Foot Patrol - Rick's Hiking Blog

Playlist Ideas for Solo Hikes

2009-08-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Although it is rather dangerous to go on solo hikes, and many people will tell you that it's a bad idea; It's truly adventure at it's best!

With the prevalence of iPods these days, it would be silly to hike alone without one. Below is my current playlist for solo hikes. I am into a lot of heavy metal and other forms of hard rock, but I think you will find some of these choices to be quite motivating on your way up the mountain of your choice:.

The Acacia Strain - JFC
Rush - Tom Sawyer
Slayer - Angel of Death
Anterrabe - How Joey Got His Groove Back
Every Time I Die: Ebolorama
Nonpoint - What A Day
Biohazard - Resist
Biohazard - Switchback
Sevendust - Waffle
Nothingface - Grinning

If you like really aggressive music that will virtually propel you to the summit of any mountain, big or small, I would recommend you give these songs a home in your iPod.

Is this the right road, Rick?

2009-08-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Current Elevation: 2,818 Feet above sea level

Current Location: 42*41.524(n) / 073*17.153(w)

Well, today's Berlin Mountain hike got off to a rocky start. I had planned to awaken my comrade, Ben at 8:00 AM sharp and start on our way to the mountain. Due to a lack of sleep the night before, I did not make it to his house until some time after 9:00 AM. Although the lack of sleep made me less likely to wake up on time, I decided that based on the eventful evening prior to this morning, the common party activities would have rendered Ben asleep until someone came to wake him up anyway. I did not eat much breakfast, and as a result, I was quite sluggish on my way out the door. To top everything off, I had emails that needed to be answered before lunchtime.

When I arrived to Ben's house, he was still sound asleep. I gave him a quick shake, and he woke right up and was ready to head out the door some 5 minutes later. He neglected to grab coffee on his way out so we stopped at the Coffee Bean on Route 9 in Schodack. After we stopped there, we quick ran to Cumberland Farms just up the road and got some quick drinks for the ride up. Once we were on the road, the journey began.

When we got to the road that was supposed to take us to the trailhead, Ben happened to notice that the road got really narrow and had posted signs all over. "Is this the right road, Rick?" He asked in his famous "Oh Shit!" tone. I pulled out the map, and sure enough... We were indeed in the right place. The car could not fit down this path, so we decided to park the car a few hundred yards from the sketchy dirt path and walk through the array of posted signs. We both were a little afraid that we were on someone's private property, and that we would get in some level of trouble. About 1/2 a kilometer up that road (Stupid USGS Quad was all metric, which kind of screwed me up a bit), we saw a guy driving a work shovel and doing some work on the narrow dirt road we were skeptically walking down. With compass and map in hand, I spoke to the man working the shovel. He turned out to be an Encon worker and seemed rather delighted to see people in an otherwise deserted area. We chatted for a moment and he informed me that we were indeed on the right road, and that it was state owned, not private like the posted signs suggested. I said thanks and he wished us "Happy Hiking Fellows!" as we carried on our journey.

Shortly after running into the Encon guy, Ben informed me that nature was calling, and that it was calling collect! So, we stopped so he could take a quick bathroom break in the woods. I checked the map and plotted our course.

Once we started making our way up the mountain, it was evident that I was a bit out of shape. Ben was hauling the mail up to the top with me huffing and puffing behind. We made it about half way and had some granola bars and some water before we made the next push for the top. I stashed my trash and moved on to the summit.

I took notice that no one really hikes this trail very much for some reason or another. There were many places where we might as well have been bush-whacking our way through the rather primitive trails. I have hiked a decent of mountains, and rarely had to go through so much brush to get to another part of a trail. I managed to pick up a tick during this process, to which I discovered when we reached the summit.

There were also points during our ascent that there was a number of errors on the USGS Quad we were using as a general guide. For some reason, I expected that there would be differences between reality and the map, but there were some spots where the map said there was trail (and there was not) or a few of the direction changes were wrong. Thankfully, I had brought a really good military grade compass with me, which helped keep us lined up with our objective while we were on the move. (Thanks Benny Fox, you rock!)

Around 1:30ish, we made it to the top! Ben and I sat down and chowed down on some more granola bars and looked around a bit. The summit was beautiful. The lower circumference of the view was dominated by pine trees with the surrounding mountains lazily rolling in and out of the tree line.

When we finished eating, Ben got up and instantly began exploring the entire summit. He was rather disappointed by the fact that our view was obstructed by trees and the like. In an effort to gain a better view, Ben decided to climb the best tree he could find.

Ben and his Ninja skills

After playing around with my camera for a while, I started to pack up my gear and get ready for our descent back to the car. Ben magically reappeared from checking out all the various features of the Berlin Mountain summit, and we made our way back down.

On our way down, we were making good time and hauling some serious rear. We were talking to each other and not paying attention and managed to completely miss our turn to the trail we came up on. As a result of neither of us paying attention, we had to backtrack a good solid .5 km. It was frustrating, but at least we were on fairly level ground, so the mistake cost very little in climbing energy, but made us both feel like complete fools.

