Tramp & Trail Hiking Club

#6423 – High Peaks Weekend – August 7, 8, 9, 2015

August 20, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write-up: Roger Felske
Chairman: Roger Felske
Co-Chairman: Dick Blanchard
Keepers of the Canopy: Dick and Lu Blanchard

The 25th consecutive High Peaks Weekend (HPW) recorded a record number of participants, 44 with three cancellations at the last moment. With such a large number, our foremost concern was accommodations and food. Fortunately, some Tramps opted to get their own campsites and others either stayed in the lodge or in Lake Placid.

Realizing that we were going to have a record number presented an issue that we hadn’t been faced with before. How do we feed that many people? Dick and Lu Blanchard, Mary Pat Connors and myself put our heads together to estimate how many hot dogs, hamburgers chicken burgers, sausage patties, rolls, coffee, pancake mix, etc., that we would need. In the end, we had enough food to feed the 10th Mountain division, and no one went hungry.

The weather was once again on our side, thank you “Sunshine Girls,” (Deb Roberts, Lois Chierichella, and Gail Hannahs). Saturday was an ideal day for hiking, cooler temperatures and slight cloud cover prevailed but the views were still awesome. Tramps went in several directions conquering such high peaks as Giant Mountain, Rocky Peak Ridge, Marcy, Redfield and Cliff while others elected to climb Mt Jo and then hiked over to Rocky Falls. On Friday, a group of early arrivals chose to do Algonquin, Iroquois and Wright Peak.

Some of the lady Tramps, (is that an oxymoron?) led by Carolyn Eastman, climbed Indian Head for a view of the Upper and Lower Ausable Lakes.

Garrulous Tramps always enjoy sitting around the campfire reveling in stories of the day and past adventures on HPW. Stories from the past are just as funny this year as they have been for the past several years, taking on a life of their own. This year we had two campfires to better accommodate everyone and to help ward off the evening chill.

In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of HPW, t-shirts were offered that said, “25th Anniversary, High Peaks Weekend 2015 on the front and “Tramps do it on the Trail” on the back. Shirts were handed out on Friday evening and Saturday, one Tramp, wore hers while climbing Giant Mtn. Sixteen people met at the Giant Mtn Trailhead and split into two groups, one being a slow group and the other being much faster and on a mission to do Rocky Peak also. Getting to the summit, we were rewarded with spectacular views of Keene Valley and beyond.

Well, we were all enjoying the summit views when Lois took off her pack exposing the back of her t-shirt. She went over to a young man to see if he would take our group picture, which, of course, he was willing. To see his eyes when Lois turned around was priceless! At first he squinted and then his eyes popped wide open, you could almost read his mind. As fate would have it, part way down the mountain we stopped for a water break on a rocky outcrop and who did we encounter but the hiker who had taken our picture. Amid much laughter, the hiker from on high wanted to photograph the back of Lois’s t-shirt. One photo led to many and we had a true “Rock Star Tramp.” Now for the embarrassing part, there was a tall thin cairn on a boulder near Lois that our “Rock Star” thought was more stable than it was. With a slight touch from Lois, in front of her new fans, the whole cairn came tumbling down to the horror of everyone…and now there is a new cairn.

That Lois! I also found a pair of red boxer shorts hanging on the front of my tent cabin, but that’s another story for another time.

Once again, Dick Blanchard fell behind in his quest to climb Phelps 46 times. Usually he can convince, cajole etc., someone to hike with him, but this year for the second consecutive year, no takers, maybe next year.

As usual, MANY Tramps pitched together, whether cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, preparing food, hauling trash or whatever needed to be done to make it a successful weekend.

For the first time that I can remember, we had two millenials, (reaching adulthood around the year 2000 and under the age of 30) who survived, had a good time and realized that Tramps really do have fun times.

In 2014, as we were breaking camp, Colleen Felske had a dead battery and who but Dick Blanchard came to her rescue with battery charger in hand. This year Dick’s battery was dead, his charger was dead and Lu had to borrow jumper cables from the ADK visitor center. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

Special thanks go out to Dick and Lu Blanchard, and Mary Pat Connors for all the time and commitment in making this an enjoyable weekend, and one to look forward to next August 5, 6, 7th, 2016.

