# Today's Hike



## chrsdipietro94@

I'm working on a project with a goal of walking our entire local trail system. We have a fairly well connected modular system throughout the valley. I was inspired to embark on this project by a guy who completed a project with a goal of covering all of the ground in San Francisco. 

Typically, you can traverse a wide array of habitat and micro-climates in one walk. If you're really motivated, you can navigate a route from river level (675ft) up onto Mission Peak (6850ft) crossing 20 miles of well maintained trail and forest road. It would take all day, and by the end of that day, you would probably be pretty irritable because you still had to navigate back to town from point 6850, and it was already past sunset, and you started at sunrise (my wife and I did this when we first moved here... it was a true test of our marital abilities). 

Having recently completed the network surrounding Saddle Rock Gateway trail-head, today I moved over to Foothills. Within each area, typically, I start with a loop consisting of some of the main veins and arteries. There's a lot of ground to cover in each zone. On subsequent trips I focus on navigating to new ground as efficiently as possible within the system. It took 9 return trips to Saddle Rock to cover all of the ground in that Canyon. Foothills/Horse Lake will probably take twice as many.

Here's what it looked like today. 












This area is in full desert mode this time of year. Today was a bit windy. The trail-bed is the consistency dry concrete with 3 inches of beach sand/moon dust on top. Breezes kick up the dust. If somebody blows by you on a bike, you eat their dust... literally.

Here are a few shots from walks around Saddle Rock








This an interesting angle. When you look at it from the East side of the river (head on) it looks like a saddle, hence the name. Looking at it on the South face, it looks a bit like a shark fin.


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## Harvey

chrsdipietro94@ said:


> On subsequent trips I focus on navigating to new ground as efficiently as possible within the system. It took 9 return trips to Saddle Rock to cover all of the ground in that Canyon. Foothills/Horse Lake will probably take twice as many.



With 9 return trips this sounds like a fun challenge, to string it together, taking into account limits and interests.

This is very cool.


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## chrsdipietro94@

Walked up hill in a wonderful spot yesterday. I ascended the Chatter Creek trail to just below 6k. This trail offers spectacular views of Grindstone Mtn. The ski terrain in this zone is pretty amazing. It's just East of the crest, so the snow is plentiful, and a bit drier than on the West side. The trail winds its way through the historical record of debris piles from seasons past. Oddly enough, it rained? Rain never happens East of the crest in August. I had planned on making the trip up to Lake Ethel, but the scrambling became too risky with wet rocks.

Here's what it looked like:





Wild Flowers in bloom up high




View of Colchuck zone over in the Enchantments




Wide view of Grindstone upon reaching the floor of the lower basin



Here's a closer look of the face... the guardrails indicate some potential mandatory air..




It was interesting to see the record of last seasons slides in the run-out zone. At Mission, we had a lack-luster last-season in terms of snowfall (70% of norm). Over here (about 25 miles west of Mission), last season ended at about 120% of normal. West of this meridian (although still East cascade) get loads of snow. You can see slides debris piles here that broke from the South and East aspects.


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## Harvey

Wow!


chrsdipietro94@ said:


> Walked up hill...
> 
> View attachment 4186



Um yea quite a walk.

Great photos too.


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## chrsdipietro94@

Went over to the tall grass of the Foothills again yesterday. Completed the main loop in the upper section of this trail system. This is a multi-use trail that gets a lot of MTB traffic. In the past 3 months the traffic out in this zone has gone through the roof. It's starting to feel a bit overcrowded after 10AM. After a fairly simple (yet long) climb, it's fast and squirrelly on the down-hill.... lots of blind corners. These days, I prefer to walk this trail as opposed to ride. A fall resulting in injury from last season has left fear in my head every time I ride my MTB. On trails like this, the walker has the right-of-way. The local rule is "stop your bike and yield to the walker." Unfortunately, most of our local MTB community does not go by this rule. I had a near miss yesterday that probably would have hurt both of us. Be careful and stay healthy.





Looking west at the Enchantments






Looking North at Burch Mtn. The black spot in the center is a burn scar from last week.


