Bear Lake Trail Adventure - Day 175

  So, no one had really checked this temporary route in the western part of the Adirondacks. The suggested lines on the NCT maps didn't even match with the National Geographic maps. Now, don't start thinking that this is because of someone's shoddy work. Getting this route on the ground is very much a work in progress and I am part of that process as I do field checking for the Association on this hike.

I was hiking along on the trail, occasionally checking on Avenza to make sure I was where I wanted to be. Part of this temporary route was a snowmobile trail, and at a junction you turned and walked right past a small house that may have been a snowmobilers club house of some sort. It was very strange to see in the middle of the woods where there was no actual road!

What I was looking for was the Bear Lake Trail which was supposed to turn off the snowmobile trail. Got it! And just 1.9 miles ahead. My goal for the day was to get water and camp slightly past there. Follow the blue dots.

I followed clear trail with blue DEC disks for a half mile to... a small signpost in the woods with one blue disk, no words, and the trail seemed to end there. Huh. I looked at Avenza, and I'm NO WHERE NEAR the trail line. What the heck? I figured I must have missed a turn, probably near a blowdown (tree) I had to walk around. I walked all the way back to the sign pictured above. That's when I discovered that the sign isn't even on the trail that shows on the map.

I went back to where that line on the map was, took off my big pack, and scouted all around for about two-tenths of a mile in . I could not find any evidence that a trail has been there in recent memory. So, I must have just not looked carefully at that blue dot on a signpost, right? I ate my lunch and walked back to the blue dot. I found one, count it, ONE more blue disk just to the west of that post. Then... nothing. Do you see any kind of trail here? Me neither.

What to do? I decided to bushwhack west toward where the trail was supposed to be. There was one stream crossing, and one never knows if they will be a big nothing with rocks to walk on, or something serious. I angled west and hit the line of the trail on the map after about 0.8 mile. The crossing at Mill Brook was no big deal, but there was still no evidence of a trail at all. As bushwhacks go, this wasn't bad. The woods was fairly open. It's just that the footing is always poor when you are wandering over uneven, un-compacted soil with leaves on top of it. Lots of rocks, too.

Along the way, I found Bunchberry (ground dogwood) in bloom.

After about another 0.7 mile, suddenly there was visible treadway, and in another couple of tenths, a footprint and a trail marker! And then, there I was at Bear Lake!

I was planning to go farther, but there was a truly lovely established campsite (and also a new lean-to farther along). There was a breeze coming off the water that knocked the black flies down enough that I was able to take off the head net while I set up camp. Here's the story on the net. When I was packing my backpack before this section, I could not find my headnet. So I bought another. On this day, I discovered why I was still getting chewed. The mesh was large enough that the smaller flies could go right through it. I'm thinking this is going to be a pretty miserable two weeks. Stay tuned.

The water was gorgeous. The feeder creek was very close, so I didn't have to carry my large water bottle full at all. I set up the tent and then went to get water.

I know I can't even see how lovely the site is when I'm closed up in the tent or sleeping, but it makes me very happy just to know that beauty is out there. The loon calling helped me remember that! Since I stopped a little early, I knew I'd have to get up and get moving first thing in the morning, but the next day was mostly road walk, so I figured it wouldn't be a problem. I made the decision to stop at this beautiful place.

The flies were BAD. Even being very careful while putting things in the tent I ended up with about 50 of the little monsters inside that needed to be killed.

Miles today that count: 10.4. Total miles so far: 2219.5. (miles that don't count: 1.1)

Chub Lake to Bear Lake, NY Adirondacks.

See Here I Go

Here I Go! - Day 174

  I'm backdating the Adirondack posts so they will show up in the correct order. I'll try to catch up one per day. We'll see! This is a big post, because I want to tell you some expectations and give you general info.

Mary took this as I was about to walk away from her car. I look awfully clean, but that didn't last long. I also look happy. That mostly lasted.

Wait! What? Did I get lost and make a big U-turn? Nope! Ohio township is right on the edge of the Adirondacks in New York.

Just under 3 miles of road and then I was at the beginning of the first Adirondack trail. One of my biggest hopes was that I'd find good signage most everywhere. But I knew there wasn't going to be much North Country Trail marking.

One of the things you will find at almost every Adirondack Trailhead (where there is parking) is a trail register. They are pretty serious about wanting people to sign in. You just give some basic info, how many are in your party, your destination and expected days to stay. If you are coming back out to the same place, you are supposed to check that you have safely returned. I just noted that I was hiking through. But I was very conscientious about signing each one. Since doing this portion of the hike alone was almost certainly the most risky thing I'll do all year, I tried to ensure that my progress could be followed if I didn't check in on an expected date.

The first obstacle was Little Woodhull Creek.

Oops. Bridge is in bad shape, but I was able to get across it.

The tale of the day was that this trail hasn't been used very much at all in the last few years. Stone Dam Pond is dry, and I suspect that's why the trail has lost its appeal. The treadway was completely covered in matted leaves and there weren't enough markers. The NY DEC uses round discs- different colors for various trails. You can tell from the sign above that this one is supposed to have yellow markers. Anyway... very first day... the trail goes missing. But by using the Avenza app (no cell signal needed), I was easily able to find the trail again both of the times I lost it.

