+briansnat Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 The long planned backpacking trip will be next weekend. I created an event cache (It will have to be approved before you can see it). We've basically planned a trip that anyone can take. A short backpack to find a campsite, then those who are up for it will climb Kaaterskill High Peak, while others can relax in camp, or take a leisurely hike out to a nearby scenic overlook and watch the hawks and vultures soar. Hope you can join us. I have extra equipment to lend if anybody needs it. And it won't rain next weekend. It can't rain, it really can't rain next weekend! Can it? "Au pays des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois" Quote Link to comment
The Artful Dodger Posted June 20, 2003 Share Posted June 20, 2003 I would have loved to have joined you, Brian. But the Doc said to lay low for a few weeks after recovering from being sick recently... Have fun! Quote Link to comment
+Waterboy Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 The two of us plan to go. We were thinking of driving up Friday and staying the night there. We have some questions: 1. (For Brian) What is the availability of water in the campsite area. Should we bring our purifier pump? Or do we have to carry it all in? 2. (For Brian) Could you be a little more specific about the location of where we will camp on the evening of the 28th? If we go a day early, maybe we will camp there two nights. 3. (For Metaphor) If you are driving up Friday, would you like to meet and hike/cache that day? 4. (For everyone, particularly Brian) Like Brian, we have extra equipment. If anyone needs something, lets try to work this out before Friday morning. 5. (For Brian) Food wise, is it everyman for him/her self? Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 22, 2003 Author Share Posted June 22, 2003 WWW, great that you can join us! See cache page for my answers. "Au pays des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois" Quote Link to comment
+Waterboy Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Long range weather forecast looks good. Mixture of sun & clouds, temperatures in low to mid 70s. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 quote:ong range weather forecast looks good. Mixture of sun & clouds, temperatures in low to mid 70s. Great, as long as the dreaded T-storms aren't in the forecast. Nothing I dread more than cowering in a tent pitched on the side of a mountain, while bolts of lightning strike around you. "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 OK this is the weekend. Weather looks good. If you can't make it for an overniter, feel free to accompany us to High Peak and possibly bag the two virtuals up there. I estimate we'll be departing for the peak around 11ish. I'll have my FRS on channel 2 so we can hook up if necessary. "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry Quote Link to comment
+HartClimbs Posted June 27, 2003 Share Posted June 27, 2003 I'll be there as well (and camping out). See you tommorrow morning. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family." -Jerry Seinfeld Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted June 29, 2003 Author Share Posted June 29, 2003 Trip Report Well, several area geocachers finally got together for the long talked about backpacking trip. When I posted the event I had two fears. Either I'd be spending the weekend alone, or we'd have 20-30 people to deal with. But it worked out quite well. WWW (Waterboy With Wife) went up Friday and picked out a nearly perfect campsite. A pine grove, with a beautiful stream bubbling past it. While walking the trail, they met a pair of avid geocachers on the way and it turned out they had just bagged both of the virtuals on Kaaterskill HP. They gave WWW some good advice, which we heeded the next day (they took nearly 8 hours to bag both caches and it took us about 5). Metaphor had come up from MD, partially to add another notch to his belt on his 25 year long quest to join the Catskill's 3500 Club, but more importantly to spend the weekend with fellow geocachers. Met (as we affectionately call him) arrived Friday evening and hooked up with WWW. Hartclimbs and I reached the rendezvous point at the appointed time the next morning. We walked in, pitched our tents and prepared for our climb to the top of Kaaterskill High Peak. The walk up was pretty easy for the most part, which concerned me. I kept consulting my GPS and thinking that we had a lot of elevation to gain in a short distance and this walk just wasn't doing it. We got to within a quarter mile of Air Crash 1 and decided to bushwack directly there. Bushwacking is often a bad choice, but in this case it worked out well, as we were at the crash site in less than 15 minutes. We posed for pictures and wondered out loud about the bureaucrats who ban geocaching here, yet allow ATV's to destroy the local trail system. You have to see the carnage to believe it. As mentioned earlier, I was concerned about the fact that we weren't gaining a lot of elevation during our walk. When we found the trail to the summit of KHP we paid dearly for our earlier, easy hike. The climb was nearly vertical and we had to use all fours to drag ourselves over several steep ledges. Since Hartclimbs and Metaphor are both accomplished rock climbers, it was probably a piece of cake for them, but I tried to keep from looking down, lest I lose my balance, fall a few hundred feet and allow my wife to cash in on my life insurance policy. We found a nice open area near the summit, with incredible views of the Hudson River valley to the east and the rest of the Catskills to the south and west. We decided to stop for lunch here. Sardines, hard salami, cheese and crackers never tasted so good!. Soon we made it to the summit and decided to look for Air Crash 3. This one had to be the most diffucult virtual find I've ever encountered, both in terms of terrain and difficulty. Waterboy found the benchmark noted on the cache page and we were soon bushwacking through some particularly dense forest. We were asking ourselves "how can we miss something as big as a plane here", but we did. Metaphor finally found it (His 100th find!!!, congrads to Metaphor) and we checked out the wreckage. Hart quickly reconsidered any thoughts he may of had about getting a pilots license. We headed back down KHP on the north side, which was a steep, but not particularly difficult walk. From there it was back to the campsite. Turned out it was a little over 7 miles RT. Back at the campsite, we enjoyed a few nice cigars (only to keep the mosquitos away) and a couple of cold beers. Next morning Metaphor headed out, while Hartclimbs and WWW checked out the view at Huckleberry Point. I just hung out by the stream and read, since my legs were pretty much dead. The consensus was that we really have to do something like this again. Thanks to everyone who made this trip a lot of fun and especially to WWW, who picked out nearly a perfect campsite. Check the cache pages for some great photos. "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry [This message was edited by BrianSnat on June 30, 2003 at 04:50 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+HartClimbs Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 Even though it cost me a dollar to attend, it was a great time. Thanks Brian for setting up the event and coordinating everything. (and thanks Waterboy for his detective work tracking down that AMC trip leader's name - I won't forget it again!). -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family." -Jerry Seinfeld Quote Link to comment
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