Took a walk today

JimBlue · Feb 7th 2016, 1:49pm

Saw you crossing. So the horse figured that if a mere human could handle it, so could the horse.

max.patch · Feb 7th 2016, 2:12pm

JimBlue wrote:

Saw you crossing. So the horse figured that if a mere human could handle it, so could the horse.

nah, i was behind them. neither horse nor human knew i was there.

sheepdog · Feb 7th 2016, 3:10pm

max.patch wrote:

i did the 5 mile loop at kennesaw mountain yesterday. this loop allows horses. i came up on a lady on a horse; and the horse was afraid to cross the bridge. he'd walk up to it and stop, and then back up. the lady would make contact with the horse with her legs ("kick" is too strong a word to use) and use her whip and the horse would walk back up to the bridge and then start backing up again. this went on for 5 minutes (plus however long before i got there). i decided i would wait no longer and started hiking and was just about to call out to the lady when the horse got over whatever he was afraid of and crossed the bridge.

Horses can smell trolls. Obviously you spooked the troll when walking up, thereby allowing the horse to cross unmolested.

Astro · Feb 7th 2016, 4:26pm

sheepdog wrote:

max.patch wrote:

i did the 5 mile loop at kennesaw mountain yesterday. this loop allows horses. i came up on a lady on a horse; and the horse was afraid to cross the bridge. he'd walk up to it and stop, and then back up. the lady would make contact with the horse with her legs ("kick" is too strong a word to use) and use her whip and the horse would walk back up to the bridge and then start backing up again. this went on for 5 minutes (plus however long before i got there). i decided i would wait no longer and started hiking and was just about to call out to the lady when the horse got over whatever he was afraid of and crossed the bridge.

Horses can smell trolls. Obviously you spooked the troll when walking up, thereby allowing the horse to cross unmolested.

Are saying MP is a billy goat?

JimBlue · Feb 7th 2016, 4:48pm

max.patch wrote:

JimBlue wrote:

Saw you crossing. So the horse figured that if a mere human could handle it, so could the horse.

nah, i was behind them. neither horse nor human knew i was there.

Well... it was a good reason, but I pictured it wrong.

Traffic Jam · Feb 7th 2016, 5:38pm

I'm also a little late with my report.

Last week I went hiking in the Smokies near Abrams Creek ranger station and campground. It was supposed to be overcast with potential rain but it ended up being sunny, 70's, and beautiful.

The plan was to hike a 10 mi loop starting at Hannah Mountain trail. Unfortunately, the bridge over Abrams Creek was washed out so I walked through the campground and hiked 7-8 miles out and back on Cooper Road trail. I got lucky this time and discovered the bridge problem at the beginning of the hike and not the end.

This trail is wide with minimal elevation change which made for a fun and easy day. Perfect for knitting while hiking.

I was experiencing some stomach issues and barely made it behind a tree...no time to dig a cathole (of course I dug one afterwards). I pity the long distance hiker who gets sick on the trail, that has to suck!

Despite the GI stuff, it was nice to get out on such a pretty day and recharge

(Photos are in my gallery.)

rafe · Feb 7th 2016, 6:56pm

Tody's walk. Welch-Dickey loop, White Mountains. about 20 miles south of Franconia ridge. Boston was sunny, but the mountains had their own cloud system. Nice hike. Not much snow on the ground but plenty of ice. Microspikes definitely needed. Julie switched to crampons for a while. Of course, the clouds vanished just as we finished up our hike. Figures.

LIhikers · Feb 7th 2016, 8:10pm

Kathy and I went out for an easy, 4 hour, walk today in Long Island's pine barren region. There was a couple of inches of soft snow and it seems we were the first ones to walk this area since the snow came down last week. No traction aids were needed. We picked up a trail that wasn't on our map and it brought us back to our car late in the day, so we decided to head for home. As usual, we didn't bring a camera, so no photos but there wasn't anything special to see anyway.

A.T.Lt · Feb 7th 2016, 8:15pm

Today I hiked the Schunnemunk Mountain here in Orange County NY. There were many options for this hike. Short, long and intermediate. I wanted to do a loop and hit the peak of Schunnemunk which is the highest point in the county and also see whats called the Megaliths. When I started at 9 am it was 28 degrees and when I finished it was 48. The hike was 8.55 miles which I did in 4h 59m. There weren't many people out today which was nice. I brought my spikes and never put them on, although there were definitely parts where they would have been nice to have on.

