Backpacking at Bushnell Falls with Bears

My New Years Eve statement was that no matter where travel baseball takes us this summer and how much time it consumes....I am going to set aside a four day weekend to backpack.  Long before the snow was gone I made sure to take eleven days off from work at the beginning of July.  The first weekend of this vacation I was in Long Island for a baseball tournament and during a break from the games my daughter and I and my father drove out to Smith Point Beach.
On that day we were at sea level and in exactly a week's time we would be over 4,000 feet above the sea in the Eastern High Peaks of the Adirondacks attempting to knock of a few more peaks to someday reach our goal of completing all 46 of them.  My ten year old nephew was set to go with us this time.  He shopped with me for supplies the day before the trip.  He had his own money and spent it wisely...on a knife and a magnesium flint.  I texted my sister to alert her that I had allowed her son to buy a knife and a fire starter.  Brave...she said.  I just wanted him to buy whatever he wanted because I thought it would keep him from chickening out on me.  Turns out he did shed a few tears for his mom when we got to the lean to...but sleepiness kicked in and those were the only tears of the trip. From Him..I should say...yeah so backing up....we left on Friday the 6th at 4:15am.  Not being sure which end of the July 4th weekend would be the busiest at the trail head, I wanted to be sure to get a parking spot at the garden.  We arrived at 6:00am to find plenty of spots.  It didn't take long to get our gear loaded onto our backs.  We were on the trail by 6:20am.  The 3.5 miles to the John's Brook Lodge went quickly.  It is a nice rolling hill hike.  We rested near the brook for about 15 minutes right in front of the Lodge.  My nephew, Kyle had a snack and watched a bunch of butterflies.  He was eager to get to where we were camping.  I was excited to finally see JBL for myself.  Sometime it would be nice to stay there.  I could see a fire going inside and thought that would be nice in the early fall.  With only another 1.5 miles to go to the lean to at Bushnell Falls, we arrived at the site of our base camp by 11:00am.  Bushnell Falls Lean to #2 was right on the trail...as opposed to the occupied Lean to #1.  That's OK.  We kinda like interacting with the other hikers that will go trekking by us in the evening completing a day hike in which they still have a grueling 5 miles more to go. 

fast asleep

what i look like after seeing a bear

  We unpacked the sleeping pads and bags and got out the bear resistant canisters containing our food and prepared a lunch of Ramen noodles.  Too late to climb anything, we decide to let Kyle play in John's Brook.  It is a picturesque place to sit and listen to the rushing water.  Kyle skipped stones and studied the stones too.  The next stone more unique than the last.  He was in his element...the outdoors, unlike many of today's kids.  Over the next few days he amused himself in that creek by rock hopping, finding and feeding worms to fish and throwing stones into the many different sized pools.  On the first night of our trip we all followed the trail to the actual waterfall that the area is named for...Bushnell Falls.  The trail to it was very steep and sandy so on the way back we just climbed the rocks to the very far right of the falls and made our way back up the creek.  Soon it was time to cook our dinner and get it cleaned up before 6pm.  The ranger we saw on the way in told us that we would have no trouble with bears as long as we followed the rules.  No cooking after 7pm and proper use of the appropriate bear canister.  Now, my version of having no problem with bears is that if I followed the rules I would not SEE any bears.  The ranger told us of the bears at Marcy Dam bullying campers until they give up their food, which a family did the night before.  This causes the bears to become nuisances.  Oh..and that family was eating after 8pm.  Kyle was asleep before 7pm.  I was afraid he would wake up in the night but he didn't.  I went to sleep rather easily at about 8:30.  Saturday morning was overcast.  We were on the trail by 7:30am.  Soon after we started out it began to mist.  Then it lightly rained.  We headed up the Range Trail to Haystack.  It rained harder.  Soon we were all soaked.  With only .5 mile left before the summit of Haystack we had to make the decision not to summit the bare open rock mountain.  This was fairly easy to decide since it was much windier and colder above the treeline.  We thought it might clear up by the time we made the 1.3 mile hike over to the approach to Basin.  Nope, an hour later it was only raining harder.  Everyone we met that morning had a different weather report and lightning was not out of the question so we decided with only .7 to go to the summit of Basin that we best just head back to the safety of our lean to.  We took the Shorey Shortcut despite reports on the adkforum that it is steep and daunting.  A lady we had met earlier said she didn't remember it being "terrible" but admitted she could have just blocked it out.  Turns out that it is no steeper or more treacherous than any other trail in the high peaks.

