2006 Trip Reports

PHELPS, TABLETOP AND COLDEN -- Introductory Trip January 6-8, 2006. Leader: Andy Sansone; Participants: Neal Andrews, Frank Cabron, Greg Brett, Art DeVries, Reinhard Gsellmeier and Dana Mills

After a great nights sleep at the Hostel the group got an early start from the lodge parking lot. Five new folks and 3 members, Neal Andrews, Frank Cabron and I ambled down the trail at the usual eager morning pace. The winter weather could not have been better. Temperatures were low 20’s, lots of fresh snow and hardly a cloud in the sky.

We made easy work of Phelps and headed on to Tabletop. After a break at the turnoff the summit was attained in short order. The hardest part of the day lay ahead with the climb to the camping area at Lake Arnold on Colden’s flank. Once we got there the decision was made to make camp and summit on Sunday.

Sunday morning was brisk with scattered clouds. Not the clear views of Saturday but still a great day to be out. The winter weather was perfect. We began the long walk back to the lodge and enjoyed the day. The post climb feast was held at Pitkin’s Family Restaurant in Schroon Lake…..one of my new favorites.

Please join me in welcoming Greg Brett, Art DeVries, Reinhard Gsellmeier and Dana Mills to the RWMS. All are solid climbers and great fun.

GIANT AND ROCKY PEAK – Introductory Trip January 13-15, 2006

Andy Ryan (leader), Don Winter and Dan McCumsky

This second introductory trip of the 2006 Season had seven participants signed up one week prior to the trip. However, by Friday afternoon it had been reduced to three. Although I would normally think twice about leading an introductory trip without any other veterans, the two newbies had ample winter camping experience, so I decided to go anyway.

Friday afternoon in Rochester was decidedly unwinterlike. The temperature was approximately 50º when we met at the carpool site. In fact, it was so warm that Dan arrived in shorts and a T-shirt. The sky was clear and bright and there was a strong hint of Spring-like weather in the air. The drive north was uneventful, even pleasant, as we watched a beautiful sunset fade in the rearview mirror. We spent the night at the Maple Leaf in Schroon Lake, and by the time we got to the trailhead in Keene Valley on Saturday morning, the temperature was in the 40s and it was raining profusely.

Temperatures rose during the day to 55º and the rain continued. The trail was essentially a stream, and we bare-booted almost to the summit of Giant. After summitting Giant, we descended to the col between Giant and Rocky. One of the new guys was having obvious trouble keeping up the pace, but he insisted that it had nothing to do with the fact that he had a pack of such enormity that when he passed by me, it was reminiscent of a solar eclipse. He offered to stay in the col and set up camp while we summitted Rocky. By the time we were back at the camp at 4:10 p.m. the temperature was plummeting and, the rain started turning to freezing rain. Although we could have easily been back to the car at a decent hour, I decided we had to spend the night out for this to be an official RWMS Introductory Trip. This decision shall be known as “The Big Mistake.”

Because of the drenching rains, absolutely everything in our packs was soaking wet and twice as heavy as it was at the trailhead. Spare clothes and sleeping bags were soaked, making for a very unpleasant night’s sleep. Things inside the tent dried out by morning but the temperature had dropped to -5º overnight, and everything not inside sleeping bags had frozen stiff. Packs, clothes, and gear were all in a state of frozen animation, looking as if they had been trying to escape during the night and had been shot by a freeze ray. Unable to be folded and repacked, we had to make use of various straps to attach our gear to the outside of our packs as it would not fit inside. Packing up became an extraordinary chore as the tent had a dome of ice over it and the freezing rain and water had penetrated the shock cords of the tent poles, making the tent very difficult and time-consuming to dismantle and pack.

Our boots, which had been soaking in trail water all day on Saturday, had absorbed more water than an aquifer. They could not possibly have dried overnight, and by morning, they were colder than a FEMA director’s reception in New Orleans. We had to boil many bottles of water and put them in our boots to thaw them out enough to pry them open to put our feet back in them. By inserting chemical hand warmers into our boots, we were hoping to keep our feet warm on the way back to the car.

