Blackhead(37), Acra Pt, Burnt knob(ish) and Windham(38) 3/16/07 this time with hiking

[lowlander]

Okay so I did this a week later than I wanted but still a good hike I was excited about. I made way to the end of rt. 56. At the bus turn around I stopped. I could see where people had driven to the parking area but I stopped anyway. Once bitten twice shy. I booted up around 730am, and made it to the top of Blackhead with no problems. Thanks to who every it was that left the tracks up the old trail, it made it alot quicker, I hate switchbacks. Near the top I noticed a problem, on Garmins Topo the top doesn't match the summit. The summit symbol is in the right place but it doesn't line up with the topo. I got a great view on the way up. As soon as I looked towards the eastern side of the Devils Path I knew it was going to be a long day. I could see the snow storm just eating up the mountains. I couldn't even see the valley's below the clouds.

About a 1/4 of the way down Blackhead I stopped and put on stabalicers. It made me feel alittle safer going down. Towards the bottom I postholed and luckily went all the way down. When I went through the weight of my snowshoes attached to my pack, turned my back down hill and started to twist my knee, but luckily I had broken through to the soft snow so my foot could turn. I would have seriously hurt myself if it hadn't happened that way. The rest of the way down was uneventful. Near the yellow trail it started to snow. By the time I reached Acra Point it was really starting to come down. I love the Enscarpement trail. The area between Blackhead and Acra Pt. is great; a really nice walk in the woods. Every section of this trail is great. When I reached the Blackdome Trail again, it was coming down hard. The snow had changed at first it was fluffy and would pack when you walked on it. It became drier and made walking hard as it would cover my foot everytime.

I continued on towards Windham, the trail up Burnt knob was steep and relentless. It got tricky towards the top. I didn't summit BK; after 12 miles yesterday and another long hike today I wasn't up to the bush whack. Besides I had my eyes set on the 3500' in front of me. By the time I got to Windham I was worn out. The snow was a least 2" deep and I was wearing down quickly. I hit the summit of Windham, walked till it went down then turned around and went back the other way. Back towards Burnt knob, I finally put on the snowshoes. I started to make better time, but It was still hard to walk. The snow was so fine it was squeezing throught the slots, and from the sides, up unto the top. The down part of Burnt knob was a little scary as I really couldn't find good purchase. Once I got back on Blackdome Trail I flew down the mountain. Everystep I was goin about 6 ft. because of the loose snow. As I was walking down the road to the Jeep, a guy in a pickup started down the unplowed part. I just thought, okay here we go again, but the guy didn't get stuck. On his way back out he stopped and chatted a little. I think he was checking the parking areas to make sure know one was stuck out there.

This was a big week for me. I had 3 bad weeks in a row and needed a pick me up. I know back to back 12 milers aren't a big deal for alot of people but for me this is huge. ONE MORE TO GO!!!!! As always the pics http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/558217914rWnEUp

[Doodles]

Great job Lowlander.

Good luck and be safe on your planned finish on Plateau this week.

[Doug]

Beware the leeward side of the mountain in winter! Trail:

Twin Mountain (Catskills) by Pecoy Notch Trail

Date Hiked: 3-18-07

Conditions: First mile to overlook point broken out and fairly firm, but no one had gone any further since the Friday snow storm, so the rest of the trail was 12" deep in heavy powder and took some heavy slogging. First mile took 45 minutes; the next two took 3 and 1/2 hours--that's about 30,000 heartbeats by my reckoning!

Special Required Equipment: MSR LIghtning Ascent snow shoes worked well (10" deep footsteps), but steep steps were still quite slippery--the ice ax came in handy to pull myself up (and to let myself down) a few . Crampons never came out of the bag, but trekking poles with big baskets were helpful (sank a good 12" or more with each placement). Never put my shell on, but hat, light then heavier gloves, balaclava and googles got a workout, as I did!

[Jay H]

Hiking..good.

Hopefully Mink Hollow road is plowed out to the end. It usually is, but don't drive down Elka Park road cause that is not maintained and will most likely be quite icy/snowy. You have to come in from platte clove road on the west side, not far from where Bloomer Rd meets Platte Clove Rd... And try not to follow that "trail" sign which leads you into Elka Park, that's the wrong road. Many hikers go there because of that silly sign, although you can get to Mink Hollow Road from there, it's not the best way...

Jay

[Doug]

You know your approaches--the road to the trailhead was not plowed Sunday morning, so it added a five or ten minute walk, but by the afternoon it was done. I fell for that "trail" sign a couple of weeks ago and snowshoed almost a half mile to the trailhead, which was completely accessible to vehicles from the other side!

[Snickers]

Great job Lowlander; good to hear you got them!!!

Cindy