The 2006 Edition of the July Fourth Butt kicker!!

“what??? no one is back yet? pennsy what are you doing here? you didn't go?

oh...wanna know something really bad? my friend canceled her visit...or let's say rescheduled it for the 17th.NEVER, EVER, EVER EVER do NOT go on a trip because your friend from out of state comes for a visit.
NEVER!!!!!

Lesson learned.”

“I bet it was muddy.”

“you think they had to swim?
hope ENS didn't fall down the trail or something...”

“They took one car and planned to hitch so knowing those 2, they probably ended up in Vancouver.

Gem - I couldn't go on the trip because I had to work flood restoration here Fri, Sat and Sun.”

“Hey, bailers....................I'm back!!!”

“How was da mud ya dork?”

“we never hiked. we drove to Buffalo and went water skiing on Lake Erie and sang karoke every night at the Bolt Buster's Wild Saloon and yesterday we took barrells over niagra falls. It was totally fun.”

“Was that before or after you went to Toronto and hocked loogies off the CN tower.”

“Friday, June 30
I drive to Reading and stay with ENS at GF's house and we leave the next morning for Vermont.

Saturday, July 1
We take all freakin' day to get to Stowe and drop the car at Smuggler's Notch.
Its just past dark when we get down to Route 100(Stowe village).
There's no one interested in taking our sorry asses to Appalachian Gap but someone suggests that we get a taxi/van ride......hmmmmm.....OK.
First we eat at The Green Mountain Inn and have a beer.
By the time we get to App Gap and on the march its 11:30 PM.
After a look at the map we think its 1.3 miles to the shelter......uh, no it ain't.
Its more like 2.6 and my headlamp is weak but we climb and stumble and grope our way to Birch Glen Shelter by about 2:00 AM.....Sunday.
By the time the heavy rain starts we are safely in the sack with the rain hammering on the metal roof.

Sunday, June 2
After a pretty good rest we hit the trail by 10:00 AM and hiked from Birch Glen about 3 miles to Cowles Cove Shelter where we stopped for lunch.
There we caught up to Early Bird, a through hiker on her fifth trip on The Long Trail, who was on her tenth day and fixin' to cover 178 miles by the end of the day.
We thereby witnessed our first ever hiking skirt in action and I must say it was very nice indeed.

About 1.5 miles north is Burnt Rock Mountain where I ran into trouble scrambling up and over exposed rock in the hot sun with humidity about 90% and so hazy that visibility was only a few miles at best.
I was getting my ass kicked by heat exhaustion though I never stopped sweating.
My clothing was soaked and my stomach queezy with a dull head ache.
A little ways up I caught up to ENS and we discussed my problem.

ENS thought he could make it all the way to Smuggler's Notch on The Long Trail so we made a plan.
He took the cooking gear and water pump and lit out for Bamforth Ridge Shelter, on the north side of Camel's Hump.
I was to struggle Montclair Glen Shelter, another 3.5 or so for me.
last edited: 7/05/06 9:21:57 PM”

“Monday, June 3
The previous day had been tough for me over some punishing trail the likes of which one might find in The Adirondacks' Santanoni Range.
My Sunday had covered 8.2 miles to Montclair Glen and a much-needed rest.
Eating was un-appealing that morning and I choked down what I could with lots of water before going after Camel's Hump.
The 1.9 miles up to The Hump was exhausting with lemon-squeezers and lots of hands-on work.
I got up there at the stroke of Noon and after a 20 minute rest I started the 6.3 miles down to Duxbury Road.
Ha ha, it was mostly down with some tough ups and more downs and more ups and then way the hell on down to the river.
My elevation drop was from the 4,038 summit to about 300 feet at the Wonooski River.
The rocks, the black mud and every thing else were lovely the whole way.
The views were better than Sunday and I could almost see the Whites through the not-quite-so-hazy haze from The Hump.
The Adirondacks were kinda almost visible to the west as well.

I started walking west on Duxbury road and got a ride after about 1.5 miles to Cumberland Farms (a convenience store) in Richmond.
The van driver had given me his card Saturday night and I dang sure called for a ride back to Smuggler's Notch.

I got to Smuggler's Notch and my car about 7:30 PM and what to my wondering eyes should appear but our boy ENS!!!
He had decided that he was not to make it to The Notch by way of The Trail so he bailed out that very morning at the very place that I had.

We got a site at the state park just down the road and showers and straight away found a very nice pizza joint.......Pie Casso......how #&%!$in' clever is that?
Shower and food and beer and a good night's sleep.”

“hiking skirts rock!

Sounds like an epic struggle...and a butt kicker at that! (though not for the reasons you had planned)
If the trail was like the Sants in ADK, I can imagine the struggle! Trudging through that section in mud and slippery rock, when the trail becomes more of a stream than a path...skeery. =:0

Glad you got home safe and sound (well...)