sleeping at the summit

tent on the rocky open summit of Hadley Mtn

my dad on the tower at sunset

I have climbed Hadley Mountain more times that I have kept track...in all of the seasons and with many different combinations of people.  It is close to home, is a great open summit as well as a relatively easy climb but early in the season it is enough of a challenge that it helps get you back in climbing shape.  On most of the hikes up Hadley my father is alongside of me and we have often talked about camping on the mountain for a night.  Just to say we did.  The weather looked too good to be true and so on a whim my father and I grabbed our equipment and a couple of freeze dried meals and headed up to Fire Tower Road.  At 5:10pm we signed into the trail head with hopes of making it to the top by 7:00pm with our "full packs".  Sunset was scheduled for 8:21pm.  Normally I wouldn't think it was such a great idea to climb this mountain with an additional 20+ pound pack on my back....but photographing and experiencing a sunset and sunrise in person on this mountain was motivating.  The beginnings of black fly season and their swarms kept me pushing ahead.  Strangely we made it to the summit in the same amount of time it usually takes us with just a day pack, which reassures me that my plan for a 4 night 26 mile July backpack is not too adventurous for this pair of hikers who have not maintained the level of fitness that is optimal for the rugged trails of the most remote high peaks.   At 6:30pm we had plenty of time to set up camp.  My father suggested setting up the tent below the summit near the observers cabin.  I on the other hand made the case for sleeping on the mountain should mean at the summit.  So a nice flat soft mossy area at the base of the tower was chosen for the site.  Dinner was quickly prepared in the new GSI Dualist cookware I got for Christmas.  We had coffee and chocolate chip cookies as the sun began to set while a comfortable breeze blew just enough to keep the bugs away. 

sunset

It was perfectly quiet; serene.  The sunset's beauty cannot be accurately captured by the camera...or at least by this operator of the camera.  No photograph can relay or evoke the same spiritual feeling that is produced by actually being in the moment.  It is the feeling that would be priceless if we could somehow bottle it and save it for later...when we can't break away from the real world and it's demands.   After a night of little sleeping and mostly listening the wind flap the parachute-like tent rain fly....seeing the sunrise over the misty fog between the rolling mountains to the east completed the awesomeness!  We packed up and started down the mountain at 6:30am...a 12 hour adventure.  

sunrise

Rock Pond near Indian Lake, NY

 Actually hiking on some snow for the first time this year.  I bare booted it...but most of the group wore snowshoes.  They would have been handy for the bushwack part of the trip we did.  I post holed for about half a mile but the destination was well worth the effort.  Total mileage was just under four. 

 Part of the Rock River as it flows into Rock Pond.

 Crossing Rock Pond with a look back at Blue Mountain. 

Spectacle Pond

Love this 3 mile round trip hike in Schroon Lake.  Did it twice in the month of February.  Once with the coworkers and once with my husband.  I am making a hiker out of him!  Totally planning to camp here as soon as it is warm enough.  I am thinking mid May. 

New Years Day on Tongue Mountain

 

My 3rd annual New Year's Day Hike with some awesome coworkers and their significant others.  We like to find a lean to, build a fire and eat heartily!!  This year's buffet included shrimp, hot beef stew, deviled eggs, cheese and pepperoni and beverages.  These people are not afraid to carry some heavy food and drink.  A couple of bottles of wine, some physician's assistant's recommended Yagermeister and several cans of beer made the trip.  Too long partying at the lean to contributed to our hike down the mountain in the dark and rain.  It was icy and slippery; my first time using my microspikes which are well worth the investment.  My father bought himself a pair the next day.  Nonetheless, it was a perfect start to 2012. 