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## chrsdipietro94@

Rolling down low today. A brutal heat-wave is on the way, but today was pretty pleasant with exception of wind out of the North. The first 10 miles were straight into the wind (sustained 15mph, with gusts up to 30). I used an e-biker as a shepherd early, but she attacked on the climb up to the North bridge, and dropped me without effort on the steepest section. 

Started at the south trail-head on the Apple Capital Loop and rode out to my new homestead.

Here's what it looked like.




A few miles of fresh chip-seal. A splashy shoulder made this section pretty miserable



Sweet view of the Enchantments from Riverside Park in Cashmere



There is skate park and pump track here... 1 kid out there this morning tearing it up on a scooter.



Little dude in the lower right getting ready to roll-in...



Every town in the valley has a skate park and a pump track. This one is where the hard-core skaters do their work


 

This made the route home a bit complicated... there are 4 more crossing from here. This train is at a complete stop and it is extraordinarily long.



View from the new homestead


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## raisingarizona

chrsdipietro94@ said:


> Rolling down low today. A brutal heat-wave is on the way, but today was pretty pleasant with exception of wind out of the North. The first 10 miles were straight into the wind (sustained 15mph, with gusts up to 30). I used an e-biker as a shepherd early, but she attacked on the climb up to the North bridge, and dropped me without effort on the steepest section.
> 
> Started at the south trail-head on the Apple Capital Loop and rode out to my new homestead.
> 
> Here's what it looked like.
> 
> View attachment 4820
> A few miles of fresh chip-seal. A splashy shoulder made this section pretty miserable
> View attachment 4821
> Sweet view of the Enchantments from Riverside Park in Cashmere
> View attachment 4822
> There is skate park and pump track here... 1 kid out there this morning tearing it up on a scooter.
> View attachment 4823
> Little dude in the lower right getting ready to roll-in...
> View attachment 4824
> Every town in the valley has a skate park and a pump track. This one is where the hard-core skaters do their work
> View attachment 4827
> 
> This made the route home a bit complicated... there are 4 more crossing from here. This train is at a complete stop and it is extraordinarily long.
> View attachment 4825
> View from the new homestead
> View attachment 4826



Washington sure is beautiful. The better half and I are conspiring on how to spend more time there as well as other states of interest in the fairly near future.

you are very lucky to live there!


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## chrsdipietro94@

Quick climb up to Clara Lake.... a short walk up to the sub-alpine. The is a great side-country spot at Mission.


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## Tjf1967

Can you see smoke from the fires? It was dulling the clear blue sky in the east yesterday.


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## chrsdipietro94@

Yup... it's like a war zone over here... I shot this one a few days ago. There is about 400,000 acres burning about 50 miles to the North. The sun has been obscured for about 2 weeks now. Air quality is hazardous pretty much everywhere. It progressively gotten worse over the past few days.


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## Tjf1967

My god, the west is burning, the south is getting hurricanes and everyone else has to worry about Covid. Wonderful day.


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## chrsdipietro94@

Out and back to Mission Peak via the summer approach. This another Mission side-country spot. An easy traverse from the ski area in the Winter, a bumpy car ride and pleasant walk during the summer. It's easy access to the Alpine. Lots of talus. We thought we would escape the smoke, but it's pretty much everywhere.

Here's what it looked like. The blue square on the map was the destination from yesterday's hike




You can see the ski area from here... it the line in the upper left




You can see the Enchantment range from here




Not much in the way of views today, but there was some cool stuff on the ground


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## Harvey

Is that a blue sky day with smoke added?


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## chrsdipietro94@

Harvey said:


> Is that a blue sky day with smoke added?


Yes it is


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## Harvey

How was the breathing?


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## chrsdipietro94@

Not bad up there... it's not as thick at 7k. Down in town it's awful.


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## ScottySkis

In Hudson Valley Saturday end of September tomorrow in Shawgunk mountain range
Anyone from going
Tomorrow forecast for high elevation around Sams point is 50 degrees and ? be awesome day for sure??????


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## ScottySkis

ScottySkis said:


> In Hudson Valley Saturday end of September tomorrow in Shawgunk mountain range
> Anyone from going
> Tomorrow forecast for high elevation around Sams point is 50 degrees and ? be awesome day for sure??????