The trip back to the car should have lasted no more than two hours. However, one of the new guys, obviously exhausted from the previous day's work, was having a very difficult time under the burden of a gargantuan pack, icy trail conditions and the cold temperatures. It took four and one half hours to get back to the car, despite friendly encouragement such as, “If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to stab you in the head with one of your ****ing hiking poles!”.

Upon arriving at the car and attempting to change back into street clothes, my decidedly uncooperative boots had refrozen to the contours of my feet and could not be removed. The team effort of pushing and pulling could not pry them from my feet, and the effort devolved into shouting, cursing and kicking my frozen pack and my frozen car. We had to drive with the heat on for some distance before my boots thawed out enough to remove them. We stopped at a rest area where I desecrated the rest room by removing my boots, revealing the bloody sock of my left foot. Upon removing my sock, I observed, in a curiously detached manner, that the little piggy that usually goes the market and the little piggy that usually goes “wee, wee, wee” all the way home both looked as if they had both been bludgeoned with a hammer. When I arrived home, I immediately sought medical attention from the internet. The diagnosis of frostbite was confirmed the next day by my doctor who was astonished to find that I had gotten frostbite in 55º weather, and asked permission to use my case in an article for the New England Journal of Medicine

In the weeks that followed, I was visited by the Frostbite Fairy, who brought exquisite pain, multiple medications, a ridiculous limp (which prompted the obvious question from friends, family and coworkers, followed by the embarrassing answer) and ponderous fluids oozing into my socks, shoes and bed sheets. My advice to all of you who read this: Don’t get frostbite. It sucks.

My self assessment as to the cause of this injury is simple: complacency. My instincts told me that Saturday night and Sunday morning were going to be miserable, but I underestimated the fact that it could also be dangerous. The Big Mistake caused me to be out with experienced, but ultimately sub-RWMS standard hikers. One need only compare an RWMS trip with a typical ADK winter trip, with the four days scheduled to summit Mt. Joe, to know that just because someone has winter hiking experience does not mean they are up to RWMS standards. Giant and Rocky is really not a tough weekend, with less than 10 miles total hiking. Although we all had ample winter camping experience, it was obvious from early on in the trip that physical conditioning was an issue.

The Big Mistake resulted in spending the night out in absolutely miserable conditions. I mean it; there was nothing fun about the entire weekend. RWMS prides itself on being able to summit in all conditions, regaled in numerous tales of glory at season’s end (hence, this publication), but we very easily could have summitted both peaks and been back to the car at a decent hour and driven home or gotten dried out at a motel. Had this not been an introductory trip, I would not have felt the need to spend the night out. In retrospect, I am surprised that my toes were the only casualties. Wet clothes, rapidly dropping temperatures, and deconditioned and exhausted hikers are a recipe for disaster. We all should be careful and realize that discretion is the better part of valor and that the decisions we make on these trips have serious consequences.

GREAT SLIDE ON EAST DIX January 20 To 22, 2006

Leader: Paul Navik

The East Dix, Great Slide trip was canceled. Participants felt that the planned route up the Bouquet was not practical due to open water on the rivers. Rain was expected during the week, Friday and Saturday with the deep freeze to follow on Sunday. We considered other routes, but most people had joined the trip because of the route. After hearing about the beginners trip the weekend before, it was agreed that the weekend would not be fun as planned.

The East Dix, Great Slide trip was canceled. Participants felt that the planned route up the Bouquet was not practical due to open water on the rivers. Rain was expected during the week, Friday and Saturday with the deep freeze to follow on Sunday. We considered other routes, but most people had joined the trip because of the route. After hearing about the beginners trip the weekend before, it was agreed that the weekend would not be fun as planned.

COLVIN AND BLAKE Feburary 4,2006

Participants: Don Berens, Les Knox and Paul Sheneman

This was done as a day hike from the Ausable Club. Paul and Les spent Friday night at The Hostel in

Keene Valley and Don arrived at 6 am on Saturday.