Drybones · Feb 7th 2016, 8:41pm

max.patch wrote:

i did the 5 mile loop at kennesaw mountain yesterday. this loop allows horses. i came up on a lady on a horse; and the horse was afraid to cross the bridge. he'd walk up to it and stop, and then back up. the lady would make contact with the horse with her legs ("kick" is too strong a word to use) and use her whip and the horse would walk back up to the bridge and then start backing up again. this went on for 5 minutes (plus however long before i got there). i decided i would wait no longer and started hiking and was just about to call out to the lady when the horse got over whatever he was afraid of and crossed the bridge.

I'd trust the horse's judgement before the rider's.

CoachLou · Feb 8th 2016, 2:47pm

rafe wrote:

Tody's walk. Welch-Dickey loop, White Mountains. about 20 miles south of Franconia ridge. Boston was sunny, but the mountains had their own cloud system. Nice hike. Not much snow on the ground but plenty of ice. Microspikes definitely needed. Julie switched to crampons for a while. Of course, the clouds vanished just as we finished up our hike. Figures.

LIhikers · Feb 9th 2016, 9:19am

I just dropped Kathy's old "71 Volkswagen off at the shop as it needs it's state inspection this month.
I was a 40 minute walk home. I'll walk back later when the car is ready to be picked up. Otherwise it's gonna be a day to do errands and some reading.

Socks · Feb 9th 2016, 1:49pm

LIhikers wrote:

I just dropped Kathy's old "71 Volkswagen off at the shop as it needs it's state inspection this month.
I was a 40 minute walk home. I'll walk back later when the car is ready to be picked up. Otherwise it's gonna be a day to do errands and some reading.

Like seeing them old cars still on the roads.

Drybones · Feb 9th 2016, 4:17pm

Took a short overnight hike (6 miles) on the Pinhoti over to Spring Creek Shelter in GA to test the knee, it did great, I'll do a 12 or miler next and see how it does, need to be sure it's ready before any long hikes. Temps in the low 20's, woke to snow this morning, had trouble getting out of the hammock, was really enjoying laying back, sipping on a cup of coffee, watching the snow fall and listening to the silence, perfect hiking conditions on the way back out, snow falling, temps in the 20's, 20 mph wind to keep me from over heating on up hills...I had to thank my maker a few times on the out for such a great day...and the health to enjoy it.

Astro · Feb 9th 2016, 10:51pm

Drybones wrote:

Took a short overnight hike (6 miles) on the Pinhoti over to Spring Creek Shelter in GA to test the knee, it did great, I'll do a 12 or miler next and see how it does, need to be sure it's ready before any long hikes. Temps in the low 20's, woke to snow this morning, had trouble getting out of the hammock, was really enjoying laying back, sipping on a cup of coffee, watching the snow fall and listening to the silence, perfect hiking conditions on the way back out, snow falling, temps in the 20's, 20 mph wind to keep me from over heating on up hills...I had to thank my maker a few times on the out for such a great day...and the health to enjoy it.

Glad to see it is rehabbing well for you. :thumbup:

With those temps just keep a good eye out for ice.

Dan76 · Feb 9th 2016, 11:40pm

Drybones wrote:

max.patch wrote:

i did the 5 mile loop at kennesaw mountain yesterday. this loop allows horses. i came up on a lady on a horse; and the horse was afraid to cross the bridge. he'd walk up to it and stop, and then back up. the lady would make contact with the horse with her legs ("kick" is too strong a word to use) and use her whip and the horse would walk back up to the bridge and then start backing up again. this went on for 5 minutes (plus however long before i got there). i decided i would wait no longer and started hiking and was just about to call out to the lady when the horse got over whatever he was afraid of and crossed the bridge.

I'd trust the horse's judgement before the rider's.

a better option is to dismount and lead the horse across the bridge. She'd be in a world of hurt if the horse and reared on the bridge.

AnotherKevin · Feb 10th 2016, 9:09am

A.T.Lt wrote:

A little late, but I had phone issues the past few days and had to actually take pictures with an actual "camera"!! Crazy right? But then I couldn't find the cable to transfer the pictures to my computer so I can post them..
Anyway...I hiked Balsam Mountain in the Catskills yesterday. Balsam is one of the 3500' peaks in the Catskills with an elevation of 3600'. I got a late start and arrived at the trail head around 11am. It was a loop hike with a total mileage of about 5.5 miles. The view at the top was nice! It was quiet and I was the only one out there. The weather was weird , hovered around 30 degrees but it was sunny. At the peak there was no word but as I climbed and descended there were parts of the trail where the wind whipped like crazy!
Tomorrow I will be hiking the Schunemunk Mountain Ridge trail here in Orange County. Its about a 7 mile loop and holds the distinction of being the highest mountain in Orange County NY. A whopping elevation of 1664'

Nice! Looks like Mine Hollow up and Rider Hollow down? That's a beautiful route. There's a stand of hemlocks on that side that is just magnificent. Must be 3-400 years old.

