What the Muck! Santanoni Range TR

“I drove 8 hours on Wednesday in my brand new Chevy Mailbu (the car is impressive!) and rolled into the trailhead around 6:30. I saw Buddur's Mystery Machine, and read his intiniary, but decided that I'd try for Bradley Pond. My original plan was to pitch my tent and crash for the night by the car, but, it was nice out, ajittery, so I packed my pack, turned on the headlamp, and made my way up the trail.

The first 1.5 miles of the trail is on a gun club gravel road. There was about 1" of snow on the ground, and a clear starry sky. I noticed the ToeKnee and (I thought Pennsy) had already left, so I folled their tracks. Near the end of the gravel road, the trail turned right....into the woods. It was pretty flat for the first 1/2 mile, with a few river crossings over narrow, snow covered bridges. Then, it got ugly baby! From this point, it was a steady elevation gain on something that resembled a hybrid between a creek and a trail. It didn't look as if the trail had been maintained in may years. Any attempts at squelching water run-off took the form of rotting logs, and not one iota of earthen water diversion structures like you'll see on the Long Trail. To make it ever more fun, large boulders were surrounded by shallow pools of water, and ander the water was a nice black, deep mud..... on this night, covered by snow. Under normal circumstances, I can make a 4.8 mile hike, with that sort of elevation gain in about 2 hours.

After 4 hours of trudging, with the lean-to nowhere in sight, and no answers to my wailing of "Bruuuuuce (Pennsy's first name)", I whipped out the bivy in the only flat dry spot I'd seen in two hours, and set up a makeshift camp. I boiled ater and slept like a rock!

Thursday morning, I woke up to the sound of voices. I put on my down botties, and sure enough, the damned trail to the shelter was a mere 30 yards from my bivy site! At the shelter, I encountered ToeKnee, and his buddy Brandon (who I thought was Pennsy). The dudes were pretty damned cool, and we all had a laugh at the previous nights adventures. Brandon and ToeKnee confirmed the crappiness of the trail, we made small talk, and decided to gather wood for the following days. The weather was PERFECT that day, but we decided to leave our attempt at the three peaks for the next day, so some of the others could hike with us. Throughout the day, several others rolled into camp.... Cap'n Bobo, AmyG, Dare, and finally Gremlin. We had a sweet fire going as everyone caught up, told jokes, discussed routes, talked about gear, etc. I slept in the shelter that night with Gremlin, Bobo and a mouse. We all had a nice Thanksgiving dinner, complete with a new dessert called puddcoco (ask ToeKnee).

The next morning, Pennsy arrived, and we all set off for Times Square at about 10:00. It was very overcast, with a slight drizzle. We got our slackpacks ready, and were off! The trail to the summits was a combination of herd path, worn bushwhacked routes and live creekbeds! There was still snow on the ground, but not very deep, and it was steadily drizzeling. AFter getting lost only once or twice, we finally made it up the climb to Times Square! Uncle Gremlin originally wanted to bag Coochieqgau(sp)peak, which was the farthest, however, after considering our piss-poor weather conditions, the group decided to attempt Panther, which was only .2 miles from Times Square. At this point, I was getting a little hypothermic, and, due to a lack of any prospect of getting a view, decided to head back, so I could warm up. The rain was picking up, and my omnidry (ha - what a laugh) shell pants were soaked thru. The boots were wet, and I was pretty much soaked to the bone. Most of the snow was now slush or ice, so the going down was not tooo much fun. ABout half-way down, I had a stupid song running through my head. (You know when you are hiking alone, and random songs pop into the head, and you're like, hey, where the he!! did that come from.... go way!) ANyway, this stupid song from Christopher Cross began running thru my head "Sailing......take me away...." Aghhhh, combined with the conditions, it was making me more miserable. Then, something clicked. I looked up at the darkened sky, looked down at my soaked boots which hald two soon to be infected blisters, and turned those song lyrics around to "Baaaaailing.....I'll find a hotel to stay in I'll be going". I trudged down the rest of the trail with one goal in mind. Get to the Shelter, pack my shiznit, wade thru the 4.8 miles of mud to my clean malibu with tan leaher interior, and find a hotel with shampoo, soap and cable in a town that delivered pizzas. That was my motivation, my goal.