I just had to take some pictures of typical Adirondack wetlands.

I planned short miles for the first day, because it took a long time to drive me to my starting point, and I wanted to have plenty of time to get back in the routine of setting up camp. I reached Chub Lake at about 4 pm.

Setting up camp means putting up the tent, getting the sleeping bag deployed and all the gear rearranged for overnight. Then I have to get the cache bag hung- I try to get the rope over a limb and have everything ready so that as soon as I eat supper all the food can be hoisted high off the ground and away from tree trunks. I'll show you a picture of this another day. I have about a thousand pictures of my little orange bag hanging in the woods (from 30+ years of backpacking), and I don't feel a need to take many more pictures of it. I did a blog post about how to do this a few years ago, but the pictures have disappeared, and I can't redo them while on the road. I also try to have filtered enough water for the evening and breakfast. Mostly, I don't care for pond water, so I usually stopped at the last good stream before my camp and filled all my bottles. I carry one large extra bottle that is empty all day, but then I can fill it at that last water stop and I'm all set for overnight.

Anyway, I was all set up by 6 pm. I crawled in my tent away from the hordes of blackflies. Then I hosted the nightly killing party to get rid of all the flying vermin that got in the tent while I was putting my gear away.

I had to wear a headnet whenever I was outside the tent. I still got chewed. I'll talk about that more tomorrow. I'm also not going to show you the small tent in the woods every night because it generally looks pretty much like this.

Then, I can sit in peace and read a book. Yes, I take a book. The evenings would be awfully long without something to do.

Miles today: 8.5. Total miles so far: 2209.1.

NY 214 to Chub Lake

See Teeny is Ready

Teeny is Ready - Day 173

  Today I worked on a list of final odds and ends, including checking the gear list. You've seen all this process spread out in my living room several times. It's not all that interesting so I won't repeat it. But here's the final result. Teeny (Modestine) is packed. Total weight, 28 pounds, exactly the same as what I had when I walked away from Timber Creek in December. A few pieces of equipment are different, but the weight came out the same.

I've planned slightly shorter days for the Adirondacks. I want to be sure I give myself time to get enough rest, find the trail junctions, etc. I knew the trail near home so well, I didn't even need a map. Here, I've only seen a few pieces of what I'll be hiking, and I'm alone. I have latitude and longitude for some critical junctions. That said, there are a lot of road miles. Most of this is only a temporary route, so I did plan some days with a lot of road longer. Total ADK miles is something around 172. It's going to be impossible to get an exact mileage. This will be a long backpack!

I've double checked the power pack for the phone again. You might remember that I couldn't get it to work on the winter hike. It seems fine now. I ran the phone down to nothing, and charged it totally from the pack with plenty of power left. I'll be able to recharge the pack at each of the places where I have a supply pickup.

I have good maps from two sources. I'm feeling a lot more confident about this than I was a week ago.

Meanwhile, my hosts for the past few days have been Mary and Bill Coffin, long-time trail friends. We've enjoyed visiting, and Mary has been my primary source of info about the upcoming miles.

Here's the bad news (for you). Those of you who say you really enjoy my daily posts... that is all going on hold until probably June 6. I have to have cell signal to blog and there won't be enough places to do that for it to be sensible for me to carry the keyboard. What I hope to do is post a Facebook update from at least the supply pickup points. I really don't know if I'll have signal any other places. I don't need a signal to access the map GPS info.

So... please don't worry about me. I'll post a picture when I can and a brief update. Somehow, I'll have to update the blog with more pictures at a later date.

See Cruising the Daks

Cruising the Daks - Day 172

  Today I had to get the backpacking food sorted into appropriate piles and deliver it to various places in the Adirondacks for pickup as I backpack through. You saw all these packages as they were created. Now they are being deployed.

I packaged up three bags with the appropriate number of breakfasts, snacks, lunches, dinners, and toilet paper. Then I headed for the Adirondacks.

These aren't even big mountains, but they stand out nicely from the background.

More of the same- these make me so happy!

The places I chose to leave supplies were all happy to hold a bag for me until I got there to collect it. My last supply drop involves a friend you have met before, Paul. I had to track him down because the phone number I had for him was no good, but he was home and is happy to pick me up from the trail one day and let me stay overnight and get cleaned up. We've been friends for over 50 years, but I haven't seen him very often. Last time was two years ago (link below). He's the one who introduced me to the Adirondacks.

This was an eight-hour loop trip, but now it's done. Tomorrow, I'll finish all the final odds and ends, and hike on Monday.

See Catching Up (last time I saw Paul)

Packing and Planning - Day 171

  Today was nuts. I'm trying to repack my gear, make arrangements for rides, and get the maps in order. There seems to be a glitch in everything I try. I'm sure it will be better tomorrow.

Meanwhile, enjoy some white flowers

Allegheny Foamflower

Dwarf Ginseng

Hawthorne tree

Little White Violet

and Hobble Bush, a viburnum

I'm hopeful I can start hiking again on Monday. Things need to start falling in place soon. Tomorrow I need to drive a big loop dropping supply packages at a couple of places.

See Famous Forestport