Adirondacks anyone?

“The beauty and solitude of 112,000 acres of wildland. Vast acres of wood and field, blanketed with winter white. This is the destination!

January 19-21, my s.o. and I are planning a snowshoe trip. Loose itinerary:
Hike in Sat AM, set up camp. Sunday dayhiking around the lakes and exploring the wilderness, Monday hike out.

Dats it. Anyone interested in joining, let me know. Post here or e-mail!

isla_dominicana@hotmail.com

Also, anyone who has ever been there, feedback is welcome! Thanks.
:o)”

“Really wish I could!

Do it again mid-March (or later) and I might just join you...

(And no that's not a "threat.")”

“Hey, have fun! It sounds great, but I can't make a three dayer that weekend. Post pictures and a trip report when you get back, please!”

“Are planning on using a lean-to or tenting it? Used a Lean-to the one time in the winter and kept toasty warm due to all the snow piled up against it.

Going to see if I can swing it but not having Monday off is really hurting my chances.”

“Danielle said she will go...I just have to get off from work.”

“Saturday is my trouble day. I have a scheduled overtime job that will pay for my snowshoes, BUT this trip might be worth trying to duck out.

BTW Amy, we never met. I'm Pennsy Hiker, so howwwwdy. Rumour has it we might be almost neighbors. I'm in Easton.

Do you have the location picked out? I've never been to the dacks but I have maps.”

“The Adirondacks are my favorite place to hike!”

“Where were all these adirondack lovers when I was in NY???

Hey AmyG sounds like fun. Too bad I'm in AZ. Enjoying 80 deg winter dust”

“Biz, we have been here all the long. Have you always been Biz?”

“Adventurist - I am planning on using a lean-to site for basecamp, but of course will bring a tent as precaution. Last year's Catskill hike basecamp was planned at the Denning lean-to and look what happened there! LOL

The basecamp will be near a lake and has a fireplace and privy, which probably won't be scary since it is winter(frozen!) =:0

Once again, I am hauling in all sorts of goodies on the gear sled, since winter camping isn't always the most comfortable and there are extras to be enjoyed. Hot chocolate with Baileys....mmmmmmmmm

It would be great to meet new TTers, Pennsy. Come along! Looking forward to possibly seeing a few old friends too. ;o)

Hey Biz, can't blame me...I was in another country(I think) when you visited NY! Did you hike?!”

“uh yes. I trolled a couple times as Pamela Anderson, but then I just switched back to Biz.

I was in NY in Sep. Labor day to be exact. I asked about 50 times if anyone wanted to go backpacking.

I guess that would be chigger/nasty bug season though.”

“Fritz-
"Mid march or later"...is that your nice way of saying you don't wanna freeze your a$$ off with us other lunatics? ;o)”

“Next time post a picture of yourself...seems to get a better response. Amy, Remember how my little bottles of Baileys froze last year! Thats how cold it was.
I'm going to try and confirm the location of lean-tos. Did you have a specific trailhead and trail in mind?

Pennsy Hiker...try and get that Sat off!”

“Puffer Pond used to have 2 lean-tos....I wonder if they are still there? From what I see the major trailheads are Thirteenth Lake from Old Farm Clearing Rd. and the East shore of Indian Lake.”

“Biz,

When you were in NY, I was hiking and camping in the Daks, mostly with my brother. Started there in the mid-80's and now I'm up to 24 (I'm a 24er, some of 'em I've done twice). But I don't care if I ever get the rest of the 46ers; also, my home here in Pennsylvania is a long drive from there. We were last there in August when we did Nippletop via a steep and remote slide from the west side of the peak up out of Elk Lake.

So praytell, where were you in NY while I've been doing the Daks?”

“Amy, no...I am a stretched-too-thin self-employed father of five...and I already have a trip planned Feb 1-3, the "Florida ECT."

It is tough to get away for a long weekend without wife or kids. (And wife wouldn't want to go, even if kids were old enough to be left home, which they aren't.)

So mid-March is six weeks after the afore-mentioned trip, the soonest I could consider trying to go away again.

Also, the next couple of weeks are very busy at work and I cannot take off that Monday.

And one more thing...isn't it a little COLD up there in January?

;-)”

“haha Fritz...yeah, it might be a bit chilly at this time of year. ;o)

So far, the Adventurists and Pennsy are "maybes" and also one other from last years Free-yer-arse-off trek: Gweed.

No worries, Dare and I will go alone, but it would be fun to have a good group to hang around the fire with. :o)

C'mon MSilver, SirPete, Others?”

“Amy, I'm tryin' - but well, you know....”

“Hey AmyG. Just wondering if you had a specific reason for picking Siamese Ponds? Has somebody recommended a specific hike to you there?”

“Ok...I'm in!!! Yeah! Have off if I need it on Monday.”

“I emailed the ADK club to see if they can give me info on Lean-tos.”

“Belle and I were there New Years. We were about 15 miles SW of Saranac Lake. Got down to 10 degrees. Wernt too bad...

There was a good amount of snow, and it looks as though more has fallen. Y'all oughta have some gooooooood times!”

“Adventurist - kewl, you are in!!!

I chose the Ponds because, from what I have read and heard, it is a pristine wilderness area. Lots of wildlife too - here's a quote from the GORP site:

"You will find a wealth of wildlife living within the Siamese Ponds Wilderness, including white-tailed deer, black bear, coyote, bobcat, beaver, otter, and mink. Near lakes and ponds you will have a good chance of hearing the call of a loon, and if you are lucky, you will see an osprey or even a bald eagle."