The forecast called for heavy rain on the afternoon, but with the prospect of returning to the hostel, we followed the plan. Fortunately, the result was better than the prediction. We enjoyed a wonderful winter mountain hiking day - sunny skies and temperatures in the 40’s. En route, we met a neighbor of Don’s, the remnant of an Albany group which cancelled due to “bad weather”.

The temperature was in the 30’s as we left the Gate at 6:25 am and headed up the Lake Road, which was so icy that we wore full crampons. The lower level of the Gill Brook Trail had very little snow, but winter conditions were soon encountered. We followed a well-broken trail the entire route, with one exception. Above the junction with the trail to Elk Pass, we came across blowdown which had fallen along the direction of the trail. The herd detour had filled in, so we went right, towards the ledge. The herd had gone the other way, however, so we had about 100 yards of trail breaking until rejoining the trail.

The rest of the trip was routine (the icy approach to Colvin’s summit was interesting). We returned to the Gate at 4:15 and the rains came about 10pm.

HAYSTACK, SADDLEBACK and BASIN February. 11-12, 2006

Participants: Frank Cabron, Jim Dykes, Les Knox, Mark Baker, Paul Sheneman,

On the morning of Saturday, February 11, 2006, seven hikers awoke at the Maple Leaf Hotel in the Adirondack Village of Schroon Lake. To give themselves time to boil a few quarts of water in the slowest microwaves in the northeast, they had set their alarms for 3:00 AM. Having accomplished this first task of the day, and eaten three breakfasts in the process, they were packed up and ready by 5:30 for the drive to the Garden. Dick Herbison, who would have been their leader but for a tenacious flu bug, had told them it was going to be a long trip.

By first light, the unsuspecting travelers, (Frank Cabron, 68, originally from Mars; Jim Dykes, 43, also from Mars; Sheryl Crow, 44, definitely from Venus; Les Knox, 62, undoubtedly from Pluto; Jennifer Lopez, 36 -24-36, also from Venus; Mark Baker, 37 from Rochester, N.Y.; and Paul Sheneman, 55 when he went into the woods, 56 when he came out, from Hackensack N.J.) had left the Garden for a fun-filled day of hiking.

As you may know, shortly up the path from the Garden there is a lean-to, which, conveniently, has an outhouse with, not as conveniently, no door. Frank arrived first, followed shortly by the rest of the group. Slightly baffled, we were wondering where Frank had gotten off to. The mystery was solved when Jennifer observed, “Hey look – Frank is sitting down already!”

Having lightened our loads, progress from the lean-to was phenomenal. The amazingly strong group floated over the barely snow covered, heavily rooted and rutted Phelps Trail, past the warming hut and Johns Brook Lodge, onward past Bushnell Falls to Slant Rock - all by 11:30 that morning…. but, Dick had told them it was going to be a long trip.

The travelers made camp at Slant Rock. Day packs were packed, sandwiches were eaten and water was drunk, and the group was off to Shorey’s Short Cut by noon. There was growing anticipation of making all three peaks on that Saturday. Despite the lack of snow at the lower elevations, there was actually some trailbreaking to do across the Shortcut – elements of a real winter hike in otherwise mild conditions. By 1:00 PM, the group had turned left at the Range Trail junction and was headed northeast up the steep, southern approach to Basin - snowshoes and ice axes working the hard packed, sometimes icy surface.

The group separated slightly on the approach – Jim and Paul made the ladder about 5 minutes ahead of the rest of the group. At 1:15 PM, they were scrambling up the sheer rock faces on the southwest shoulder of Basin when, unknown to them, Mark’s snowshoes momentarily lost traction on a steep section just above the ladder in the general vicinity of N44d-07m05.0s latitude, W73d-53m-22.8s longitude, and he glided slowly down the hill until his right snowshoe crampon caught in the icy crust, abruptly arresting his descent.