AnotherKevin · Feb 10th 2016, 9:27am

A.T.Lt wrote:

So I took a walk today. Played hooky from work due to the sunny skies and beautiful weather. Went up to the Catskills and hiked Giant Ledge and Panther Mountain. Panther is one of the Catskill 3500's and one of the four you have to hike twice (once in regular season and once in winter) this brings my total of Catskills to 5/35

I envy you the good weather. When I did Panther in winter an epic ice storm blew in while we were on the mountain, and none of us had brought crampons and ice axes, just poles and microspikes. This picture was going up, none of us dared to bring out a camera on the way down with the ice that had accumulated.

[IMG:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-onVYyBcZ1mI/UsGqEGFIQtI/AAAAAAAAZX0/t7dbZIVkvK4/w850-h567-no/DSC_5019.JPG]
[IMG:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qTdQfCvbUcY/UsGqF39e8pI/AAAAAAAAZYU/C0NalmQmgtI/w378-h567-no/DSC_5028.JPG]

No accidents, but we came home SOAKED. The beautiful view from Giant Ledge:

[IMG:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ugW7g1ynoOM/UsGqBFemZ1I/AAAAAAAAZXM/TbrL1f7QBvY/w705-h470-no/DSC_5004.JPG]

And by the summit there was no view at all. The guy who took the picture said, "I could have taken this in my back yard!"

[IMG:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K8AbmIZsokI/UsGqINTDOwI/AAAAAAAAZY0/W5-py6-CD-I/w854-h567-no/DSC_5041.jpg]
(Left to right: Alex, Jon, Kevin and another Kevin)

A.T.Lt · Feb 10th 2016, 10:10am

AnotherKevin wrote:

A.T.Lt wrote:

A little late, but I had phone issues the past few days and had to actually take pictures with an actual "camera"!! Crazy right? But then I couldn't find the cable to transfer the pictures to my computer so I can post them..
Anyway...I hiked Balsam Mountain in the Catskills yesterday. Balsam is one of the 3500' peaks in the Catskills with an elevation of 3600'. I got a late start and arrived at the trail head around 11am. It was a loop hike with a total mileage of about 5.5 miles. The view at the top was nice! It was quiet and I was the only one out there. The weather was weird , hovered around 30 degrees but it was sunny. At the peak there was no word but as I climbed and descended there were parts of the trail where the wind whipped like crazy!
Tomorrow I will be hiking the Schunemunk Mountain Ridge trail here in Orange County. Its about a 7 mile loop and holds the distinction of being the highest mountain in Orange County NY. A whopping elevation of 1664'

Nice! Looks like Mine Hollow up and Rider Hollow down? That's a beautiful route. There's a stand of hemlocks on that side that is just magnificent. Must be 3-400 years old.

Those hemlocks were amazing. And so big. Both of these Catskill hikes were beautiful days. This winter has been so conducive to hiking. I'm going to try to do Slide again and Blackhead before spring to get the four required winter peaks out of the way

AnotherKevin · Feb 10th 2016, 8:45pm

Careful with Blackhead! You saw my other repost about the guy wiping out a few days ago on the Escarpment Trail, right? (Black Dome Range Trail is usually safer.) Do not attempt the north side of Blackhead without ice axe and crampons if there's any threat of ice.

Slide's a cakewalk if you go up the old jeep road, but if the weather cooperates, Curtis-Ormsbee Trail has better views. The east side of Slide is top-rope country if it's icy, so don't plan to tack on Cornell! Slide in winter is actually the first 35er in my tally sheet.It took me another year and a half to get around to climbing it in summer.

Traffic Jam · Feb 13th 2016, 7:52pm

I did a little trail running/walking yesterday evening. It was on a local trail that's popular with mountain bikers but the weather kept everyone at home. There were enough climbs, although short, to make me sweat in the cold temps. The best part were the tantalizing glimpses of the lake which made me think of summer and warm weather.

