic guy. This was also the first long drive in the new car. Nothing like taking a brand new car 30 minutes down a dirt road. Guess it is a good way to break it in. Hopefully just a figure of speech.

The day was already starting to warm up as I readied my gear. I was the only car at the trailhead; unsurprisingly. Also no one had signed in at the trail register except for the DEC Trail crew earlier in the week. The first few miles were all clear due to their work. Evidence of the cutting and clearing was quite noticeable. I stopped at the spring box to fill my water bottle like usual. At the previously flooded section, the materials for the new bridge had been delivered. This was also the furthest extent of the trail crew's work. The next mile and a half looked like a hurricane had passed through. At the 5 mile mark is the junction to the Sucker Brook trail where my stewardship repsonsibility begins. I headed towards the Colvin Brook lean-to a mile away and cleared the trail to the river. From there I crossed the river and inspected the lean-to. The water damage has increased in the corner. 

With the little use this spot gets, it is not at the top of the list for repair. The few who do use the lean-to take very good care of the spot. I took photos of the journal entries since my last visit and will upload them to the Colvin Brook Lean-to online journal colvinbrook.blogspot.com. This is my 21st century version of the transcribed journals at the Ouluska lean-to.

Back a the NPT I headed towards Cedar Lake. Not as much blowdownm to clear as I expected. Whatever system came through the N-S portion of the NPT between Wakely and here somehow spared this area for the most part. The next 4 miles was clearing some blowdown and digging out drainages. So tiring taking the pack on and off. By the time I get to the woodstove campsite I am almost out of gas and still have 2 miles more to go. While I do the best I can, it never seems to be enough. The hand tools cannot take care of the largest of blowdowns so reroutes are the only other option. The trail is beginning to increase in mileage with all the big S turns. winding aorund the obstacles. As my energy drops, I skip over some downed trees which can be easily stepped over thinking I will cut them the next time through. The one spring hole I dug out a few years ago was still holding good water in the catch so I filled up my water bottle again. When i would stop, the black flies would swarm around me staying just inches away from the permethrin applied force field.

A couple was at Cedar #1 lean-to, so I pushed on to Beaver Pond. I suppose one more mile I could do; I had already done 11. Surpisingly the Beaver Pond lean-to was empty except for the pile of trash left in the firepit. Reading the shelter log, I might be the first person here in 2024. The fallen branches all around the lean-to and trail also hint an no visitors since last fall. A light rain began as I set up camp. I lit a smoldering fire to keep bugs at bay and settled in for the rest of the evening. The rain subsided, but the clouds remained so not much of a sunset. I barely made it to hiker midnight before I turned in.

Did not sleep that great until the second half of the night. After breakfast I planned out my day. I would search around Beaver Pond a bit and parts of Cedar Lake which I had not explored in the past. Did a bit of fishing too later in the afternoon. The black flies by the water did not make it enjoyable. At least the day was more relaxing than the previous. Had a nice little campfire to cap off my second night. 

The winds picked up and some rain came in the early morning. It stopped by the time I awoke. Slpet much better so was up early. Knwoing that rain was in order for the day, I was hoping to get some miles in before it came. I was only a mile or so down the trail before it started. Not a heavy rain, just an long annoying one. With much of the trail in need of side-cutting the little rain would soak me as I pushed through the wet undergrowth. Even when the rain subsided, the trail was still wet enough to keep me from drying off. At least it was cool, and no bugs. The first 5 miles takes longer than the seocnd 5 on the way back to the car due to the trail being an old road from woodstove to Wakely. Was back to the car by 10 am. I stopped again at Chef Darrells diner on the way out. I highly recommend his chicken fried steak.