#26 Lower Wolfjaw

Well, we are getting the first real snow storm of the season with only 3 weeks to go until the first day of spring! How appropriate with this strangly warm...snowless up until now...winter we have been having. I have been getting my map of the high peaks out at night already debating which mountains will be summitted in a july backpacking trip. Even the snow above 4,000 feet will be gone by then. We have 20 peaks to go and I would like to make a big dent in that number this season. My husband is likely to join my father and I on one of what I hope to be two summer backpack trips in the high peak region. I would like to take Reagan on that trip as well as an overnight at Spectacle Pond in Schroon Lake. Anyway, during this planning stage I realized that I have fallen behind in my reporting to the 46ers but reminded myself that all of my hikes are captured here on the blog. Oops, except for Lower Wolf Jaw. The lone hiked high peak of 2011. I cannot believe how the pace of life kept us from doing more than ONE peak. On July 4, 2011 we parked at a pull off of route 73 near the AMR but not having to cross their land. We hiked alongside Deer Creek on a very picturesque trail. Now when I say "we" I mean my father and I and my son Greg and his girlfriend Mikayla. I have figured out the carrot that will lead Greg up a few more high peaks. Lucky for me he has a very athletic and enthusiastic girlfriend who more than willingly agreed that it would be nice for her and Greg to come along. In much better shape, they hiked way ahead of us and had plenty of time to rest at the summit waiting for us and their lunch! At only about 9 miles it was a good hike to tackle as the first and only hike of the season. My father and I took it easy, rested quite a bit and drank plenty of gatorade. It was a hot one. We are now at 26. Greg has 4 and Mikayla 1. The hike was pretty uneventful, a nice return to the peaks and we were done early enough to eat at the Noonmark Diner for the first time.   

Biking to Newcomb Lake

Since I am up waiting for Hurricane Irene to hit...I decided to share my bike trip to Camp Santanoni and Newcomb Lake with who ever still hits up the ol' blog that hasn't been touched for over a year......

I took Friday off in order to enjoy some sunshine before the weekend washout. Hike or Bike was the question and Reagan quickly chose biking as the activity. Not being able to bear another warren county bike trail ride...I decided it was time to ride the woods road trail to Newcomb Lake and check out the refurbishing going on at the Great Camp Santanoni.

We took I-87 to exit 29 and the Blue Ridge Road over to Newcomb. About an hour trip...driving Dan's truck full of bikes. Oh yeah...Reagan and I had company. My nephew Kyle who has been on other trips with us and my niece Vivian who was psyched to be included. The kids amused themselves by making faces at other drivers and yelling foolishness out the windows. The parking area is not hard to locate as you drive through Newcomb on route 28n. You pass Lake Harris Campground, cross the Hudson and on your right there are very visible signs for the Santanoni Preserve. Follow the little gravel road that goes into the woods and immediately you are at the stone gate and parking areas. It is a very pretty park like setting until you see the sign in register and the start of the truck/horse trail. Many people were walking the road and several other bikers were getting ready as we pulled up. I expected gradual uphill but I didn't expect it to give me as much of a hard time as it did. That is what is nice about biking with a 6 year old in your group. My adorable niece asked during one of our breaks..."aunt corin are you going slow so that i can keep up with you?"....my reply: "no viv, I cant go any faster...we are equal bike riders". She seemed very pleased that she wasn't "holding me back". It wouldn't have mattered if I could have climbed those hills with ease....I was very happy to have her along. She is the middle child and very laid back and quiet. I guess you would categorize her as the "easiest" of my sister's three children. The youngest one is quite the entertainer and has a strong personality and Kyle who was biking with us is curious and extraordinarily interested animals; always has a strange fact to share with you and fancies himself quite the comedian. So....biking alongside vivian for a couple hours gave me the chance to converse with just her and see some traits of her personality that don't often come through when she is with her siblings. She is funny and sweet and not at all as shy as she sometimes appears to be. I really enjoyed the time with her.