Dan76 · Feb 14th 2016, 12:02am

The Scouts required a cold weather camping experience, otherwise known as a 'Klondike'. The troop decided an overnight on Antelope Island would suffice. As typical menu preparations consisted of tomato soup, grilled cheese, and hot chocolate for dinner with pancakes, bacon (lots), eggs, and HC for breakfast.

Temp upon arrival at the camping spot was 28* F (-2C). Tents were raised, fire ignited, and dinner prep accomplished prior to darkness.

A few intrepid Scouts went out on a 1mile trail loop after dark. As the trail was mostly visible from the camp site and all were carrying flashlights, I was able to keep them in view.

Most Scouts retired at a reasonable time and apparently kept warm throuout the night. However as expected a few adults spent the night in their idling vehicles which of course created a sleep disturbing background noise for me.

Received a skiff of snow around 5:00 AM and the temp dropped to 22*F (-5C).

As the island is located in the Great Salt Lake, fog enveloped the site just prior to dawn.

With breakfast prep well underway, the aroma of sizzling bacon prompted the few sleepyheads to rise and shine.

The Great Salt Lake is shown in the background. Contrary to popular belief, the top few inches does freeze.

A.T.Lt · Feb 14th 2016, 1:40pm

AnotherKevin wrote:

Careful with Blackhead! You saw my other repost about the guy wiping out a few days ago on the Escarpment Trail, right? (Black Dome Range Trail is usually safer.) Do not attempt the north side of Blackhead without ice axe and crampons if there's any threat of ice.

Slide's a cakewalk if you go up the old jeep road, but if the weather cooperates, Curtis-Ormsbee Trail has better views. The east side of Slide is top-rope country if it's icy, so don't plan to tack on Cornell! Slide in winter is actually the first 35er in my tally sheet.It took me another year and a half to get around to climbing it in summer.

I did Slide and Cornell back on Halloween...SLode was easy up the jeep road, got to Cornell then started down towards Wittenberg but it was late in the day and was running out of time so I turned back. Im going to get Slide next then Blackhead close to the March 21st cut off.

JimBlue · Feb 14th 2016, 2:29pm

One of my relatives told me a few years ago his kid's first camping trip got them the cold weather strip for their uniform as it got down to 22F. The prediction was 34F.

Grinder · Feb 14th 2016, 3:42pm

Okay kids, I have a favor to ask you. The next time I mention hiking something that is listed as "moderate" please do all you can to have me committed. At least until I let you know I am in some sort of shape other than nearly deceased.

After mentioning it a while back I never did get to the Pigeon Hill Loop Trail. I walked here, there, etc, to include a bit at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. But that was just a little walking here, a bit there. Couple miles or so, going from car to a spot, back to car, drive a bit, walk to another, etc. Or I'd walk a few miles around the neighborhood wherever I was (two changes of location since hitting the Atlanta area). You know, a few miles on sidewalks. Not much hill action. NOT that Pigeon Hill Loop is a beast by any stretch of the imagination. I'm a fat candyass who did probably less than I could've while somewhat incapacitated with the cast and such.

That said, it's a decent trail. I hiked it as shown on alltrails.com, clockwise starting at the south end. A bit of a climb at first up Pigeon Hill, then a short respite before a mostly slow/steady climb to the top of Little Kennesaw Mountain. A bit of downhill to the gap before Kennesaw Mountain, then you get a pretty healthy climb up Kennesaw. After that it's a somewhat steep downhill for a bit, and after that it's largely a gentle downhill as you wind back around to your starting point, albeit with a few little up/downs in there.

All in all, an in shape person would probably enjoy it immensely. It kicked my ass and I managed to have fun. For the uphills, and even more the downs, I wish I'd had my trekking poles with me. I left them behind because I didn't want ANY possiblity of a situation where I found myself needing to put more weight (as in any) on the left hand than I should. I'd rather just fall and roll if it comes to that. Better yet, I'll just stick to stuff I'm less likely to fall on until the hand is up to snuff. Of course it'll likely be up to snuff before I'm in the kind of shape to want to fool with "moderate" trails.

A little history mixed in with a walk with some decent views.

Drybones · Feb 14th 2016, 4:30pm

My buddy Mark and I did a short hike to test out our hammock gear which we are both in the learning stages, did 5 miles Friday afternoon and camped at Laurel Shelter on the PInhoti, did about 8-9 miles Saturday and camped near a nice stream, finished Sunday morning with 4-5 miles, temps 1st night was 27*, 23* second night, highs in the mid 30"s Saturday which is perfect for me, as always, we stopped by Shoal Creek Cemetery to pay respects to the dead, especially the Confederate soldiers resting there....waiting for the South to rise again.

max.patch · Feb 14th 2016, 5:32pm

Grinder wrote:

Okay kids, I have a favor to ask you. The next time I mention hiking something that is listed as "moderate" please do all you can to have me committed. At least until I let you know I am in some sort of shape other than nearly deceased.

