Catskills Peak Bagging trip - April 17-1 9

“I am a maybe on this trip. Have not been feeling well since Sunday.
But I am making sure Tree makes this trip!!”

“Tell Tree to bring his own weapon.”

“We shall see what happens. The dutchess has been through a lot the past few days. I really need to see how she feels before I can just up and leave. But, we have about 36 hours yet. The meds may work and hopefully, we will all be there...”

“Is there a water source at Camp or should i bring some jugs?

Tree and Maple, I hope Maple is feeling better so that you can both come on this trip! I haven't seen you guys in so long.”

“There is a creek through the camp with good fresh water.

Crazypace, when are you heading up? Wanna 'pool?”

“CP ENS and all... Bag those mutha's!!!!!!!! I'm dissapointed I can't make it, but 'family called'..

Congrats on what you are about to accomplish.. I look forward to hiking with you all soon..

oh.. And..uh..CP..
RAINIER is waiting!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm sure you all have seen this, but if not, it's pretty cool

http://www.peakbagger.com/listindx.aspx

'32oz”

“im bringing a couple gallons for cooking and some smaller bottles for the hike”

“Ok, it's looking good for us right now. Dutchess is not quite out of the woods (pun intended!), but definitiely on the mend. It may be a light weekend for us, activity-wise. But, it looks like we're a go.

And bobo, Pedro's coming!!! :)”

“Yeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!”

““im bringing a couple gallons for cooking and some smaller bottles for the hike”
jackstraw
6:42:16 AM
4/17

what the hell are you bringing? beer?

word..


yes we are a go. I may not do much hiking but you all will have a big fire when you come off the MT :) oh and a cold beer too!”

“I have to work till 4:30 and heading stright up. What time are you going?”

“got in late friday. TW and I set up my gargantuan car camping tent right next to the creek, hung out for a bit and couple beers then crashed.
morning came early, tossed beck some great gorþ and old coffee then headed for the Doubletop trailhead. a nice level walk in to a well marked turnoff had us heading for the canister. beautiful weather and some snow up top made it well worth the effort. we decided to take the express route down, ie. straight down, and finished off in time to allow for an awesome sammich at the deli on route 47. all stoked up we headed for Halcott.
the long slog up to the top of the ridge took its toll on me and I was glad I ate my whole sammich. although the remainder of the hike along the ridge was gradual, it was tough going cuz of the undergrowth. we attributed this to the fact that we were relatively early in the year on the mountain. once we summited, ate and battled some wicked cramps,b we headed back again the express route; which I most enjoyed. it put us on a trajectory that took us right through what I called the creepy cairns.a collection of totally random stacks of rocks (cairn like) pretty much as far as the eye could see. really creepy cuz they were big piles. got back to the truck and headed back to camp.

to b continued....”

“Nice weather or the weekend............back to rain.

Jackstraw, it looks like my kids got your beer after all.”

“Congrats ENS & CP!”

“tree and myself and padro did not get a chnace to do any hiking, but all of us and timberwolf did have a very entertaining and interesting ride to a lake.
then back to camp for food and great conversation and a few drinks. It was a true honor to meet Pin Pin and his rabbit ( I think it's name was Pin Pin)
We had a very nice easy ride home and got here about 5;00 after dropping off padro.

padro is now a true lover of the out doors. I wanted to thank everyone for showing him a wonderful time...

I wish we had an Out of Context thread just for things that were said at camp.
some I do not think can be said here :)

I never thought it was true, but men do wear skirts....err....kilts.

jackstraw, love you peek-a-poo pic of your bottom in the kilt :)

it was GREAT to see som many old friends. It renewed that fire in me and I hope to make more trips :)


there were so many highlights..
1. Caution Chicken at play (sign)
2. Jackstraw and his kilt
3. tree not getting hurt to bad from his tumble
4. great camping sight right next to a stream
5. great food..i think backpackers have more car camping gear then they will ever admit
6. meeting pin pin
7. meeting spindle and crazypace
last edited: 4/20/09 7:47:37 AM”

“The kilt is OK, but when Jackstraw shows up in hot pants I'm gonna have to say something.”

“no prob on the beer. I hope they enjoy it.don't worry, I draw the line at hotpants too.”

“Such an awesome weekend! Great company, amazing scenery, outrageous food. Thanks to everyone for making me feel welcome.

I for one would like to see more kilts.

Nora, I gotta have a copy of the pic. LOL.”

“umm more kilts?

next trip i go on,

ALL MEN WILL HAVE TO WEAR KILTS”

“Perhaps is some of you girls could offer more encouragement.”

“I'll third the call for MORE KILTS.”

“I fourth it!”

“Good luck tomorrow!”

“LMG, I'm sure I've almost got them all talked into it.

MarkO even drafted me a plan for getting a tartan made up just for the TT kilts, and having them all wear them for summit pics.
last edited: 4/20/09 10:24:20 AM”

“I'm part German and Scottish, does that mean I should wear plaid lederhosen?”

“Thanks T1mberwolf. I'm only a little freaking out here.

Thanks for keeping me company Sat morning! I'm glad you made this trip. :)”

“Oh me too. I enjoyed our chat. Can't wait til you're healed and back on the trail.”

“Oh geez Zac, don't start on about leather!

There's no tellin' what sort of leather stuff those girls will want us to wear.”

