Rik
04-23-2005, 07:59 AM
Weston, Peaked, Soda Range, and Big Crow
4/22/05
Well on Thursday night while watching the weekend weather forecast I started coming down with a bit of cantnothikethisweekenditis. It came on fast and strong and I was sure I would need treatment. So with other weekend plans falling apart due to the rain I cleared my schedule for Friday which was predicted to be sunny. After all, I said to myself, it is Earth Day. What kind of hippie/environmentalist would I be if I didn’t celebrate outside?
Then out came the maps. Ok so they didn’t really ‘come out’ as there is always a pile of them sitting on the coffee table (sorry dear). We had thoughts of going to Vermont or maybe the Catskills. We had decided we wanted to not bring snowshoes so we figured we would not go much above 3000 feet. Then the image of Marcy still with snow on it came to mind. With this rain would we get to see it in snow again this spring? So we decided on a hike up near the high peaks. Something with a view! We chose the Nun-dagao Ridge.
We did not get the earliest of starts and didn’t get to the trailhead at Crows Clearing until 10am. We got glimpses of views coming up Hurricane Road which would serve to get us excited for the day. When we got to the empty trailhead we put boots on and got ready when the local ranger pulled up. He was headed in to do a little work on the trail. The greatest thing was that we had the dogs on leash when he pulled up. First thing he says is ‘the dogs don’t need to be leashed in this area’. So I told him I didn’t want them running up to him and said ‘let em go’. We had nice chat with him about the area and started up the north trail towards Hurricane at 10:30am. The trail in was pretty flat with a few small wet spots. We didn’t spend too much time at the Gulf Brook lean-to. We headed up the trail to Lost Pond and Weston Mt. It climbed but not a ton. There were a few patches of ice left on the trail and one pretty wet spot which is what the ranger was going to work on. We took our first break at Lost Pond. Nice little pond with Weston on the north side and Hurricane to the south. The trail around the pond was a little wet but not terrible. Only about a dozen entries in the lean-to log since November. Only a couple from this spring mostly the ranger and retired ranger Pete Fish. After a snack we climbed Weston. The views from here were amazing. We could see the pond we just came from with Hurricane behind it. Noonmark, Dix, Nippletop, Sawteeth, The great range, Big Slide, Porter and Cascade, Colden (barely), Algonquin, The Sentinel Range, Whiteface and more! Some snow visible on some slides, the cones of Marcy and Algonquin, and the ski slopes of Whiteface. After soaking in some views we took a short bushwhack to Peaked Mountain. This was mostly open woods and leads to a summit with open rock areas and great views. You could see the same view south to the high peaks as Weston but you could also see the Jay Range through the trees and Lake Champlain from the open rock area. There is a well built cairn on top. We had lunch here and soaked in more views and sunshine. The bushwhack back to the trail (about a half mile) was uneventful. We met the ranger again near the top of Weston and chatted for a few more minutes, him asking about our trip to Peaked. He went back towards the pond while we walked the beautiful Soda Range. Several open views to the south along the way as well as being able to look back at our route and ahead to where we were going. We went slow as every 10 minutes was another great view from a slightly different angle. Like when Giant started peaking out over Hurricane getting bigger as we circled along the ridge. We found a few patches of snow in the shaded spots but it is almost gone at this elevation. Much of the trail was dry. Up to this point the trail in to Gulf Brook is marked as is the trail up to Weston, the trail along the ridge is only very sporadically marked. There are cairns along the way and the path is obvious. The last section coming off the ridge towards the junction with the Crows trail is steep and rocky. Some care was needed to get the big dog down some sections. The little dog had no troubles. At the junction we decided to go up Big Crow for one last view of what we had done. There were two people up there. The only ones we would see except the ranger and another group at the parking lot. The sun was still blazing at 4:30pm when we headed down to the car. After a cold beer and a change of cloths we drove home very happy that we had gotten out. Feeling like my disease was in temporary remission. I did this hike with my wife Charlene and our two dogs, Sirius and Dali. It took over 6 hours but much of this time was spent sitting in the sun.