After mentioning it a while back I never did get to the Pigeon Hill Loop Trail. I walked here, there, etc, to include a bit at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. But that was just a little walking here, a bit there. Couple miles or so, going from car to a spot, back to car, drive a bit, walk to another, etc. Or I'd walk a few miles around the neighborhood wherever I was (two changes of location since hitting the Atlanta area). You know, a few miles on sidewalks. Not much hill action. NOT that Pigeon Hill Loop is a beast by any stretch of the imagination. I'm a fat candyass who did probably less than I could've while somewhat incapacitated with the cast and such.

That said, it's a decent trail. I hiked it as shown on alltrails.com, clockwise starting at the south end. A bit of a climb at first up Pigeon Hill, then a short respite before a mostly slow/steady climb to the top of Little Kennesaw Mountain. A bit of downhill to the gap before Kennesaw Mountain, then you get a pretty healthy climb up Kennesaw. After that it's a somewhat steep downhill for a bit, and after that it's largely a gentle downhill as you wind back around to your starting point, albeit with a few little up/downs in there.

All in all, an in shape person would probably enjoy it immensely. It kicked my ass and I managed to have fun. For the uphills, and even more the downs, I wish I'd had my trekking poles with me. I left them behind because I didn't want ANY possiblity of a situation where I found myself needing to put more weight (as in any) on the left hand than I should. I'd rather just fall and roll if it comes to that. Better yet, I'll just stick to stuff I'm less likely to fall on until the hand is up to snuff. Of course it'll likely be up to snuff before I'm in the kind of shape to want to fool with "moderate" trails.

A little history mixed in with a walk with some decent views.

i don't subscribe to alltrails, so i don't know the methodology they use to rate trails, but there is no way the northern half of that loop which goes up and over the mountains as it heads to the visitor center can be described as "moderate". the southern half on the fire roads is accurately described as "moderate". so don't beat yourself up too bad.

i did the 5 mile loop (plus 2 more miles that i tacked on) at the southern most part of the park this afternoon and that can be described as "moderate". 47 degrees today, although with the 15 mph winds it made the hands a bit chilly. shorts weather!

AnotherKevin · Feb 15th 2016, 4:42pm

Grinder wrote:

Okay kids, I have a favor to ask you. The next time I mention hiking something that is listed as "moderate" please do all you can to have me committed. At least until I let you know I am in some sort of shape other than nearly deceased.

max.patch wrote:

i don't subscribe to alltrails, so i don't know the methodology they use to rate trails, but there is no way the northern half of that loop which goes up and over the mountains as it heads to the visitor center can be described as "moderate". the southern half on the fire roads is accurately described as "moderate". so don't beat yourself up too bad.
i did the 5 mile loop (plus 2 more miles that i tacked on) at the southern most part of the park this afternoon and that can be described as "moderate". 47 degrees today, although with the 15 mph winds it made the hands a bit chilly. shorts weather!

If you have absolutely zero mountain hiking experience, starting with 5-8 mile days at a leisurely pace is probably a good idea until you have an idea how your body is going to react. There's no shame in being a flatlander! Harriman kicked my butt when I was a high-school kid from New York City and just getting started with hiking. Now it seems "pretty easy," with a handful of notable exceptions (the Suffern-Bear Mountain trail up Pyngyp, for instance). But when my foot gets better, I'm going to have to start slow and work up to things again. I expect to do a bunch of day trips in the Helderbergs or something before I'm up to backpacking or peakbagging again.

Your problem (and mine, too!) seems to be that you're trying to measure yourself against people who live to hike. I always feel as if I'm sailing under false colors when I'm out with the likes of 1azarus, Malto or Just Bill (to name three that I've hiked with). They assure me that simply being Out There makes me closer to them than I am to the general public, but I'm never entirely convinced.

Some people who write trail guides seem to compete on machismo - how difficult a trail they're willing to call 'easy' or 'moderate'. And some guides are just written in difficult areas and wind up setting their brackets accordingly. On my freshman trip at Dartmouth, I got quite a surprise what DOC considered "moderate" - the Dartmouth Skiway to the Ravine Lodge below Moosilauke. (By White Mountain standards, I suppose that is moderate. I think the "hard core" trip was from Franconia Notch to Shelburne.)

