See the Santas in january

“why, standing on gremlin's shoulders ofcourse”

“Dude, Pennsy, make sure you get a picture of that. It just has sooo much potential....

[Insert very evil grin here...]”

“Oh stop, you tease.”

“After talking to Sacco last night and getting somem more details - Count us In! That's my friend Ted and myself.

PENNSY-Sacco said you're planning on arriving at the trailhead at noon on Friday. (A much more civilized hour). If we can, let's meet at the trailhead and hike in together. I figure between the three of us, we can leave a trail of clothing to find our way out! I'm not exactly a light packer.
I've got a 4 wheel vehicle so I'll go to the Bradley Pond Parking Lot. Let me know if you want to meet at the other parking lot.

If you can email me and I'll send you my phone number. You're leaving from Easton, and we're leaving from the Flemington,NJ area.

Bruce”

“hey gremlin, i agree w/ you about the slumberjack. i put them in the same category w/ camptrails packs. great equip for the $$$.

i'll be using a silnylon VB, silk liner, down quilt - all home made, on a z-rest ultralite short and a prolite 4 short thermorest.
this will be the maiden voyage of my new black diamond bivy - the most expensive piece of camping gear i've ever bought by far.

for clothes - layers of bergelene, techwick, polypro, fleece. i just use a columbia ski coat for outter layer. snowpants on the bottom. i spay DWR on both for extra weather proofing.
i also carry a smallish homemade siltarp incase we don't have the lean-to. i'll use this as a poncho incase of heavy sleet/freezing rain.

footwear - i love merino wool socks. hoping my mukluks get here TODAY. if not then i'll be wearing my sorrel knock-offs.
tubbs snowshoes. i forget which model. they were like 120 bucks 5 years ago.

i don't have real crampons. hoping that conditions on these peaks aren't too bad (icey)since there's not too much exposed rock.

oh, and i'll be using my jetboil.”

“Sacco,

Do you want me to carry in an extra pair of strap-on crampons?

Actually, depending on the weather, I might have to go with my strap-ons and leather boots and light wind pants instead of my salopette. Any weather news for the week-end?

That's one cool bivy. Does it have the loop over the head area? My buddy has the Integral Designs and hates it when I drool all over it.”

“appreciate the offer, but definitely not.

if the ice is so bad that my tubbs can't handle it, i'll just switch to plan B.
no big deal. i'm in this for the trip as whole, not the for the peaks themselves (if that makes any sense)
besides, my friend ben who's coming is in the same boat.

i'm pretty excited about trying out the bivy. it's got a hooped pole for across the shoulders, and a short ridge pole for the head area.
twas a real PIA seam sealing it w/ silnet though.

”

“Wow! That is one beautiful bivy. I guess I don't have absolutely everything after all.

My birthday's in July. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.”

“weather forecast from weather.com looks great:

Thu Jan 13 Cloudy 51°/31°
Fri Jan 14 Partly Cloudy 33°/11°
Sat Jan 15 Few Snow Showers 21°/7°
Sun Jan 16 Few Snow Showers 22°/5°


forecast from accuweather.com is not nearly as nice, calling for rain all thursday and thursday night, then 5-10 degrees colder and windy on fri, sat, sun.

(it's not the colder temps that bothers me about the accueather forecast)”

“Grems is gonna be drooling double time. I'm bringing an ID:



Here's the weather for Newcomb, according to NOAA:

Friday. Partly sunny. Early highs in the lower 20s. West winds 10 to 15 mph.

Friday night. Partly cloudy. Lows around zero.

Saturday. Partly sunny. A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Highs around 10 above.

Saturday night. Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow showers. Lows zero to 5 below.

Sunday. Partly sunny. Highs around 10 above.

Sacco - what's your plan B? btw - even if you stand on Grem's shoulders, you'll still have to stand on your tippy toes. You should have chosen someone else instead of a fellow "Lollypop Guild" member. ;o)

ClimbHi - my noon arrival is a rough guesstimation, depending on what's going on with the work situation. I'll email you my cell# later. I'm not home now so no access to email. I have a black Jetta wagon with Pa plates. If you see me, great. But if you're there and ready to go, don't wait for me.”

“plan B's all gonna depend on the situation - how far up the impassable-without-crampons ice is, time of day, which mt, ect.

worst case scenario- hang out around the lean-to and try to gather a bunch of fire wood for a toasty night.

ADKlee is also a midget maybe we'll triple stack!

(how many hobbits make a clan?)

i notice your bivy pic includes the backpacker stamp.
just for the record, both bivys earned the award!
i'm really looking forward to comparin'em.”