At one point in the trip we passed state prison inmates doing trail work. I alerted the kids only because I didn't want them to say something goofy to them, not to scare them. They passed without issue and I thought it was logical that the state was using the inmates for such work. I slipped in a thank you to the last inmate I passed (because he was looking) even though they were supposed to turn and face the woods while we were near.

The kids stopped for a while at the first stone bridge we went over to play in the brook. Kyle found a frog and Reagan got stung by a honey bee. Vivian laughed as she splashed cold water on her face and hair. They remarked how clean the water looked. I tried to explain the high levels of iron that made the dirt in the brook so reddish-orange.

We continued and just when we thought we couldn't go anymore the gradual 4 mile uphill became a gradual one last mile downhill. It seemed like we were flying. Kyle and Reagan far ahead, Vivian and I tested our brakes and tried to remain in control. We were a little nervous about the loose rocks we were speeding over. Vivian laughed and wondered aloud "when did I get worried like aunt gwenny?" I smiled remembering my sister's description of vivian's other aunt cautiously hiking Giant Mountain and being nervous about Kyle climbing the bare rock.

The lake quickly came into view after we went over a couple more stone bridges and a wooden bridge. we passed a large group of campers coming back to their site from the tiny sandy beach area. There were also three men coming to shore in canoes who had been across the lake camping. A pair of work horses and a carriage met them to take them and their canoes back to their vehicles. This was an added treat for the kids who paused from wading into the water to pet the horses.

After about an hour of snacking on the shore of the beautiful lake with mountain views and few clouds in the violet blue sky...we decided to hop on the bikes and go the short distance to Camp Santanoni. A Great Camp that is now owned by the state and a national landmark. It is known for having been a summer getaway for the wealthiest of people escaping the city heat. It is still be refurbished but visitors are welcome to take a look throughout the buildings and sit for a while on its massive porches. One can only imagine what it would be like to stay there either now which would be amazing or in its hay day when it was considered "roughing it in style".

After spending about two and a half hours exploring the camp, enjoying the lake and checking out the designated tent sites we decided to start the trip back. The kids saw fish, frogs, big spiders and pointed out all kinds of mushrooms. On the way out of course we only had to do a mile of gradual and sometimes steep uphill before we enjoyed coasting the last 4 miles to the truck. Vivian actually had to stop a few times to let her tingling hands rest from using her hand brakes so much. People before us had built several cairns along the road. One in particular was on a huge boulder and was balancing in a neat way. Very grown up like, as we passed it, vivian suggested that we should have stopped to take a photo of it. She has a good eye for photography!

After 11 miles and 5 hours of playing in the adirondacks, we got the bikes loaded up and made our way to the convenience store in Pottersville where after several hikes and backpack trips, my father and I have chowed down pizza. We all ate a slice and continued home....where the kids jumped promptly in the pool to slog off and cool down. Then Vivian and Kerrigan (age 4) came home with us to spend the night. They ate popcorn and did photo shoots and Vivian stayed up way later than I thought a little girl who biked 11 miles would have ever been able....

On the Adirondack hiking forum some one's profile states..."It's not a map it's a to do list". I am glad biking this neck of the woods was on my to do list. It was a refreshing day up north.

