Square Falls Again

Randy and I joined up with 3 others from the Mohawk Valley Alpiners hiking club to go up to Square Falls. We all had done this hike last summer but 2 of our hikers (Kathy and Gail) had heard that there was at least 1 more falls above the one we had visited during the summer. So, we all met up and went to the trailhead. It's an umarked trail off of Rt 8 going east from Wells. (About 11 miles from the Rt 30 junction). The trail itself is unmarked, just a herd path to the 1st falls. Poor Kathy slipped on an icy rock at the 1st stream crossing and got totally wet. We stopped while she changed socks and regrouped. She decided to go on, that she'd dry out well enough on the trail. Offers of dry pants, shirts, etc were turned down, she had a 2nd dry fleece with her. So we carried on. It's not far to the 1st falls that most people call Square Falls, maybe a mile or mile and a half. We took a short break, then bushwhacked on up the East Branch of the Sacandaga. About 1/4 mile or so, we came upon a small beach in a curve of the river. What a great spot. We all want to go back come summer and see if the beach is still there. A perfect spot to go swimming and have a picnic. We whacked our way upstream, sometimes in the woods but even better, sometimes right next to the river on what in summer would be soggy sand but this time of year is frozen. What an easy time of it that made! So about 3/4 mile farther up river, we came to a small falls. From the map, it seems to be at the base of Square Falls Mountain. It was a really pretty spot. The east side of the river, which we came up, has a nice set of rock ledges a foot or two above the flowing water. Perfect for sitting and having lunch. My husband and I brought the backpacking stove and brewed up some water for hot tea and just generally had a nice lunch. Christmas cookies were shared all around. The hike back was uneventful and we can't wait to go back in the summer and check out the "beach". Hope it hasn't washed away in the spring floods.

Cold Stream Upper Falls

On Sunday the 10th, I hooked up with my hiking friend Kathy who scoped out the unmarked trail to Cold Stream upper falls. Some of the Mohawk Valley Alpiners I have already met on other hikes, a couple of folks from the Schenectady ADK club and 2 newcomers were also along for a total of 10 in the group. We started from the Cold Stream bridge trail head of the Northville - Lake Placid trail then got off the trail and followed Cold Stream upstream. There was about 1 - 2 inches of snow on the ground and a very gentle rise to the "trail" pretty much the whole way in. We started about 10:15am and got to the upper falls about 12 noon. The falls were already frozen, very pretty. We could go out into the stream below the falls, brush the snow off the rocks and sit and have lunch. The way back was easy, since it was generally down hill. The temp made it into the 40's and the sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in it. I couldn't have ordered a better day. We have promised ourselves to go back another time for a look at the lower falls.

Holmes Lake Loop Hike

I hooked up on Saturday with a group out of the Schenectady Chapter of the ADK. Nine of us showed up on a cold morning. It was still very windy and there was snow falling on and off all day. We did the hike following the snow machine trails off of the Benson Rd via the Irving Pond road. Irving Pond is only a short distance in, probably only a mile. Then we hiked on to Bellows Lake. We stopped there for a short snack and equipment adjustment. One of the hikers, Audrey, was just getting into hiking. Another couple had finished the Northville - Lake Placid trail this summer. There was lots of conversation on technique, equipment, etc. the whole day. After a 15 minute break, we moved on to Little Holmes lake. We stopped there about 1145 and had lunch. The hike leader, Walt, brought along a piece of equipment called a Boffie. Essentially it's a lightweight shelter with no door. It is box shaped, open on the bottom with no floor. Its use is to shelter an injury victim with 2 - 4 others and the boffie will trap body heat, protecting the injured until someone can bring help back. Probably good as an emergency shelter too. It was pretty large, 5 of us got under it and it did cut the wind and if we had stayed under longer, probably warmed up a little too. Pretty cool. After lunch, we moved on to Holmes lake. Some hunter or fisheman had built a brush leanto near the shore. They did a pretty good job too. Finally, we hiked out past the ruins of the chair rung factory and out onto the Benson Road again just a couple of miles east of where we had hiked in. Even with the cold wind and light snow, or maybe because of it, I had a great time. This trail is pretty easy even tho there are lots of muddy spots.