SYAO

“Very nice!

The last trip that Pennsy went on there was a "throne picture" too.

Was that a stump pot?”

“Wow...you looked at them already?

If we get a trip report done it will be sometime tonight if not we will have to rely on Pennsy poetic abilities.”

“great pics!

trip report??? ;)”

“Back to the top!

For starters, who all went along?”

“All in due time, all in due time.... knowledge should never be rushed.....

There was 5 and a pup...that is all I can say right now......”

“5 and Ice Tea?”

“no sorry...just bloody Crystal Light”

“Very nice pics Adventurist! Another pic of King Pennsy on a throne? Hmmm... maybe changing my trail name to Bruce Almighty! isn't such a bad idea after all.

Anywho, Here are my pics.

Now, where is the trip leader with the official trip report??? In the meantime, I'll offer up some trip notes:

SYAO was definately an appropriate name for this trip. It was hot, hot, hot, and humid, humid, humid! To make us sweat even more, there was never a breeze, and the bug nets / jackets sure didn't help. Skeeters and deer flies were merciless but the trip was still a great success.

I met up with the Adventurists late thurs at Cranberry Lake where we had a very relaxing night in the campground. Our site was right near the water and we were treated to a great sunset, friendly ducks and a few serenading loons.

It started raining around 2:30am and it stopped around 9:30. Since we were imitation car campers (no huge tarp or canopy), we headed into town for breakfast. After a delicious meal (Adventurist opted for the special, "a big pile of goop"), we packed up and headed for the trailhead.

There were skeeters and deer flies a-plenty so we opted for bug gear. The Adenturists wore head nets, long sleeves and pants for protection, and I wore a Buzz-Off bug jacket that covers the head and upper body. With my shorts and high gaiters, I only had a bit of skin exposed but the varmits took advantage of it.

However, the day's hike went very well and we arrived at camp near Cat Mt Pond fairly early. The trail was pretty flat and the early miles were dry and clear of overbrush. I'll let Adventurist the environmental dude fill in the details about the wilderness, but it's pretty cool stuff.

Anywho, we set up camp and hiked up to Cat Mountain where we got treated to some wonderful views from the cliffs. After playing around there for a while, we took a walk further down the trail to the Cowhorn Pond Lean-to. We chatted a bit with the backpackers who were still staying there and headed back to camp.

It was a chore finding dry wood to burn because of the rain the previous night, but Adventurist eventually got a roaring campfire going. With the fire and some burning citronella coils, we were able to enjoy the evening fairly bug-free.

Around 12:30am, Adventurist woke me saying "they're here!" WTF? Sure enough, Lumberzak, Sherpa Man and his cool dog Taui walked into camp. We really weren't expecting to see them until the next morning so it was a pleasant surprise. They hiked the 6 miles in the dark in about 2 hours. It took us 2 1/2 in daylight. Zowy!

Proper introductions were done in the morning. I think this was Lumberzak's first TT trip, and Sherpa Man doesn't have a computer. He must be a Commy! ;o) Cool guys though, despite the fact that I have socks older than them. And of course Taui, the 7 month old part terrier, part whatever is a sweetie.

Saturday, we headed up to High Falls, where we took a verrrrrry long enjoyable break. The "kids" went fishing and there was lots of lounging around on the rocks. Thankfully, the bugs were not bad at all at the Falls.

After the break, we started on the 6 mile hike to Big Shallow where we planned to camp for the night. We made great time but it was an adventure. Ankle deep bogs to slog through, slippery log crossings, very thick overbrush, plus the bugs made this an interesting few hours. Again, Mister A can chime in with trail details. Where the hell are ya???

Thankfully, when we got to Big Shallow Pond, we had the lean-to to ourselves. This is a great campsite! The lean-to was right by the pond and we had a great view. There was room for a couple of tents so I pitched mine and the Adventurists pitched theirs. Lumberzak and Sherpa Man slept in the lean-to and braved the buggies. The citronella managed the bugs fairly well though.

After setting up camp, we went off to do some exploring, searching for more of the 5 Ponds. Details Mister A! (or should I say Esker Man?) Around 9 it started to rain and it rained off and on most of the night, at times very heavy. We knew we were in for one wet hike out the next day.

Sunday, the weather cleared but it was hot, sticky, and the rain made the bugs even worse. Sherpa Man and Lumberzak had no bug protection so I don't know how they survived. We hiked out the 10 miles with no rest breaks so we made great time. Even thought everyone got soaked to the skin because of the wet overbrush, it felt refreshing.

