Mike's Journal NTP

MIKES NORTHVILLE PLACID JOURNAL

JULY 2004

7/9: Drove up to the Adirondacks, dropped Babcock's car at Placid trailhead, then headed to Piseco to meet Kelly. Stayed the night at Back to Basics. Dan and Kim were awesome, and provided us with a great place to stay, some pizza and beer, and a campfire for the night before hitting the trail.

7/10: Kim dropped us off at trailhead in Upper Benson. Got to Canary Pond in early afternoon, the hike was pretty easy. Great campsite at Canary. There was good water access and I wished I had a fishing pole. Saw 6 garter snakes and a lot of leeches, so I went for a swim.

7/11: Before leaving camp in the morning we met a hiker named John and his white husky Maggie. Both were very friendly, and we discussed the trail for awhile before heading out. Another easy hiking day. We planned on going to Hamilton lean-to, but Kelly wanted to get out of the woods that night, so we continued on to Piseco. The Hamilton campsite was quite unimpressive so I didn't mind moving on. The black flies in the 4 miles to town were unbearable. Sean decided that he needed to drop out at this point because of foot problems. We decided to grab a room at the Oxbow Lake Inn for the night, while we figured out Sean's situation.

7/12: Hiked to Piseco post office so Craig could pick up his food drop. First few miles after the trailhead were a joke, but we started wearing down later from the heavier packs. Probably need to take more water breaks too. It started to rain shortly after arriving at the third Spruce Lake lean-to. I guess it's supposed to rain for the next few days.

7/13: Very wet day. Feet water logged and shriveled by the end of the day. The miles before and after West Canada Lake were infested with black flies and mosquitoes. The area looked pretty cool, but I don't think we could have tolerated staying there because of the flies. The Cedar Lake lean-to was taken when we got to camp, so we pitched tent a little ways away. Saw a few red squirrels and a loon came nearly up to shore. Later saw a group of 3 loons. Lots of leeches. We've been seeing about 50 toads and red efts on the trail everyday, and there's always chipmunks to share your campsite with.

7/14: Hellish day- almost 19 miles, rain, soaked feet, and too much road walking. A lot of the trail was easy, but too much wetness. A swampy area about a mile after McCane's had no logs to hop across, so we had to wade through the stagnant water. We followed bear tracks almost all the way from McCane's to Stephen's Pond. The campsite was okay, but you could tell that it was only a couple miles from a road- a lot of shit left behind by campers- shoes, a cooler, etc.

7/15: Only a short 8 mile hike to Tirrell Pond, but wet feet made it take longer than it should have. Stopped at Durant Lake campground for Craig to use payphone. Easy terrain from Rt. 28 to the pond. Nice area with a naturally sandy beach. Again many things left behind from previous campers (including a nice surprise of some Beast Ice). Three days of rain have left our boots and most of our clothes wet, although we were able to dry out some stuff with a fire. According to the lean-to journal, a lot of people get flown in here by sea plane to fish, and the food they leave behind attracts a lot of bears. Seems like a nice place to stay for a few days. Great view of Tirrell Mountain.

7/16: Tirrell to Long Lake- foot wetness really taking a toll, especially on the downhill. Pretty easy hiking except for the foot thing. Kim surprised us by meeting us at the trailhead in Long Lake, and took us into town to get a few supplies. A can of Molson was a great end to the day. Took a lean-to on Long Lake. I was woken up at midnight by a big black animal panting on my tent. Some guy had come into camp with his New Foundland. Who hikes until midnight??? He was a little weird. He wouldn't look at me when talking, and looked like he hadn't been out of the woods in a few months.

7/17: Nice trail today. Saw the site that I camped at on my first trip to Long Lake 15 years ago. That was the place were I first used Timber Tob- my tent purchased in 1989 for $40 plus tax. I think this is the last trip for the tent. It has survived 15 years of backpacking, camping, abuse, and even 2 months in the jungles of the Dominican Republic. It doesn't keep water out very well anymore, the tarp floor is flaking, and the elastic in one of the poles broke the other night. Had to detour around some beaver flooded area. Saw a baby snapping turtle. Took a lean-to near suspension bridge on Cold River - amazing area. Wet feet starting to wear on us. Feet have been wet for several days, and even when we dry stuff out at night, everything immediately gets wet when we hit the trail the next day. Older guy in a lean-to down the trail said that they were flown in to the top of Long Lake, then hiked a few miles in. Cold River is another place that would be nice to spend a few days.

7/18: Group from the neighboring lean-to was quite a crew. Now I see why they flew in. They have full size umbrellas, pots and various other unnecessary gear bulging from their packs and hanging off the sides. Their leader informed us that he walked to Duck Hole 10 years ago, and would never do it again. Great views along Cold River. Saw Rondeau's place, which was pretty cool seeing I read he biography a few years ago. If you want to be a hermit living in the middle of nowhere it's a great location. As of today we've hiked over 100 miles. Taking longer each day to stomp out the miles. Craig saw a snake at the Duck Hole lean-to, and read in the journal that the place was “infested.” I guess people have had problems with snakes crawling into their packs. Great views across Duck Hole.

7/19: Saw a snake's head poking out of a hole in the front log of the lean-to when I was packing up this morning. A few minutes later there were 2 of them crawling out the end of the hollow log. I guess this place does have a high snake population. Seems pretty cool to me, but I guess it sucks for most hikers. Trail from Duck to Moose sucked because of all of the recent rain. Add in the condition of our feet, and it took almost 3 hours to go 4 miles - kind of embarrassing. “Mud puddles” at south end of Moose were over a foot deep. Trail from Moose to Averyville not too bad. We hiked that section 2 years ago also.

First purchases in Placid: Gatorade and McDonald's (drive-thru of course- I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have been able to tolerate the smell of 10 days of backpacking inside the restaurant).

Overall thoughts of the trail: Definitely glad that we did it. Some great hiking, great views, and great times. You get to really see the Adirondacks. Looking forward to doing it again in a year or two, hopefully with some drier weather.

NLP THRU-HIKER SURVEY

Name: Mike Combs

Address: Ithaca, NY

Why the NLP trail hike: Love Adirondack hiking. Good excuse to get back in the woods for a few days, and back to reality.

Would you do it again?: In a heart beat!

High points you expect along the NLP: Some good trails and great views.

Some actual high points you experienced along the NLP: Canary pond, views along Cold River, lots of snakes, making it to Stephens Pond alive, abandoned Beast Ice, no ringing cell phones

Possible disappointments along NLP: The knee thing, food getting stolen again by a bear while cooking dinner, death or dismemberment

Actual disappointments along the NLP: Water logged feet

Backpacking and trail background: Did north end of trail 2 years ago with Craig and Sean, some of the high peaks, been hiking for several years

Item you fell you will miss most during your hike along the trail: Shower

Items you missed most: Shower, a cold Sam Adams

Favorite food upon Adirondack departure: Pizza

Food you think you will crave upon reaching Placid: Definitely not MREs

Food you actual craved upon completion: McDonald's

Favorite beverage before your thru-hike: A beer

Favorite beverage you craved upon completion: Gatorade

What would you as a thru-hiker like upon your return to civilization in accommodations: shower, my Birks, a cold beer

Friends you made along the way: Dan and Kim from Back to Basics, John and Maggie, the mysterious midnight hiker (not really)