Love all the colors... this tlme of year really is the best time to be out in the woods.
Love all the colors... this tlme of year really is the best time to be out in the woods.
Beautiful! Great scenery, good company, and the perfect temps for hiking. Can't beat it.
The thing is, I really thought the colors would be a bust this year because of the drought. But it might have improved because we got a lot of rain just in the nick of time, OR it might've been just fine all along without the rain. Guess we'll never know.
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Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
One last trip to say farewell to the final embers of summer and the last few leaves remaining on the trees.
On this trip I was accompanied by the son of a friend of mine, Jon, who passed away a few years ago. Johnny did a lot of outdoor activities with his Dad and with his Boy Scout Troop and BSA, where he earned the distinction of Eagle Scout. His Eagle Scout project was the rebuilding of a hikers' bridge across Horse Chock Brook (on the east side of Harriman State Park on the Long Path) that had been totally destroyed by the remnants of Hurricane Irene in 2011. It was a very involved project requiring tons of planning and work, as well as design review and approval from state and park agencies (paperwork!).... and mustering up supplies and volunteer workers to pull it off over the course of a few months. The result was a solid structure that still stands today and has benefitted thousands upon thousands of hikers over the years, perhaps even a few HF members.
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Johnny is interested in getting into the lighter side of backpacking and hammocking, so this was to be an easy trip that focused more on camp time and learning, so our hike was a short 7.4 mile loop that ended up at a well-known spot just north of Stockbridge shelter on the Long Path. It was uncharacteristically very warm and the wind was blowing strongly from the south, and I figured — correctly, thankfully! — that this spot would be nicely sheltered from the wind. Johnny had some experience with an ENO hammock in very warm weather that didn't require an underquilt, but I convinced him to try a 'proper' UL setup and equipped him with a SLD trail runner, EE underquilt and UGQ top quilt (both 40deg) and the HG hex tarp. I introduced him to my knot-based method for setting up everything, and he was a very quick study and replicated the knots. Of course it takes some repetition over time to actually "own" those knots in one's head, but he's off to a great start. Also went into the basics for achieving hammock hang angle, height, head and foot (higher!) level, diagonal lay, UQ adjustment, etc, and tarp pitching, centering and the few simple knots for that job.
All in all, he slept very comfortably and is looking forward to getting out again, maybe next time to do the Wittenberg/Cornell/Slide loop in the Catskills, with an extra night spent at Giant Ledge.
And now, a final pic as we said adieu to DST 2022.........
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Last edited by cmoulder; 11-07-2022 at 08:10.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
What a nice story, and great pictures to go with it. Goodbye DST. See you next year (probably).
Nice Bob. And please thank him from me, for that bridge! What an accomplishment!!
Beautiful photos thanks for sharing!
Glad to see this thread is still going, sort of. Kinda quiet though.
A series of minor but very poorly timed injuries (basically ruining 3 consecutive spring-summers) have kept me out of the woods. My hammocks and other gear whisper mocking words at me when I walk past them in the basement. I need to get back out there!
Since I retired, some times I stay awake all day, some times all night.
Lemme know when you wanna go, bro!
In fact, I got rather bummed about the whole outdoor situation this past winter when there was no snow and the temps were so mild, so I didn't get out that much. Yes, there was the epic Catskill trip with Dirtbaghiker when we rode out the big Nor'easter at North Mtn, but other than that nothing else! So I'm ready to hit the woods again. I took some friends from NYC on a day hike in Harriman a couple of days ago. Loop in the Silvermine/Black Mtn area.
Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton
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