The hike out through the wilderness was very interesting, much different than the mountain landscapes I'm used to seeing in the Adirondacks. Hey Adventurist, where are ya with the details dang gumbit?!?

We arrived back to the cars around 1, cleaned up, changed and parted ways. The Adventurists and myself stopped at a cafe in Fine and ate the biggest burgers I've ever seen. Despite the bugs, everyone had a great time. It was good to meet a new TT'er Lumberzak and a possible future one, Sherpa Man. These kids are young but experienced backpackers and fun to be around. Of course, I enjoyed Taui the most.

A very successful adventure Mister Adventurist. Now, git yer butt here and fill in with the details! ;o)

Again, here are my pics.”

“Alright, alright already…..here is the Official SYAO Trip Report

Thursday Mrs. Adventurist and I arrived at Cranberry Lake Campground at 5pm. We scoped out the campground for a descent site worthy of Bruce Almighty aka Pennsy. We succeeded in finding a sweet spot overlooking the lake! After setting up camp Mrs. Adventurist decided to partake in some ice-cold beverages that included coke and ice mixed with some other liquid consumable. While sitting along the shore of the lake we were approached by at least 16 ducks at one moment. A couple came up on shore and decided to chow down at the grass growing at our feet. One duck even decided to see if Mrs. A’s toes tasted any good! They definitely were amusing to watch. After relaxing a bit I decided to head out and find some firewood so we could cook dinner for Pennsy, our honorable guest for the evening. While gathering firewood not far from the road I saw the approaching chariot that belongs to Pennsy so I yelled out DORK! Immediately Pennsy’s vehicle screeched to a halt and he peered out and he asked “Who Me???” I told Pennsy where we were camping for the evening and off he went. After gathering firewood for the evening I rushed back to camp to find that the campsite exceeded Pennsy’s expectations. Phew! Didn’t want to disappoint him! We then prepared Pennsy a dinner of brats and onions on toasted rolls over a fire with some Yuenglings provided by the guest of honor. After finishing dinner we watched the sunset, chatted a bit about this and that and then hit the hay.

Early Friday morning around 1:30 am we awoke to a light rain falling on our tent so we scattered outside to make sure everything was put away that needed to be. Funny thing was that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky when we went to sleep but how quickly that changes in the Adirondacks. We awoke again around 8am to find it still raining so we decided to head out to a local diner and grab a bite to eat and then come back and pack up when hopefully the rain had stopped. Just as we were finishing our breakfast it did indeed stop raining. All was good except Pennsy’s breakfast because he couldn’t tell the difference between ketchup and hot sauce even though the waitress said "here is some hot sauce!"

To be continued......”

“Cool trip! Humans can prevail over bugs!

Adventurist=feeney from past or other boards?”

“After breaking camp we headed out to the Trailhead for a late 11:30 departure. The trail we started on was a flat grade that look like an old RR bed and would have been an awesome bike path. The trail meandered along past Cranberry Lake without a large decline or incline of elevation. There were plenty of blueberries and raspberries to pick along the way. This first trail was named the Dead Creek Flow and was a distance of 4.0 miles to the Sandhill Junction. From the Sandhill Jct. we turned onto the Sandhill Jct – Cowhorn Jct. Trail. We followed along this trail past Glasby Pond for a distance of 1.6 miles to Cat Mtn Pond. At Cat Mtn Pond we scoped out the area and found an area adequate to set up a few tents and have a campfire that evening. The campsite was about 30 feet from the pond where a great view of the Cat Mtn cliffs was to be found. The pond was filled with life including ducks, loons, and beavers. After setting up our tents we decided to do a 3.4 mile round trip hike up to the summit of Cat Mtn Pond. After a brief climb we arrived at the top of some sheer cliffs with some awesome views of the surrounding wilderness and the pond we were camped at below us. On the cliff the old footings of a fire tower can be seen and in its place was a solar powered monitoring device. While enjoying the view we could hear some strange noises from the pond below us, the one were camped on might I add. They sounded like grunting or growling noise but not that loud. We couldn’t tell what the noises were from on top and didn’t spot or hear anything on the way back to camp. Once we got back to camp we decided to hike an additional 3.0 miles RT to visit the Cowhorn Pond Lean-to. On the way we walked to the top an elevated ridge that I immediately realized was one of the Eskers we would come upon. It was pretty neat to walk on something that was created by the water flowing under the great glaciers of long ago! We arrived at the Cowhorn Pond Lean-to and chatted with its guest for a while and checked out the view of Cowhorn Pond. We then headed back to camp where we prepared our dinners. This is where it gets interesting! As we our cooking Mrs. Adventurist looks over at Pennsy and yells at him, “What happened to your hand???” We all thought that Pennsy had cut himself, including Pennsy and thought hadn’t felt it. As we are trying to figure out where Pennsy is cut its seems to be getting really bad! His hands are all covered in blood and we can’t figure out where he is cut! So at this point we realize that Pennsy was mixing RED Crystal Light previously. Maybe that is what it could be? Pennsy says I can’t tell, so I say “WHY THE HECK DON’T YOU JUST TASTE YOUR FINGERS TO FIND OUT!” LOL, It was Crystal Light. After filling our bellies we went off to gather some firewood to have a fire that night. Pennsy’s Sven-saw make excellent work of some dried timber we found and with some major persistence we had a fire going. We sat and talked some and decide to call it a day as the fire died down. Well as Pennsy said Mrs. Adventurist wakes me at 12:30 and says “They are here!” We couldn’t believe it! After getting a late start on trailhead at 10:30 our new guests, Lumberzac, Sherpa-man and Tahawus (nicknamed Taui) arrived after walking 5.6 miles in the dark in 2 hours! Kudos to them! After a brief greeting and a quick tent set-up it was back to bed.

