[at-l] Long Weekend trip report

[bcalkins@disaster-relief.net (Bruce Calkins)]

After the very limited outings of last year.  (knee injury and it's
subsequent two surgeries.)  This weekends "short" "easy" hike was a good
reintroduction to trail life.

Friday, Day one;  Skipped "work" and did chores, loaded up the packs and
such
like before leaving.  I stopped at Appalachian Mountain Outfitters in Great
Bearington just before hitting the trail at the base of Race Brook.  I had
intended to just get a hank of reflective tent cord for use with the tarp,
but, Princeton Tec's new AURORA caught my eye, and heart.  I did leave two
of the lights I had in my pack in the trunk of the car to make "room" for
this addition however.  So the total pack weight was reduced by a couple of
ounces. (not to mention a new toy to play with. (grin))  It was about 3:15
P.M. when Sam and I shouldered our packs and began the two mile assent of
Race Brook Trail to the AT.  My pack weighed 43 pounds at the house with 3.5
Liters of water and 4+ days food.  Sam's was 10 pounds and my Fanny (Belly)
Pack was another 3 pounds.  I did keep our pace down from what I was
accustomed to two years ago, The climb up felt good as the various muscles
remembered their jobs.  After a short break at the junction with the AT we
headed south over Race Mountain.  The Summit view and the view from the
escarpment were all that I remembered, and I could feel myself settling in
to being at home once again.  We arrived at the new Laurel Ridge Campsite at
about 7:00 P.M. as the rain began to fall.  (This replaces the old Bear
Rock Falls Campsite that has been closed for "environMENTAL" and safety
reasons after some Darwin contenders fell over the "cliff".)  I set up camp
under the 10 by 12 syl-nylon tarp and discovered just what items I had
forgotten.  1; The ground sheet. 2; my warm-up/wind pants. 3; my "sit-a-pon"
(A 12 by 20 inch piece of closed cell pad I use to sit on (duh!) and to put
my feet on under the sleeping bag.)  Of the three the most missed was the
ground cloth as the ground was wet before I could get the tarp rigged.  I
turned my windshirt insideout and used that to sit on as I fed Sam and made
my supper.  Then as I bedded down I used it to keep the sleeping bag off
from the dirt of the tent pad as I slept.

Saturday, Day two;  Taking my sweet time about it I packed up and headed
south through Sage's Ravine, up and over Bear Mountain.  We stopped at Bond
Shelter for lunch.  The Ridge runner was moving through.  He enquired if
any one was camped at Bear Rock Falls (no) and we swapped other minor data.
Pushing south Sam and I arrived at Riga Shelter for the night early in the
afternoon.  As we relaxed Lion Heart '02 showed up after a 17 mile day from
Pine Swamp Shelter.  He had been "driven" out by the Boy Scout troop and
it's noisy kids.  He was suffering from some sleep deprivation along with
the long day and crashed here for the night.  Suppers highlight was the
Humming Bird that came over to Lion Heart's Ramen Dinners looking for the
nectar that the red color suggested.  A few weekend type campers took the
tent spaces leaving the two of us to the shelter for the night.  (Sam made
it clear he preferred to sleep outside.)

Sunday, Day three;  The long hoped for sunrise at Riga is still hoped for.
Instead a morning thunder storm past through.  Some good flash ten count
booms just to prove the storms seriousness, then gradual clearing.  Sam and
I were loaded up and on our way around 9:00 A.M..  The day presented a
number of options.  As I did not want to go further from the car North was
indicated.  This gave the days destinations as Sages Ravine, Laurel Ridge
and Race Brook campsites as options.  My hope was to use the ":new" Hemlocks
Shelter to reclaim the brag of using all the shelters in MA and CT at least
once.  This would give me a 8 mile day.  Given the late start and my recent
hiatus, I hoped that I could make a average of 1 mile per hour.  This would
put me into The Hemlocks Shelter around 5:00 P.M.  As I had to muscle Sam up
Bear Mountain yesterday I opted to avoid taking him down the rocks by
taking the Undermountian Trail to the Paradise Lane Trail that comes out
just south of Sages Ravine.  (adding some milage)  (I had taken the Paradise
Lane Trail some time ago in the company of someone who did not allow me to
enjoy the trail, so I looked forward to really seeing the trail this time.)
I filtered some water in passing Bear Rock Falls and the rain chose that
time
to restart.  My rain gear worked well and as the rain tapered off before we
reached the Race Mountain escarpment I ducked under a pair of hemlock trees
for lunch.  At this time Disco Dan '00 and his daughter and their three dogs
passed us.  (We wound up leap-frogging them over the course of the
afternoon.)  The Race Brook Trail was a decision point,  We could go to the
Race Brook Campsite .4 miles or over Mount Everett to the shelter.  Our time
was close to the plan so we continued North.  Mount Everett's south face is
a stiff climb.  Lacking the rock scrambles of Bear Mountain it pulls you
down with it's steady climb.  There ARE worse climbs on the AT, but this one
was the one I was testing my abused knee and pampered body on now.  The
price finely paid, the summit came in sight and left behind.  We arrived at
the shelter at 5:00 P.M. plus or minus a few minutes.  I felt like surcoming
to the "rewards" of a long day but claimed a bunk, fed Sam and made supper.
Disco Dan and entourage arrived also.  There were five humans and four dogs
in residence this night.  One of the two weekend hikers started a fire, we
all talked into the evening and turned in for another wonderful nights
sleep.

Monday, Day four;  Disco Dan and entourage and the weekenders headed North
to
cars or rides as Sam and I readied to go south to Race Brook and the car.
We took the road to the picnic "pavilion" above Guilder Pond.  I have long
wondered just how much pavilion it was and this was a good time to answer
the question.  From there we connected back with the AT, summited Mount
Everett and began the decent.  This is where all the stress and effort of
the weekend piled up.  I was moving very slowly and very carefully long
before we reached the junction.  The good news,  The knee that made the
greatest complaint was not the knee that the surgeons were mucking around in
last year.  (post trip comment;  24 hours later I am mildly sore in many
places, nothing of any major concern to be felt.)  We took a break and
filtered some water and swallowed 400mg of ibuprofen before beginning the
decent.  Arriving at the parking area after a long uncomfortable decent we
were in the car and headed to the house by way of a friends house by 2:00
P.M. and scheming up ways to get more hiking in.

Black Wolfe