Catskills winter extravaganza

“this next post is by far the longest post I've ever done so bear with it and if you don't like long trip reports just ignore it to know we had a great time!”

“Pennsy picked me up at 5:15 and he started in right away about Artex and his sleeping bag, what a story I tell ya, I mean even Buddha bear came up with a better lie at the ATF trip, but anyway enough said about that Sissy. We got up to the Catskills and as we were coming in to the trailhead out was coming Rich. We juggled the cars and soon we were on the trail. We had met a group of people that were going to do the loop that we were going to do but the other way. We hiked in the first 1.7 miles to the col between Balsam and Haynes Mt's and stopped for a break.
It was there that we decided that we would be where we wanted to camp way to early and if we hiked all the way to the lean-to going that way we would run into all the other people that we had met. We then decided to go the other way, change of plan and direction. It was a mere 3.4 miles to the Lean to at Belleayre Mt so we decide to go there instead.
We headed toward Balsam Mt with a fairly fresh broken snowshoe trail. There were a lot of low-lying trees due to the weight of the ice and snow on them. Much of the trail was covered from this and required a great deal of scrambling around our crawling under; some we were able to just push out of the way. All and all with the broken trail it wasn't to bad, at least not for Pennsy and I. (Having some fun) Pennsy was leading when we got to a fork in the trail, I had already decided that which ever way he went I would go the other, so I started to harass him, he was thinking and I was yelling, come on let's go come on…So he goes right and I went left, fortunately for me I saw a trail marked soon after and figured I would go up just a piece and wait. I went about a half mile when I saw him coming down at first he didn't see me but then I was spotted. We had a quick laugh and started to wait for Rich and take some pictures, oh yeah BTW the downed trees in this area were really bad. Pennsy was taking pictures when Rich called out to us. Soon he was coming down the path, and before I could get out "Watch out for those low-lying bridges" he fell down. Next thing I heard was a whole lot of swearing and yelling. You see, Rich's pack is much taller than mine, perhaps a couple of feet. That combined with one of his snowshoes kept coming loose made him very frustrated. He had gotten pretty wet from the falls and sweating and had some interest in bailing out. I helped him with his snowshoe laces and we looked at the map. There was a bailout trail about 1 mile up so we decided to get to there and then we would make a decision. The trail was still broken and Pennsy was leading, He followed the broken trail which took us down a bit I was just about to ask if he was also watching for markers when he asked the same thing. We backtracked up the hill and sure enough we went off the tail following the other track, we later figured out that we could have followed them because we think we met up with them again. Anyway, we now had to start breaking trail and also find the trail markers. It was very difficult to say the least. We got down the other side of the Mt when we just couldn't locate the trail. I dropped my pack and started to seek out the trail. I walked to the left and the right and then I walked to the far right about a 100 years and I saw a marked, and I also saw the snowshoe tracks. We had passed 2 guys on the other side of Balsam going the other way, I think what happened was they got to this point and lost the trail so they bushwhacked to the top, I think that was the trail we were following before.
Anywho, we followed them cautiously until they went down off the mt. We were on our own again, breaking trail and finding the trail. We finally got to the cutoff intersection and Rich was feeling much better about his trip and decided to keep on keeping on, Yeah!! It was only .9 miles to the next peak, 400 vertical feet up and 1.4 miles to the lean to so we forged on. I could go on and on about this little stretch but let me just say this that section had to be one of the toughest I've ever hiked through in the winter. The trail was terribly hard to find, and there were several steep sections that took some time to maneuver. Looses in that section were, Pennsy: he lost his ice axe cover and his thermal insulated water pack and bottle of water. SirPete: while going up one of the steep inclines my snowshoe came off. I put it back on at the top and when I was cinching the straps down I broke one of the buckles off. I was able to fix it temporarily and we were off. We got to the next intersection finally and to our amazement that .9-mile section took 2 hours, which just blew my mind since we didn't even stop for lunch or even an extended break. We then left there and headed down to the lean to which we got to just as it was getting dark. There was very little room to set up any tents because the shelter was on the side of the hill so Rich set his up behind it and Pennsy and I set ours up inside (not suppose to but we decide that there wasn't going to be anyone else coming in) Pennsy continued with the gear attrition by breaking one of his tent poles so his tent was ½ tent ½ bivy. We ate and got settled in for a nice cool winters sleep. In the morning Rich said that it had gotten down to 3 degrees. I had been toasty all night but they were on the chilly side. We headed out at 8:45 and we were at there top in 125 minutes. The true test, the .9 miles in the day before took only 32 minutes coming out. We headed down on the cutout and got to the last creek crossing. I decided to cross the log with shoes and pack on. The log was probably about 6-8 feet above the water and 15-20 feet long. I got ¾ the way across when my right foot lost its grip. I quick looked down and saw the rocks so I took the leap of my life, off the log and about 5 feet to the side of the creek where I landed up right in a snow back. Cheers from Pennsy and some comments from Rich about my sanity level. He he. We cruised out to the car from there and homeward bound. When I got home I realized that somewhere on the trip out I lost my tent poles. I've already called Sierra Design and on Monday I can buy some new ones from the Warranty department.