Frank and Les, who were right there when it happened, saw a simple, harmless slide backwards and encouraged Mark to get off his ass by shouting out things like, “Get up you wimp!” and throwing snowballs in his general direction. This festive behavior stopped immediately when Mark tried to lift his right leg. While the upper part came off the ground as expected, the lower part kind of stayed in the snow. After Frank and Les got done puking in the bushes, they decided it might be a good idea to figure out what to do next.

Another pair of hikers happened to pass this unfortunate crew, and they were sent to let Jim and Paul know that one of their friends was hurt and they should probably go back down the hill. Jim and Paul, after considering various options that included, “Maybe we can bag Basin and Saddleback before we go back down,” returned to the accident scene shouting, “Get up you wimp!” and throwing snowballs. Mark repeated his trick leg demonstration, and, after more puking, it was decided that the other pair of hikers (who turned out to be trail stewards) would make for the trail between Haystack and Marcy to try to catch up with a Ranger. The trail stewards just happened to know where the ranger was likely to be hiking since they had just had a meeting with him that morning. Paul would hike out to the Johns Brook Lodge in hopes of finding some help. Les, Frank and Jim would stay with Mark to make sure he stayed as warm and as comfortable as possible and to pursue any other options that presented themselves. (No one had seen Sheryl or Jennifer since JBL – seems they just sort of vanished.)

By shortly after 1:30 PM, the plan was put into action. Nobody knows if the trail stewards ever found the ranger, but Paul made the warming hut at Johns Brook Lodge by 3:30, where an ADK volunteer group was serving up hot soup and drinks to weary hikers. The volunteers also had a radio that provided contact with some DEC folks. By 3:45 a reservation for a helicopter ride for Mark had been made, and it appeared that he would be off the mountain before dark… but, Dick had told them it was going to be a long trip.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch- I mean back on the mountain- the boys, who had no way of knowing what, if any, help had been found, had spread out their emergency blankets, fed Mark some ibuprofen (at least they thought that’s what it was), and gotten their patient reasonably comfortable. Another passing group of hikers included one gentleman by the name of Dale Fox, who donated more blankets, food, and a stove and fuel; thus, making the temporary camp quite suitable. The weather was also cooperating – the day was sunny, calm, and relatively warm. It seemed that everything was going to fall into place nicely…. but, Dick had told them it was going to be a long trip.

Back at the warming hut, Paul was puking once again, this time from too much lentil soup . . . and from the developing news that the helicopter from Clear Lake that was expected to pick up Mark before dark had been delayed on another call; and the backup helicopter stationed in Albany was also preoccupied; and it was starting to look as though Mark would have to spend the night on the mountain; and from the realization that the rest of the group had no idea about any of this. By 5:30 PM daylight was fading; it was plainly evident that no helicopter extraction would be made that day. It was decided that two strong young bucks, Scott Case and his brother Chris, both among the ADK volunteers at the warming hut, would accompany Paul back to Slant Rock to help schlep enough gear to the accident site to insure a safe passage through the night for Mark . After gearing up with water, headlamps, batteries, and portable radios, they were on their way by 6:00 PM.

This group made it back to Slant Rock by about 7:00 PM. They found Frank and Les strapping on packs containing necessary gear for an overnight stay on the shoulder of Basin. Not aware of any rescue efforts, the travelers had begun their own plan for survival. Frank was to stay with Mark, so he set off while Scott and Chris relieved Les of his supplies and set off for the mountain just behind Frank. Les and Paul stayed at the Slant Rock campsite, promising to prepare some hot drinks and dinner for Chris, Scott and Jim, who had stayed with Mark. Chris, Scott and Jim returned to Slant Rock by 11:00 PM. Chris and Scott had some hot drinks and set off for the warming hut for a well deserved night’s rest. Jim, looking pretty tired, ate what Paul had fixed for dinner without so much as a “Honey I’m Home,” and headed for his sleeping bag.