new comment

During a check of my email, I received notification of a blog comment. I was real surprised since I have been neglecting my blog for quite some time. It was a short comment from a person stating that they were doing research on blog writing and had spent quite a bit of time perusing mine. Commenter ended by saying keep providing useful information. Hmm....useful huh? I hadn't quite looked at it that way in a while. So what have I been up to other than blogging? Facebook seems to have taken over as the quicker way of informing people "what up"....but I do have an interesting story about sharing useful information. We hosted college baseball players during the summer for a few years. It was a huge commitment for our family both financially and personally; having given up the privacy of our own home to share it with 18-21 year old ball players who were loud, hungry, dirty (needing a lot of showers) and in one case pretty disrespectful. But we did it out of love for the game of baseball and the exposure it gave our son to how very hard you must work at your sport to play at the next level....COLLEGE. Greg is a freshman this year on the Varsity team. He is on a team that has two wins and ten losses and he is one of the two pitchers they look to for the starts. He was the winning pitcher for the teams only two wins. It has been a struggle to keep motivated under the circumstances. Positive notes are that Greg is being coached by his grandfather and another 25 year veteran coach...the only two people in the area besides his father that I would entrust to further his baseball talent. Greg is not a morning person, kinda like his mother, and so he has failed to see the necessity of getting out of bed before school for 6:30am hitting....besides only 3 kids on the team ever show up. We have tried to leave it up to Greg to have the self discipline to go...he functions better when things are his idea anyway (don't we all). Needless to say he makes it there about 2 out of 4 mornings that the extra hitting is offered. This is where the big payoff has come from hosting those college boys. My father made a comment the other day that Greg should ask Nate how many early hitting practices he skipped. Nate Recknagel was a ballplayer at the University of Michigan when he stayed at our house. He was a great house guest and spent a lot of time sharing his knowledge with Greg while he was here. We made a trip to Michigan the following year to see him play in the Big Ten League and watched the computer as he was drafted into Professional Baseball. We've kept in touch and his mom is one of my facebook friends...you know the mom is always the quickest route to info on where he is and what team he is currently playing for...and she still gives updates on his latest home run count. I sent Nate a quick message asking if he could find the time to do so, could he drop a line to Greg with some motivation for his personal growth during a year where the team is rebuilding. Part of me thought he might post a comment on Greg's profile about keeping his head up and continuing to work hard...part of me thought he might just be way too busy to write anything personalized to Greg's situation...On the contrary, he took the time to write a very genuine message with plenty of motivation but extremely realistic. He said he was taught that you get back what you put into something and he has never seen anyone get anywhere in baseball without A LOT of hard work. He told him if he is not going to morning hitting at least three times per week then he shouldn't be going at all because he is wasting his time. Nate told Greg that if he swings the bat 400 times he is not done....swing it another 400 times to ensure that his muscles remember the motion. What he sent is priceless to us as parents of a boy who has dreams of being recruited by a big deal baseball school and needs to be reminded how much work that really takes. For Greg....not impressed. It was just Nate talking to him the same as he did before he made it to the pros. I hope he thinks about that message and puts it to good use. Nate wants Reagan to write to him too and let him know what she has been doing. It was a great reminder of why we took those guys from Michigan into our home on a whim four years ago. I knew packing all those sandwiches and scrambling lots of eggs before games for those guys would come in handy someday....

5 years

My job always seems to bring me into close quarters with people who are suffering with loss. Some are fresh losses and some are longstanding unresolved grief issues. For someone who has real trouble holding emotion in check this has been a challenge. In the span of three weeks two people I work with have tragically lost a child. THEIR CHILD....and at the same time are trying to remain sober and mentally healthy as well as in compliance during the most difficult time they might ever face. I am humbled on a daily basis, but especially on the days this past month that my people entrusted me with the details of their most raw and private event. Just as a firefighter runs toward a burning building....even though I know I don't do death and sadness well...I feel a real urge to reach out and offer a neutral and safe place for their expressions of feeling. After all...I know how hard it is to say goodbye. And I cannot believe it has been five years. I never tell people to give it time.

This helps..........

Olympic Thoughts

In the spirit of the 2010 Winter Olympics my parents looked up these photos they had of a day trip we took in 1986 to the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

More amusing than the winter weather get up I have on is that the view behind my sister and I is of Colden, Algonquin and Wright Peak...3 of the 46 mountains that my father and I have been climbing. They were just mountains back then. I am sure that at age 13 I didn't even think they were remotely special.... much less dream of being at the summit of all of them some day.

During our visit we watched the bobsled and luge runs and ski jumping. We took the elevator to the top of the ski jump and actually had a beautiful view of Whiteface. To the left of the lookout was the Adirondac Loj road.

