Ice on the Lizard

This past summer I spent backpacking the Wind River Range in Wyoming. While traversing Lizard Pass, Dan and I were caught in a hailstorm. Last weekend Dan and I decided to visit Lizard Pond in the Adirondacks. My friend Justin visited this spot last winter. Since Dan had spent Thurs and Friday in the eastern adks, we planned on meeting at the trail register on Garnet Lake. As I made my way from Rt8 along the dirt rds, I came to an unplowed seasonal road. I had to backtrack and take a different approach. This made me about 20 minutes late. I saw Dan out on the ice as I approached. He had brought his skates and was making good use of the extra time waiting for me.

We unloaded our gear from the cars and loaded up the pulks. The sun was shining and felt warm as we made our way across the frozen lake. Out in the open a slight breeze reminded us it was still cold out regardless of the sun's warmth on our face. Mt Blue, our goal to climb after we made camp towered over us. Across the lake and to the narrows, the ice showed traces of snowmobile activity and led us straight to the trail to Lizard Pond.

Once in the tree cover, the sun was partially obscured and the wind blocked. The sign gave us 1.3 miles to our destination. There was a little snow left, and a lot of ice on the trail. We made our way generally uphill. Near Lizard Pond the wetland area provided a better approach and the snow machines agreed. We followed their path avross the frozen swampy area to the Eastern edge of Lizard. Like Garnet, the windswept ice would make for good skating.

At the lean-to we made camp and I collected wood while Dan made use of the ice with his skates before the warming sun degraded the conditions. Dan joined me to collect more wood and then we made plans to climb Mt Blue.

With map, compass and day packs we crossed the icy lizard pond and made our way up to a ridge we would follow to the top. It started off steep, and then the snow disappeared on the southern facing hill. We removed our microspikes for a while but put them back on as the snow returned. Some steep sections with lots of deer sign. We reached a false summit and found a few overlooks. The true summit was farther than we thought as it was obstructed from our view on Lizard. As we neared it, a few drops of rain (or sleet) began. We were both thinking of the storm atop the Lizard Trail in Wyoming. At the summit, a decent sized cairn had been erected to mark it. We didnt stay long as the weather was eventually going to go against our favor.

Took a general bearing and we followed the ridge down for a while until we turned more south to head back to Lizard. We arrived without much left to do except cook up dinner. I made jambalaya. Might have been a tad spicy for Dan. The rains began soon after it got dark.

I awoke first like usual and restarted the fire. We stashed kindling in the lean-to, and put a tarp over the woodpile. The rains had atopped in the middle of the night. The warming fire soon brought forth coffee and breakfast. The hike out was fast as it was mostly down hill on the trail and level on the icy lake.

Cabin Camp in the Cold

Having a few days after Christmas to spend in the woods is always a great present to myself. I was meeting friends on Thursday in Saratoga, so I was looking for a location in the Eastern Adirondacks. I was simultaneously making plans with two other hiking buddies and it all came together to camp at a rustic cabin and hike around the Hammond Pond Wild Forest. I picked up Dan early Tuesday morning and we made our way to North Hudson. With our gear loaded into my pulk we hiked the 10 minutes to the cabin, unloaded the sled and Dan went back for the second load. Justin was already at the cabin doing some repair work. We settled in and talked about our plans.

That afternoon we hiked the trail from where we parked past Trout Pond and then to Round Pond. The pond was snow covered and the ice seemed safe so we hiked across the pond to the campsite. We kept our distance from each other just in case. We stopped at the campsite for just a few minutes and then hiked around the shore of the pond back to the trail. As we hiked back to the trail head we could already feel the temperature begin to drop. Back at the cabin, we added a load of wood to the stove and got dinner ready. I made rigatoni with tomato sauce and sausage and meatballs. We ate like champs but still had some leftover. Justin helped me with the dishes. We talked and listened to music. I went to be early before the others.

The next day was already cold, and we knew it wasn't supposed to get much warmer and the night could drop to 20 below. After a feast of breakfast we decided on our plan for the day and got our day packs set. Justin had wanted to do a loop to Eagle's Nest Lake and climb Harris Hill. We first hiked to the nearby cabin to see the view from below their deck. Then hiked on to some meadows and marshy areas on our way to the drainage that was the outlet of Eagle's Nest Lake. Along the way we walked through some stands of cedar trees, noting that there were a lot of young growth at the base of the older trees. I wondered aloud whether it was growth from the root stock of the older trees. Justin had come this way before, but only to one of the meadows right before the drainage we would then follow. We took a break near where Justin had turned around, it had been a little more than an hour since we left camp.

Dan led the way up through the drainage. There was a lot to maneuver around, over and through. Eventually the outlet was to choked in so we headed up and away from it. The Lake was close. we could see the white surface from our higher vantage point and made our way to it. We would stop here for a lunch break. we chose to sit on some logs to face the cliffs on the North side of the lake. After lunch we crossed the lake to the campsite just east of the cliffs and began our climb up. We stopped for a bit towards the top where we would turn west. There was a open area with oak trees around. We headed west gaining more elevation to eventually reach our goal, the summit of Harris Hill. The sky was clear, the trees were icy, and the view spectacular. We took some pictures and had a snack. We would continue westward to two other summits, able to see the views of the high peaks along the way. Pausing at each of the summits and other vantage points for photos and to relish in the visual experience. The last part of the hike would be almost a straight shot to the cabin and downhill through mostly open hardwoods. We headed downhill towards the setting sun and were back well before dark.

A feast of venison, chicken, swiss chard, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes was prepared. We ate and celebrated Meat Festivus 2017. I joked the only airing of grievances I had was that Rob wasn't here. We listened to music and enjoyed each others company until it was time for bed. I wasn't the first to lie down in my bunk, but I might have been the first to fall asleep. I awoke at some point in the middle of the night and added logs to the stove. The steel was cold, but there were just enough coals to get the dry wood going. In the morning it was 12 below zero. Not as cold as we expected, but still frigid. I put the water on the stove so we could have coffee and cocoa. After breakfast we cleaned up, Justin finished the last of the repairs and we closed up the cabin. Back at the car and it was still below zero. My car had a rough time getting started. Apparently other parts of the Adirondacks were much colder. Another great trip with great friends.