[at-l] Trip report sans photos (long)

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

I will post photos later but the ophthalmologist has put my eyes through 
enough for today. The good news it's only "floaters" and viscous detachment 
not retinal detachment and the prognosis is good. Seeing a bunch of black 
strings and blobs was startling though. The doctors are in agreement that 
the hike had nothing to do with it. It had a cause, but the cause was age. 
:-P Happening on the hike was merely coincidence. Now to the hike.

I had two objectives, explore and take some new photos in the Avalanche 
Pass and Avalanche Lake corridor and deliver a new zip lock bag to my 
lean-to (the one I maintain) because the mice had chewed holes in the one 
the register is in. Unfortunately the two locations are on the opposite 
sides of the McIntyre Range so it required walking around a series of peaks 
and over a pass to the other side. Had I realized it was a 15.1 mile trek 
before setting out I might, make that WOULD, have put off delivering the 
zip-lock baggie for another day but all's well that ends well and Wednesday 
ended well indeed.

I hadn't been through Avalanche Pass in about 3 years. The Pass and Lake 
are one of my favorite hikes in the Adirondacks so I was eager to see it 
again and give it the digital treatment (photographically speaking). I was 
surprised by my condition going up Avalanche Pass. I was stronger that I 
expected but that was a good thing considering what I planned to do. I 
spent time taking photos at the height of the Pass. The damage from the 
landslide after Hurricane Floyd is still painfully evident but there are 
new shrubs growing on the slide above the Pass. The debris from the slide 
will probably be evident longer than I will.

I ate lunch at the lake. I had gotten a late start and dawdled on the way 
so it was a bit past noon when I got to the Lake. Then as I was hiking the 
trail or the boulder field next to the Lake I saw someone rowing a boat 
from the South. For the benefit of those who don't know, Avalanche Lake is 
5 miles in and the only boats there are those used by rangers in 
emergencies. I took some pictures, figuring that I was unlikely to see this 
sight again and the rower came over to the shore to talk to me. It was Ben 
Tabor, a DEC Wildlife Technician who was tracking bears in the interior. He 
was a very nice young fellow who enjoyed talking about his job. I guess the 
bears don't converse much and he was hungry for company. We talked for over 
half an hour before I excused myself saying I had a long way to walk. He 
asked where. I told him and he estimated 5 hours. Of course he was thinking 
of his 20something YO legs and I was on 60 YO legs so it turned into 7+ hours.

I wandered over to Lake Colden and spent some time taking pictures there 
then headed up Cold Brook Pass. I had done this hike before but it was over 
15 years ago and although I remembered it as a tough hike, I didn't 
remember how tough. I began to think the trail gods were having a bit of 
fun with me and stretching the trail out as I climbed. By the time I 
determined that I might have bit off too much it was farther/tougher back 
than ahead so I was committed. The forecast low for the night was 35* and I 
wasn't prepared to stay out in temps that cold. I *had* to keep walking.

On the way down the other side of the Pass I heard someone coming behind me 
and turned around to meet a young woman hiking alone. I offered to let her 
pass since she was clearly faster than I but she declined and seemed 
relieved to find someone else. It turned out she had solo climbed Mt. 
Marshall (the summit just South of the Pass) and had gotten lost briefly. 
That's easy to do on Marshall. It is a trailess peak with a web of 
herdpaths many just looping or going nowhere. She was on the verge of panic 
she said when she had found the right herdpath to return to the Pass. I was 
relieved to have company as I was getting very tired so we stuck together 
for the last 6 miles.

It was around the 10 mile mark that I tried to brush away a cobweb with 
something caught in it that was swinging from the bill of my hat. At least 
that is what I thought it was. When we came out into the sun at Scott 
Clearing I realized I was seeing spots. Sizable black ones with black 
threads between them. I'd never had that happen before and figured it 
wasn't good. Shannon speculated that it might be due to dehydration and I 
agreed out loud but doubted it silently. We continued on and basically kept 
one another from focusing on the impending darkness and the potential 
predicament that we could be in.

She was delightful company, as totally open, honest and caring a person as 
I have ever met. We stopped at the lean-to to put the register in it's new 
baggie and joked that it was a hell of a long way to walk to deliver one 
baggie. We only had 4 more miles to go. I've done those 4 miles in an hour 
when I was 20 years younger. This time it took nearly 2 hours. We got back 
to the trailhead at 9:10 as it was getting dark and parted in the parking 
lot after exchanging 'thank you's for the mutual psychic rescue. 15.1 miles 
in 12 hours over 2 passes and some of the roughest terrane the Adirondacks 
can dish out. I hadn't done a day hike of that magnitude in 3 years. WHAT 
*WAS* I THINKING? Answer... I wasn't. Not about the effort it would take 
anyway.

Regrets: None. Yeah, I shoulda' planned better, started earlier, not taken 
on such a long hike, etc. I'm not sorry though because a met a couple of 
great people, got some good photos (they will get posted as soon as my eyes 
are up to it) and I was there when someone else needed company as badly as 
I did. From checking the register as I signed out there was no one else on 
the that side of the range that day to fill that role. I wonder if I was 
'led' to get a late start, spend as much time as I did talking to Ben, and 
fool around taking photos at Lake Colden so that I could be at that point 
on the trail when a young hiker who was frightened would have needed 
company. Or perhaps Shannon was 'led' to get lost on Marshall so that I 
would have company when my eyes acted up and exhaustion was setting in with 
5 more miles to walk. FWIW I believe in angels. No, not the kind with wings 
who float around playing harps. Frankly that kind aren't of much use. I 
doubt if any of the real angels even know they are angels, but I've met 
quite a few in life. They come along just when you need one and give you 
exactly what you need at that moment. It happened again on Wednesday coming 
out of Cold Brook Pass.

Saunterer