Blackhead Range Traverse

[billandjudy]

Judy and I met up with DaLunartik for a traverse of the Blackhead Range including Acra Point--What a beautiful day--cold. sunny and a fresh few inches of snow. I'll let our hiking partner fill in the details--a gorgeous day to be out w/ a killer sunset to boot:tup:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/556318829WoyxUQ

[mudhook]

I haven't figured out if you are following me around or if I am following you, seems our paths are crossing about a week apart.

[Jay H]

Get a Room..


Jay


:twisted:

[billandjudy]

And don't think this means we're goin' steady:eek:

[mountainmeijin]

Ahh, that's one of my favorite trips. It was the first multiple-peak hike I ever did. Beautiful pictures...glad to see a bit of snow up there after all this pointlessly warm weather. There's nothing in the world like the look and smell of those snowy conifers up there.

[Tmax]

Great trip report daLunartik...very descriptive and an enjoyable read. Thanks. I did the range as an out and back from Barnum Road on Sunday. On the way up it was still quite icy but by the time I was coming back, all the snow was gone and most of the ice had either melted away or had become incredibly soft. I too dropped off the North Side of BlackHead but after just a couple hundred feet of elevation loss, I headed back up. It sure was icy! It was a gorgeous day!

[LionRoar]

As we made our way to Camels Hump, we started to see lots of animal tracks in the snow. This started off as mouse or chipmunk "super highways", from one tree/hole to another. We stepped up in size, first with the Snowshoe Rabbit, followed (and probably tracked) by Bobcat (fairly sure of one set), Fox, Coyote (lots, including territory markings - urine and digs (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2395418390090556846RBaurC)), Deer, and possibly Bear, along with Grouse, Crow and Turkey tracks too. The woods were very quite otherwise - Judy and I saw one Downy Woodpecker on Camels Hump, and then some Black-Capped Chickadees towards the summit of Blackhead.

If you ever want to know the difference between fox, dog and coyote urine, then take the end of a stick and rub it in the urine and bring it to your nose. If it smells of skunk, then it's fox. If it has any other smell, then it's not fox. It' has nothing to do with skunks in their diet; it's simply the odor.

Coyote tracks are different than fox tracks in that the former run with three steps in a straight line and the next three are slightly off to the side. Coyotes are more apt to follow human tracks and trails, while foxes tend to track through the woods.

LE