By 6:30 AM on Sunday morning, Les and Paul were off to Basin to help carry extra gear back out. They arrived at an opening in the trees on Shorey Shortcut with a good view of the shoulder of Basin by about 7:00 AM, just in time to witness the helicopter which had already extracted Mark, return to pick up the ranger who had been dropped earlier to harness Mark for the transport. The whirlwind of the helicopter as it hovered close enough to pick up the ranger, threw up a blizzard in dramatic contrast to the surrounding calm, sunny morning.

Les and Paul arrived at the shoulder of Basin about 7:30. Frank was calmly sitting in one of two ice shelves that the boys had chiseled out of the hillside to serve as sleeping platforms, cooking breakast. The place looked like the local 4 Star Hotel, complete with neon sign bidding, “Welcome to the Basin Marriott.”

Recounting Mark’s extraction, Frank mentioned that the helicopter had dropped the ranger right on Mark’s head, which was clinched as tightly as possible inside his sleeping bag in order to escape the helicopter’s blizzard. Mark’s comment to the ranger on his rescue technique? – “Thanks for not landing on my leg.”

Frank said he was content to linger a while, enjoying his breakfast and repacking gear, so Les and Paul took advantage of the opportunity to finish the walk to the top of Basin before loading up for the walk back to Slant Rock. Jim doesn’t know, so don’t tell him, that he had completed all of the hard work on the Basin trail on Saturday, and that, above the ledge from which he had turned back, it was a walk in the park to the top.

Back at Slant Rock the four remaining hikers packed up five people’s gear and started the 7 mile slog back to the Garden. The repacking went pretty well and almost everything (including the portable radios that had been left with them) made it inside of someone’s pack. Jim seemed to take the biggest load and ended up with stuff dangling off of his pack. Viewed from behind, he looked a little like a gypsy’s wagon; the pots and pans, the wind chimes, clanging to the rhythm of his cadence.

At the warming hut, the four hikers found a note from the ADK volunteers instructing them to return the radios to the Noonmark Diner. With about a mile left to go to the Garden, the group stopped and dropped packs for a brief rest. Jim mentioned that the load was starting to seem a little onerous. The rest of the group quickly broke into a verse of “He Ain’t Heavy – He’s My Brother,” picked up their stuff and resumed walking.

Back at the Garden the hikers found a second note from Ranger (I kid you not) Rick, informing them that Mark had been seen at the Lake Placid Hospital and transferred to the Saranac Lake Hospital for SURGERY.

After a stop at the Noonmark to return the radios and grab a bite to eat, the hikers set off to catch up with Mark. To save some time, they decided to go in their cars.

Despite getting briefly lost in the hallway at the Hospital, they were able to find Mark in good spirits, resting comfortably, with two broken bones in his lower right leg. The doctors at Lake Placid had already repositioned several bones in his right ankle, relieving much of the discomfort he had been experiencing since the slip on Basin; the surgery needed to pin one of the broken bones in his leg had been scheduled.

Dick had told them it was going to be a long trip.

ALLEN and SKYLIGHT February 17 to 20, 2006

Leader: Justin Vlietsta. Participants: Cole Goughary, John Robison, Peter Baillar, Peter Privitera, Neal Andrews

The goal of this trip was to do the unusual bushwhack from Allen to Skylight. Our route was to follow the standard herdpath to Allen, head directly from Allen to Skylight, then take the standard trail back to Flowed Lands. Fortunately for us the weather cooperated to give us snow-covered trails and one of the coldest weekends of the winter. Saturday morning greeted us with sunshine and 2 degrees—great hiking weather. As a bonus the trail to Allen was broken and we were able to bare boot it all the way to Allen brook. Crampons were used by most on the climb of Allen and we reached the summit in the afternoon sunshine with temperatures of a surprisingly pleasant -7F.

Descent off of Allen towards McDonnel and Skylight was straightforward with consolidated snow and a relatively open forest. We descended a bit below the col on its east side and set up camp with temperatures of about -10 and eventually dropping to -20 or so that night.