This was by far the most exciting, strenuous and difficult winter outings I've ever been on; heck I've had no other outing like this before.

I clearly blame at the problems that we had on this trip to the Jinx know as Artex, I dub him Vortex, because after his So called sleeping bag problems we all had some serious problems.

The only difference is we didn't bail now did we

He he he

The Masked Marauder”

“Curse you, SirPete. Curse all of you!!

Oh wait, I already took care of that by jinxing the trip, hee hee. You see, when Artex bails, all should bail.

Just kidding of course, glad you guys forged on and had a memorable time. :-)”

“also just kidding my friend! nothing like a little fun to throw around.”

“Now that is a great trip!!!!

Way to go on the leap of faith.

8)”

“LOL Mike! I said that same thing to Pete - the leap of faith, or fate for that matter. That was one of the most amazing things I've seen on a trail. I saw his snowshoe slip just a little bit and I immediately thought "He's F___ED!" I looked down to the rocks and thought "Not only is he f___ed, HE'S DEAD!" How he managed to leap 5' to the bank with all that gear and remain standing and unscathed is beyond me. A TT classic!!

Super report Pete, and thanks because you saved me 2 hours of typing. ;o)

I agree with Pete. This was one exciting weekend. We bushwhacked, broke trail, blazed trail, just about broke ourselves and our equipment. But ya know what? We loved it!!

Of course we have calls to make:
Pete to Sierra Designs for tent poles lost, and to Atlas for binding repair.
Myself to Bibler to replace broken tent pole, and a trip to EMS to replace a Nalgene, insulated bottle holder, and ice axe guard.
Rich to his shrink to ask why he hiked with Pete and I.

I'm just sorry that wuss Artex couldn't make it. ;o)”

“Did you get a picture of it????

8)”

“No pic of that because I was preparing to follow the nut across. Naturally, I aborted and properly crossed the stream.”

“The ride home was just as wild as the trip itself for me. The roads looked pretty good when I hit the pavement in Arkville, so I went back to PA. the way I came up instead of taking 87 and 84. There was much more snow in PA and it was coming down hard in Wayne county. I'm lucky I got home without getting stuck, but I finally made it. What a relief to get home OK.

I can't believe how wet I got on this trip. Everything I had with me was wet. My down bag was wet from drying clothes in it at night and from frost and condensation raining down on me inside my tent. It lost half it's loft and I started to get chilly toward morning. The tent canopy was two inches from my face all night because there wasn't room to pitch it right. I'm glad I brought my synthetic filled parka because it did a great job keeping me warm. My down parka would have collasped to nothing with that kind of moisture going through it. I got some frostnip on my hands and my fingers are still numb. I also found out on this trip that my snowshoes stink for steep terrain. For every step I tried to move upward I kept sliding down and that's when they would stay on my boots. A big thanks to Sirpete for fixing my shoe and a big thanks to Pennsy and Sirpete for helping me get my head together when I started to lose it on Balsam Mt. I was ready to bail then being totally soaked and frozen with the frustration of finding out I did have the right snowshoes and poles for that kind of terrain. I started to be concerned about getting injured and being soaked and frozen far from help. I had Xcountry ski poles that were just about useless and a burden to carry since they had limited use. They kept getting caught on the fallen trees and making my hands cold carrying them. Definitely the most challenging trip I ever went on and I'm glad we got back in one piece.”