More pictures can be viewed in the Gallery of the Blog.

#6426 – Chase Lake – August 15, 2015

August 15, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Leader: Gordon Potter
Co-Leader: Tom Smith
Write-up: Gordon Potter

Had a very good turnout for an iffy weather day. Twenty-seven tramps made it for this very nice hike into Chase Lake. We had lunch at the shoreline by the lean-to. A few tramps (Tom Smith, Dick & Lu Blanchard) went for a swim on this warm and humid day. The word on the street is they wished Dick had kept his shirt on. We were back to the cars by 2:40 PM. A couple of the more energetic Tramps (Sir Thomas & Gordon) then went to climb Kane Mountain while everyone else either drove home or stopped for a much-needed refreshment. Sir Thomas did his usual complaining about having to be the sweep again, but God knows if we let him lead a hike we would end up lost. The rain held off, and I believe everyone had a good time. Thanks for coming.
Gordon & Sir Thomas

#6417 – Castle Rock – July 19th, 2015

July 19, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write-up: Donna Wester
Leader: Donna Wester
Co-leader: Anne-Marie LeClair

What a gorgeous day it was in the Adirondacks while it was hot and muggy down in the valley. Had 6 folks show up and told them a little about Geocaching and how to find them. We had 6 caches planned for the day. Co-leader Anne-Marie and hubby Gaston scouted out where the parking was and ran the trail on Thursday before the big day. They saw a few of the caches but didn’t log any as they were running out of daylight.

They found out that most of the caches were on the Red trail and we soon found it to be a gentle grade up but we still took lots of breaks at the top of the small hills. Between my asthma and Deb’s knees it was a good break. Wasn’t too buggy except when you stopped too long. As we got closer to the top there was a nice cool breeze that made it easier to get to the top.

Once on top with the gorgeous view of the lakes below, another hiker from GE Ski Club came up carrying a huge umbrella. She thought it was going to rain. But at least she used it going down as a hiking stick.

YES – Even the leader made it to the top!!!!

5 Tramps and 2 GE Ski Club

As we are descending back into the woods after the steep vertical climb down. Glad we didn’t go up that way!!!

Anne Marie and Gaston (Peppie) came with 3 gallon bags full of ice cold watermelon. I think we all had 5-10 pieces each, at least I know I did.

C0-Leader Hubby (Gaston) aka Peppie and Leader (Donna) resting after the hike.

We ended up with 5 geocaches found and 1 DNF (Did Not Find) as we believe it was either muggled (taken) or it was hiding under the fallen trees. Since I rode up with the co-leaders, we cached til it got too dark to see without a flashlight on the way back to Mapledale. I ended up with 10 caches found and Anne-Marie & Peppie with a total of 13.

#6411, 6412, 6414 – Newcomb Weekend – July 10-12, 2015

July 10, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

The 9^th Newcomb Weekend 2015
Total of 39 Participants

#6411 7/10 Fieldtrip to Great Camp Santanoni
Hike, Bike, Wagon Ride, 36 Participants

#6412 7/11 Kayak from Rich Lake to Lake Harris
Kayak, 27 Participants

#6414 7/12 Lollipop Loop Trail
Hike, 12 Participants

NEWCOMB WEEKEND 2015… FROM A TO Z.

A. Adirondack Adventures in Newcomb to include a visit from AAA

B. Beaver houses, bear scat , beer, bikes and bug spray

C. Carrot Cake, camping, campfires and a cookout

D. Donna Wester’s laugh as she goes down the “rapids”

E. Excellent food on Goodnow Flow

F. Ferns, Fungi, Flowers, and FUN

G. Great Times, Goodnow River

H. Hudson River… Driving over it, kayaking in it, hearing the rapids and standing on the Iron Bridge

I. Incredible Weather

J. Jumping off the Santanoni Bridge by the Blanchards , Madonna Fellows, Dianna Morris and Nina

K. Kayaking from Rich Lake through Belden Lake, Lake Julia, Fishing Brook, Harris Lake and Hudson

L. Lots of loons, tons of laughter and licking lollipops on the Lollipop TrailM. Maneuvering 27 tramps, kayaks and vehicles between the Town Beach and Rich Lake