I reached the shelter to find LumberZac and Mrs. Adverturist shivering inside the shelter. They were somewhat dry, but the wood was soaked, everything was soaked. SirPete came up after pitching his tent, and they crawled into sleeping bags to warm up. AFter briefly talking to the three, and packing my pack, I remember something SirPete said before I left... "They call this trail in the Daks' 'The Gauntlet'. He didn't need to explain. It kicked my wet a$$, and I was going to sleep in a dry hotel.:) I said my goodbyes and headed out. Ran into AmyG and Dare, who seemed kinda concerned about me, and said my goodbyes. I was shivering pretty good, and needed to get moving. SORRY PETE FOR NOT GETTING THE BROOM.

About 1/2 mile on my way home I ran into Johnny Walker, exchanged some words, and we went our seperate ways. It was about 3:30 at this point, with darkness falling at around 4:30. I knew I had a miserable wet, mud filled ankle twisting, knee jerking descent in frontof me, but the thought of Pizza kept me going. When I finally hit the gun road, it was about 5:00. I couldn't use my headlamp because I had so much steam coming off my body, it made for less visiblity that pitch black. LOL! AFter hiking the longest 1.5 miles to the trailhead, i ran into a group of people! I knew Buddur would prolly be there, but it was the tree family, Gemini and Tom T. I impersonated a Ranger, which was all I could muster, and then let em' know it was me... lol!

I must have been a sight, they kept asking me questions, half of which I don't remember, I was just elated to use my remote start up on the car to get the heater going. I peeled off my soaking wet clothes, much to the delight of Mapleleaf and Gemini(peepers), got in some warm clothes, and HIGHLY reccomended that they did not attempt to get to Bradley Pond that night. There were just about to leave, and after looking at me, and my description of the trail, they decided to call it off that night, with the possiblity of trying Saturday. We all did a shot of Vodka, and I was on m y way.

The Hotel was warm, pizza was great, and snowstorm that I drove thru today awsome (where was it Friday dammit). I had a great time, am sorry I couldn't say bye to everyone, or couldn't get to know some of the TT'rs better. I had to get that damn Christopher Cross song out of my head, so I bailed.

Sorry this is so long. I have no pics (forgot the camera). I hope everybody made it down the trail safely, and were able to drive home safely as well.

BB”

“Mrs. Adventurist just got in the door....

Thanks for getting that song in my head now! The worst part of songs like that is not knowing any of the lyrics except the refrain!”

“Man, everybody bailing on the last couple of TT trips....Mt Rogers and now this one....oh my. ;)”

“BB, I was thinking about all of you out there in what looked on the weather radar really nasty conditions up there. I heard about trail conditions under drier weather, but it must have been crazy. Glad you made it back OK and finally dried out.”

“I left a message for you with your missus.”

“Before I left wednesday morn., the there was only a 30% chance of rain or snow, on Thursday. It was a humdinger I'll tell ya. Wish you could have been there buddy!”

“Which message?

The one where she is too goodlooking for me?

or

The one where she should always leave me behind because she is more fun?”

“#1, I don't recall saying #2 - lol! Sorry I missed ya bud.... we'll see ya at FYAO IV!”

“lol...OK

Hopefully it won't be -17 this time....”

“BB, you're right at first the forecast wasn't that bad, but all the rain moved south to north in large swathe and looked heaviest in upper N.Y. I couldn't make the trip because of some surgery I had this week. I wonder if the others will be able to bag more peaks before they head for home.”

“Pennsy was there for pete's sake. They prolly bagged all three on Friday!”

“That's true. I'm looking forward to their trip report already with some detailed pictures of all the muck.”

“Hmm. I guess all the REAL hikers are on the west coast.

;)”

“I'm sorry we missed ya Buddha when we got back to the shelter. Nah, we didn't bag all 3. After you and the G's headed down, we (Gremlin, Bobo, ToeKnee, Brandon and myself)stumbled around for a while but we eventually found the herd path to Panther. I was proud to be there to celebrate Gremlin's 44th High Peak. 45 (Cooch) and 46 (Santanoni) will have to wait for another day and I hope I'm there with him.

