Decided to take the day off and try, for a third time at these peaks. My son was also off, from school, and I just needed a reason to not go to work. I had tried these peaks on two other occasions, both times I didn't make it past the Nippletop/Colvin junction. That would not be the case today.
We signed in at the gatehouse at 6:45 am, there was only one other hiker that signed in ahead of us going to Armstrong/Upper Wolfjaw mountains.
Gotta love the Lake road trek. It's really easy to navigate and there is usually a fair amount of wildlife to see right from the road. At the beginning of the road where you sign in you will often see deer, then further up at the small dam on the left there is usually a bunch of rainbow trout in the...
We started around 7 a.m. the hike around Round Pond is a pretty one, continuing up to the first trail junction is a nice warm-up hike. From here to the leanto is a nice walk in the woods crossing a few brooks and streams, we arrived at leanto at 11 am.
After crossing North Fork(?) the hike up to the slide is moderate. After arriving at the slide at 12 p.m we had a pick-a-nic basket with me and Boo Boo.
After we crossed the base of the slide, the real work began.
We arrived at the junction with the red trail at 1 pm, summit 130pm. left summit at 2 p.m. back at car 630pm.
The trail was typical I guess, muddy in some areas, running brook in others.
No snow or ice on top.
Gators are a must, microspikes in case.
I would have been VERY...
Yesterday, 1ADAM12, NUMNUM, Son of NUMNUM, and a gentleman whom we shall fondly refer to as "Other Craig" set off from Elk Lake an early o'clock with the Dixes in our sights. As with any proper hike, one person started off the day with the sentence, "Oh shit, I forgot (insert a critical piece of equipment here)." This time, it was my turn. I forgot my nice shiny orthodics. After about 4 seconds of contemplation, I said, "Whatever, my feet will just hurt."
We set off and made pretty good time to herd path, and were at the base of the slide shortly after sunrise. While the others flew up the slide, Adam and I took our time (and about 400 pictures). Since this was my first slide climb, I didn't want it to end. I was zig-zagging back and...
We started out at the Science Center at 6 am. It was still dark so we used our headlamps, it was a cool morning, about 47 degrees. We got to the first lookout (Marble mt?) just before the junction from the trail coming from the Wilmington reservoir in time for the sunrise.
I opted for this route and mountains because I was just getting back into hiking after having been operated on in April. I had two vertebrae in my neck fused due to a disc impingement on my spinal cord. The Doctor cleared me for daypack hiking and this seemed like the best group of mountains to return on.
We took a 15-minute break before heading up to Lookout Mt. We arrived at the junction with the trail to Esther Mt. at 9 a.m. where we took another break before...
We arrived at the Ausable club trailhead at 7 am. It was just Derek and me on this excursion. It was December 16, 2006, and we began our trudge up the Lake road. There are often complaints about this road, as it seems to go on and on and just seems like a monotonous trudge. I will say it is nice at the end of a hike to travel back down it as it really requires no thinking of where to plant your feet, unlike the trails where you have to step over rocks and roots. So basically you just put it in overdrive and motor down to the gate. If you are lucky you will see deer. The deer in here know they are safe and very relaxed.
We arrived at the trail to Elk Pass at 8:16 am. Shortly after this junction, we met up with an injured hiker that had...