After taking our unscheduled detour, we started the steeper part of our descent. I was trying to brace myself and take it easy, as to keep my knee or ankles from getting any more damaged than they are. Ben, on the other hand, was running down the trail, and quickly disappeared from my view. I stopped for a second, shook my head and listened for any sounds associated with breaking bones or hitting a tree at full speed. The only sound I heard was not unlike the sound of a little child running through a leaf pile... I don't know how he managed to keep from tripping, I was having trouble dodging tree roots and other debris scattered about the trail, and I was going rather slow. I finally ran into Ben at the end of the steeper part of the trail, and just before our next junction. He could have ran the entire mountain right down to the bottom, had he been hiking alone, but he had to wait for me while I was maneuvering through the debris as if I were crawling through barbed wire.

After we met back up, Ben and I began a more controlled descent back to the car. We made it the rest of the way back without getting lost or hurt, and we still had some energy left to the point where we were not very grumpy at the end of the hike. We took that saved energy and set a course for the nearest fast food joint for some tasty, greasy burgers. Unfortunately, we would have to wait until we got back to Schodack before we could indulge in some beefy burger goodness.

Overall, I had a great time on this hike. With only a few minor hitches, I was happy to have hiked this mountain. I can look upon it with a sense of satisfaction every time me and my brethren drive out to the falls. Berlin Mountain is clearly visible from our usual route to the falls, so I will make it a point to gloat whenever it comes into view. Above the brag factor, I had a great time hiking with Ben and look forward to many more in the future.

Next adventure: T.B.A.

-Rick

Gearing up

2009-08-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Current Elevation: 4 ft above sea level

Location: Home

Currently, I am sitting in my living room pouring over a USGS Quad for the Berlin area of New York, Massachusetts and Vermont. Throughout my travels over the recent weeks, I spotted this mountain while I was driving. I had seen the mountain before and I finally decided to find it on a map, and assess the possibility of climbing it next time I get a free moment and a nice day. The former and the latter don't happen very often, mainly because this summer has been a nightmare for farmers and the like from my hometown as a result of excessive rainfall.

I checked the weather a few days ago and decided that Tuesday was going to be a swell day to hit the mountain. My preliminary finds on Google Earth indicated to me that I was looking at Berlin Mountain, Which sits against the easternmost point of New York and pushes into Massachusetts. With that said, I needed to procure a trail map of the Taconic Mountain Range, where Berlin Mountain was situated; and learn a bit more about what this mountain was all about, and if it was even worth my time.

I took a look online and read a few things about the mountain and decided to go for it. I thought it was interesting that I never knew it was there; and that it was the highest place in the county which I grew up in. It's not really bragging fuel for conversations with the bigger climbers, but it's a cool thing to slip into conversation telling people that I was the highest object in the county for a brief moment. Playtime is over, It was time to recruit potential companions for the trip, as it would be really boring just doing it myself. I asked everyone, and I got to usual answers: "I'm working," "I don't wake up that early," and "You have to be kidding me, I would much rather go up on a {insert anything other than "on foot" here}." My only taker was my good friend, Ben. He will do just about anything at any time, and anywhere; as long as you give him notice a few days before hand.

Today I took a quick ride over to my local shopping plaza, where my local Eastern Mountain Sports is located. I usually get my maps from there because a lot of those guys love mountain climbing, and know of some neat places for cool day-hikes. I figured while I was there I would see if they knew about this mountain I was looking to traverse.

All said and done, They did not have what I was looking for in that region of the Taconic Range, but instead suggested I try the book store further down the sidewalk and ask for a USGS Quad for that area. The Quad would be not as detailed as a trail map, but has a lot of landmarks and such on the map, which would be a big help for navigation. So, I thanked the man who had helped me and made my way to the book store. Once there, they had exactly what I was looking for. (Thanks E.M.S., you guys were very helpful in pointing me in the right direction!).

With map in hand, I went about my other tasks I had to accomplish for the day, then went home to plan out the hike which is to take place tomorrow morning at 8 AM Sharp.

I was rather disappointed with the lack of trail detail on the USGS Quad, but it's more of a topographic/feature map. I just needed something to give me an idea of where I am in relation to the summit. There was, however, 1 or 2 trails marked on the quad that go to the summit (not with any great detail), so I think this is a good place to start.

So now we wait. The clock is ticking and I have to pack the rest of my stuff so I can just get in my car, pick up Ben and go when I wake up tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow will work out well and that it won't be a complete disaster.

-Rick

How do you loose a mountain! Seriously!

2008-08-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Currant Altitude: 4,960 Feet
Current Location: 44°06′20″N 73°54′2″W

A lovely late August day. The day started early, around 7:30AM to be exact. Today's objective is the peak of Haystack Mountain, located in the Adirondack Park of Upstate New York. With me today is my dear friend, Mike. So, I grabbed my backpack, threw on my boots, then drove out to Schodack to pick up Mike.