The next day was the big hike to Skylight. Conditions for the day were single digit temperatures (at least they were positive) and mostly overcast. The planned route was to follow the ridgeline as far as possible. The hike from the col to McDonnel was a very slow bash through extremely thick forest. On McDonnel we encountered a lot of snow-covered blowdown that made for quick hiking to the col before Skylight. The view of Skylight from McDonnel was one of the most intimidating views I have seen in the Adirondacks. The south face of Skylight looked difficult and steep. There was a very nice slide that started near Skylight Brook at about 3700 – 3800ft that led most of the way up to the very awesome looking horn that is on the southwest ridge of Skylight between it and Redfield. This slide would make an excellent future RWMS trip and the recommended approach would be to follow Skylight Brook to its base.

We attempted to follow the ridgeline and head directly up to the top of the 4200 foot lump just southeast of Skylight but slow progress through extremely dense forest diverted us just west of the lump where we crossed Skylight Brook at about 4100ft. The forest opened up after crossing the brook and we ended up going straight up the south face of Skylight. While the south face looks steep on the map and looked very steep from McDonnel it was a safe straightforward climb with no cliffs and not as steep or as difficult as we had expected. The entire route from Allen to Skylight was done in snowshoes and we never felt the need for an ice axe or crampons in the conditions we encountered. The 2 mile bushwhack from Allen to Skylight took about 7 hours with full packs. We only sank to our knees in snow; if it was deep powder we would not have made it to Skylight.

The summit of Skylight greeted us with high winds, temperatures around 0, and very low visibility. The trail was completely blown over and it took considerable effort to eventually find it below treeline. We hiked to Uphill Brook lean-to where we spent the night on Sunday. The hike out to flowed lands on Monday was quick and easy along broken trails.

Special thanks go to Cole Goughary, Peter Baillar, and John Robison for breaking trail up Skylight.

GRAY and MARCY February 25-26, 2006Participants: Don Berens, Jim Dykes (cook), Les Knox

Jim and Les spent Friday night in Upper Jay and met Don at the Loj parking lot at 6 am Saturday. The temperature was near zero and the forecast was for snow during the day. For once, the forecast was accurate. We had a high temperature on Saturday of 12 degrees and, starting mid-morning, about a foot of snow fell, accompanied by strong winds on the peaks.

We found broken trail up to the turn at Lake Arnold for Mt. Colden and started breaking about 6 inches as we headed towards Feldspar Brook. Camp was set up at the Feldspar Lean-to and we were breaking trail towards Lake Tear of the Clouds by 11:30.

The herd path to Gray was completely obscured, so we bushwhacked to the summit amid punishing winds and blowing snow. We had hoped to then go directly to Marcy, but conditions made it prudent to follow our tracks back to Lake Tear and approach Marcy from the Four Corners.

The trail up Marcy also needed to be broken and, as we got higher, some of the drifts were waist deep. Once we got to the Cobble, the route was entirely ice-covered. Don guarded the trail, while Jim and Les went for the summit. We found a nice boulder to shelter from the wind and put on crampons. With good footing, we quickly made the summit and took several pictures at the monument. We began to descend about 4:30. The wind was fierce and sought any gap in our clothing. The windblown snow made the Cobble barely visible. With the multiple cairns and limited visibility, it was easy to imagine how the unwary could find themselves at Panther Gorge at dusk.

We made good time descending on the now-broken trail and headed for Dinner at Feldspar Brook. Since almost a foot of snow had fallen during the day, our tracks had disappeared and we had the pleasure of breaking trail again from Lake Tear.

After breakfast, we broke camp and headed for the Loj. We trudged through the snow up to Lake Arnold Pass. For the next several miles, Don did his Pin-Pin impression as we ran to keep up. As we left the Loj parking lot at noon, the car thermometers read 6 degrees.

WHITEFACE via Lake Placid Slide March 3 to 5, 2006

Leader: Mike Forsyth. Trip cancelled due to lack of participants

SEWARD, DONALDSON and EMMONS March 10 to 12, 2006

Leader: Don Berens. Participant: Les Knox