It was 6 years after the Lake Placid Olympics but the memories were still fresh for us. There was nothing more exciting than the Hockey Team beating Russia and Eric Heiden setting records and winning the gold in Speed Skating. I recall skating on the pond in my grandfather's barnyard pretending to be a speed skater. It was important to get your arm going and try to imitate the moves of the Olympians. It was definitely easier to be a speed skater than a figure skater!! My face book friend and former college roommate Chris posted an Olympic memory on her status the other night that made smile several times over the last few days. She said that she got her first pair of roller skates the summer after the 1980 games and Eric Heiden's notoriety. She recalled skating fast down the street and strolling back with her hands on her hips pretending to do an interview with Jim McKay. Chris' hope was that the kids today are watching the Olympics and incorporating the excitement of the events into their playtime. It was at that moment that I knew I needed to drum up some interest in my own kids for the 2010 games....thankfully Reagan is well aware of who Apolo Anton Ohno (speedskater) and Louis Vito (snowboarder) are from their appearances on Dancing with the Stars. Attracting new followers of their sport was EXACTLY what both of those athletes hoped would be the result of their participation.

We are definitely cheering for these guys!!!!

Sawyer Mountain

Another day of full sun was in the forecast. How could I fit a snowshoe trip between dropping my son at basketball practice at 8:00am and my daughter at a birthday party at 4:00pm?? I had read a lot of trip reports on Sawyer Mountain. It is just above Indian Lake and is described as a good mountain to introduce hiking to kids. I intended to bring my nephew on a climb up this mountain but we weren't sure about him doing it on snowshoes. Today was the day that this 2.2 mile RT mountain would come in handy for Reagan's second snowshoe. She only wanted to know if it was easier than Hadley...when I expressed that it was definitely going to be easier, she decided to tag along. She entertained herself along the trail, leading most of the way up and doing an intentional and way cool butt slide on the way down. She was motivated to keep pressing ahead because there were children behind us on the trail and one of them was a boy. I told her that for one thing.....we don't want that BOY to beat us to the top and another thing.....we wanted to make it to the summit first in order to get the best seat for the view. She only rested a few times and we were successful. Even with Reagan it was just one hour to the top. Along the way she expressed interest in the animal tracks. We spotted Fisher tracks, Mole tracks, Snowshoe Hare prints and just when Reagan was in need of a diversion from the task of climbing....someone who had gone before us had built an 18 inch snowman on a rock right alongside the trail. CUTE!!!

Unfortunately, she seems to really care NOTHING for the color of the sky that my father described as Bluebird Blue. At 3/4 of the way to the summit there are finally some lookouts with nice long distance clear viewing.....NOPE, not impressed. I tried to tell her that the view is the reward for the exertion. She insists that MONEY is a reward. I told her blind people would probably pay a lot of money to be able see the view that she was taking for granted. You can lead a horse to water....regardless, it was good that she came today.

The sun was so warm and bright, the snow was sparkling like diamonds. My mind wandered to a time when maybe it will be Me..hiking with a daughter who loves it as much as I do. I will wait as patiently as my father did.

My mother got this book for my father for his birthday. The few stories I was already able to read were exciting and informative. Two of the stories in the book are actually written by my 46er correspondent, Brian Hoody! One of my favorites so far was about a 76 year old man who needed a week to recover from climbing Cascade but then built his strength and endurance by climbing, went on to become a 46er at 82 years old and was eventually told by his doctor that he had actually reversed the aging process. Anecdotal about the places we've been, Informative about the mountains we have left to do and Inspirational from the people who've gone before us.