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## ScottySkis

ScottySkis said:


> In Hudson Valley Saturday end of September tomorrow in Shawgunk mountain range
> Anyone from going
> Tomorrow forecast for high elevation around Sams point is 50 degrees and ? be awesome day for sure??????


Saturday September 19 wacky crazy 2020
Great weather today low humidity very comfortable.
Love being so close to Shawgunk mountain range 15 miles from my apartment in Middletown NY thanks Jim for picking me up 2nd day of hiking this year
Cooler temperatures here so definitely plan on few more good hiking before snow falls.
Sams Point glad to see what beautiful areas to live in.
Always nice to see lots of other with family and pets enjoy it to


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## chrsdipietro94@

Quick walk over in the Dry Gulch/Saddle Rock zone. Warm fall day... a great time to be outside in the PNW

Here's what is looks like on Google Earth... this is part of a trail system that spans the West side of the valley.








Saddle Rock is in the center left... if you squint real hard you can see Glacier Peak just to the right of it.


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## Harvey

Nice shot. The sky is clear?


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## MC2

Nice foliage in the ADKs lately


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## chrsdipietro94@

This is my favorite time of year for hiking. Out in Eastern WA this week, taking a WFR cert course at 49 Degrees North. Got out for a short walk yesterday in the ski area.... got hassled by security, so I didn't get very far. Never skied here, but looks like a sweet spot.









Base of Sunrise area.


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## chrsdipietro94@

Roaming around our most creatively named canyon... Number 2. This sits directly South of it's companion canyon Number 1. No particular objective for this walk... If the stars align this is a sweet spot for the finest low elevation Hippy Pow in the valley. Unfortunately, the trailhead sits just below where persistent snowpack tends to develop. We get a good week down in this zone every now and then. I've skied here once in 10 seasons. Perhaps with the strengthening La Nina, perhaps this season I'll make it over here again.

Here's the Earth View of the approach




It was a fine Autumn day for a walk in the woods


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## jamesdeluxe

chrsdipietro94@ said:


> Never skied here, but looks like a sweet spot.




If the stars align (that's saying a lot this season), I'm hoping to head back to 49 Degrees North given that it's on the Indy Pass. Had a great day there in March 2013:








						49 Degrees North, WA 03/11/13
					

For our sixth and final ski day here in the Inland Northwest, we skied a mountain that has entered my "Top 10 U.S. Locals Areas" list: 49 Degrees North. A quick one-hour drive directly north of Spokane, 49 has impressive terrain spread across two peaks, including one, Angel Peak on the far...




					nyskiblog.com


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## chrsdipietro94@

Went over to a spot called Mountain Home Ridge. In my opinion, this is the best of the "low commitment" walk in the Leavenworth area. A 20 minute ascent gets you some pretty amazing views....

Looking up Tumwater Canyon at Cashmere Mountain (7800ft +/-)




Looking back at the Wenatchee Valley




Leavenworth with North Cascades in the distance


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## ScottySkis

Happy Tuesday
I walked this around parking lot here today for 45 minutes it was comfortable a few minutes ago now sitting with AC on


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## ScottySkis

Story of why had to walk this morning 2 miles..
After breakfast at my close deli, bus stop right there bus driver ignores" my thumb up , I was pissedd.. I had check to cash at local cash place that is 2 miles away.
After cash it then I had$ for me and lunch at McDonald's with five guys fries. Then I took taxi home I was hot after the walk which I stop few times..
When I got home put AC on and drank lots of water feel ok now.


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## ScottySkis

Walk in lovely Hudson Valley temp now in morning 55 degrees low humidity probably walk 2 miles with stop for breakfast at my favorite spot village deli


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## ScottySkis

Brownie
Walking half mile in beautiful weather here
Eating it at quick check my favorite convince store with coffee and water then walk back to apartment nice mile walk today????


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## ScottySkis

I walked few miles today in very comfortable temps for me in mid Hudson Valley NY


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## Brownski

Not exactly a real hike but the Indian Ladder Trail is always fun.


