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Valerie and myself decided to catch a quick overnight hike before the forecasted rains on Saturday, so we hit the trail (destination Lillypad Pond) Friday 4-29-05 around 5 PM under mostly sunny skies. Temps around 50F, expected to drop to the 30s by morning.
I had only hiked this area once, doing a loop a few year ago around Putnam, Bear, and Rock Ponds. It's relatively flat, but this was my first true backpack in many months so I definitely felt the 35 pounds on my back over 3.5 miles. It was generally wet and slightly muddy from recent rains, but not treacherous.
Along the way I was admiring some of the steeper pitches on the neighboring mountains. Since then I've checked the topo and it looks like a good bushwacking possibility. I then found a few online sites with details about bushwacking some of these mountains, so I have something to do on a return trip
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Our first photo stop was at Tubhill Marsh. The Lean-to suffered damage from a fallen tree and was lob-sided and moved off its foundation. Fortunately we didn't plan to stay there, and it was indicated in the trail register. Along the shore of the marsh I snapped a lot of nice photos. Very tranquil spot. After spending some time there we moved on with a mile left and limited daylight remaining.
At about 3 miles we came upon Honey Pond, a beautifully loud treasure. I tried recording the calls of the "peepers" with my digital camera but had a setting wrong, so it didn't come out well enough to be posted. All I can say is it was hard to think the volume was so loud! Below is one of my pictures from Honey Pond.
After a small climb we followed the outlet to Lillypad Pond, where more peepers greeted us as well as a few ducks and a heron. We made fire and ate well. It was a cool night but we'd never know it!
By 10AM we were up and it started raining lightly. After a granola bar breakfast and some water we heaed out. After an hour it was raining steadily (as forecasted) and we were thoroughly wet but well prepared and warm. We stopped at Potter's Diner in Warrensburg for lunch. By this time I had started feeling the effects of an ear ache I developed that night, which will end up impacting our plans for the following day (see the Tongue Mt trip report).
Valerie and myself decided to catch a quick overnight hike before the forecasted rains on Saturday, so we hit the trail (destination Lillypad Pond) Friday 4-29-05 around 5 PM under mostly sunny skies. Temps around 50F, expected to drop to the 30s by morning.
I had only hiked this area once, doing a loop a few year ago around Putnam, Bear, and Rock Ponds. It's relatively flat, but this was my first true backpack in many months so I definitely felt the 35 pounds on my back over 3.5 miles. It was generally wet and slightly muddy from recent rains, but not treacherous.
Along the way I was admiring some of the steeper pitches on the neighboring mountains. Since then I've checked the topo and it looks like a good bushwacking possibility. I then found a few online sites with details about bushwacking some of these mountains, so I have something to do on a return trip
.Our first photo stop was at Tubhill Marsh. The Lean-to suffered damage from a fallen tree and was lob-sided and moved off its foundation. Fortunately we didn't plan to stay there, and it was indicated in the trail register. Along the shore of the marsh I snapped a lot of nice photos. Very tranquil spot. After spending some time there we moved on with a mile left and limited daylight remaining.
At about 3 miles we came upon Honey Pond, a beautifully loud treasure. I tried recording the calls of the "peepers" with my digital camera but had a setting wrong, so it didn't come out well enough to be posted. All I can say is it was hard to think the volume was so loud! Below is one of my pictures from Honey Pond.
After a small climb we followed the outlet to Lillypad Pond, where more peepers greeted us as well as a few ducks and a heron. We made fire and ate well. It was a cool night but we'd never know it!
By 10AM we were up and it started raining lightly. After a granola bar breakfast and some water we heaed out. After an hour it was raining steadily (as forecasted) and we were thoroughly wet but well prepared and warm. We stopped at Potter's Diner in Warrensburg for lunch. By this time I had started feeling the effects of an ear ache I developed that night, which will end up impacting our plans for the following day (see the Tongue Mt trip report).
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