9th trip up Hadley Mountain

My only goal for this Saturday morning was to SLEEP in. Reagan was at a friend's house and Dan was off today and available to take Greg to his early morning basketball practice. Mission accomplished...I got up at 11:30 when Reagan called to ask if she could stay longer at the friend's house. With more freedom than I anticipated having and the sun shining warm and bright, I began itching to go snowshoeing. Of course it would be a late start so the obvious destination would be somewhere close to home. I quickly called my father and it took him about 2 seconds to answer yes to my suggestion that we climb Hadley today. We signed in at the trailhead at 1:30 and began the climb which is steep right from the beginning. There were several other climbers taking advantage of this spectacular day. The trail is very well packed down and we actually could have worn just boots with yak traks. However, there were several pretty icy spots that required the teeth of the snowshoe crampons. We know the trail like the back of our hands at this point so it was humorous when the people coming down assured us that we were "almost there". We saw 2 golden retrievers (made me wish shadow was with us), a black newfoundland, a black lab and 2 other mixed dogs...each one looking like he was happy to be doing his favorite thing in the world. We reached the summit at 3:30. As usual all of the people that had passed us going up were also on their way down before we summitted. This works in our favor though because we had the top to ourselves. It wasn't particularly windy today and with the sun shining it felt warm. Too lazy to take our snowshoes off we didnt climb the tower today. We spent about a half hour taking in the strangely hazy view and started down at 4:00 ejoying the orange glow of the sun setting as we walked along the ridge. We had seen the tracks of a bushwacker on the way up who had been cutting off the switchbacks and decided we would follow his trail on the way down. So off the beaten path we went. It definitely cut off some time and allowed us to travel in some snow that was deeper and not slick with ice. The register was ahead of us in no time. Good thing....we signed out by headlamp at 5:10 and joked that we closed the mountain.

Happy New Year

My father and I started day one of the new decade by snowshoeing with some of my co-workers. The destination was Hour Pond in the Siamese Wilderness in North Creek. However, after finding that the RT would be 8.6 miles and getting an 11am start we all agreed that we would skip seeing the pond and the new lean-to if necessary to get back to the cars before dark. We made it to the junction that would have taken us the .8 miles to the pond at about 1:30. Hunger had set in and we decided that we preferred to spend more time building a fire and eating a leisurely lunch. We ate deviled eggs, cheese and pepperoni, crackers and hummus and hot dogs. We toasted the New Year Snowshoe with whatever wine or beer we were individually willing to carry for ourselves and the rule was that you still had to be able to carry yourself out of the woods! Luckily the shortcut loop back to the car was mainly downhill and gave us a quick peek at Gore Mountain off in the distance..... but we had to cross a frozen Thirteenth Lake. I found that part to be a little creepy, especially since someone questioned if it had been cold enough yet and was the ice going to be thick enough. A 6.1 mile first snowshoe of the season is nothing to sneeze at. My legs are sore and I am extremely tired. I would already be sleeping but I was eager to get back to blogging after 2 months without a computer and happy to have a trip report to share with whatever readers haven't given up on A WALK IN THE PARK.....

Wishing you a happy new year of hiking!

# 23 Santanoni

Summitting Santanoni on October 5th marked our halfway point to becoming Adirondack 46ers. Being halfway through our journey would have been reason enough to celebrate and reflect, but we had a more exciting reason to celebrate. Hiking is not just exercise, it's not just something to do....it kind of starts to define you and exists as a little subculture of your regular life. It improves your self confidence while strengthening your muscles and it gives you an outlet for stress management. It allows you to enjoy beautiful places. It makes you look at the world differently. I have never appreciated nature like I have since I began hiking. I have made connections with other hikers. You sort of need to make those connections because not a lot of people understand the importance of "doing them all". My point....on Santanoni, I got the chance to witness my new "hiking connection" Lynn Benevento become a 46er. It was an amazing moment because of the story behind her finish, but it would have been a special moment without the extraordinary circumstance of her completion. Climbing 46 mountains that are all over 4,000 feet is an enormous feat. The hikes are long and most are very challenging. None are EASY. If not for hiking and sharing that connection with Lynn, I would not have gotten to witness the awesomeness of what her finish meant to her.