more to come.......”

“Yes Feeney became Adventurist years ago when Feeney forgot his password.

Have you always been the Pathman?”

“Saturday morning arrives and Lumberzac, Sherpa-man, and Taui decide to break camp quickly so they can check out the views from Cat Mtn and meet up with us at the trail junction. We took our time eating breakfast and breaking camp and started off down the trail after spotting our fellow hikers on top of Cat Mtn. Less than 5five minutes after arriving at the trail junction Taui bounds down the Cat Mtn Trail with companions in tow. We were then off down the Plains Trail for 2.5 miles to the High Falls Trail. We then had a 0.6 mile hike from there to High Falls itself. At High Falls we took in the sites, did some fishing, waded, relaxed on the rocks and munched on some trail snacks.
After hanging out at High Falls for at least an hour we decided to move on so we headed back the 0.6 miles to the High Falls Truck Trail. We hiked a mile on the HFTT till we got to the Jct with the Five Ponds – Sand Lake Trail. We jumped on the Five Ponds Trail and hiked the 3.1 miles to Big Shallow lean-to, which would be our camp for the night. The trail leading to Big Shallow crossed slippery logs, bridges and rocks. It led though high vegetation and sometimes even crossed over beaver dams. Just before arriving at Big Shallow we gain site of the large Five Ponds Esker, which is at least 100 feet tall and is pitched at 45 degrees on either side. We hike along the bottom of the esker till we get to Big Shallow. The lean-to is situated on this lake to catch any breezes that are available which are few and too far between. We set up camp and all but Mrs. Adv decide to hike further to check out Washbowl Pond along with Little Shallow Pond and it’s lean-to. After spotting Little Shallow Lean-to’s view we were definitely lucky to have the lean-to we had! Lumberzac and Sherpa-man had tried there luck on fishing the blowdown ridden shores of Washbowl Pond but turned back after not being able to find an empty bit of shoreline. After eating our meals I decided to go check out the top of the Five Ponds Esker and see if I could spot the ponds on the other side. After finding the best route to the top and see that the top didn’t have too many blowdowns I ran back down to talk others in climbing up to help me spot a view of Big Five Pond on the other side. Unfortunately due to the blowdowns Pennsy and Mrs. Adv. turned back and I continued on till I finally spotted Big Five, which was at least 2-3 times the size of Big Shallow. Now I have a reason to go back to that area so I can venture over and explore the area even more! That night we spent more time yapping and having fun and after it started heavily raining the Mrs. And I hit the hay. That night must been the hardest rain I have ever heard in a tent!

The next morning the rain had already stopped by 7am and there was an awesome fog lifting over Big Shallow Pond. We ate breakfast, packed up camp and were out on the trail by 9am. The 9.6 mile hike back out to the cars was relatively uneventful with some nice views of wetlands from an extremely level hike all the way out. The rain from the night before had soaked much of the waist high vegetation that helped us keep cool somewhat.