I can recall sitting around on Windham High Peak in the Catskills, and having a father-and-son pair from New Jersey come up.

Them: "(puff, pant) The guidebook said this was an easy three-mile hike."
My daugher: "Well, yeah...."
Them: "EASY????"
Me: "No rock scrambling, no stream crossings, no heavy brush, no deep mud, you've always got a blaze in sight, and there's about 2000 feet elevation gain, all of it gradual. That's pretty easy around here."
Them: "You're kidding."
Daughter: "Seriously, this is about the easiest of the Catskill high peaks, although Slide, Hunter and Bearpen come pretty close."
Them: "Well, in New Jersey, this is about as hard as it gets!"
Us: "Welcome to the Catskills!"
Them: "You guys are nuts!"

I'm really coming to like the difficulty rating system that AMC and ADK use to rate trips. It's a three-component code, distance, pace and terrain.

Distance is AA, >13 miles, A 9-13 miles, B, 5-8 miles, C <5 miles per day.

Pace is 1 very fast (>2.5 mph), 2 fast (2-2.5 mph), 3 moderate (1.5-2 mph), 4 leisurely (less than 1.5 mph).

Terrain is A difficult, B strenuous, C average, D easy. A rough guideline there (and a cross reference to ski ratings):
A+ - extremely difficult terrain, possible sustained exposure or scrambling moves requiring full body weight on hands. Elevation gains may exceed 1000 feet per mile. (Double diamond)
A - rough terrain, possible exposure or thick brush, elevation gains may exceed 800 feet per mile (Black diamond)
B - steep hills with rock scrambling but minimal exposure. Typical elevation gains are in the range of 500-800 feet per mile. (Blue square)
C - hiking trails and rolling hills, soft ground, sand, carriage trails, elevation gains typically do not exceed 500 feet per mile. (Green circle)
D - developed trails, rail trails, solid pavement, mostly level with possible easy hills mixed in. (Bunny slope)

This is simple enough that most leaders can rate their trips accurately, but informative enough that most participants have a decent idea where they stand. For what it's worth, our day on Windham High Peak would have been B3B, because we were stopping a lot for photography.

Remember that these are club ratings. A thru-hiker with trail legs might think that A1B is an "easy" day, but a typical hiking club member surely will not! My personal limit on the club-rated trips is about AA2C, A2B or A3A+. I don't have fun on a trip where the leader's pace is 'very fast,' and I run out of steam easily trying to combine significant mileage with any amount of technical difficulty. When I get back into things, though, I'll probably be working up from B3B and B3C.

Astro · Feb 20th 2016, 10:48pm

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

rafe · Feb 20th 2016, 11:21pm

Visiting niece and her family in MD. We spent the day in Harper's Ferry. Walked a tiny stretch of trail. Gorgeous weather, about 70 degrees out and sunny.

Traffic Jam · Feb 20th 2016, 11:53pm

Astro wrote:

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

Eek. I hope his rabies vac is up to date.

sheepdog · Feb 21st 2016, 7:49am

Astro wrote:

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

did you call 1-800=dog bite?

LIhikers · Feb 21st 2016, 8:06am

TrafficJam wrote:

Astro wrote:

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

Eek. I hope his rabies vac is up to date.

The dog's or the neighbor's?

But, yeah, what TJ said. I hope this ends well for you Astro.

Astro · Feb 21st 2016, 10:41am

sheepdog wrote:

Astro wrote:

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

did you call 1-800=dog bite?

No, did not know about it. Last time I was bit by a dog I think was 50 years ago and my moma took care of it. This time I just worked with my wife on it.

A.T.Lt · Feb 21st 2016, 2:43pm

AnotherKevin wrote:

Careful with Blackhead! You saw my other repost about the guy wiping out a few days ago on the Escarpment Trail, right? (Black Dome Range Trail is usually safer.) Do not attempt the north side of Blackhead without ice axe and crampons if there's any threat of ice.

Slide's a cakewalk if you go up the old jeep road, but if the weather cooperates, Curtis-Ormsbee Trail has better views. The east side of Slide is top-rope country if it's icy, so don't plan to tack on Cornell! Slide in winter is actually the first 35er in my tally sheet.It took me another year and a half to get around to climbing it in summer.