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## Low Angle Life

Hiked Bonticou Crag this morning, glad to have made it out as early as we did to avoid crowds. It's been a few years since I've done this loop, I've been staying further south on the Minnewaska ridge recently due to the covid influx of hikers but was glad to get up this way before a bulk of the crowds were out. The story once we made it downtown for burritos was a little different.


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## ScottySkis

Bacon egg cheese corned beef hash .
I just walked about half mile to great village deli had delicious food their.
Then walk to easy quick check got basic shopping done toking taxi back to apartment very comfortable temperatures in Middletown NY today???


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## Ripitz

ScottySkis said:


> toking taxi


Who do I call for one of those?


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## G.ski

Low Angle Life said:


> Hiked Bonticou Crag this morning, glad to have made it out as early as we did to avoid crowds. It's been a few years since I've done this loop, I've been staying further south on the Minnewaska ridge recently due to the covid influx of hikers but was glad to get up this way before a bulk of the crowds were out. The story once we made it downtown for burritos was a little different.
> View attachment 10713View attachment 10714View attachment 10715


Great hike. Did you hit Table Rocks as well?


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## ScottySkis

Sunday late October yesterday nice winter feeling temps walk few miles in Middletown nyy


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## Low Angle Life

Early morning at Storm King, hiked most of the White to Blue loop on from the southern parking lot. Diverted for a "short cut" on an old mining track to avoid the hike all the way back up to 9W from 218. Quintessential fall hike in the Hudson Highlands ending with a visit to Blooming Hill Farm to pick up some fresh produce for the week. All the fall vibes save for pumpkin spice.


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## Ripitz

Classic Gunks


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## Low Angle Life

Hiked up Lost Clove Trail to the Belleayre Mountain true summit yesterday. First time up this route and also my first time on the Belle ridge line in the summer. Lost Clove Trail is probably one of the steepest old log skidder trails I've had the pleasure of hiking, got 1800ft of elevation gain and 2.2 miles in just under an hour. I was thinking in winters past that Lost Clove might make a good skin track, I no longer agree with this assumption. Definitely a great alternative to Slide Mountain or Giant if those parking lots are full if your ego isn't bruised for not getting up above 4000ft. Got to scope a few winter lines running into Giggle Hollow, need to get up that was with a set of loppers in the bag.


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## Ripitz

Low Angle Life said:


> View attachment 15807


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## Ripitz

Red Hill Fire Tower for some reconnaissance.


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## Harvey

Ripitz said:


> View attachment 15808


Love this pic.


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## Ripitz

My sister knocked off #65 and 66 of the NE67 today. Praying for a good day for her tomorrow as she goes the distance.








HIKING LIST - new england 4000 footers ne67


Hike the New england NH 67 4000 Footer mountains and earn a hiking patch from the AMC.



4000footers.com


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## Harvey

That's big, Sis!


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## jamesdeluxe

@Ripitz: across what time frame will your sister complete the NE67? I always wondered how long it takes mere mortals (as opposed to your sister!) to hike Katahdin.


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## Ripitz

jamesdeluxe said:


> @Ripitz: across what time frame will your sister complete the NE67? I always wondered how long it takes mere mortals (as opposed to your sister!) to hike Katahdin.


Not totally sure. I will get the details when she gets back to civilization. Right now she’s in the mountains with spotty service and her phone on airplane mode.


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## Ripitz

#67 Mission accomplished!


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## Ripitz

jamesdeluxe said:


> @Ripitz: across what time frame will your sister complete the NE67?


I hiked with her on her first 4k when we did Mt. Washington on her 30th birthday in 1999.
She started a yearly trip years later and decided to go for the NH48 when she realized she’d done a bunch.
She tried to cobble trips together with friends or family and tried meetups with hiking groups and the AMC but the logistics were too much.
In 2016 and 2018 she took Wilderness First Aid to boost her confidence and did the second half of the NH48 solo, completing them in 2019.
She then turned her sights onto the NE67 and 52 with a View (she’s done 35)
She knocked a few off in Maine then went to Vermont then back to Maine.
The last three in Baxter State Park were on her schedule for next year but she saw a good weather window and managed to get reservations on standby, so she went for it.
We are so proud of her. What a remarkable achievement.

She’s already talking about the Northeast 111 (actually 115). That would include the ADK46 and Hunter/Slide in the Catskills. Might have to join her for those.




