Cod Pond and Little Joe Lake

Yesterday Randy and I hooked up with Kathy and Gail to hike to Cod Pond and bushwhack to Little Joe Lake. Randy and I underestimated the amount of snow that would be there and foolishly elected to leave snow shoes at home. Kathy and Gail were smarter and brought thiers. Anyway, the mile or so to Cod Pond was difficult as there was still 8 inches of snow on the ground, even more in drifted spots. The pond is generally not all that wonderful a destination. In summer it's a giant mosquito breeding ground. This time of year it was quite pretty. Both Cod Pond and Little Joe lake were still iced over. We bushwhacked south to Little Joe lake, about .8 of a mile with conditions not much different than the hike to Cod Pond. Little Joe is apparently a fishing spot tho we didn't see any of the fishing camps supposedly located around the lake. We did spot some pitcher plants in the swampy edges. We had enough frozen ground still around for us to walk out to the water's edge. Something we would not be able to do in warmer weather. Speaking of which, we were hiking in shirt sleeves as it was in the upper 60's yesterday. Kind of strange, all that snow and no snow gear. All in all, a hefty work out for me and my hubby. We both are experiencing a little stiffness in our calves. A little bike riding today as temps will be in the mid-70s should work that stiffness out. I'm wondering if I'll encounter similar conditions in Georgia next year in mid-March?

Tomany Mountain and Otter Lake

This time of year is tough; the weather's warming up and you want to be out but the snow is going fast. Too deep to hike, maybe not enough to snowshoe. However, in the Arietta area there is still just enough snow to snowshoe and I got out both Saturday (Mar 31) and Sunday (Apr 1) to get the last snowshoeing of the season in. Saturday, Randy and I met up with Kathy and Gail and we went to Tomany Mountain. This is a nice little 3 mile round trip hike. It's quite steep going up to where the old fire tower used to be and there isn't much of a view from there even this time of year. But, given the wonderful weather, we made the trek up. Once up there, it's a beautiful site. The base of the ranger cabin is still there, as is the old well. We started late in the morning, 10:30am and got up there about 12 noon. We had a little lunch then went back down the mountain, a lot faster than we went up, I can tell you!

On Sunday, Gail is the hike leader for a bushwhack around Otter Lake. Since there are a lot of Otter Lakes in the Adirondacks, let me say that this lake is just north and east of Green Lake (next to Cananda Lake and Caroga Lake). This was a scheduled Herkimer Alpiner hiking club hike and we had myself and Gail, Kathy and 5 or 6 other club members in attendance. This is a pretty level hike around this small lake. The only challange was the swamp crossing. Tricky when the snow is melting or has melted. At one point we were hummock hopping our way across. But everyone made it without getting wet. We stopped for lunch at a spot where we had a view of the lake. Then made our way back to the trailhead. Were were back at the cars by 12:30 or so. Since rain is predicted for this afternoon, it's good we finished a little early. The rain will wash most of the rest of snow away. The snow was pretty rotten by noon time, it won't last much longer.

I've been in contact with a group of people going on the AT thru hike in 2008. I've set up a hiking partner for March 11th, 2008. I'm really getting ready!