When I got to Mike's house, he promptly got ready and we moved out. With everything taken care of in advance, we were able to head up north and start the long climb to the summit.

All was well until we got up to Lake Placid. Apparently, the directions to the trailhead were wrong, so we were about an hour or so behind. After looking and looking, we decided to stop and ask some of the locals for directions. Seeing as Haystack is a rather large mountain, perhaps the locals would know where the trailhead would be. Lake Placid is a great town, full of hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts, so it should have been a done deal in regards to directions. Well, after stopping in one of the local gas stations, we were given directions, which were wrong. We drove around for a little while longer and stopped in a few more shops in hopes that someone would know where we could hook up with the trailhead. After many unsuccessful attempts at attempting to get directions, I came back to the car shaking my head. Mike turns to me and in his loud "I cant believe this shit" voice, he spurts out "How the hell do you not know where a mountain is, when it's practically right in your back yard?!" I laughed rather hard, out of complete frustration for the whole (seemingly) hopeless situation.

We managed to get directions from a fine gentleman at (yet another) gas station that knew exactly where we should go to look for the trailhead. Finally, we found it! It's now rather late in the afternoon, and we need to get moving if we want to make it to the summit and back before dark. We started making our way up the trail after getting all geared up and ready to roll.

It's now about 12:30 PM and we are about 1/3 of the way up the trail. The trail that we took splits in two directions. If we stay on the blue trail, we go to Haystack. If we take the red trail to the right, we make our way to McKenzie. We were unsure if we would see good visible trail markers on our way up, which would lead to another disaster had the wrong trail been taken. We got to the trail split and saw that there was indeed a sign. Thank God! For whatever reason, I neglected to bring a map, and all I had was my GPS, so it was nice to see that there was a sign to point us in the right direction.

Now that we established that we were going in the right direction, we stopped for a quick smoke break. On that quick smoke break, we decided to take a few more pictures before we put ourselves into two-heel-drive and kept moving. When we started moving again, the fatigue kicked in and the complaining started. By this point, I felt like I was part of an out-of-control stress test. I remember saying "Nurse, turn the stair-master off!" as I was huffing and puffing my way up the mountain.

We stopped for another break before the final leap to the summit. We came across an old foundation for an unknown structure and decided it would be a great place to take a seat and drink some water. We took a brief moment to speculate what the foundation might have been before it's obvious overtake by the mountain moss. We seemed to think that it was part of an old pump station for water, based on it's proximity to the river that ran parallel to the trail we were hiking up, but I'm sure the structures true nature can be found somewhere in old records.

After our unscheduled pit-stop, we began the final jaunt to the summit. I must say, it was quite steep. I remember at that moment really feeling like I was on the stair-master from hell. We were doing hand over hand to climb the final .10km. We might as well have been rock climbing. This whole time, I was thinking just how sweet reaching the summit would be. With that said, the summit was now in reach. As seen in the picture to the left, Mike was feeling on top of the world as he sped his way up. He was a good few paces ahead of me for the duration of the voyage, and it was quite tricky to catch up to him. He was basically unstoppable, and moving at savage speed! I remember thinking to myself "Man, I need to get in better shape!"

We finally reached the summit! We were surprised to find two elderly looking ladies sitting there at the peak. Mike looked at me with complete astonishment, and I returned the look. The ladies greeted us with a "How was your hike?" t which we collectively responded "It was quite an adventure!" They managed to get up there in just around 2 hours. It took us almost 3 hours to get the summit, which means that these old ladies were hauling some serious ass up the mountain! After a brief conversational exchange, they bid us a hearty farewell and made their way down the trail. Mike and myself grabbed a seat on the rock which the old ladies were sitting on previously and plowed some granola bars. Shortly thereafter, we took some pictures at the summit.

Mike was quite happy to have reached the peak

I was quite happy to have made it up top too. It was a bear of a hike!

We took a few more pictures and decided that we needed to hit the trail and get back to the car before it got too dark. After this hike, I was kind of glad we got off to a late start because the sun was not at it's hottest, and we had some shade the whole way up. When we had arrived to the summit, there was this beautiful breeze that carried with it the delightful smell of mountain air and tasty smelling pines, so if I were to ever hike this mountain again, I would start it a bit later in the day, as we did completely by accident.

On our way back down the mountain, my knees started giving me trouble from the sheer steepness of the descent. It felt great to reach some flatter ground as we reached the half way point. We sped up the pace a little bit when we were a quick stride from the car. It felt awesome to sit back in the car and have a victory smoke. We settled down for a quick moment before we got back on the road back to Schodack. I learned a lot from this hike, and the lessons learned (like.... bringing a trail map and getting good directions) will be with me on future hikes. It was great to hike with Mike, he's a real trooper! For someone that does not hike very often, he sets the pace like a fearless leader.