By the time we got back to Time's Square, we were all drowned rats, and besides that there just wasn't enough time left in the day to bag either of the other 2 peaks. It was a total muckfest getting back down to the shelter with little light left reamaing when we got there. After we changed into dry clothes, we had a hell of a blast hanging in the lean-to. 12 of us (Bobo, SirPete, Rent a Wife Mrs A, AmyG, Dare, Lumberzak, Gremlin, Johnny Walker, ToeKnee, Brandon, Buddur and Buddur dog, and myself) were crammed into the lean-to but we made the best of it. Gremlin kept us entertained with his endless stories while Bobo kept us well fed with his 'turkey on the trail' eats.

It rained all day and most of the night but it turned to snow before morning. I believe that only worsened the conditions because the coating of snow covered up a lot of the muck holes. As it was, I don't think anybody had anything dry to make it through another day and night.

Pete, Rent a Wife and myself headed down while the others were still hanging in the shelter. Wow, what a mess that trail was in! That was a looooong 4.8 miles. It took a lot of effort and balancing on logs and rocks to keep from going knee deep in mud. We cheered when we finally hit the logging road which meant 1+ miles of smooth and muckfree bliss.

We were about 15 minutes from the cars when we saw a solo female hiker coming towards. She looked like a ninja with a dark balaclava covering her face, and she was yelling "You bunch of wusses!!" I thought, oh jeez, we stumbled upon the trail pyscho but it was Gemini! Tom Terrific and the Tree People were right behind her. They holed up in a cabin the night before and were planning to hike to the shelter to greet as many people as they could. We warned them about the upcoming "fun" so I hope they made it up there ok.

After changing into dry clothes at the cars, we headed to Schroon Lake to eat. The entire town was out of power but we found a nice cafe that had a generator. Woohoo!!

Despite the weather and trail conditions, I still say it was a successful trip. It was a pleasure seeing Gremlin again and being with him for his 44th peak. It was my 14th so I've got a ways to go yet. Naturally, it was a blast being with the other TT freaks and meeting new people ToeKnee, Brandon, and Johnny walker.

2 quick footnotes:
Gremlin is an extreme horn toad.
Rent a Wife (Mrs Adventurist) is a lot more fun when hubby stays home. ;o)”

“Sounds..ummm..like fun?

Glad you all had a good time - if a bit wet and muddy - and made it back safe.

:)”

“Sounds like you all had a muddy good time.”

“Where the heck did Buddur come from? He must have been bushwhacking or en route to Times Square, otherwise, we would have passed each other.”

“Sounds like you guys made the most of a crummy weather situation. With the crew you guys had, I'm not surprised. You guys are an absolute blast to hike with! There seriously could not be a finer group.

Gremlin - bummer you didn't get those last two this time, but you will very soon. You'll probably bag them before I become a northeaster again... I'll never forget you hiking with me to my first Adirondack summit ever, it would be cool to be there when you do your last. Best of luck and congrats in advance.”

“Good trip report you guys. Still sounded like a good time despite the weather.
BB you are lucky that song is not stuck in my head! I would have hunted you down!”

“Knee deep in mud? It sounds like you would need rubber fishing waders to hike in that.”

“yo Tango - here's the lyrics:

Christopher Cross _Sailing_

Well, it's not far down to paradise, at least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see.
Believe me.

It's not far to never-never land, no reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy of innocence again
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see.
Believe me.

CHORUS:
Sailing takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free

Fantasy, it gets the best of me
When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie, every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me?

CHORUS

Well it's not far back to sanity, at least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away and find serenity
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see.
Believe me.