:)”

“the trip unfolded as MarkO posted. When I left MarkO Sunday afternoon, he was very tired and I was concerned, but he had only 2 miles to go 'til camp, a tough 2 miles never the less.

The coming trail was the type of trail I dream about, exposed ridges, rock scrambling, steep climbs, alpine summits and expansive views. I asked Mark if he was ok and he said he was and that he wanted me to finish the hike, so forth I trudged.

I climbed up Mt. Ethan Allen which was forested in spruce and fir at the top and was boggy, but offered no views.

I had given all my water to Mark before I left him, so I stopped for a snack and filtered some water from a small stream that was flowing down the trail.

I was assaulted by mosquitos and black flies, but I was much thirsty and in need of nurishment. After about a half hour, I picked up and continued and started to descend into Montclair Glen.

At the Montclair Glen Shelter, there were to guys who we had camped with the night before at Birch Glen. I asked them what time it was and they said it was 530. I considered stopping there for the night, since I missed Mark and his conversation, but I was feeling really good and I had enough daylight to make it to the Banforth Ridge Lean-to that was 5 and a half miles away. This would mean climbing over Camel's Hump. Yippy.

I started up for the Hump, a sign said it was 1.7 miles away and for a long while, the trail was relatively level. This would mean that the climb to Camels Hump would be ultra steep. I knew that it was 1000 feet from Montclair Glen to the summit.

Soon enough the climb was in front of me and I started up, scrambing up rocks, in and out of squeezers, a few switchbacks here and there, mostly steep pitches and finally popped out at alpine zone and above tree line, where the summit cliff revealed itself. It was awesome. The trail skirted the cliff, but views were had in every direction.

As I got around to the other side of the summit, the wind was cranking and pretty much pushed me up the final craggy leg to the summit. It was quite lovely up there. the alpine flowers were blooming and the views were the clearest they had been all day.

I enjoyed the summit for about 15 minutes, but it was really windy and the sun was starting to go down, so I decided I needed to get going for the last 3+ miles to camp, descended Camels Hump, which was pretty steep, but not as steep as the otherside.

Banforth Ridge was a fairly rugged traverse, as MarkO said. It descends, but not consistently, since there are several small speed bump to hump along the way and they required a good deal of scrambling and were also exposed to the wind.

On one of the last bumps, I watched the sun set over the mountains to the west, some of which were likely ridgelines in the Adks. It was quite lovely. I could even see the setting sun reflect in Lake Champlain.

As I was nearing camp I started to get really hungry and it started to get dark. I donned my headlamp and stepped into the leanto just as the last bits of daylight were beginning to fade.

At the Banforth Ridge Leanto I met Slick, a fellow who had been out on the Long Trail for a couple weeks, he went down from Canada and then decided he still had time so he went back the otherway. He said he was milking it and wanted to stay out as long as he could, but the 4th would be his final day.

Early Bird was also there, so it was nice to hang out with her. I told her I was planning on hiking to Smugglers Notch and she said she would like to have company along the way so we were going to hike it together.

I made dinner, salmon and potatos and then we all sacked out around 10ish.”

“part two of my report will be posted sometime in the next 24or so hours, along with pics.


the trail was pretty much a muddy swamp.”

“Great trip reports so far guys.”

“awesome...I hope you got pics of that "lovely sunset over the mountains," Rob!
:)”

“Hello!

Holey Santanoni!!!!

Way too much of the stuff we had to deal with was like the trail from Times Square to Chooch and from the swamp near the shelter to Times Square.

It was hurtie!!!”

“So you made it back alive, I take it! Don't forget the best part of the trip...me! Moohaahaa.”

“The coming trail was the type of trail I dream about, exposed ridges, rock scrambling, steep climbs, alpine summits and expansive views. I asked Mark if he was ok and he said he was and that he wanted me to finish the hike, so forth I trudged. (ENS)

dude, you've GOT to come out here..... wait'll you see what me and Matt are doing this weekend....”

“Tuesday, July 4
We packed up our stuff from Smuggler's Notch State Park and drove on down to Stowe for breakfast at McCarthy's.
They serve breakfast all day and dang good breakfast too.
The Huevos Rancheros was excellent and I forget what ENS had.............but somehow the poor boy couldn't forget what I had for breakfast.
The eggs and black beans and salsa, etc gave us an hourly update on the goings-on in my guts.
YUM-O!!

Out of Stowe and back to I-89 we headed for Randolph(Exit 4) and Rinker's Mobil Station for more gas(like I needed that!!) and coffee.
I get a cup of coffee and what to my wondering eyes appears but my very own nephew, Dillon!!
Dillon and my Henry were born two weeks apart twenty years ago and are like twins in a lot of ways, except that Henry has very dark brown hair with blue eyes and Dillon is blonde with brown eyes.
It was great to see the kid and for our paths to cross in the geographical center of Vermont like that was absolutely cosmic!
(we lived in the area for five years in another lifetime)

I drove through the dirt roads to South Randolph and up the other side of the valley to get a look at the house I built on the side of Kelsey Mountain way back in '88.
Man, we were UP there!
It sure was a pain in the arse in winter.......and mud season!