N. Nina Caruso’s wonderful tour of Great Camp SantanoniO. Oh oh! Out of water so use the outhouse!

P. Picnics, paper plates, PTA

Q. Quiet (??) evenings around the campfire.

R.Return in 2016 to the Blackwell Stillwater on the Hudson

S. Santanoni’s rocky carriage road

T. Tramps know how to have fun

U. Unbelievable history and beauty in the Newcomb area

V. Visit by some to Tahawus, Goodnow Mountain, Adirondack Ecological Center

W. Watermelon, wine and wagon rides

X. Xtra ordinary

Y. Your leader, co leaders and hosts: Meg Higgerson, Grace McNasser and Bill Higgerson

Z. Zany times with friends

My apologies to Meg for the first posting, which somehow changed the abc’s to numbers.

Additional photos may be found at:
/gallaries/gallery-2015/july-2015/

#6404 – Cazenovia Lake – June 14, 2015

June 14, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write up – Susan Bell
Leader – Susan Bell
Co- Leader – Roger Felske

It was a beautiful 80 degree sunny day, knots around 5 – 10. Perfect for kayaking on the Cazenovia Lake.

After meeting at Madison Central School the Tramps traveled to McDonalds in Cazenovia to sign-in. Rick Manier lead the group to the south end of the lake on Route 20. There was plenty of parking for the kayakers to unload their boats from their cars.

Putting in at the south end of the lake we paddled on the west side perimeter and for 4 miles observing the summer camps, and year-round homes. We all just couldn’t decide which one we wanted! After reaching the end of the lake, but not going into the cove, we crossed over to east side of the lake to the Helen L. McNitt State Park. This small parking area is a site to launch canoes, kayaks and small rowboats. It also has a port- a- potty available.

TnT Cazenovia Lake - 07

Our next stop was Lakeview Park, 2.8 miles up on the south shore following East Lake Road. The waves picked up for about a mile, but calmed down.

After having lunch at Lakeview Park which has picnic tables, pavilion, and bathrooms we traveled past the Cazenovia Willow Bank Yacht Club where families were enjoying a Sunday afternoon and the weekly sailing competition was about to begin.

Rounding the lakes corner to finish our 8 mile kayak, we paddled past the Brewster Inn which was built in 1890 as the summer home of financier Benjamin B. Brewster. We arrived back to the parking lot and refreshments were served at the Bell-Manier home. After leaving, some Tramps drove around the lake to see the front of the lake houses and through Cazenovia’s historical village on their way home.

More photos of June 2015 hikes may be viewed at:
/gallaries/gallery-2015/june-2015/

#6397 – Bear Lake – May 24, 2015

May 24, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write-up: Barb Thomas
Leader: Barb Thomas
Co-Leader: Louie Casatelli

It was a beautiful sunny day when we met at Mapledale. We drove to Alder Creek convenience store for a short stop. We continued on Rt. 28 to McKeever Rd., making a right turn before Moose River bridge crossings, following a sign for McKeever. Driving past the old railroad station, we proceeded over the railroad tracks to the first parking area, where the sign-in register is located.
There were nineteen Tramps in the group ready to do this hike. We parked and prepared for the outing.
We walked up the old road 0.7 mile to the sign for Bear Lake. (Right turn)

The trail was well marked, and had a few wet spots. We continued along this beautiful old trail with many wild flowers, some already past bloom.

There was a long downhill to a view of the lake. As we approached the lake – it was decided to have our lunch at this first clearing. It is a beautiful lake surrounded by the forest. A couple of men were fishing on the left of the lake.

After lunch and picture taking, we walked the trail toward the lean-to. This beautiful new lean-to is located away from the water. It was occupied.We continued on the trail to a sign explaining distances etc. We decided not to continue and returned on the old railroad path. This path was on the Tramp and Trail schedule for a Monday bike.

We returned on the same trail we came to the lake on. We met people coming along the trail. We returned to the old road and decided to hike the short distance down to the old railroad trail. Then we walked this trail back to our cars.
It was a beautiful day to enjoy a hike in this historic area. The beauty and solitude remains in this beautiful woodland forest.

#6397A – Plattekill Mountain – May 24, 2015

May 24, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Leader: Meg Higgerson
Write-up: Meg Higgerson

The least attended hike???