“I forgot about the flying squirrel Sirpete took of that log. That was scary and I'm glad he didn't get hurt falling with a full pack on. He had good balance to land on two feet and absorb the fall.”

“I'm glad you got home ok Rich. We were kind of curious since we thought you were waiting for us at the bridge.”

“I was going to wait there, but a few cars showed up and I was in the way. I had nowhere to pull off without the risk of getting stuck so I had to just drive down the road and keep going.”

“You're actually luckier than you imagine. Later today, we received about 2-3" of snow, but there must be ice underneath. There were cars off the road everyplace, but mostly on the curves & downsides of hills.”

“I was lucky enough to get behind a Penndot truck that was plowing and cindering the road ahead of me in PA. If that didn't happen I'd probably be stuck out there somewhere.”

“I was hopeing for the pic but hey better luck next time!

8)”

“I should have said that I didn't have the right snowshoes and poles. I just reread my post and saw the mistake.”

“Well guys, I'm glad that you all made it back safely. Sorry about all the gear damage. SirPete sounds more cat than man, leaping like that while slipping. I saw a forecast that NJ will have -5 degrees tomorrow night. Would colder weather have been really bad, or would it have helped you all be dryer?”

“Hey guys, thanks for posting the reports. The trip sounds insane. Sorry I missed this one ...yeah right! ;-)

I hope to hike the same itinerary this Spring after the thaw. Upon returning, I expect to have the following items for sale...

* 1 set of Sierra Designs tent poles
* 1 broken Biblwer tent pole (can be repaired)
* 1 insulated bottle holder ...excellent condition
* 1 ice axe guard ...like new
* 1 letter to Atlas Snowshoe Company full of nasty words about their snowshoe bindings

(Master Card and Visa accepted)

PS: I can also recommend a good head shrinker.”

“LOL Mister M.
Does that mean you intend to keep the nalgene bottle?”

“so funny”

“I forgot to list my gear damage. One brand new sleeping pad torn to bits from the hanging trees.
Lyndy, it would have been much worse if the temp was lower. Lucky there wasn't too much wind this weekend. If I was out for another night in subzero weather with my bag and clothes as wet as they were I would have been really cold and probably sleeping in my parka if I was sleeping at all.”

“Msilver won't need to look for trail markers when he retraces our route. He'll just have to follow the trail of the pieces of my blue foam pad that got torn up and fell off.”

“lol....great trip report. I have a mental picture of Rocky, opps I mean SirPete doing the flying squirrel. Its not a pretty picture. And I think Pennsy loses and breaks stuff so he has an excuse to by more gear.”

“Great TR. Sounds like a great trip.”

“Dare - shhhhh... don't give out my secret methods for buying new gear. I sure do like Rich's Nallo 2 tent.

I'm gonna try and post trip pics tonight.”

“Rich: Blue foam trail markers, eh?... sweet.

Pennsy: any Nalgene bottles I find along trails are always donated to Lyndy S. ...inside joke there (I really did find a Nalgene bottle once on The Old Loggers path in PA ...I wanted to keep it for myself, but Lyndy started crying like a baby ...so I said, "Here take the stupid thing already and shutup!" ;-)











...just kidding, Lyndy :-)”

“LOL Mr M! Somehow I can't imagine you telling Lyndy to shut up. Then again, I never heard Rich swear before and you should have heard him cussing up a storm on Balsam Mt. Whewwwwwww!!”

“I didn't take as many pics as usual on this trip. There was only one view, from Balsam Mountain, and I really wish I could have caught Pete on his Leap of faith.

Pennsy's Pics”

“Pennsy: LOL ...rich swearing?! I cannot imagine.

The worse thing I ever heard come out of his mouth was when he slipped off that makeshift log bridge over Kettle Creek on the Loyalsock Trail last March... I'm on the other side when he slips... he looks me straight in the eyes and says very matter-of-factly, "I'm screwed." ...and that's when his shoulder broke. Now if that's the worse cussin' Rich can do, there's no way he'd use bar room language on Balsam over some trivial matters.

On the other hand... I noticed my dog Sparky's ears were twitching uncontrollably that evening. You think that maybe.....? ;-)”

“Pennsy...

As usual, truly awesome pix! The scenics framed by the snow-covered branches are great! You got some natural talent there, boy.