CHORUS”

“interesting parody of Sailing found:

"Sailing" Based on the performance by Christopher Cross
"Whaling" Parody by Malcolm Higgins

well the beach was once a paradise, at least it was for me
but with the chicks these days the size of them,
there is no sights to see,
oh but blinders can do miracles, at least they can for me
believe me

well they seem right out of never land,
hope they're back there soon
cause if they swim too far out from the shore
they risk a big harpoon
ahh but blinders can do miracles, at least they can for me
believe me

land whaling, takes me away from where I always need to be
what size are you a 23?
why? I just don't see

fantasies, they get the best of me
when I'm whaling
thongs caught up in their cheeks you see
toss my lunch when they look at me
do you believe me?

land whaling, takes me away from where I always need to be
what size are you a 23?
why? I just don't see

well the beach was once a paradise, at least it was for me
but with the chicks these days the size of them,
there is no sights to see,
oh but blinders can do miracles, at least they can for me
believe me

land whaling, takes me away from where I always need to be
what size are you a 23?
why? I just don't see





mwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha”

“Sorry I brought up that gawd-forsaken song...lol!

The trip would have been much better if Artex were there.... our onngaboonga's didn't seem to work, whereas Artex's always do.”

“Ha ha! Now some of you have an idea why people who've done or attempted Couchie sort of snicker or snarl at the mention of the name. Took me two tries to get in all three peaks of the Santanoni Range. Both times the trail was wet and mucky. Here's what I saw from Times Square on the first attempt...

Couchie in All Its Splendor
And here's what I found the second time...

Hoochie Couchie

Still, it sounds like youans managed to have some fun.

Looking forward to hearing from the others.”

“Thanks MSilver! I was wondering what it looked like!”

“patte de chameau

it speaks for itself..........”

“right ... and what does it really mean?”

“Good trip reports! Trips like this are needed to push the limits. Glad you were able to bail, BB, when you reached yours!”

“Oh yeah. And we had a chick on our last outting that was having problems with the Columbia OmniTech pants as well. They were cracking at the seams.

If you are looing for a good deal on GTX XCR pants, I recommed the MEC Sentinel pants. They are excellent and only $120 smackers.”

“sounds like a fun if "mucky" trip!”

“I ask Gremlin to teach me a few french words for an upcoming trip and this is what he teaches me ?!?

Sailing... take me away...
Thanks Buddha Bear!

WoW!!!!!! What a fan-friggin-tastic trip! We battled the elements and got to the top of Panther Peak in mighty winds and nearly horizontal, pelting sleet.

I'll remember this trip for a good long time. We witnessed just about every crappy trail condition, condensed over three days. Hiking in to the shelter on Thursday was sunny and the last of the good weather to be seen. The best trail conditions had you slipping and sliding from snow to rock to river and many succumbed to the muddy quicksand. In full pack, my left leg was sucked into the mucky quagmire upto my knee. Friday conditions started as mixed precipitation and continued into a steady rain as everything around us seemed to be melting. The climb up to Panther Peak was nothing less than brutal, but what a great group to be with, you guys really lifted my spirit. On Saturday the rain turned into full blown snow squalls and everything that was wet just glazed over with ice.

What an awesome bunch of TrailMuckers!!! We had the best times in the worst of conditions. Buddha Bear, Toeknee, Brandon, AmyG, Dare, Gremlin, and Pennsy and myself were the summit party. Back at the shelter the party kicked up with Johnnie Walker, buddur, lumberzac, sirpete, and Mrs. Adventurist. and if I didn't think it couldn't get any better, the Gemini and Tom Terrific rescue party came in to extricate me from the shelter. Tom Terrific loaded up my summit pack and helped me carry out my heavy load - Brother, I owe you one! And you think this was the end?!? Hell no!!! Waiting at the trailhead was none other than mapleleaf and treebeard, who took us to dinner and the mapleleaf motel for a climactic evening of warmth and merriment!

Thank you all for a great time! gremlin - Panther Peak did not go willingly, but we got her together!
I'll climb with you anywhere, anyday, mon ami!

Patte de Chameau !!!!

p.s. I'm working on trip pics right now, I'll post the link ASAP.”

“LMAO - I'll bet y'all were wishing for Patte des Chameaux after that night!

Did Gemini & Tom T rescue happen on Friday or Saturday?

Where are the TR's people!!!!”

“THERE IS NO SEX IN THE CHAMPAIGNE ROOM!”

“Patte de Chameau? Ok, I know I was there this weekend and there was a lot of weird stuff going on, but where the heck did the camel's feet come in?

Bobo.... when did you leave the shelter Sat? We saw Gemini and company around 11am so I'm guessing they got to the shelter after 1pm.