After our goodbyes to Lumberzac, Sherpa-man, and Taui we decided to head somewhere to grab lunch with Pennsy. We stopped at the Spruce and had some pretty descent burgers and we introduced Pennsy to fries with gravy. After our meal we said our goodbyes to Pennsy and headed home. And another great trip is in our memories!

THE END”

“OK..now that the trip report is done nobody reads it...”

“I read it! :)

Great reports, thank-you very much!”

“Good morning!

NIce reports!

Did you guys need permits?”

“great trip reports...and really wonderful pics.....thanks for sharing.........”

“Great trip report Adv. Bout time! I almost forgot about my confusing hot sauce with ketchup and crystal light with blood. Yeeechhh!!

TT - nope, no permits were required.

Thanks to the few who read the trip reports. The trend on TT these days seems to be burying hiking related topics with off topic stuff. Kind of makes one wonder if it's worth the time to write up reports.”

“no kidding...trip reports drop like rocks...

I write trip reports for myself anyway, and just post 'em to TT - or some version thereof, LOL... :)”

“Version of TT?

twigeater, I love reading about Maine and jump at anything with your name on it!

So, tell me about the weather.”

“You do? I'm so honored!
when you gonna put on your blue underwear and come drinking with me again? We'll have to throw in some hiking too I guess...LOL

weather here is 68 degrees, muggy, and rain, rain, rain!”

“Uh huh, its about 88 and muggy here.

Same coast........a but fur south.

When is the next hootnanny up thar?”

“whoops, I knew it was hotter than that - 77 degrees.

(I had weatherbug set to give me the Millinocket weather report, since I'm going back to BSP this weekend)”

“Well thars one in September, one in October, and a winter one whenever you guys decide we should have it. Come November I'll be pestering you peeps to make PLANS!

Then we start all over agin. :)”

“Shucks, I don't think I can make it!

later kiddo!”

“...you don't even know when we're going yet, you booger!

(the winter trip, that is)”

“Great trip reports and pics. Wet and buggy that about sums up this summer. Sounds like you had great time despite the bugs and rain. Pennsy where did you get the Buzz-Off bug jacket.

Please do not stop writing trip reports and posting pictures we need more of them.”

“I got the Buzzoff Jacket at REI.

Holy moose crap!! I hope I didn't pay THAT much for it. No wonder it worked so well.”

“too funny Pennsy - I think I've said that a few times myself... :)”

“The guy in the REI photo looks like Pennsy!

twigeater, I can't get there in September....maybe October.

How are the bugs in winter?”

“Bugs? Don't you remember - you were there last winter! Don't tell me the post hike party erased all memory of the trip. :)

Can you help trekkngirl on the Isle au Haut thread?”

“I thought your answer would be, "DEAD!"”

“Hey guys! Didn't get to read your trip reports till just now. Great write ups and the pics were phenomenal. Pennsy, I love that shot of the sunset through your tent. Gonna use it as a desktop background for a while, ok? The royalty check is in the mail! lol. Glad you had a good time...”

“WOW!

That's a cute doggy!”

“I dunno, I think I've seen a mosquito or two in February, LOL...”

“Mosquito in February???

Girl, I know the winter is wicked UP thar, but you must be hallucinatin'!!!”

“Great Pics - those pond phots were excellent.

It sounds like this was much different that FYAO!”

“well next Maine winter trip you can prove me wrong, TomT!”

“Your on, Moosie!”

“...You're...”

“Where's that check Treebeard? ;o)
That pic is a vertical though and not the best for a wallpaper image. I'll give you a discount.

BB - oh yeah... it was perfectly the complete opposite of FAYO, as it should have been. No skeeters at FYAO though.”

“after all the trip reporting, all i can say is i now KNOW i need to move to the great northeast....”

“yam, that is a good idea!

Some day you might get to meet that woman of Baxter, miss twigeater!

Northern New England is like another country.

The Maritime Provinces are lovely to.”

“You are all heart, Pennsy! It actually does look nice, but I'll take the discount anyway. :)

Oh, did I tell you that I have to pay this off in beer?”

“Yeah - yam and Artex can replace monkeyboy and Skeetah bait who are MOVING to NH and leaving me all alone here in Maine... :(”

“Dang twigeater, that's pissuh!

"Northern New England is like another country."
Tom Terrific
08:02:38 AM
08/07/03

They speak another language up thar!”

“Pay off in beer Treebeard? Yeah, I like that!

Yam - give a holler when you move up. We'll leave the light on for ya.”

“So is there going to be a SYAO II?”

“Not one that I'm going to be able to attend/organize...


:-(”