“Sorry sacco, but that bivy looks like a piece of crap, you should buy something else and give that one to me.
8D”

“maybe. if you trade me your crampons for my yak trax (sorry bruce)”

“Just spent lunch clippin/pasting info on this trip. Includes directions to Bradley trailhead and trail. Thanks for everyone whose info. I copied from their web site.
============================================
Trailhead to Bradley Pond Lean-to, 4.5 miles, 1350’ gain, 130’ loss
Bradley Pond Lean-to to Time Square, 2 miles, 1405’ gain, 65’ loss
Time Square to Couchsachraga Peak, 1.4 miles, 275’ gain, 780’ loss
Time Square to Santanoni Peak, 1 mile, 460’ gain, 160’ loss
Time Square to Panther Peak, .2 miles, 160’ gain, 0’ loss”
==========================================
Access to the Three Upper Works Trailheads
From the Northway, Interstate 87, exit at Exit 29 turning W onto Blue Ridge Road, Rte 28. Follow this route for 17.4 miles to an intersection marked by a number of signs, public and private, including one for National Lead, Inc. Turn right here. Zero your odometer. You\\\'re at 0.0 miles for the list which follows.
0.0 mi., turn right off from Blue Ridge Road (Rte 28).
0.4 mi. (photo #1, just below) pass the intersection for Tahawus Club and a common street sign for \\\"Lower Works Rd.\\\". (see photo #1, below)
0.6 mi., cross railroad tracks.
6.3 mi., turn left off Lower Works Rd. at fork marked with street sign \\\"Upper Works Rd.\\\" (see Photo #2, just below). The right fork continues on a short distance to National Lead as signs in Photo 2 will indicate.
8.2 mi. pass a gravelly turn-off to your left that leads W to the Santanoni Range trailhead and parking. ========
9.1 mi. on your right, very close to the highway, you will pass the ruins of the old McIntyre furnace.
9.3 mi. on the right is the trailhead for Mt. Adams, Allen Mt., and the trail to Flowed Lands via the Opalescent River.
9.9 mi. reach the Upper Works trailhead, the end of Upper Works Road, and a dead end. From this trailhead, access Flowed Land, Indian Pass, and Duck Hole.
===========================================
Bradley Pond Trailhead: for the Santanoni Range and Duck Hole
At 8.3 miles on your left driving N, a gravel road leads off to the left, up a slight grade. The trailhead and parking for the BLUE Bradley Pond Trail (ADK #128, McM #4), the Santanoni Range, and Duck Hole are here, just out of sight from the paved road. Lots of parking. (Note that this trail is actually a gravel road for more than a mile from the trailhead.)

Starting from the locked gate barring vehicle access at the trailhead, you\\\'ll hike on private property belonging to a club along a well-maintained, private gravel road to the start of the BLUE trail, (ADK #128, McM #4). It ascends toward the Santanoni Range along Santanoni Brook. At 3.6 miles from the trailhead and 2800 ft. elev. (850 m), the trail turns directly north into the pass between Bradley Pond and Henderson Mtn.

==============TRAIL========================
1.8 miles from DEC parking start to start of the BLUE trail: easy hiking on a private gravel road.
1.9 miles ascending gradually to the Henderson - Santanoni Pass: easy to moderate hiking on very good trail.
0.7 miles on flat ground past Bradley Pond to the Bradley Pond lean-to.
1.6 miles from lean-to to Times Square: strenuous climb, mostly along a herd path that follows the banks of Panther Brook, and sometimes in among the rocks in the brook. Steep (see photo below).
2.8 miles round trip from Times Square to Couchsachraga Peak summit: moderate with significant swamp about two thirds of the way out the ridgeline. Brush occasionally dense, but trail is well-defined and clear of most obstacles. Okay views back to Panther and Santanoni.
2.0 miles round trip from Times Square to Santanoni Peak summit: moderate hiking along ridgeline. Numerous false summits. Lots of spruce-fir scrub to slow you down. Generally adequate trail.
0.5 miles round trip from Times Square to Panther Peak: easy walking. Rock slabs provide excellent views of Couchie and fair views of the Sewards and Santanoni.”

“Droooooooooool!

Damn' Pennsy's got me again.

Geez, looks like a clothing/sleeping problem - not cold enough. I hate in-between.”

“Grems - those temps are farenheit, not celsius. If it's minus 5 in Newcomb, it could be minus 10-15 at Bradley Pond. Dang, ain't that cold enough?

btw - am I the only one that has done all 3 peaks? I know Gremlin has been to Panther, and this will be my 3rd time to Times Square. I've been on Panther twice, but only once on Coush and Santanoni. Panther is a piece of cake except for one short steep section. To me, the hardest part of this hike is getting up to Times Square.”

“did you think you'd be invited if we didn't need you for something?

put another way, if anybody gets lost, it's your fault pennsy.
after that giant ledge snafu w/ Lt, you're on thin ice mister.”

“LOL! Don't pin the Giant Ledge snafu on me. I wasn't the trip leader, and I was just mindin my own business in the middle of the pack. Blame it on ENS! ;o)

I haven't been up there in winter. If you're depending on me for navigation, you're in deep doo doo. Why do ya think I posted the map?

seriously, I'm pretty sure I can get ya there. Speaking of getting there... hey Grems - shouldn't Jonywalker be coming down for this historic event?”

“in case anybody has a GPS, here are some waypoints:

BRADLEY POND LEAN-TO: 44.09966 N, 74.10498 W
TIMES SQUARE: 44.09497 N, 74.13387 W
COUCHSACHRAGA: 44.09562 N, 74.16016 W
SANTANONI: 44.08228 N, 74.13099 W
PANTHER PEAK: 44.09839 N, 74.13210 W

Times Square and the lean-to are estimates, but the peaks should be right on.

