Tramp & Trail

Write-up: Lisa Robertson

Leader: Lisa Robertson

Co-Leader: Bobbie Scarpino

19 Tramps registered, 13 showed at trailhead parking lot, whereupon 3 wisely – and immediately – opted out, without ever exiting their warm, dry car. 10 of us set out on trail, cheerfully assuming the unrelenting rain would (must?) stop any moment. As it turned out, we were lucky it didn’t, because we had the usually heavily trafficked trails all to ourselves!

The constant cold, soaking rain kept us clean, even through a few muddy patches, and prevented us from overheating. Win-win! Despite all these fine weather benefits, somewhere around the 3/4 mark, the group was becoming eager to cross the finish line. Thankfully, at this point  Joe broke out his stash of leftover Halloween candy, which gave us the energy push we needed to continue on. After another mile, upon seeing a short-cut to the parking lot, the group rebellion was in full swing & we made a bee-line to our cars, skipping the last 1-mile section of the 10K loop. Shockingly, no one was anxious to stay for the additional 5K loop offered. Thank you Bobbie for co-leading, & all the intrepid Tramps for joining me on a rainy day adventure!

Write-up: Greg Sipp

Leader: Greg Sipp

Co-Leader: Tom Smith

On a beautiful day, five of us decided to explore East Pond. The group covered 9.5 miles, enjoying the scenery along the way. A notable highlight of the trip was the newly constructed bridge over the beaver pond, which added a unique feature to their journey.  We didn’t have to reroute nor get wet.  There’s also a future hike in the works to search for the Mica Mine just past Blackfoot Pond.  

Write-up: Dave Rockwood

Leader: Dave Rockwood

Co-Leader: Carolyn Eastwood

We had a group of five on this hike billed as 9 miles.  Paul, the original hike leader could not make it for medical reasons, so we picked up the torch and did the hike for him.  The trailhead toward Pine Mountain (Castle Rock/Upper Sargent Pond) is on the north shore of Blue Mountain Lake (near Minnowbrook Conference Center).  There is no trail up Pine Mountain.

We had a cool, clear day, it was spectacular!  We passed the trails to Castle Rock and we told ourselves that we could get it on the way back.  We left the trailhead at 9:00, followed the trail for 2-3 miles and then headed up Pine Mountain.  We reached the main summit by 11:00, and then hit the second summit and then headed down to Pine Pond which is south of the summit – and further from the trail we came in on.  We got to the pond by 12:30 and had lunch, it was beautiful there.

The sky was very blue and the pond was fairly calm.  We ate our lunch and then headed back to find the trail for Upper Sargent Pond to kick out on.  Due to the terrain we ended up close to Upper Sargent Pond, so we had about 4 miles to hike out after several miles of bushwhacking.

We found the trail and headed out, we came to the first trail to Castle Rock, it was ~2:45 – with 2 miles to go, or so.  We discussed, none of us really wanted another climb up at that point, so we headed back on the more level trail out.  Paul would be disappointed in us, lol.  We were out by 3:45 PM, with an 11.5 mile hiking distance.

Some highlights of the hike, summit boulders, large rocks that looked like they were split by fallen trees, Pine Lake was beautiful, and we saw a large salamander in the clear water.  We found some deep mossy areas near the top of the mountain that were around 8” deep in moss.

Write-up: Greg Sipp

Leader: Greg Sipp

Co-Leader: Paul Sirtoli

Fourteen signed up for the 3^rd attempt at the Vly, four backed out.  Even on the schedule to co-lead, the Sirtoli name rings reluctance with many, not knowing that many of us are students of his “improved hiking” teachings.  Today, instead of his 20% addition rule to distance, it was a modest 10%.

We started off the hike with Tom spilling the tea, and not the metaphor, he really spilled the tea.  Opening his trunk, tea was all over everything.  Not the way to start a hike. 

  

The trail to Hurrell Brook was muddy.  Once at the brook, the two feet of water had us recalculate the route.  Dave bushwhacked a detour around the water, getting us back to the trail on the other side.  Another couple of miles on the trail, it was time to veer off and make our way to the Vly. We got there despite the boggy, wet conditions.  

At the Vly, the cool, sunny turned into a brief snow shower, making it picturesque.  On the way out we took another detour at the brook, over a mtn. and that is where it got interesting.  A member of the group thought it was a good idea to go up a little further. Totally my fault.  A couple of minutes later, it got real.  We lost them.  Yelling and whistling got no response. We spread out, making our way to the trail.  Everyone was nervous.  We found them on the trail which was a great relief. They used their GPS to make their way to the trail.  SAR’s was about 10 minutes from receiving a satellite text message. The day ended well, putting in 12 miles.  A reminder to always stay with the group and carry a GPS, map and compass.

Guess who got lost in the woods?