__





Northeast 111 - New England 111 hiking NE111 115 Hike mountains northeast 111 club North East 111


Hike the Northeast 111 Mountains in VT, NH, ME and NY. The 4000 footers of the Northeast side of the United States.



4000footers.com


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## Ripitz

jamesdeluxe said:


> I always wondered how long it takes mere mortals (as opposed to your sister!) to hike Katahdin.


Hiking Katahdin takes a bit of planning. Millinocket is the closest town and the park gate doesn’t open until 6am. The roads are gravel with a 20mph speed limit so it’s slow going. You also need a parking pass, secured in advance. This all makes for a late start, not good for an 8-12 hour hike with 4,000ft of elevation gain and much of it above tree line.

My sister lives on the North Shore of Boston, so it was a 5 hour drive just to get to the gate. Staying in the park allows you an earlier start but requires reservations that become available 4 months in advance and go quick. She got hers on standby when someone cancelled. Camping is primitive and she was able to car camp with a tent. No trailers, campers or dogs allowed. She was up at 4am. Still had to drive a little bit to get to the trailhead for a 5:45 start. Katahdin has two summits, Hamlin and Baxter. Baxter is higher and is the end/start of the Appalachian Trail with its iconic sign. She tagged both with an 11 hour day.

Mount Katahdin via Hamlin Ridge on AllTrails




__





Loading…






www.alltrails.com












Hiking


Steps to success for hiking in Baxter. Find your trail We have 220+ miles of trail, only 16% of which are on Katahdin. There is much more to see in these 209,644 acres, and you won’t have as…




baxterstatepark.org


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## jasonwx

My daughter on katahdin
Last month


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## jasonwx

My daughter lives in Cambridge 
She said hike was a beast!!!


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## tirolski

Started at the other end at Springer Mountain Ga. a while ago and hiked to near Roanoke.
If I ever work up the gumption might start at Katahdin and then head south sometime.


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## Ripitz

tirolski said:


> If I ever work up the gumption might start at Katahdin


Do it.


tirolski said:


> then head south


That’s called SOBO, short for southbound. That’s what the cool kids say.


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## Ripitz

Deep in the Cats.


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## Ripitz




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## Ripitz

Mount Utsayantha from Stamford the “Queen of the Catskills”.


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## Brownski

I love fire towers. The best thing about Okemo is it’s fire tower


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## Harvey

I just got something in my mailbox claiming that Gore and Okemo were the two of the most affordable ski areas in NY.


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## Ripitz

Bouck’s Falls, Scoharie County


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## gorgonzola

After four days of isolation in my son’s old room and feeling a lil blue about muffing up our first Christmas with the new granddaughter, I needed to get out and stretch the legs and soothe the soul a bit. I headed for a nearby hike that I’ve passed a hundred times on the bike on the D&L but never done. Objective was to take the AT to the cell towers and loop back via old AT/Blue trail.





Pulled into the lot at Lehigh Gap Nature Center where the Lehigh River bisects the Blue Mountain. It was 5* and the lot was empty, no surprise there - perfect. Sun and southern exposure felt warm as I started to climb.





Seemed like no time until I reached the spring and shelter.





Up to the summit and along the ridge of the Blue Mountain there was just enough snow to squeak which made me smile. A little further on the trail dips onto the North face and got a little slick so I threw on the micro spikes.





View to the North, the Lehigh River below is obscured but the patch in the middle is the zinc mill brownfields, at one time the whole North side of the mountain was barren. I remember passing it as kid this time of year going from the Philly burbs to my grandparents in Watertown and thinking WTF (in 10 yo term of course). Amazing to see it’s regeneration over the years.





I reached the towers and turned back to the Blue trail. View to the south and the valley from which I came.





Being protected from the wind, the return trip along forested south face was beautifully silent with intermittent flurries, only interrupted by the occasional knocking of distant woodpeckers. It didn’t make up for missing my Granddaughters first Christmas but it definitely made me feel better.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!


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## Ripitz

Love those gray/blue days with flurries when no one is around and the solace of open spaces.


gorgonzola said:


> Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!


And to you Grandpa. Peace be with you.


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