SHEEP MEADOWS, GRASS POND, HAYS BROOK TRUCK TRAIL ski

 


Feb 5, 2024 - GRASS POND from HAYS BROOK TRUCK TRAIL ski. Debar Mountain WF. A short ski to check out the conditions - about a foot of firm base topped with <1" of powder - good, altho old ski tracks were semi-frozen & fast. Wide, mostly easy trails. Soon crossed the Osgood River on a wide bridge. R on spur to GP. Lean-to. Skied down onto the pond & a little way up the inlet - 2 beaver dams, & what looked like recent otter activity & den. Skiing on the pond was very good. Temp in the 20s & sunny. 4.5 miles, 2.1 hours. Day 1 of a 4-day trip to the greater Saranac Lake area.





Feb 27, 2023 (Mon) - SHEEP MEADOWS ski. Debar Mtn WF north of Paul Smiths. Excellent conditions on 10-15” powder on good base – 4” had fallen overnight. Temp mid to upper 20s. Horse/snomo trails but you are not likely to see signs of either in winter. Hays Brook Truck Trail. Osgood River. Hays Brook then a steep climb. Mostly softwoods, even some Scotch pine. some rolling hills but many flatter sections. 7.5 miles, 3.3 hours.










Visit us on Facebook


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BOREAS PONDS in the Adirondack Park

Image
Boreas Ponds Tract info . Seasonal access issues .  June 20-22, 2023 (Tue-Thu) - BOREAS & WHITE LILY PONDS paddling, hiking, & camping. High Peaks Wilderness. Highs in the 70s, lows in the upper 40s. Light mosquito activity at times, a moderate amount of young deer flies (not biting), and black flies are over with (they are hanging out on cooler mountain tops).  Day 1 - Drove 6 miles on Gulf Brook Rd (dirt/gravel) to the 4 Corners parking area (5 of the 15 spots were taken). Wheeled the boats ~1 mile on dirt/gravel road to the lean-to, white-throated sparrows sang along the way, & set up camp. Saw a ruffed grouse in the lean-to clearing. Wild strawberries too. There is a well-hidden thunderbox privy - it took a while to find it - it is in another clearing NW of the lean-to. The Ranger stopped by as we had lunch. Paddled the irregular perimeter of BP. Spotted a loon on a nest. Great blue heron. 5.7 miles. Saw a few other paddlers, mostly day trippers. Went for an evening p
Read more

UPPER HUDSON RIVER and OPALESCENT RIVER paddling, skiing, Adirondack Park.

Image
Sep 24 (Sat) - BLACKWELL STILLWATER on the Hudson River, plus Goodnow River. From the parking area on Drakes Mill Road, we wheeled the boats 0.3 miles to the Polaris Bridge, then L or N on a path between a campsite & the river 100' to put in. Paddled upstream, soon passing the mouth of the Goodnow River. Then had to paddle hard to get up a short rapid. Turned around after going ~1 mile at the bottom of a long rapid - nice spot tho. Back downstream with a view of Polaris Mtn & up the Goodnow. Up & over a beaver dam, then just a little further to a rocky rapid after going 0.6 miles from the Hudson. Back to the Hudson with another good view of Polaris Mtn & a large raptor flew by & landed on a tree branch. Swift current below the Polaris Bridge then flatwater for about 2 miles - now in the Hudson Gorge Wilderness . Turned around at the top of a rocky rapid & explores a backwater to the E for a bit then headed back to take out below the bridge (you don't re
Read more

HUDSON RIVER paddling, Thurman to Hadley.

Image
The Bear Slides on Butternut Brook is a half mile hike from the river at Darlings Ford. In summer, tubing is popular in the 2nd half of this trip. Oct 20, 2021 - Hadley gauge at 3.8' - a very nice level.  Sunny & temp rising into the lower 70s.  Some very nice fall foliage in the yellow/orange range but past peak for reds.  Moving water, fast water, riffles up to 1' - the current made it easy to keep a 3.5-4mph pace.  Steep hills on both sides.  Bald eagles, lots of Canada geese, a lone merganser.  14.5 miles, 5 hours (incl an hour-long lunch break near 1000 Acres Ranch).  However, what may have been a perfect day of paddling was diminished by a reminder that not all folks are having an awesome day - enough said - details below but BE WARNED , it ain't pretty . *After paddling downstream for 10 minutes, we spotted some debris on river R that looked like some clothing, a dummy, or something.  After a closer look, it was determined to be a dead male with an apparent se
Read more