4/22/05
Well on Thursday night while watching the weekend weather forecast I started coming down with a bit of cantnothikethisweekenditis. It came on fast and strong and I was sure I would need treatment. So with other weekend plans falling apart due to the rain I cleared my schedule for Friday which was predicted to be sunny. After all, I said to myself, it is Earth Day. What kind of hippie/environmentalist would I be if I didn’t celebrate outside?
Then out came the maps. Ok so they didn’t really ‘come out’ as there is always a pile of them sitting on the coffee table (sorry dear). We had thoughts of going to Vermont or maybe the Catskills. We had decided we wanted to not bring snowshoes so we figured we would not go much above 3000 feet. Then the image of Marcy still with snow on it came to mind. With this rain would we get to see it in snow again this spring? So we decided on a hike up near the high peaks. Something with a view! We chose the Nun-dagao Ridge.
We did not get the earliest of starts and didn’t get to the trailhead at Crows Clearing until 10am. We got glimpses of views coming up Hurricane Road which would serve to get us excited for the day. When we got to the empty trailhead we put boots on and got ready when the local ranger pulled up. He was headed in to do a little work on the trail. The greatest thing was that we had the dogs on leash when he pulled up. First thing he says is ‘the dogs don’t need to be leashed in this area’. So I told him I didn’t want them running up to him and said ‘let em go’. We had nice chat with him about the area and started up the north trail towards Hurricane at 10:30am. The trail in was pretty flat with a few small wet spots. We didn’t spend too much time at the Gulf Brook lean-to. We headed up the trail to Lost Pond and Weston Mt. It climbed but not a ton. There were a few patches of ice left on the trail and one pretty wet spot which is what the ranger was going to work on. We took our first break at Lost Pond. Nice little pond with Weston on the north side and Hurricane to the south. The trail around the pond was a little wet but not terrible. Only about a dozen entries in the lean-to log since November. Only a couple from this spring mostly the ranger and retired ranger Pete Fish. After a snack we climbed Weston. The views from here were amazing. We could see the pond we just came from with Hurricane behind it. Noonmark, Dix, Nippletop, Sawteeth, The great range, Big Slide, Porter and Cascade, Colden (barely), Algonquin, The Sentinel Range, Whiteface and more! Some snow visible on some slides, the cones of Marcy and Algonquin, and the ski slopes of Whiteface. After soaking in some views we took a short bushwhack to Peaked Mountain. This was mostly open woods and leads to a summit with open rock areas and great views. You could see the same view south to the high peaks as Weston but you could also see the Jay Range through the trees and Lake Champlain from the open rock area. There is a well built cairn on top. We had lunch here and soaked in more views and sunshine. The bushwhack back to the trail (about a half mile) was uneventful. We met the ranger again near the top of Weston and chatted for a few more minutes, him asking about our trip to Peaked. He went back towards the pond while we walked the beautiful Soda Range. Several open views to the south along the way as well as being able to look back at our route and ahead to where we were going. We went slow as every 10 minutes was another great view from a slightly different angle. Like when Giant started peaking out over Hurricane getting bigger as we circled along the ridge. We found a few patches of snow in the shaded spots but it is almost gone at this elevation. Much of the trail was dry. Up to this point the trail in to Gulf Brook is marked as is the trail up to Weston, the trail along the ridge is only very sporadically marked. There are cairns along the way and the path is obvious. The last section coming off the ridge towards the junction with the Crows trail is steep and rocky. Some care was needed to get the big dog down some sections. The little dog had no troubles. At the junction we decided to go up Big Crow for one last view of what we had done. There were two people up there. The only ones we would see except the ranger and another group at the parking lot. The sun was still blazing at 4:30pm when we headed down to the car. After a cold beer and a change of cloths we drove home very happy that we had gotten out. Feeling like my disease was in temporary remission. I did this hike with my wife Charlene and our two dogs, Sirius and Dali. It took over 6 hours but much of this time was spent sitting in the sun.