I'll post more specs on trail, as soon as I have a chance to type out the info from my book. I have the map here somewhere, but I am getting ready to move so forgive my disorganization. :o)

SirPete is a definite maybe! I got an e from him. This should be a fun trip.”

“Also a big consideration was the fact that there are no snowmobiles allowed here! Everybody has their right to play (I begrudgingly acknowledge) but I despise the sound of motorized vehicles while I am supposed to be enjoying nature.
:o\”

“Whattabout BOB's intermittent
"bzzZZzzZZzzZZzzZZzzZZzzZZzzZZzzt" coming from a nearby tent?
Gawd - that sound can be really distracting!”

“I was just up in that area and I talked to a local outfitter Beaverbrook.net is their web address. The thing about siamese pond is that the climb (11th mountain) is a humdinger but after that it is great for skiing and snow shoeing. There is ONE lean to about 5 miles in... The trail you will be on is called sacandawga (spelling) trail. It is surely a great trip that runs along a river and there is plenty to see and not too bad of a hike.

If you want to know local conditions and get a scoop I would recommend you get a hold of Pete at beaver brook... He waas great to talk to and has hiked it extensively... Good guy

Hope this helps...

Sparkly”

“no worries, gojo, I am taking the real-deal this time. No batteries required. ;o)

Although if one were to require batteries for their boyfriend, I highly recommend the Lithium batteries - they last longer.”

“Amy...the last trip you told me all the batteries you packed in were for a heater! My Gawd!”

“The reason I was asking about Siamese Ponds because I know Pharaoh Lakes has similar conditions with more trails.

If you have a book, you must have trails in mind though.”

“Amy, I'm sorry if I'm being a pain.
Just trying to put in my input.

The Ultimate Decision is up to you.
The Ball is in your hand...

I'm hyper....”

“I should know for sure by tuesday, the very latest wednesday. I gotta do some big time begging to get someone to fill in for me. And I WILL beg, I wanna do this trip.”

“thanks for the tip, Sparky. :o)

OK...in my falcon guide to hiking NY, it labels the trail as being 11.8 miles round-trip. It follows an old road bed for the first few miles (read: easy snowshoe) with only a moderate grade. The leanto is located at 3.9 miles, where the trail crosses the East branch of the Sacandaga river. The lean-to overlooks the water and has a table, fireplace and privy. (practically a hotel!)

From there (basecamp) the trail leads to Siamese pond at 5.9 miles. To reach upper Siamese Pond, or to travel around the pond requires bushwhacking, as the trail ends here. Other bushwhacking options could be Diamond Mountain to the East or Mt. Hayden(?) further North.

Of course, there are camp sites here and along the way at other locations, but I think the one at the Sacandaga crossing sounds primo! With all the extra acoutrements required for Winter camping, I would rather not have to lug it all any further than necessary to achieve a good basecamp. Know whatta mean?

Here's a good site I found that describes the route I am thinking of:
Siamese Ponds Wilderness Trek”

“ooops, my bad- the trailhead is off of Rt. 8.

BTW Feen, I LOVE Pharoah lake and if you have never been, I highly recommend that for a future trip. I was just there a few months back though (for the second time this year) so I ruled it out. I'll plan something there again in the Summer, when it's possible to swim out and camp on one of the islands.
:o)”

“I've been there before too...
Thanks for the info.”

“So it looks like about a 6 miles snowshoe into basecamp then?
Explore on Sunday.
Then 6 miles out on Monday.”

“My Puppy dog has class on Sunday morning so I won't be going. :(”

“Have the puppy skip school.
:-)”

“I don't think the BOSS will allow that!! The dog might get over it but she has quite a memory..........”

“Feen, it's 3.9 miles into basecamp. ;p”

“DOH! I just looked up and saw. I thought the lean-to was at Siamese Pond. Cool! 4 miles is great!”

“sorry you won't make it, Pete. It would be cool to hike with you again. :o)

So...for definites, it looks like it is Me and Dare, plus Adventurist and Mrs. Adventurist (ya ever gonna give her a trail name, Feen?) ;o)”

“Mrs. Adventurist is fine...she needs to find her trailname.”

“Mr AmyG? Guess it has a nice ring to it, but I'll stick with Dare”

“ohmagawd, I can't believe he read the whole thing! =:0

heheheh
Now don't you guys get me into trouble here. ;o)”

“so is dare a man or a woman???”

“Dood, do what'cha can to keep yer woman warm this time!”

“Is there any such animal as a "lithium supplemental vitamin"?
A certain inquiring mind wants to know.
heh!”

“Come on Lee, must we have another "It's Pat" discussion thread?

Dare is my fiance. :o)”

“OKAY PEOPLE!!!! LISTEN UP!!!!

THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT CAN HAPPEN TO A GOOD PERSON WHEN THEY GO OUT AND THE WORLD AND TRY TO HAVE A LIFE OUTSIDE OF TRAIL TALK!!!!

First a fiance, then marriage, then a house and mortgage then kids . . .next thing you know, NO BACKPACKING . . . .

and even worse . . .NO TIME FOR TRAIL TALK!!

I am just, utterly . . .well . . .I think I made my point.”

“I'm a go for the weekend!!

But only if there are no "It's Pat!" discussions around the campfire. ;-)”