Anywho, nice report and I'm looking forward to seeing your pics. My camera never left my pack so you know the conditions were bad.

I'm curious as to how the rest of the gang did on Saturday. Buddur, G's, Grem and company... how did you guys make out?

When we going back? How about in the middle of the winter when we can snowshoe over the top of all that crap?”

“When we going back? How about in the middle of the winter when we can snowshoe over the top of all that crap?"
--Pennsy

Do we have a FYAO IV location nomination here?”

“Heck, we could base camp at that location near the cliffs on the ascent trail and bag all three of those peaks in 2 days with ease.”

“certainly would be a lot easier to go there in the midst of winter......either that or after a severe dry period”

“Funny you mention that BB. On the hike out, Pete mentioned how that would be a good FYAO spot. My only concern is if there would be enough room for tents. This would probably be a good discussion to carry over to the FYAO trip thread.”

“Pennsy, do you remember the spot I'm talking about. We took our first snack break there, where the yellow arrows were painted on the rock. It was flat, and seemed to have many spots for tents.”

“I probably had muck in my eyes. I don't remember the area you're talking about but I'm sure some of the others will chime in.”

“When I left on Tues the weather forecast was for beautiful then cold moisture moving in. Well, I got to Allen trailhead on Wed morning and headed to Skylight Brook at the base of Allen for the night and the sky was starlit.

Wed morning I headed up Allen at 8:15am and got to the peak by 11. If I didn't have my crampons I'd've never made it up to ice-covered slopes/rocks, well maybe, but I sure wouldn't've made it down in one piece...that's a hell of a climb in itself, let alone the icy conditions. The weather was ideal...calm, clear, sunny and picture perfect. I found 3 awesome views, two of the other ranges I've hiked, then headed down.

By the time I got to camp and was ready to head out (2:30) the sky was now overcast. I planned to move camp closer to the trialhead for the night, but as the dark clouds started to drizzle with a slowly increased intensity, I, like Buddha Bear, longed for warmer drier solice...so with my best interests in mind, I hiked all the way back out, about 1.5hrs of it in the dark. I think it was almost 7 when I got back, so naturally craving warm food and libations, I headed East to 87 then down to Schroon for pertinent necessities. Then, belly full of blub, I drove back and parked in the Bradley Pond parking for the night. When I started the drive ALL my gear was soaked, so I turned on the heater and periodically opened the windows to let the moist air out, and by the time I got back everything but my boots were dry.

So the next morning, after seeing Pennsy and then Lumberzac head in, I too headed up to Bradley Pond. Mind you, all my gear was dry, even my boots by then, but to my surprise it started to rain half way in. Well, like Buddha described, this trail was every crappy condition you can think of rolled into one. So after hiking for about an hour in the rain and the muck I got to the Lean To to find out everyone but Lumberzac was up on the range. I immediately pitched my tent behind the lean to, put on my dry clothes, and went into my tent swearing that I wouldn't come out until the rain stopped (I'll bet that's when Buddha, you got to camp then headed out for higher ground).

Anywho, by that night the rain had NOT stopped and water was rising everywhere. We fit as many as could possibly fit into that lean to and made the best of it. At around 3am, the sounds of the rain on my tentfly had become softer, that with the temp drop meant snow was falling. Yeah sure, I got up the next morning and the zipper on my rainfly was frozen so I couldn't open it, and my tent poles had forzen at the joints even. There was snow covering everything, and the everything was all mucky ice underneith.

Noone wanted to even THINK of attempting the range because of day before and the current intense blowing wind and snow, and false snow-covered mucky ground to boot. So with me having a long drive ahead of me, I didn't waste any time breaking down my campsite and heading out.

The mucky, pondy, wetland-like stream valley trail had, overnight from the volumous rain, turned from bad to MUCH worse. I was literally hiking through everything because it was virtually impossible to go around any of it.

Well, no sooner did I make it to the service road I came across the TomT, Gemini, Mapleleaf and Treebeard crew, whos plans for later that evening and invite to join them, tempted me to stick around the area for the night. Well, by 7pm we had also had Bobo, Toe Knee and Brandon drinking and having supper at the Timber Wolf in Schroon.

