Takin' It Easy- that was our motto for these two peaks on Sunday, August 7th. We had spent Saturday with a group of mostly family at Lake George eating, eating and well...eating. That's what family does when they get together and everyone brings food. Which meant that Sunday we didn't sign the register at the Bradley Pond trailhead until almost 8 am. Still feeling the effects of medieval style eating from the day before made our going slow, with Couchie eliminated on the way in. But eliminating Couchie also opened up a very easy day to enjoy the peaks. We stopped at the falls on Santanoni Brook for almost an hour having a good talk and then worked our way up to the ridge. Just before we left the brook we filtered an extra half gallon of water to stash at Times Square. Times Square was a piece of cake thanks to Joel's map. At the large rock just 15 feet onto the path to Santanoni we were greeted with a most welcome stiff breeze where we chose to spend another half hour taking a break before the trek over to Santanoni. The view was fabulous to the west and such a treat to see the western high peaks and beyond Tupper Lake. It was pretty humid so the photos weren't very clear. On to Santanoni taking maybe just an hour to get to the peak. Took photos of Paul just 8 feet ahead of me in the trees and I was only being able to see half of him. Cool views of Tahawus. A neat perspecitve of everything from Duck Hole to Allen and beyond. Stayed at Santanoni Peak another half hour taking it easy and soaking up the scenery, then on our way to Panther with a stop at Times Square to refill our water bottles from the stashed water. The views from Panther were spectacular. It was so refreshing to see the peaks from a whole different angle than what I'm used to and also to have fun naming them as they marched across the horizon. Time to take it easy again, stripping off the boots and shirt (for Paul), taking it easy and our eastingour obligatory bacon sandwiches. Hiking must be habitual because the wonderful thinly sliced fresh chicken breast marinated in mojito sauce and then grilled with red peppers went untouched. Now this is where I took the resting fairly seriously and started to doze making this stop a bit over an hour. I was wishing for a warm sleeping bag and bivy just so I could stay where I was with those beautiful views and just curl up, sleep and enjoy this till morning. But alas, all good things have to end, it was 5:30, and time to head back so we could slug the mud on the Bradley Pond trail. BUT there was one more place to stop, take photos and take it easy-Bradley Pond! this time only about 15 to 20 minutes.
So a great day with a total of almost 3 1/2 hours of serious rest stops to munch, soak up the scenery, air the toes, rest the eyes and relax the mind.
Back at the car at 9:30.
Photo: Bradley Pond in the foreground, Henderson Mountain dominating the midscene. I especially like this angle because I've got another vantage of Wallface. Anyone who has followed my trips this year knows I like Wallface and this is just another great view albeit the humid, hazy day didn't do the scene justice.
So a great day with a total of almost 3 1/2 hours of serious rest stops to munch, soak up the scenery, air the toes, rest the eyes and relax the mind.
Back at the car at 9:30.
Photo: Bradley Pond in the foreground, Henderson Mountain dominating the midscene. I especially like this angle because I've got another vantage of Wallface. Anyone who has followed my trips this year knows I like Wallface and this is just another great view albeit the humid, hazy day didn't do the scene justice.
with a half mile of unending briars. No wonder nobody wanted that section. And after a while neither did I.
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