Today’s originally scheduled hike was to be a practice for our map and compass skills. Because our instructor was unable to provide the class due to an injury, the hike was changed. Barb Thomas picked up a local hike and led a group of 19 to Bear Lake, an old favorite.

My son Chris was home from Colorado so I offered an additional hike to Plattekill Mountain where we would hike the mountain and watch Downhill Mountain Bike Racing. I waited at the appointed location. No one showed up!! Perhaps it was because of the driving distance or that we had a wonderful but long day at the Ithaca Gorges the day before. The sign-in sheet did not even have a co-leader!

Off I went to Plattekill where I met other family members. We climbed Plattekill Mountain in order to watch the Gravity East Downhill Mountain Bike Race. Chris came in 4th in the Men’s Pro Class and we were surprised when the announcer told how “Chris started racing here when he was 16. His Mom dropped him off.” He is currently ranked 8th in the U.S. and was recently selected to represent the U.S. in World Cup Downhill Racing Competition.

#6389 – OK Slip Falls – May 2, 2015

May 2, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write-up: Tom Smith
Leader: Gordon Potter
Co-Leader: Tom Smith

The OK Slip Falls Expedition

On a perfect bright and sunny day with what seemed like 350 happy hikers we headed out for an eight-mile round trip hike to OK Slip falls. The group was led by Gordon Potter and his intrepid co-leader who will remain anonymous, we’ll call him Sir Thomas ( not his real name). And by the way, Louis and Clark had nothing on these two adventurers.

As the group headed out Dick ( not his real name ) noticed that there were a couple of people hiking with us for the first time. Quickly realizing that he had a new audience for his old stories he inserted himself in between these two young ladies and began talking. The rest of us were wondering if these new hikers would enjoy the hike with us enough to keep coming out. But in a very short time we were wondering no more. Just as Dick (remember this is not his real name) was finishing his 26th story I heard one of the ladies murmur something about this being a major mistake. Of course this didn’t slow Dick down a bit, he was not about to let a new audience escape his grasp.

So onward we went. Now with a group this size, Sir Thomas was thinking that if we got away with a 10% loss we’d be doing pretty well. Unfortunately, Lady Dianna ( as you guessed, it’s not her real name ) informed Sir Thomas that we will suffer no losses and it was his responsibility to see that we all get out safe and sound. Sir Thomas was thinking this new responsibility could hamper his enjoyment of the hike, but it was to get even worse for our hero.

Sir Thomas – who loves to hike very quickly – was informed by Lady Dianna that as co-leader and sweep he would be required to be the last one in line. More specifically, that meant hiking at a pace much reduced from what he would prefer. Soon after this revelation a series of rapid questions and answers ensued which you only need hear the answers to guess the questions. “No, you can not hit the other hikers with your hiking sticks to get them to speed up.” “No, even poking is not allowed.” “And no, swinging near their heads is also not allowed.”

As demoralizing as this conversation was for Sir Thomas he knew he had one more trick up his sleeve to speed the hike up. That was until Lady Dianna mentioned that throwing rocks to encourage a faster pace was also not allowed. She was really pouring on the bad news to our poor hero.

Eventually the group arrived at the falls and while everyone was busy unpacking lunches Sir Thomas thought he’d take a quick jaunt down a side trail to view the Hudson River. The question was whether to take right off or share the cookies that he baked and promised to share with the others. As you can imagine, Sir Thomas took off thinking that the cookies would taste better after everyone had a little time to digest their lunch. Although I believe he was just too excited about taking a little hike at a more reasonable pace than the group was doing. So off he goes jogging over hill and dale in an effort to return to the group in time to assume his co-leading duties.

And sure enough he caught up to the group as they were beginning their return trip. The group was not happy about being denied their promised cookies but our hero quickly had them out of his backpack and ready to pass around. It was just about this time with 349 angry eyes watching that he discovered a secret of the woods. When one jogs with a container full of cookies in his backpack they are magically transformed into crumbs.

Hoping nobody would realize the misfortune he quietly started passing out handful of crumbs. Unfortunately, nobody was fooled by the subterfuge and talk of a hanging seemed to be spreading through the group. As nobody was very interested in a handful of crumbs our hero was left with most of what he brought. But fear not – as you will learn – the cookie crumb story has a happy ending.

