This is from 6 weekends ago.
Alright got out for a quick over nighter on the LHHT. This was mostly to test a new hammock suspension and some other new gear, and chose this stretch because 1) I know it like the back of my hand and 2) there are multiple bailout points should something go wrong. This was also a chance to retrace some of the steps of my youth, so to speak, and I'll mix in some photos from my teen years..., they're scans so not that great of quality.
I hiked in from Rt 30 and stayed at the Turnpike shelter area, round trip of about 15 miles after I did some side exploring. Beautiful spring day Sat, but woke up to a blustery spring day on Sunday. The fog still wasn't lifted by the time I left. I guess I wasn't the only one that had the idea to get out this weekend, as all but one shelter was full by the time bedtime came around.
Permit and fee to sleep in the woods!? Ha! Just kidding, I paid because I know the fees go to maintaining the shelters and trail.
One of many pretty little streams that are flowing this time of year. In a few months, this ridge will be very dry.
I like this section too because although there aren't that many remarkable features, there is some cool geology.
And the trail goes through some big rocks.
It's awesome to imagine that once this was a sea bed, and these mountains once stood higher than the Rockies do now.
Another pretty little stream.
Every spring has sprung!
This is one of the new pieces of gear that I'm testing, a new filter by MSR called the TrailShot. It weighs only 5 ounces, which saves me about 3/4 of a pound from carrying my MSR Guardian. I hate those bag/squeeze type filters, and I think MSR nailed it. Instead of trying it in those pristine streams, I tried it in places like this puddle. Granted, the puddle wasn't that dirty either.
Rocks and Mountain Laurel! Green when all the rest has gone.
Winter hangs on by a thread.
A nice hemlock grove through which a stream flows.
The water is tea colored due to tannins from the hemlock needles. A perfect place to try my filter again. Many filters quickly clog because of the tannins, and the water often still tastes like ****. The TrailShot handled it fine, but I did notice that the pumping force that I had to apply did increase. A quick swish to clean and it was back to normal. Tasted great!
Well done Patrick!
A little more winter hanging around.
It's the abominable snowman!
A view of the valley through the trees.
Coming up on Beam's Rocks.
We used to rappel off that pinnacle.
I was 16 or 17 here, hanging off the above pinnacle. If I remember correctly, about to practice tying off and switching to prussicing back up.
We used to climb all over these rocks, including up that crack.
Approaching the top of the rocks.
You have to hop that gap to get to the rocks..., it is perceptively wider than what it was in my teen years.
View from the rocks.
The pinnacle from above. It makes a nice natural seat.
So nice, it was a favorite place to take GFs in my teens. We used to go out here at night before people started dying and they banned people from being out here at night. We would hike from our base came (coming up).
Looking down to the forest below, and back towards the LHHT which runs below.
I guess this is a memorial to one of the people that died here.
Don't mind if I do, thank you!
Approaching the shelter area. Pit toilets and 5 or 6 Adirondack style lean-tos. They even supply fire wood. I actually adopted one of these shelters as they're 40 years old and in need of restoration. REI granted 10K, the other 14K being gathered from the public.
One of the cozy little lean-tos.
But to heck with that, I'm sleeping above ground.
Home away from home.
And that's it for day one. For day two, it was the same way out so I didn't take any new pics except of my old "base camp." Starting from about 13, myself and 4 other friends started camping at this site every summer for a couple of weeks. Our parents would drop us off with a load of gear and each of us would hump at least 50 pounds of stuff deep into the woods. Although you aren't far from various roads or trails in Forbes, we did find the most remote place we could, and set up our camp. For 5 years, no one ever found us there, nor ever found our camp..., until today. I found the remnants and I have seen this place for going on 25 years. We used to bury our tools..., easier than humping them out.
Fire pit on the right.
I saw that a sapling pushed one of the tools to the surface, the handle long since rotted away. I'm going to come back this summer and clean this stuff up, although no one would ever find it, as an adult, leave no trace negates the possibility of me leaving the site like this. It would also be cool to have those mementos.
Looking at the fire pit towards and old quarry. It is overgrown with saplings now. Back in the day, we used to set up our base camp here and then explore every nook and cranny of these mountains. We'd leave at dawn and often not get back until after dark. Do kids do that these days?
I found some pictures of one such outing.
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Originally Posted by TrailSlug
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