Antlerpeak
09-21-2005, 06:20 PM
So after spending yesterday doing roof rehab today was set aside for a hike. In doing so I discovered why nobody climbs Porter from Keene Valley. The stated goal was Blueberry Mountain along the ridge above Keene Valley International Airport. At the bottom of this report is a link to the pics. The first is the view of the begining of the trail from the parking lot. No sign, no indication other than a fellow sitting in a town highway truck saying "yup that's the trail." About .2 along the route there is a sign pointing to an abrupt left turn off the road that is the trail to this point.
There was a lot of huffing and puffing at first as the trail seemed steep. I glanced at the altimeter noting I had gained three hundred feet in five minutes, "oh yeah this is going to be steep. Somewhere before finding a stream crossing a little over a mile in there was a rather long flat area. The only one of the day, had I known that I may have taken some time to enjoy it. At the stream crossing my altimeter read 1780 so I climbed eight hundred feet to reach that point. I thought it was fairly steep to that point, however, compared to the next mile it was a walk in the park.
After gaining another five hundred or so things really opened up as I climbed a series of slab rock mini slides. Each one, there were several ranged from sixty to a hundred feet of ascent, and provided awesome views that ranged from Hurricane around to the Gothics. Once reaching the summit ridge views expanded to include Whiteface and closer in Pitchoff.
Porter itself blocked any view of Cascade. The plan in no way included going onto Porter itself. By this point I attained a greater ascent than had I climbed Porter from Cascade Lakes. From this vantage point on the ridge you could see the route up to Porter demanding another thousand feet of ascent. Blueberry is at 3040 and Porter 4059, ouch.
It could easily be determined that a car spot could offer one heck of a nice hike. Up Porter from Cascade Lakes and down this route to the airport. The views are outstanding and the climb, it never lets you forget up up up.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?collid=92292891309&UV=49510050128_68862891309
There was a lot of huffing and puffing at first as the trail seemed steep. I glanced at the altimeter noting I had gained three hundred feet in five minutes, "oh yeah this is going to be steep. Somewhere before finding a stream crossing a little over a mile in there was a rather long flat area. The only one of the day, had I known that I may have taken some time to enjoy it. At the stream crossing my altimeter read 1780 so I climbed eight hundred feet to reach that point. I thought it was fairly steep to that point, however, compared to the next mile it was a walk in the park.
After gaining another five hundred or so things really opened up as I climbed a series of slab rock mini slides. Each one, there were several ranged from sixty to a hundred feet of ascent, and provided awesome views that ranged from Hurricane around to the Gothics. Once reaching the summit ridge views expanded to include Whiteface and closer in Pitchoff.
Porter itself blocked any view of Cascade. The plan in no way included going onto Porter itself. By this point I attained a greater ascent than had I climbed Porter from Cascade Lakes. From this vantage point on the ridge you could see the route up to Porter demanding another thousand feet of ascent. Blueberry is at 3040 and Porter 4059, ouch.
It could easily be determined that a car spot could offer one heck of a nice hike. Up Porter from Cascade Lakes and down this route to the airport. The views are outstanding and the climb, it never lets you forget up up up.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?collid=92292891309&UV=49510050128_68862891309