Compass bearings from Times Square:
Panther - 21 degrees
Couchsachagra - 271 degrees (pretty much due west)
Santanoni - 171 degrees”

“'Show Tune' Johnny is back with the yo-yo gf with whom he built a house and sold her his half one of their break-ups ago.

He'll be at FYAO V, though.

I hope I'll be able to get to trailhead to-morrow. Any beta on the ice situation down there?”

“not too bad right now grem, but today and tonight is could be ugly

pennsy, why are you using lat/lon?

UTM is the way to go”

“This is where I scrapped my 18 month old Jeep TJ last year.

It was the first time I lost control of a vehicle wide awake and sober - scared the Jaysus out of me.

If it's too hairy on Blue Ridge Road, or at Tahawus I might just turn back.

Will anyone have a cell. 'phone? Mine won't work in the States, but I could call later, once back in Canada.

This range is destroying my life!”

“i know lee always has his cell on him.
i'll email you it.

FYI, w/ the possiblitly of bad driving conditions, we'll probably meet at the diner in long lake at 8:30 rather than 9, and then drive in together.
we may creep v e r y slowly from blue ridge to the trailhead.”

“Thanks, Scott.

I'll be taking I87. KIt's a bit longer than NY3 by Long Lake, but the road is straighter.”

“Sacco,
When you write that "we may creep v e r y slowly from blue ridge to the trailhead.”==what part are you referring to in the directions I have listed Below?
We're leaving at about 5:30 AM, hope to hit the trail by 11:00 AM or so. We'll look for the group at the lean-to, else we'll move on upthe trail. Any ideas on communicationg or should I just look for two ass-kicking Bivy sacks that someone has left behind and I can scarf up as part of my 'leave no trace' philosophy?
Bruce


Bradley Pond Trailhead: for the Santanoni Range and Duck Hole
At 8.3 miles on your left driving N, a gravel road leads off to the left, up a slight grade. The trailhead and parking for the BLUE Bradley Pond Trail (ADK #128, McM #4), the Santanoni Range, and Duck Hole are here, just out of sight from the paved road. Lots of parking. (Note that this trail is actually a gravel road for more than a mile from the trailhead.)”

“blue ridge road goes from I 87 to the start of your directions.

should be pretty easy to tell us.
i'll try to leave a conspicuous note or something.
check the trail register on the way in. should give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect for possible groups of people to expect.”

“Thanks Sacco.

Everyone drive safely. See you tomorrow.”

“Woops, I forgot to email you my number. In case I forget again later, it's 610-442-0364.

Whoever gets to the lean-to first, leave a note in the register (I think there is one in it) if it's taken or leave word with whoever is there.

See you guys somewhere up there. Be safe.”

“I missed a few posts. Sacco - I don't know what UTM is. I just use what the GPS was set at when I bought it.

Grems - I have your cell number from the email you sent some time ago. I posted mine above and I'll have it with me. I don't know if it will work when I get into the Dacks though.

Hopefully, the roads won't be too bad. I have a front wheel drive car, and I won't take chances if it's real bad. Don't worry if I don't show up. I'll be there unless the roads are too bad or if something happens with work. The boys are meeting today and tonight so it's possible (long shot) I'll get a late call.”

“I missed a few posts. Sacco - I don't know what UTM is. I just use what the GPS was set at when I bought it.

i'll show ya this weekend.

latest accuweather says it's not gonna start freezin until closer to noon.”

“I'm leaving early to-morrow. I'm a real wuss since my accident, but I hope the road is clear.

If it's bad, I'll probably turn round. I'll call from a pay 'phone as my cell doesn't work cross the border.”

“Grems - the old saying "Third time's the charm" will apply here. This will be my third trip to Bradley Pond attempting to see you finish your 46. The weather killed us on the 1st try, and you had that lame excuse (broken leg, sheesh!) on the 2nd. I think it will happen this time.

btw - dang, my pack is heavy, especially with the snowshoes and crampons strapped to the pack. I'm glad we're not 'packin all the way to the peaks.”

“me too. i'm up to almost 25 pounds including my 64 oz of gatoraide!”

“That's sick. I ain't dragging your carcass off the mountain if you freeze yer arse off, ya ultralight freak.”

“Hey Sacco, nice bivy you copycat! That is one of the ones that I have. I really like it. The lighter winter bivy has also been great. BD makes some great gear.

Hope you all have a great safe trip. I wish I was going. I fell off a ladder yesterday and f'ed up my foot. I hop it heals in time for the Catskills trip.”

“hey rob, hope your foot heals. it was a toss up for me between yours and pennsy's bivy.

i went with the yours cause i figure if i like pennsy's better i'll just steal it this weekend anyway.”

“you won't have to carry me, frozen sacco-sicles slide pretty well.

just give me one good push is all i ask”

“A Sacco sled! Weeeeeeeeeeee!
I'll user your arms to steer but I ain't shifting gears.”

“LOL”