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I met up with Gremlin, from thebackpacker.com, at Upper Works (Bradley Pond Trailhead) around 9 Saturday morning. Temperatures were somewhere in the low 20’s and the cloudy skies above began to drop snow. I hurried up and changed and we were off. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I really need to get a pack more suitable for winter loads. Although my 4100ci Golite Trek pack was large enough to hold all of my winter gear, it by no means capable of handling the 40+/-lbs it must have weighed. Fortunately the hike in to the lean-to was only about 4.5 miles. The first 1/3 of the trail was along a winding road that goes to a private club. The club road was well packed by snowmobiles, which made the going much easier. Soon we made it to the Bradley Pond trail which we were lucky enough to find it broken all the way to the lean-to. The hike in was rather uneventful, which was much nicer than the regular mud fest you get hiking this trail in the warmer months. We made it to the lean-to around noon.
At this point we decided not to try to make it to one of the summits then, as it was still snowing and there really wasn’t enough time to make it back before dark anyway. We state around and shot the #&%!$ for a few hours before making dinner. After eating we watched the snow until it got dark, before getting into our sleeping bags and went to sleep at the late hour of 6pm (hey it was dark, and it was getting cold).
We awoke the next morning to the suns rays casting across Panther Peak. The first though that came to mind when I peaked my head out of my sleeping bag was, “damn it’s cold.†(According to weather.com, it was -15°F in Newcomb and we were about 1500’ higher in elevation so I figure it was about –20). It took us longer than we wanted to finally pull our selves from our warm sleeping bags, eat breakfast, and finally pack up for the hike ahead. By about 8:30 we were finally hiking on the trail down towards the herd path that leads to Time Square. It was absolutely gorgeous that morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the snow from the day before, capped all of the spruce trees; it was a winter wonderland.
We found the herd path to be broken out, with the occasional stray course that would zigzag off the main path. The path was much narrower than the marked trail as it winded its way towards Panther Brook. Because of the snowfall from the day before, we found ourselves getting drenched with the white stuff when we would brush against the many spruce trees. Once we made it to Panther Brook, the path took a sharp right and headed straight up towards the shoulder of Panther Peak. By the time we made it about halfway up the ridge, the trail was taking its toll on us and we decided that it was better to turn around than push on and end up in deep #&%!$ as a result. Unfortunately this weekend was going to be the weekend where Gremlin would finish his 46. We made our way back to the lean-to, which took us half as long going down as going up, we packed our bags, and hiked out. Though we didn’t obtain our goal, we still had a good time.
pictures
At this point we decided not to try to make it to one of the summits then, as it was still snowing and there really wasn’t enough time to make it back before dark anyway. We state around and shot the #&%!$ for a few hours before making dinner. After eating we watched the snow until it got dark, before getting into our sleeping bags and went to sleep at the late hour of 6pm (hey it was dark, and it was getting cold).
We awoke the next morning to the suns rays casting across Panther Peak. The first though that came to mind when I peaked my head out of my sleeping bag was, “damn it’s cold.†(According to weather.com, it was -15°F in Newcomb and we were about 1500’ higher in elevation so I figure it was about –20). It took us longer than we wanted to finally pull our selves from our warm sleeping bags, eat breakfast, and finally pack up for the hike ahead. By about 8:30 we were finally hiking on the trail down towards the herd path that leads to Time Square. It was absolutely gorgeous that morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the snow from the day before, capped all of the spruce trees; it was a winter wonderland.
We found the herd path to be broken out, with the occasional stray course that would zigzag off the main path. The path was much narrower than the marked trail as it winded its way towards Panther Brook. Because of the snowfall from the day before, we found ourselves getting drenched with the white stuff when we would brush against the many spruce trees. Once we made it to Panther Brook, the path took a sharp right and headed straight up towards the shoulder of Panther Peak. By the time we made it about halfway up the ridge, the trail was taking its toll on us and we decided that it was better to turn around than push on and end up in deep #&%!$ as a result. Unfortunately this weekend was going to be the weekend where Gremlin would finish his 46. We made our way back to the lean-to, which took us half as long going down as going up, we packed our bags, and hiked out. Though we didn’t obtain our goal, we still had a good time.
pictures
Congratulations Don B. W39er 
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