-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
Copy path2011-Catskills.html
220 lines (189 loc) · 10.2 KB
/
2011-Catskills.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Catskills, Jan 2011</title>
<link rel='shortcut icon' href='favicon.ico' />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="blog.css"/>
<style type="text/css" media="screen">
.banner {
background-image: url(https://i1.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1756/1229492058_73bmK-X2.jpg);
position: relative;
background-size: cover;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: 50% 30%;
margin: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 375px;
box-sizing: content-box;
}
.title {
text-align: left;
padding-left: 50px;
padding-top: 250px;
font-size: 50px;
font-variant: small-caps;
color: #ffb618;
}
.title-date {
font-size: 20px;
padding-left: 50px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="banner">
<div class="title">Catskills
<div class="title-date">January 2011</div></div>
</div>
<div class="regcontent">
<p class="regtext">New Year’s, 2011. Join
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40864061/ns/us_news-life/">a million people </a>
in Times Square? Or share 17 square miles of
<a href="http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/7987.html">Hunter Mountain wilderness</a>
with a handful of people? Unseasonably warm weather made the choice easy.</p>
<p class="regtext">
The traffic at 6am on New Year’s Day was the lightest I’ve seen in greater ny:
less than 2.5 hours to Phoenicia, and another few minutes up 214 to Notch Lake.
Brooks arrived from Boston a few minutes later.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
First thing we spotted was illegal timbering in the Catskill preserve (click any photo for high res version):
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1759/1229492915_4jpjU-X3.jpg">
<img src="https://i1.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1759/1229492915_4jpjU-M.jpg"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Timber!</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
And within sight of the ‘no timbering’ sign! Beavers are exempt from prosecution in ny.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
We planned to hike/snowshoe the 2.2 mile, 1400′ ascent to the Devil’s Acre Lean-To,
then assess where to camp. The ascent was steep but pleasant and didn’t require snowshoes
on the bottom half:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1739/1229489439_Bm2t9-X3.jpg">
<img title="Westward toward Hunter" src="https://i2.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1739/1229489439_Bm2t9-M.jpg" alt="Westward toward Hunter"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Westward toward Hunter</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
The forest was quiet. We saw 2 people leaving an overnight visit on our way up,
a group of 5 on a day hike, and a solo hiker the following morning.
It was otherwise deserted. Daytime temps near 40 deterred the ice climbers.
Based on our later scouting, we were definitely the only people on SW Hunter that night,
and likely the only people in a considerably larger radius.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
After a late lunch at the lean-to we decided to make camp nearby and do some exploring.
We rejected some areas west and slightly uphill of the lean-to. We bushwhacked through
boreal pines to a small clearing a few hundred feet south of the trail on SW Hunter
Mountain and dropped our gear. The early sunset, 4:35pm, precluded a trip to the Hunter
fire tower. Instead we went westward, seeking the supposed abandoned rail grade up
SW Hunter peak, which we never found.
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1743/1229490182_vftfQ-X3.jpg"><img title="Looking west" src="https://i0.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1743/1229490182_vftfQ-M.jpg" alt="Looking west"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Looking west</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
Gloomy skies made 4pm feel like dusk and we began pitching camp. This trip was my second
experiment with tentless camping, with dual goals of ultra-light and ultra-cheap.
My ultra-light journey is gradual; slowly getting there. I’ve always been ultra-cheap.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
I used a 6×9 blue tarp ($4.93 at Home Depot), 50 feet of nylon cord ($3.77),
and a 2mil plastic dropcloth ($1.98). I already had some 20-year old aluminum stakes.
Altogether it weighed under 1.5lbs, and there is room to cut weight on both the dropcloth
and the old-school stakes. Inspired by
<a href="http://www.rayjardine.com/ray-way/Tarp-Kit/index.htm">Ray Jardin</a>,
my setup looked like this:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1746/1229490527_xkEum-X3.jpg"><img title="The Tarp" src="https://i0.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1746/1229490527_xkEum-M.jpg" alt="The Tarp"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">The Tarp</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
Strung about 2.5′ high, with the northwest edge battened down under snow.
My bag is on the plastic dropcloth. I used a standard pad (not insulted nor extra-thick)
and wrapped it in the mylar blankets they hand out after marathons — free mylar.
Lightweight and toasty.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
My total pack weight was 22.5lbs before food and water, 30.2lbs including them.
My shovel is heavy, my sleeping pad is 10 years old, and I had a 0 degree bag,
so I have room to cut in the future.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
As night fell (only 5pm), we fought for hours to keep a modest fire alive.
Even the tiniest twigs were waterlogged from days of freezing rain.
If we stopped fanning for 2 minutes the flames would die. We nevertheless
made enough heat to cook dinner and melt drinking water.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
The night was warm by Catskill standards — low 30s. The tarp performed superbly
in the overnight bouts of rain & freezing rain. One bout lasted through dawn
and I discovered a great feature of the tarp: you can safely cook under it.
Just raise it a few feet and start the stove underneath:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1748/1229491053_LJsBm-X3.jpg"><img title="Raising the tarp" src="https://i1.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1748/1229491053_LJsBm-M.jpg" alt="Raising the tarp"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Raising the tarp</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
But the rain was soon displaced by fog and we cooked in the foggy open.
Brooks opened his canned pineapple and felt like a tropical vacationer:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1747/1229490740_BbxjL-X3.jpg"><img title="Taste of the tropics" src="https://i1.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1747/1229490740_BbxjL-M.jpg" alt="Taste of the tropics"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Taste of the tropics</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
Having failed to summit SW Hunter yesterday, we tried again. The forest was thick —
would be nearly impassible in summer. After a solid hour, having reached a local high point,
we declared it the summit. No way to tell if we’re right, but it felt reasonable.
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1751/1229491843_Utnuc-X3.jpg"><img title="Thick forest near the summit" src="https://i2.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1751/1229491843_Utnuc-M.jpg" alt="Thick forest near the summit"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Thick forest near the summit</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
On the way up & down we passed a short shelf with some frozen waterfalls:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1750/1229491374_vpt3b-X3.jpg"><img title="Tiny falls" src="https://i2.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-01-IMG1750/1229491374_vpt3b-M.jpg" alt="Tiny falls"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Tiny falls</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
Back to camp, packed up, hiked back to the lean-to and ate lunch.
Skipped the Hunter summit due to the early sunset and the drives back home.
Caught some clear views south toward Slide Mountain:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1756/1229492058_73bmK-X3.jpg"><img title="Looking south" src="https://i1.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1756/1229492058_73bmK-M.jpg" alt="Looking south"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Looking south</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
Sunshine broke through on the traverse through the conifers:
</p>
<div class="photo">
<a href="http://brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1757/1229492153_EaVdw-X3.jpg"><img title="Hiking out" src="https://i0.wp.com/brownianmotion.smugmug.com/2011/2011-01-Catskills/2011-01-02-IMG1757/1229492153_EaVdw-M.jpg" alt="Hiking out"/>
</a>
<p class="caption">Hiking out</p>
</div>
<p class="regtext">
Easy hike down to the cars, easy drive back to the city. Great success in the winter tentless trial.
</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>