Just got back from Slide Mountain. I am 3 for 4 with the winter peaks and this brings my grand total of 7 Catskill Peaks.
I just hiked up the Jeep road. Conditions weren't bad until you passed to tent site, then it was sheer ice and the spikes had to be put on. It was a beautiful day though and hiked the 5.35 miles in 3 hours. I was somewhat on a mission this morning, have a lot of stuff going in this afternoon

Hoping to hit Blackhead long with Black Dome and Thomas Cole sometime in March

Drybones · Feb 21st 2016, 2:58pm

Astro wrote:

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

How bad was the bite?

Astro · Feb 21st 2016, 5:13pm

Drybones wrote:

Astro wrote:

Walking though the neighborhood today and someone's electric fence (or dog collar) must not have been working, and their doberman came out of their yard and bit my leg. I guess just another way that your own neighborhood may be more dangerous than a trail in the woods.

How bad was the bite?

I definitely felt it, but not that bad all things considered.

AnotherKevin · Feb 21st 2016, 5:24pm

A.T.Lt wrote:

Just got back from Slide Mountain. I am 3 for 4 with the winter peaks and this brings my grand total of 7 Catskill Peaks.
I just hiked up the Jeep road. Conditions weren't bad until you passed to tent site, then it was sheer ice and the spikes had to be put on. It was a beautiful day though and hiked the 5.35 miles in 3 hours. I was somewhat on a mission this morning, have a lot of stuff going in this afternoon
Hoping to hit Blackhead long with Black Dome and Thomas Cole sometime in March

Wow, that looks as if you had a great time, and perfect weather!

There are basically two approaches to doing the Blackheads as a day trip. One is to shuttle cars. Park one at the end of Big Hollow Road (CR 56) and the other at the Barnum Road trailhead. The other is to make a 'T' of it, Go up the red Black Dome Range Trail to Thomas Cole, then turn back to Lockwood Gap, do Blackhead up the yellow Blackhead Mountain Trail, and then either go back the way you came or come down the north side on the Escarpment Trail and take Batavia Kill Trail back to the car.

It's also done as an in-and-out from Barnum Road, but then you're reclimbing three 3500-foot summits. (Camel's Hump is over 3500 feet, but it's too close to Thomas Cole to count as a separate peak for the 35's.) It makes for a long day in winter.

I liked doing it as an overnight backpack. Stay at Batavia Kill shelter, and do Acra Point, Black Dome and Windham High Peak the next day, leaving only a three-mile roadwalk back to the car. Do this loop in good weather, because the views from the Escarpment are superb.

One of these years, if I can get someone sufficiently crazy to go with, I'd like to try a loop climbing Blackhead from Colgate Lake. Some old maps show a trail up to the 'Camp Steel' rock from there, and there are signs of a herd path branching off in that direction at the summit. Return could be easier, if longer, coming down over Arizona Mountain to Dutcher Notch.

You got clearer weather than I did when I did Slide in winter with my daughter, but we had fun anyway. No snowshoes or crampons needed for us, either, but microspikes were a necessity. That one bridge was slick, and the rock hop by the highway had high water for the return trip. My daughter said, "the heck with it, I've got dry shoes and socks in the car," and just forded, but I carefully picked my way across what rocks were still above the water.

So, did you run into a busload of Koreans? I always seem to run into a busload of Koreans when I do an on-trail day trip in the Cats. You can see some of the Koreans in the background of the last picture, which is right by the stone marking where the Curtis-Ormsbee turns off from the carriage road. Everyone (daughter and me included) was stopping there to put on spikes.

[IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6591620665_4a4a33534a_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7023/6591568947_7e22076b76_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6591461731_ef0e42afdb_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6591461729_d703e2a3d1_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6591506549_40f45ac7cf_n.jpg]

A.T.Lt · Feb 21st 2016, 5:48pm

AnotherKevin wrote:

A.T.Lt wrote:

Just got back from Slide Mountain. I am 3 for 4 with the winter peaks and this brings my grand total of 7 Catskill Peaks.
I just hiked up the Jeep road. Conditions weren't bad until you passed to tent site, then it was sheer ice and the spikes had to be put on. It was a beautiful day though and hiked the 5.35 miles in 3 hours. I was somewhat on a mission this morning, have a lot of stuff going in this afternoon
Hoping to hit Blackhead long with Black Dome and Thomas Cole sometime in March

Wow, that looks as if you had a great time, and perfect weather!