So the merry marauders continued on and eventually the trip came to and end with everyone making it out safely. At this time Lady Dianna did inform Sir Thomas that the success of the mission really had nothing to do with his sweeping abilities and she was glad that he not only carried the cookies in but had to carry them back out. Our hero could only smile at this because he had discovered yet another secret of the woods. When one jogs with a container of cookies in his backpack they are magically transformed into ice cream toppings. And rumor has it that Sir Thomas experimented with this new found topping on more than one dish of ice cream that night.

And so ends the saga of yet another successful Tramp and Trail hike.

#6382 – Rock Lake – April 4, 2015

April 4, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write-up: Nancy Coleman

Leader: Nancy Coleman

Co-Leader: Tom Schenck

It was a bleak drizzly Holy Saturday, so much colder than the 2 previous days where the temperature reached the 60’s. We didn’t expect anyone to show up for the hike to the original start of the Northville-Lake Placid Trail But we had 7 hearty Tramps.

On the previous Saturday, the two or more feet of snow had a crusty top and one needed snowshoes and we even post holed with them. One poor soul had started a thru hike just before us and was post holing frequently. He has a long trek ahead of him.

Because of these conditions we told everyone it would be too dangerous to ski. Big mistake. The warm days had softened the crust. The snow was soft and filled with water. Every once in a while your snowshoe would slide off the side of the trail and your foot would go down, down, down into the deep snow.

The West Branch of Stoney Creek follows the trail. Last week it was frozen over and there was snow on top. It had that look of a trench of marshmallows. Today in some sections the water was flowing fast over the ice. The ice had a milky green tone. In other places the water was flowing with all the ice gone.

Amazing what a difference a week makes. About 2 miles into the 4.9 mile hike we had to come to a quick halt. In a feeder stream that we didn’t even see last week, the water was rushing over rocks. It was deep and wide and fast and cold. There were large rocks covered with ice that dispersed the water in many directions. Try as we did, most of us couldn’t cross and we were afraid if we did, we wouldn’t be able to get back over it in a few hours. Conditions could get even worse. Tom Schenck crawled over a slippery log and told all of us not to do it.

We turned around and decided to hike Nine Corner Lake. That is a .9 mile hike with elevation change. It had been snowmobiled, so we wore microspikes. That was a nice hike until we got to the lake. The wind was fierce. People were standing behind trees to protect themselves. Paul Fortin wanted to go out onto the lake but he got no takers. Between the wind and the thought of soft ice we all refused. We took a quick picture and descended.

On the way home we stopped at Arthurs for some appetizers and adult beverages.

#6381- Pixley Falls – March 29, 2015

March 29, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

Write-up: Kathy Countryman

Leader: Kathy Countryman

Co-Leader: Francis Roy

Twenty-four intrepid Tramps skied or snowshoed the BREIA trail from a mile and a half south of Pixley Falls State Park to anywhere from one mile to several miles north of the park entrance. It was a brisk, windy, but sunny day with plenty of snow cover. The ski tracks were pretty slick when we started out but softened up as the afternoon wore on.

Following the hike, several of us repaired to Applebee’s for refreshments, while others reconvened at the Boonville Hotel. Great company–great day.

More pictures of this hike may be viewed at:

https://trampntrail.wordpress.com/gallaries/gallery-2015/march-2015/

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#6423 – High Peaks Weekend – August 7, 8, 9, 2015

August 20, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6426 – Chase Lake – August 15, 2015

August 15, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6417 – Castle Rock – July 19th, 2015

July 19, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6411, 6412, 6414 – Newcomb Weekend – July 10-12, 2015

July 10, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6404 – Cazenovia Lake – June 14, 2015

June 14, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6397 – Bear Lake – May 24, 2015

May 24, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6397A – Plattekill Mountain – May 24, 2015

May 24, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6389 – OK Slip Falls – May 2, 2015

May 2, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6382 – Rock Lake – April 4, 2015

April 4, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment

#6381- Pixley Falls – March 29, 2015

March 29, 2015 mconnors921 Comments 0 Comment