Back on the road we headed for Woodstock to see our lovely friends Lyra and The Dude Formerly Known As Tarp Rat.
They made a great dinner for us of chicken and vegetable kabobs with roasted potatoes.
That evening we almost saw the fireworks at Woodstock High School except that the trees were blocking the view and none of us were fit to drive and were too lazy to walk.
We played cards and drank beer until our lightweight hosts had to crash before midnight since they had work the next day.

Wednesday, July 5
This is always the worst day.........Going Home Day!!
It was adios muchacha and muchacho and we were off to find a diner for breakfast.
Not too far along Route 4 west we found just such a place and breakfast was good there.
This place is a shrine to the Boston Redsocks with emphasis on Carl Yastrzemski!
Sorry Dale, Yaz will always be my favorite #8!!
I remember seeing Yaz play the Washington Senators in the '60s and he was very popular with the Washington fans getting a big hand from the home team even as a visitor.

After some hours on the road we landed in Reading, Pennsylvania and the Ugly Oyster Pub.
My good buddy ENS treated me to an excellent crabcake sandwich in a real groovy Irish Pub in the old city.
Shortly after dinner I dropped him off with all his smelly socks and stuff and drove the final two hours back to Baltimore only to be greated by a freaking downpour of biblical proportions about a mile from home.

Thanks again Lyra and Tarp Rat(a wonderful guy, by the way!!) for your hospitality and great company!!!”

“"...like twins in a lot of ways, except that Henry has very dark brown hair with blue eyes and Dillon is blonde with brown eyes..."


Yep, sounds like twins to me.


What a trip! Hope you're finally feeling better, MarkO. The main thing is you had fun.

Hey! Maybe the illness was due to lyra's hospitality!!”

“Wow, this sounds like it was a great trip. Thanks for the TRs. They are a lot of fun to read.”

“Hey! Maybe the illness was due to lyra's hospitality!!”
Nonconformist
1:21:56 PM

I was feeling wiped out before Lyra's hospitality.

I am however going to send some stool samples to the FBI to make sure that I haven't been poisoned.
Hmmm, maybe I should send them to the whitehouse instead.”

“In a brown paper bag set ablaze?”

“Hey Zac, we were motoring through beautiful downtown Glens Falls yesterday about noon.”

“Ever heard of the place?”

“Holey Santanoni!!!!
MarkO wore a hiking skirt. Wow!

You guys had some adventure, and I really am sorry I couldn't share it with you. I made a bunch of bucks working all the overtime, but there's nothing like time spent on the trail with my fellow boneheads.

MarkO, I had no idea you were a Yaz fan. Woohoo!! I grew up near Boston and saw Yaz many times. I was an 11 year old lad during "The Impossible Dream" year when he won the triple crown and the Sox won the pennant. (Damn Bob Gibson and ENS's Birds to hell!!) I have many many Sox idols but when asked who my favorite is, it is ALWAYS Yaz.”

““Ever heard of the place?”
MarkO
3:49:18 PM
7/06/06

It's less than 20 miles away from me. I used to watch minor league hockey games in the civic center there.”

“Yeah Pennsy!!

There I was eatin' breakfast and I'm lookin' at an 8 X 10 of this #8 guy with a bat and it dawns on me...................Yaz!!!

He would get a lot of love from the Washington fans at D.C. Stadium.

He was a gentleman and an awesome baseball player.”

“Yeah, that was fun times! Except you people would only play one hand of spades with me, ya rat bastards. LOL! I think I'm still hung over from that night. No, I guess I'm hung over from last night. heeheehee...”

“Hey, I was having a temporary learning disability with that game!”

“I was there and saw no evidence of monkeys of any kind!

This monkey thing could have been a hoax all along!”

“Nice reports. Glad y'all got to stretch your legs a bit.
last edited: 7/07/06 3:35:10 PM”

“glad you still made the trip mark.

no pics?”

“Yeah, ENS took pictures.”

“well, ENS?”

“Hey Sacco. How'd you make out with the flooding?


P.S. Come one ENS make with the pictures already.
last edited: 7/18/06 11:42:04 AM”

“all goodhere.
my house is up a bit so no problems, but some of the smaller bridges down hill of me were destroyed and need to be rebuilt.”

“Holey crap!!

How long have you been cut off from the outside world, Sacco?”

“the main roads were only closed a few days. just some of the small side roads are still closed and prolly will be for a while.”

“working on it.. maybe tonight.. :)

since I've had a girlfriend, I turned into a total trip report and picture slacker. Maybe I am just a slacker, like my father, he was a slacker.”

“Girlfriend is no excuse. You are a slacker. ;-)

Glad to here things are ok with you sacco. Hopefully those bridges will get fixed or replaced soon.”

“For a slacker he sure left my keister in the dust.............I mean mud.”