There are basically two approaches to doing the Blackheads as a day trip. One is to shuttle cars. Park one at the end of Big Hollow Road (CR 56) and the other at the Barnum Road trailhead. The other is to make a 'T' of it, Go up the red Black Dome Range Trail to Thomas Cole, then turn back to Lockwood Gap, do Blackhead up the yellow Blackhead Mountain Trail, and then either go back the way you came or come down the north side on the Escarpment Trail and take Batavia Kill Trail back to the car.

It's also done as an in-and-out from Barnum Road, but then you're reclimbing three 3500-foot summits. (Camel's Hump is over 3500 feet, but it's too close to Thomas Cole to count as a separate peak for the 35's.) It makes for a long day in winter.

I liked doing it as an overnight backpack. Stay at Batavia Kill shelter, and do Acra Point, Black Dome and Windham High Peak the next day, leaving only a three-mile roadwalk back to the car. Do this loop in good weather, because the views from the Escarpment are superb.

One of these years, if I can get someone sufficiently crazy to go with, I'd like to try a loop climbing Blackhead from Colgate Lake. Some old maps show a trail up to the 'Camp Steel' rock from there, and there are signs of a herd path branching off in that direction at the summit. Return could be easier, if longer, coming down over Arizona Mountain to Dutcher Notch.

You got clearer weather than I did when I did Slide in winter with my daughter, but we had fun anyway. No snowshoes or crampons needed for us, either, but microspikes were a necessity. That one bridge was slick, and the rock hop by the highway had high water for the return trip. My daughter said, "the heck with it, I've got dry shoes and socks in the car," and just forded, but I carefully picked my way across what rocks were still above the water.

So, did you run into a busload of Koreans? I always seem to run into a busload of Koreans when I do an on-trail day trip in the Cats. You can see some of the Koreans in the background of the last picture, which is right by the stone marking where the Curtis-Ormsbee turns off from the carriage road. Everyone (daughter and me included) was stopping there to put on spikes.

[IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6591620665_4a4a33534a_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7023/6591568947_7e22076b76_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6591461731_ef0e42afdb_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6591461729_d703e2a3d1_n.jpg] [IMG:https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6591506549_40f45ac7cf_n.jpg]

No Koreans! I seem to only really run into them in Harriman!
I wanted to take the Ormsbee Trail back then road walk back to the lot, but I had some things I needed to get done this afternoon and just wanted to bang it out. Yesterday I was contemplating hiking up and camping at the campsite on the way then peaking Slide today, but again, ran out or time. My weekends I always seem like I'm rushing around doing things. It was sheet of ice and on my way up ran into 2 young guys that had no spikes. (They said they left them home) They weren't having much fun, it took them 4 hours to summit due to not having spikes and had to bushwhack off the trail.
Thanks for the info in regards to Black Head. Im thinking I want to do it as an overnight.

AnotherKevin · Feb 21st 2016, 7:02pm

A.T.Lt wrote:

I wanted to take the Ormsbee Trail back then road walk back to the lot, but I had some things I needed to get done this afternoon and just wanted to bang it out.

If the ice was as bad as you say, you might have needed crampons for Curtis-Ormsbee. You'd definitely have needed them on the pitch below the ladders on the east side of Slide!

A.T.Lt wrote:

It was sheet of ice and on my way up ran into 2 young guys that had no spikes. (They said they left them home) They weren't having much fun, it took them 4 hours to summit due to not having spikes and had to bushwhack off the trail.

There's always one group! The Lord looks out for saints and fools. Daughter and I also ran into a lady who had a full set of winter gear racked - 10-point crampons, ice axe, snowshoes, face mask and goggles, the whole nine yards. She was attempting a SOBO winter thru-hike of NY Long Path. She was still looking to do Peek and Table and get off the ridge by Sundown (both the place and the time of day

) so she didn't have time to chat. We congratulated her on surviving the Escarpment and the Devil's Path, and she said not to jinx her for the Shawangunks!

A.T.Lt wrote:

Thanks for the info in regards to Black Head. Im thinking I want to do it as an overnight.

When I was last there, about a year ago, Batavia Kill shelter's roof was in really poor condition and the place smelt like a hamster cage. There are lots of good tent sites close by, though. The stream sometimes freezes up completely in winter, but not very often. The spring on the Black Dome Range Trail going up to Lockwood Gap runs all winter long, but sometimes you have to break it out. Another good reason for an ice axe.

When my foot is up to it, I'm thinking of doing a loop backpack taking in Doubletop, Big Indian, Fir and maybe Eagle. I've done Eagle a couple of times already, but never from that direction. I'd be happy to make the side trip if anyone wants to. I'd be very glad of a companion if you can put up with a slowpoke.

Share