Lemme take a break for now...”

“The campspot was near the cliffs where we found the blue rope hanging from the tree. With 6 feet of snow on the ground, there should be more than enough flat spots for those that dare......”

“To say the least... A little background and I'll try to cut to the chase:

Thursday-
11:30 AM - Gemini arrives at the Tree House in Staten Island, followed by some running around, a ferry ride and T-giving dinner.

11:30 PM- Tom Terrific arrives at the Tree House (all wound up and ready for some tequila and beer)

1:20 AM- Maple and Gemini are alseep. Treebeard goes into bed, leaving a still wound up Tom T.

6:10 AM- The group awakens

6:40 AM- Tom Terrific finally stirs

7:30 AM- After eating some bagels while packing, we deal with a situation with Tom's car windows. They won't go up (electronic). Treebeard and Tom start looking at the condition of many fuses.

9:00 AM- We have looked at many fuses and Gemini notices that the parental lock option is engaged. Tom T goes from 6'3" to 4'3" in seconds flat.

9:30 AM- We get the car loaded and take off, better late than not at all. And it's raining buckets!

It becomes a little slow at times, but not a bad trip up. Just long. We finally arrive at the trailhead at about 4:30 PM. It is getting dark and the rain is unrelenting. We gear up and start to head out about 5, give or take a few minutes. Maple and Gemini go to the trailhead with Tom and myself behind them. We hear a male voice talking to them and wonder who it is. There, before our eyes, is the wettest man you have ever seen, Buddha Bear! After scaring the girls with the ranger routine, he fills us in on what we are about to undertake. The advice he gave was taken seriously and we opted out of this task for the night. I'm just sorry that I didn't get to spend more time with the Bear man. We rethink our strategy, being that we were prepared for colder, more snowy and less rainy conditions. We decide to tackle it as a day hike for Saturday.

Well, as fate would have it, they have a MAPLELEAF Motel! We went out for drinks and food at the local watering hole and slept in the cabin that night.

The next morning, we awoke early to the sounds of drill sergeant Gemini (who doesn't appreciate people who let her be the only one awake at 5:30 in the AM). We made some breakfast in the kitchen and set out for the trailhead. When we got there, the day was looking very promising. Quite a bit colder than the night before. We walked up the 1 1/2 mile road and ran into Johnnie Walker. Then we saw Pennsy, pete and Mrs. Adventurist. Again, we were enlightened as to the nature of this trail, dubbed the Gauntlet. I just knew that this road we were on would turn into something a lot nastier than what we were seeing. Sure enough, as pointed out, the trail took the turn into the woods and got progressively worse. By this point, Gemini (who is a hiking dynamo out there) went ahead with Tom T. Maple and I were busy taking pictures and enjoying a little slower pace. The trail was a little rough, to say the least. We ran into Buddur, who was bailing also, and made arrangements to hang with him and the good pooch later. Lumberzac came by a few minutes later and gave us the same bleak reports of what was ahead also. We ran into Toe Knee and Brandon and got more of the same stuff out of them on what lies ahead.

The snow was getting heavier and the winds were really kicking up. Maple and I decided to keep going. We soon ran into Amy G and Dare, who told us we ain't seen the worst of this yet. (rolling my eyes at this point). We stopped and cooked a little soup and went on for a little longer. At this point, we had killed a lot of time and decided that we probably fell far enough behind that Tom T and Gemini would probably have reached the good Capn Bobo by now and would soon be on the way down. We also didn't want to chance doing this trail in the dark. A lot of spots were starting to freeze, so we headed back down. Thank you, Lumberzac! This fine man waited for us in the parking lot, knowing we were separated from Tom and Gem and that we didn't have keys to a vehicle. If not for him, we would have froze. The winds were unbelievable at this point. At times, the snow literally started to eddy in a violent, upward spiral. FREAKY, MAN!!!

We met Gremlin and talked to him for a while, congratulated him and sent him on his way. Then, they came down with Bobo and we put together a party and headed back to the bar for food and drinks. Everyone went home except for Buddur, Budder dog, Bobo and the four of us. So, we crashed rather cozily in this little one room cabin. I am seeing that plans can really change drastically in a short period of time. I will let the pics do the talking and start to load them up now. It was a great time however! A major league TT slumber party to end off the day!”

