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This morning's trailhead is just a couple of miles north of yesterday's, so it is a one-hour-plus drive to get to the Trailhead Parking:
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The map for today:
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and the hike I wound up accomplishing:
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It was cold this morning driving up:
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but the country is BEAUTIFUL:
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Because I did such a BIG HIKE yesterday, I was holding today VERY LIGHTLY.
So .. I just got out of bed when I woke up (feeling fine).
Then I figured I might as well get dressed in my hiking clothes (and boots), just in case.
So ... Since I don't want to just hang around my hotel room, like a bump on a log, I might as well drive to the trailhead, and see what that's like.
And I ate 1/2 my grilled chicken sub while I read the trail description again.
And then at 8:17 AM I stretched, put my stuff on, grabbed the poles, and off I went (you know, just to see how it goes. We can bail at any time.) I was wearing a (clean) long-sleeve shirt, and my shorts - I figured the hike would keep me warm.
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Well .. I was listening to Miles Davis, my pace was perfect, and everything was wonderful!
I'm glad they don't let cars through here:
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0.2 miles in, you come to a clearing with A LOT OF SIGNS:
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I headed left for a little bit, and saw part of Henderson Lake (with Henderson Mountain off in the distance [not a 4000-footer]):
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Trail 121 ("Calamity Brook Trail") is nice and wide, and you can just keep moving forward easily:
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There is a little up-hill slant, but that's ok.
It goes right along next to Calamity Brook:
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4-and-1/2 miles in, you can take a side-path to the left and learn about "the Calamity":
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10 minutes later (10:25 AM) I was at the Calamity lean-to:
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and then only a minute later at the "sign-in-register-for-this-area":
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Although the trail I want goes off to the left:
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there is a short little trail going straight ahead:
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which gets you to a BEAUTIFUL VIEW of "Flowed Lands":
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25 minutes later I was at the cairn, ready to go up the "Mount Marshall Trail":
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For about a mile you go up alongside, and in, and cross over Herbert Brook, which is a real joy:
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Be sure to follow the cairns:
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After about 30 minutes of this stuff, you leave the Brook behind. The moss in here/up here is incredible!!!
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An hour later I was up at the summit:
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There was a nice view on a little side-trail, but the payoff was down the trail on the backside of the sign. I'm looking south/southeast, but I can't figure out what I'm looking at:
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The other couple said that they had come up from "Cold Brook Trail", and I said "Great - where's that trail?" (because I was going to go down it.) They said that it was back down the trail I was on, and that I had passed it on my way up. UM, NO I DIDN'T.
But, just for the sake of argument, I headed back down "my trail". Sure enough, just a little ways down from the summit, there seemed to be some-kind-of-trail that came in from the left (I didn't take a picture of it because, literally, you would not see it unless you were looking for it!). It was heading in the correct direction, and it was (some kind of) a trail. Imagine my relief when, 10 minutes later, I passed a hiker COMING UP (he had just bushwacked down from Iroquois Peak, which is definitely something I am NOT GOING TO DO!). 20 minutes later, I stopped in a clearing for my lunch-with-a-view:
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I made it down, and took a right on "Cold Brook Trail". I saw a fun little guy on the trail:
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Once again, the trail was crowded with branches and growth:
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At 2:40 PM I was back down at the main trail - time to head west/southwest back to the car:
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But definitely NOT the end to pretty views - this is Lake Colden, with Mount Colden in the upper-right:
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An hour-and-20 minutes later, heading down "Calamity Brook Trail":
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I was making GREAT TIME back down the trail, but I had to take a couple of final photos of Calamity Brook:
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(once again, Excellent "water management" today!) I Finished at 5:17 PM, exactly 9 hours (16.39 miles). WOW - this was maybe the BEST HIKE EVER!
Ok Ok - so what makes it "maybe the BEST HIKE EVER"?
1 - climb a (new) mountain
2 - see/hike alongside a beautiful lake (I saw 3 just on the hiking part)
3 - have fun climbing up alongside (and in) a beautiful brook
4 - get some good mileage under my belt
5 - great views, both on the trail and on the summit
6 - no food-or-water-management problems
7 - great music (Miles Davis live today!)
8 - finishing with a nice, broad trail heading slightly downhill, so I'm just "falling gently" back to the car
9 - finish with enough daylight to get back to the hotel in the light
10 - having a nice scenic drive to-and-from the trailhead - not too short, and certainly not too long
Other factors include:
- "no horses" (see last August's blogs from out west).
- I encountered about a dozen people today - I am not a "solitude seeking" type of hiker, so that number was enough to be sociable, but certainly not so many as to feel crowded.
- Lastly, even though there were no "danger points" today, I'm not taking away anything from this hike because it "was safe" - that's ok.
Interestingly, I don't think that weather is much of a concern. Well, I don't like flies, or snowstorms, or torrential downpours, but everything else is fine with me.
A little-more-than-an-hour drive back to the Super 8 in Ticonderoga. Cheesesteak from Subway for dinner (Black Forest Ham sub for tomorrow). 102 miles driving today.
A nice phone call with Wendy, a hot bath, and then Lights Out - Thank you God for all these GREAT Adventures!
Tuesday morning drive to the trailhead:
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals - Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, 2010
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I like listening to music while I hike, so today we're going to try the boom cubes and my iPod, listening to Miles Davis - Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (8 cds)!!
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cd 1 December 22, 1965 - first set
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cd 2a December 22, 1965 - second set
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cd 2b December 22, 1965 - second set
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cd 3 December 22, 1965 - third set
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This quintet featured Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums).
IT WAS GREAT LISTENING TO THIS MUSIC ON THE HIKE! But 4 hours into the hike the 2nd of my boom cubes died, so it was just Dennis singing to himself the rest of the day.
and then the Tuesday evening drive to the Super 8:
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - The Lion the Beast the Beat, 2012
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Grace Potter - Midnight, 2015
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