Man! all that snow in those low-hanging tree branches! ...no wonder RichB was swearing! ;-)

Sir Pete fallen and can't get up ...LOL, I hate when that happens ...all tangled up in the snowshoes to boot.

Wassat on Rich's snowshoes ...are those bindings made outta ribbons?! Wait'll I tell those Atlas people about this! ;-)

Thanks Pennsy.”

“Great pictures Pennsy and you get a good view of how difficult it was hiking through the snow covered branches. Sorry to say I did become totally unglued on Balsam Mt.”

“My snowshoes have a binding that laces with 3/4 inch webbing. It wasn't too effective on steep terrain. I didn't run them over with my van yet to justify getting new ones, but on Balsam Mt. I wanted to.”

“he is so dead!!!!!!”

“ok so I didn't have my poles before the great leap. I also did have them when I was getting back up that means I lost them on that nasty .9 mile stretch most likely

update: new poles on the way?
I have a return authorization # for the shoes, I'm going to wait until after FYAO because it takes at least 2 weeks”

“Hey guys - sounds like you had one hell of a trip - nice pics too, Pennsy!

What's this I hear about Crack Puppy and some lame "sleeping bag" excuse? No frozen eyeballs? Egads man, are you ill?

Hope to see you guys on the trail soon!

PS - skiing was sooooooo much fun!!!!”

“Great pics and trip report!

That sure is a long list of missing and broken gear for one trip.”

“Great Pics...

How come you didn't take any pics from Balsam Mt? I didn't see any.....

;~>”

“Cool pcis Pensny, by the way I mdae taht trailhaed sgin. My eyes cross every now and then.”

“Sounds like an adventure. Pennsy, how would you compare the bushwhacking to what we had at Loyalsock? Sounds like you had it tougher on this trip.

RichB...you describe my nightmare scenario for winter camping...everything getting wet and no way to get it dry.

SirPete...surely you must take a new trailname from your flying squirrel stunt.”

“Fritz - it was harder than the Loyalsock because there was more snow and the terrain was hillier. I still can't believe it took us 2 hours to go less than 1 mile.

Dare - hey, that's the first thing you have said that I understood. ;o)

Hardy har har Adventurist. I said there was only 1 view so I took advantage of it. pfffffftttt!”

“
SirPete is a wuss. I can't out leap him anytime!”

“woops.... ole Rocky meant to say that he can out leap him anytime.”

“Great pics, Pennsy! I love that Winter blanket look. It sounds like I wussed missed out on quite an adventure you crazy muthas.

I can't wait for the FYAO trip. Seeing all of those Winter wonderland pics makes me so hohhhny (for the trail).
;D”

“YES!!!!!!!!, oh, she meant for the trail....darn it”

“Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

shupp, MSilver. And your little dog too.

}P

More snow? Steep hills? Isn't it supposed to rain this weekend? Sounds like just the additional stress y'all need on your next hike.”

“And MSilver, what kind of friend are you selling your snowshoes to Adventurist when you know that I have been shopping for them. I'll bet they were perfect for me; the bindings probably come undone all the time, just like my bootlaces. Pffffttt!

:-)

I still don't know what snowshoes I want; too much money to make a mistake.”

“straping those poles to the outside of my pack loose like that has become quite the expensive lesson. Never again

fortunately they had them in stock and I will have them in a few days. All ready for FYAO”

“Flying squrals are cool!

8)”

“Hey Lyndy...

Yer STILL lookin' fer s'shoes?! Mr. Adventurist decided NOT to buy my Tubbs, so I still have 'em ...BUT I just might keep 'em afterall. Been doing a lot of research toward getting new ones, but... well, just read my post in the "Snowshoes" thread...
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread.php?id=18634&age=3

FYI: I came across some 25 and 30 inch Redfeathers (unused with full factory warranty) for $92 on ebay ...still may be available. Also, Yakima Daytrippers 25" for $99 at Cabelas. End of the season sales-with-an-attitude will be on soon at gear stores, but by then a lot of the snow will be around for only a little while longer. Get out there and do it, sistah!

...and stop that balling already! ;-)”

“I had a feeling those replacement tent poles would be expensive. They looked like nice poles with an anodized finish on the outside.”