“marko, please keep your cod in your pants”

“Leather? Whut? Lovely to look at, a b1tch to hike in unfortunately.


Got my pics up. I'm really sorry that they are all from the vantage point of my stupid chair. My group pic with Pin Pin is too dark. Crappy camera.

Here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/571246319wErkuF”

“Custom Team Kilt.......

http://www.sportkilt.com/?gclid=CLzukJ2PgJoCFQdN5QodNCmpFA

Well-well....”

“Sportkilts rock. Yeah, go with those.”

“great pics spindle. I hope to get mine up tomorrow :)”

“"Each comes standard with pleats all around the backside....."


Mmmmmmmm, pleats around the backside!”

“Great time! Had a wonderful weekend thanks everyone! I needed that.”

“Yes please! The Hunting (U) is like what we talked about.”

“Thanks Dutchess. :) I hope your Pin Pin pics came out better than mine.

Props to T1mberwolf for bringing him in. :D”

“When we got to camp everyone was back including LT and Sacco who did their own Butt kicking bushwhack up and over North Dome and Down Sherril (SP). We were in full force with the Tree people and Newby Pedro, who just could not be convinced of the extreme danger posed by bears. It must be that Queens moxy " "Bears? hehe!" I look forward to many more trips with him. Earlier in the evening a famous peak Bagger named PinPin was led into camp by Timberwolf. It was awesome having him around our campfire and added icing and a cherry to the cake of Rob and Todds accomplishment that day.

In usual bonehead fasion a feast fit for a king was laid out including homemaid bratts and Kraut, Salsa Chicken, Steak Kabobs, Tortellini Salad , Two different flavors of corn bread, Veggie chili and Chicken and Dumplings. Topping it all off Was desert of Losts souls most amazing Sweet potato pie.

Beer flowed .

All and all an Epic trip. We stopped at the Blackbear inn on the way out at my insistance. I love the place.

the end.

My pics:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/571255910naNoLP”

“Haven't had a chance to do the pictures yet, but I would say I'm overdue on chiming in here. So, let's continue to try and piece together the trip report, as there are several points of view that this weekend was seen from.

As you may have read, most of the crew came up on Friday night. Dutchess, myself and Pedro (no trail name yet) graced the wilderness with our presence on Sat morning.

We did cross paths with Mark-O, Timberwolf and Spindlette upon arrival. After setting up the site for ourselves, we ventured on to the (far off) lake of the Dutchess' choosing.

We encountered a mountain road along the way that Hitchcock could have filmed a great scene on. It would have had to entail a car screaming down the mountain with tampered brakes to make it more exciting. Thankfully, we were not subject to that scenario. We'll leave that to the imagination and to Hollywood. We also encountered a stop sign in one of the most desolate places your mind could muster up. I am figuring that this may have been a crossroads for some very small animals, as it did not seem to serve any other purpose. We will post a picture of this later and figure out why chipmonks need a super-highway.

We also learned that roads can evoke the same feelings humans can. In this instance, we came upon a raging thoroughfare that would describe someone sick to their stomach. It was called Erpth Road. Hard to say without simulating vomiting.

Yes, we were forced to be wary of chickens at play, roads to nowhere, and an old car bridge that stands right next to a new bridge. No confusion there.

However, once we got to the lake, all was well. It was a rather lengthy ride, considering the amount of mileage we put into it. Probably the cliff that went two hundred feet straight down that was about a yard to the right of where we were driving had something to do with that.

But, I digress. Ah, the lake! Alder's Lake was beautiful. Quiet, peaceful and scenic was the order of the day. And quiet, peaceful and scenic was what was delivered. Pedro, TW, Dutchess and the Tree here all did a little bit of exploring around the immediate area and just took in the beauty.

Then, there were the ruins. As told by Harold, a man canoeing with his two sons (whom we were asked to give a message to by two other men who had left upon our arrival) had told us, the stone house that had housed the walls and fireplace that we had observed, was owned by a wealthy gentleman years ago. It was taken over by the state, given to two local boy scout troops, and then fell into disrepair after the state refused to put any money into it. Pictures of this will follow also.

About this time, we got geared up for the ride home. Not fearing the road with the cliff(you see, we were taking a different route home), we set out and made our way back to camp.

Upon arriving, the rest of the group was back and gearing up for the Saturday night festivities, which stretched into the ungodly hours of the night and morning. The food was exquisite and came out in shifts, so our stomachs could handle the steady barrage of delectibles that we so daintily shoved down our gullets. Of course, beer plays an important factor in this. You wouldn't want us to choke on our food, would you?
last edited: 4/21/09 11:42:38 AM”

“Who brought the wheelbarrow?”

“I figured it was Mark-O. He had to get that kitchen size range in there somehow!”

“That's not a wheelbarrow, it's an indian artifact. We also found spirit ghourds hanging from trees.”

“wait, they were hanging? no one told me that. who tossed one in the fire?

your going to hell!!!”

“this was a great trip and it was fun ti finish the 3500 peaks, it took me almost 5 years.

Everything was awesome except for the thorny veg on the climbs! Thanks for everything everyone.

I took a few pics, but my camera is acting up and I'll post them when it is fixed.”

“Great pics, Nora. I did notice one missing, though.”

“OK, what missing picture?”

“no I made yet another promise to harry...but next time I am......”

“Yes maam. You're a good friend.”