“With lack of better judgement I decided to return to this land of endless mud and nasty weather. After failing to summit Panther and retiring a pair of gaiters that the deep Adirondack mud and muck managed to soak through in August I came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to accompany Gremlin on his completion of the ADK 46.

I arrived at the trailhead Friday morning. The ride up was foggy and rainy. To my fortune the rain had stopped and the fog appeared to be lifting when I hit the trail. There was an inch or so of snow on the ground but the hike went easy for the first mile along the hunting club road. The footprints in the snow made following the trail easy. After crossing the two branches of Santanoni Brook I began the steady but moderate hike up the washed out rocky trail. After a short while the tail reminded me how soft I had gotten from the lack of hiking since September. After a few short stops the trail leveled and the real fun had begun.

The last mile or so of trail is a combination of mud and water. This slowed progress immensely. On top of that the snow on the ground camouflaged the logs and rocks that one is required to step on to negotiate the muck. Eventually I reached the lean-to to find it empty.

After about ten minutes the sky began to dump water on the area. It was shortly after this that Buddur and Buddur dog arrived at the shelter. We introduced our selves and made small talk. Buddur set up his tent and decided that he was going to stay in it and not come out until the rain turned to snow. After that I made a vein attempt to find dry firewood. After a short time I returned to the lean-to feeling a bit defeated. It wasn't long afterwards that two soaked forms (Sir Pete and Mrs. Adventurist AKA rent-a-date) made there way up the trail.

The next person to arrive was Buddha Bear who charmed us with some colorful words to describe the trail. He told us that he had enough and was bailing. He packed up his gear and headed back down the trail in the rain. It wasn't long after Buddha Bear had left that Dare and Amy G made their way to the shelter. After some time had past the rest of the group made it back to the lean-to. Once it got dark we somehow managed to fit every one in the lean-to while we ate and drank a verity of alcoholic beverages.

Some time during the night the rain turned to snow. I awoke to find that there was a blanket of white stuff coating the ground. Everyone's wet gear and clothing had frozen sold over night. With the lack of extra dry clothes and the fact that the wind and snow was picking up everyone decided that it would be a good idea to bail. One by one everyone left until the only Gremlin, Captain Bobo, and myself remained. Bobo and Gremlin forced me to drink TnT, which was a combination of hot tea and Wild Turkey, while I packed up my gear. The hot liquid went down smooth and warmed me up a bit.

I soon finished packing and headed down the trail. The wind and snow had already covered up the footprints of the other TTers that had left before me. On top of that there was a considerably larger amount of water on the trail than the day before. After hiking about two miles I ran into Gemini and Tom Terrific. We introduced our selves and I warned them about the up coming trail conditions. After chatting for a very short time I continued down the trail. After another half mile or so I ran into the Tree's who were heading back out. We talked for a short time and then I continued my hike out. The rest of the hike out was uneventful. I was happy to get back to my car and change out of my wet cloths. Amy G and Dare (thanks for the water) were sitting in their truck waiting for people to hike out. I started up my car and decided to also sit and wait while the nice warm air hit me. After some time Amy G and Dare said they were getting hungry and left. A short while later the Trees made their way out. I invited them in the car to warm up and we sat for a while.

About a half-hour later a truck came to the parking area and Gremlin hoped out (cheater). After Gremlin left we waited until almost dark before Gemini, Tom Terrific, and Captain Bobo, made it out. From Tahawus we drove over to the village of Schroon Lake for beers and dinner.”

“My $40 Rocky boots that I bought last winter kept my feet bone dry all weekend.

My Coleman Xcursion Lantern worked great Friday night.”

“I found a pair of gloves and a spoon in the back seat of my car. Do they belong to you?”

“Let me know when you try to finish off the range. I would like to finish it with you. I still need to get Panther.”

“Yes, LZ. Those are mine. Thanks so much for what you did for us. It is extrmeely appreciated!”

“well in the dead of winter the whole lake area would be flat.....”

“How would you like me to get them back to you?”