We started out at the Tahawus trail head for Santanoni on the Bradley Pond blue trail at 7:20am. It was chilly but not raining so we were psyched. We walked quickly on the woods road; everyone chatting and getting to know each other a little. Soon it started sprinkling and only about 30 minutes into the hike it was a steady rain. We broke out the rain jackets. Lynn had just bought herself a beautiful North Face rain jacket- complete with "pit zips" to regulate body heat. We laughed about the "technology" and pushed onward. At about 8:20 we saw some blue sky and the sun came out. We became more optimistic about the day. Just then, another one of Lynn's friend caught up to us. "Jungle" Mosher is a 46er/winter too and was now joining us along with Lynn's lifelong friend and 46er Linda Ranado who started the hike with us. This was the first time my father and I hiked with such experienced people. There is never a lack of stuff to talk about between hikers and it made for a nice trip. EVEN THOUGH....the sun was only out for about 1 hour. It quickly became overcast and dreary again. We crossed two wooden bridges and climbed a big adirondack staircase. We took the "new old" herd path...which is the original route up Santanoni. The beaver flooding that you always read about can now be avoided with a re-routed path that is slightly confusing because it is not as "beaten" as the rest of the herd path. This route is moderately steep until one point where you are given the choice of using a rope that is dangling down the face of a steep rock wall that you can go up and over (no thanks) or continue on the trail which turns out to be an equally scary alternative. Especially in the wet and wickedly slippery rich mud that the trail is made of. Of course we made it...but not without a few one step forward and two slide steps back down. I slipped twice in the muck on the way out and have never been as dirty in all my life as I was at the end of this hike. My beloved Northface jacket needed two wash cycles in Oxyclean before it was recognizable. I can proudly say that HP #23 was the first time my boots had been wet through. I now understand my friend's description of cottage cheese filled boots. That is what waterlogged wool sock covered feet feel like while hiking. Anyway...Lynn was leading the way as we started the push to the summit. Jungle kept yelling behind us.."don't get summit fever too quickly". We proceeded along the ridge which was welcomed after the steep climb and finally through the fog and clouds we were hiking in we could see the last little bump we had to cover to make it to the big finish. Jungle cheered Lynn on by saying "there she is Lynn, #46, go get her". The lump formed in my throat. Lynn kicked in whatever energy she'd been saving and made it there with Linda a good 3 minutes faster than the rest of us. We joined her on the very small summit of Santanoni and there was not a dry eye among us. Being there was a powerful feeling and I know for Lynn it was one of joy and pain. But being with someone in that kind of moment is incredible. If not for hiking I would have missed out on an important life lesson of perseverance in the face of enormous loss. It hailed at the top as we ate our lunch. Lynn was awarded her 46er patch, t-shirt and a whole bunch of stickers and pins and other treats that only 46ers are allowed to buy. Jungle had carried champagne up the mountain and popped the cork way up in the air. We all took a swig from the bottle. Lynn got out the now famous 8x10 photo of her husband to pose with for her summit picture and for #46 she also had a second 8x10 photo of her two boys that she held up. (it was the boys on their first high peak..yup, this was where I really lost it). Lynn told us that Giant was the first high peak that they did. She said they had done all kinds of hiking as a family around Lake George and other local hikes to our area and that one night her husband said, "tomorrow we are going to do a high peak" and Lynn remembered asking "can we do one of those?" because she thought they had to be done backpacking and just wasn't sure about the difficulty. I thought that was a great story to share as she was standing on Santanoni having now completed all of those high peaks that she questioned being able to do. We had NO view at the top and became cold quickly which necessitated our start down. We had made it to the top in roughly 5 hours and planned another 5 to get to the cars because of the slippery conditions. We did not do the loop which would have taken us by Bradley Pond because it was a mile longer and the weather was not getting any better. A third of the way down the mountain the sun came out over the valley and we were treated to a beautiful (well deserved) view. The fall colors were at or near peak! Of course by the time we got to the road part of the trail we were all tired and thinking that the road had to be three times longer than on the way in, but with a group, the conversation helped pass the time. At about 5:30 we were signing out and everyone congratulated Lynn again...at the parking lot she was proclaimed "official". We changed into dry clothes, my father had a celebratory beer and we jumped into the car with the heat blasting on high as we head back over the Blue Ridge Road. 23 down, 23 to go. I can't wait to earn that patch...even with all the blisters, sweat, black flies and tears that might go along with it. That's life.