Vroman's Nose

I went with the Herkimer Alpiners on Sunday to a glacial mountain in Schoharie County called Vroman's Nose. The triangular shaped mountain is a result of ancient glacial activity. We don't usually hike that far south, tending to stay in the Adirondacks so this was a nice change of pace. The hike up to the top was fairly easy as the Vroman's Nose Preservation Corporation volunteers keep the trail very well maintained. We joked it was a very civilized hike, there were even some benches along the way to sit and rest on. The views from the top were fantastic. We could see the whole Schoharie Valley. The hike is also part of the Long Path, a long distance hiking trail that runs from New York City to Albany NY. A section of the Long Path is called the Long Path Northern Excursion and is an 80 mile stretch of the path in Schoharie County. Several of us thought it a good idea, especially in mud season, to hike these Northern Excursion sections. They can be done as day hikes cause the longest section is about 12.5 miles. Something to look forward to.

Cod Pond and Little Joe Bushwhack

I joined a group of the Herkimer Alpiners on Sunday the 11th for a hike to Cod Pond and a bushwhack to Little Joe Lake. Little Joe is about 1/2 mile south of Cod Pond but no trail leads to it. I met the group at the intersection of Rt 30N and Rt 8E. We convoyed (4 cars full!) to the Cod Pond trailhead. There were already 2 cars there waiting for us bringing the hiker total to 13. The morning was brisk and on the drive up I saw that the quiet parts of the lakes and rivers had a skim of ice on them. However, the sun was out and the sky was a clear blue. A perfect hiking day. So we started the trek about 1030am and headed up hill. Some of our group is elderly so while we weren't going slow, we did stop for a couple of breathers on the way up. It's only about 1 mile to Cod Pond from the trail head so we could take our time and enjoy the walk thru the downed beech leaves. Once at Cod Pond we took a breather and the time to go to the shore side and take in the view. Two of our number decided to wait at Cod Pond as they didn't feel up to forcing their way through the downed trees and witch hobble. Another of the group decided that this was as far as she wanted to go. But she did invite everyone to her house after the hike. So we said goodbye to her and while she headed for the trailhead, we took our compass bearings and GPS readings and headed pretty much due south along the lenth of Cod Pond. I brought my new GPS with me. While I had waited to meet the group on the road, I set the coordinates of Little Joe Lake into the GPS unit. I wanted to see if the device would allow me to "mark" a location without actually being there. It turns out it did allow me to do that and it provided me a course to the lake from Cod Pond. Pretty cool. We had to push our way through a lot of witch hobble and over and around downed trees and branches and around big holes in the forest floor but it was still easier than when Randy and I did this hike with Kathy and Gail last April. (knee deep snow and no snow shoes!) We got to the southern end of Little Joe Lake which is a mature pine forest so the hiking there is very easy, no undergrowth at all. A very nice camping location is in place there and easy and convenient access to the lake shore is available. We ate our trail lunch there in the sunshine. The hike back seemed to take less time than the hike in and we were back at the cars by 2:15pm. All in all, a nice hike.

Big Marsh Mt

Last Saturday (the 3rd) I joined my friend Kathy and the Schenectady Chapter of the ADK Club to hike Big Marsh Mt. The hike leader, Walt, likes to do bushwhacks and I've been out with him before. There were 6 of us on the hike. We met quite a few hunters also and had nice chats with them. The hike starts on old logging roads then becomes a bushwhack up the mountain. Once at the summit there really weren't any views but since the trees had dropped their leaves, we could get some peeks at the nearby Evergreen and G Lakes. It's a little over 2 miles to the summit which is 2588 feet. We got to the top about 11am so decided to hike over to the lesser peak. Big Marsh Mt has an extended peak and it was relatively easy to get over there. Once there, we sat down and ate lunch and had a nice chat with everyone. After lunch, we decided to bushwhack back to the trailhead instead of going back the way we came. That side of the mountain is pretty steep and a lot of spruce has grown up that we had to push our way thru. We got back to the cars relatively unscathed tho I did slip once coming down a steep spot and got my left foot caught in a hole between rocks. Fortunately, only a bruise on the top of my foot. A nice day out.