Skylight 6-30-07

[Naturlvr73]

Many thanks to all who have responded to my numerous requests for advice on this hike during the 6 months we've been planning it. I'm very happy to report that my husband and I had a terrific trip thanks to all of you! :
Thursday June 28 we drove from Buffalo to Lake Harris Campground where we set up a base camp. We were in for a treat! As we set up our camp, two Blue headed Vireos were setting up theirs: a nest of combined natural materials and campground scraps.
Friday we hiked into Flowed Lands from Upper Works. What a wonderful spot!!! We chose a tenting site. I'm so glad we opted to camp there instead of go all the way to Uphill Lean to. We had lots of time to relax, take pictures, and enjoy the scenery, wildlife, and wildflowers.
The next morning we were on the trail by about 7:45 A.M. It was another perfect day for hiking...cool and sunny! It was such a thrill to see the pools and flumes of the Opalescent River, Lake Colden, to walk the suspension bridges, to be surrounded by so many peaks, to see the beginnings of the trails to Cliff and Redfield...I know we enjoyed all of these places even more because we were just wearing daypacks!
As we approached Lake Tear, the memories started kicking in. We had been on this trail 9 years before when we hiked Marcy. The weather had been extremely rainy and foggy that day, and we'd had no views. Up to this point that had been our only High Peaks backpack. We'd done several other high peaks as dayhikes, and backpacked to many other (easier!) places, but this was the just the second time we were combining backpacking and High Peaks . I was really glad it was going better in 2007 than in 1998, but I still don't like that mile or so up to Lake Tear!
Finally we were at Four Corners and then on the trail up Skylight. Indescribably beautiful. Windy too! We saw the White Throat mentioned in another TR. He was pretty pugnacious. We fed him whole wheat pita and pistachios. At Four Corners we also saw a Black and White warbler and a Cerulean Warbler
When planning this trip we had been advised by many people to do Gray as well, because it was so close. Now it was decision time. We decided to pass it up. Skylight was our real wish list item, since the conditions were so terrible in 1998 we did not bother with it then. We decided Gray would have to wait for another day. We wanted to get back to camp with energy and time to cook, clean and secure our site...the bears were very active. We also wanted to stay true to our goals of having a fantastic trip, with lots of time to appreciate the beauty and peace of the Adirondacks.
I enjoyed the trail down from Lake Tear. The rocks seem better spaced for downward strides all the views are in front of you, instead of behind you. We also ran into Pin Pin during this segment, and had very pleasant chats with him! Of course he was doing Marcy, Gray, and Skylight.

We were back to our Flowed Lands camp by 5:00pm (its almost 11 miles rt from camp and I'm a slow hiker). We cooked, cleaned up, stowed out food back in our rented bear canister with time to spare. It started raining lightly a little after 7:00 PM. Not ready to retire yet, we took shelter under some trees adjacent to our site, and toasted our success with a little plastic bottle of red wine we had bought in Inlet on Thursday. Suddenly a shaggy bear wearing a radio collar walked into our clean site and started sniffing around. We started walking slowly further away from the site. As soon as he sensed our movement he turned and ran to the water, and continued running along the shore. Good bear!!!
The next morning the ranger stopped by and we were able to give him a bear report. Then it was time for another warbler and wildflower filled hike out (Common Yellow throat, male and female Black Throated Blue). Back to Lake Harris where we found our Vireos had lad an egg! After a trip to Lake Placid for an early dinner at Desperadoes (MMMMMM!) there were two eggs in the nest. We slept like rocks, except for the time we heard one of our favorite middle of the night sounds….a barred owl, calling over and over…sounded like it was right in our site! Close view of a Blackburnian Warbler during a morning walk.
I’m sorry this TR is so long! It was just such a great trip, and our first time in the Dacks in early summer. For a variety of reasons, including our younger daughter’s swim meet schedule, we have always gone to the mtns in August. It was fantastic to be there in late June/ early July , and now we still have our August trip to look forward to. Early summer bug bites don’t last, but these memories will! Thank you, thank you everyone again for all of your help!

It is supposed to rain here tomorrow, so I will see if I can figure out how to post pictures.

Best Wishes,

Teresa

[ellsaf]

Wow, that was a great trip and a great trip report. Thanks for mentioning the birds, I like to look them up and try to memorize their sound and appearance for my next hikes.

[hockey2]

Great TR.
I believe we met you briefly on the trail to Flowed Lands. There were 3 of us, all guys and we passed you along the way. If I had known we could have chatted more.

I heard of a father/son at the Calamity LT who lost their food to a bear that night. I wonder if it was the same bear. It hurt at first but the $80 for the bear canister was well worth it.

[Rookie]

You got to see a bear ! Far-out !
Nice report. Sounds like you did it right !
Don't you just hate that stretch of the drive from Buffalo to Syracuse.....ugh ...

[Naturlvr73]

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the kind words! Rookie that stretch is annoying...between trips to our daughter's college, swim meets, the 'dacks etc. we seem to be on it A LOT! If I'm alone I pop in a book on CD and pass the time that way.
Hockey2 you rock! You were the first person to suggest that we not bother to backpack all the way to Uphill. We had gotten that idea from another forum, and other TR's. It was a much more enjoyable trip because of camping at Flowed Lands. It's too bad we weren't able to thank you in person! We need an official forum tech wik t shirt or something! Were you the guy with the plaid shirt in your group of three? We were very impressed with your rapid ascent of Colden. Was your lean to awesome? Did it have a wooden floor? If we return to the area with a larger group, I hope we can grab that one. I'll send one of daughters ahead to get it!

Best Wishes,

Teresa

[hockey2]

No need to thank me, but if you really want I'm an avid fan of Jack Daniels

I was going to camp at Uphill Brook a few weeks back but stayed at Colden instead. It made a lot more sense. Carrying a full pack all the way up there would have made for a longer hike, when you can just camp at Colden and carry a day pack to Skylight.

The one in the plaid shirt was my older brother. It was his first overnighter and he absolutely loved it. I'm the tall guy with the beard.

Rapid ascent... I can tell you one thing, it didn't feel like we were moving all that fast.

Yes, the lean-to had a wooden floor. One of the Calamity lean-to's had a dirt floor and it's the only one I've ever seen built that way.

[Kevin]

Wow, that was a great trip and a great trip report. Thanks for mentioning the birds, I like to look them up and try to memorize their sound and appearance for my next hikes.

I was enjoying the mention of the birds too. Val has become obsessed with identifying them. I figure if they wanted me to see them (some actually do) they'll perch in front of me.

I still don't know a Verio from a Warbler to look at them, and only know a few calls/songs. They all look and sound purdie though.

I've seen fat White Throated Sparrows, and lots of chickadees. I think we even had a Boreal Chickadee beg for food on our way up Adams (firetower/ADK) this past spring. Didn't know it at the time and despite it being close for a minute or so, I never took a picture! argh! Well, as I said at the time, I'm commiting the experience to memory. Keeps me coming back to repeat the experience.

I'm really glad to read that your trip went without a hitch. The decision to stay at Flowed Lands can never be wrong, it's a great place. Only issue is that it gets crowded sometimes.

[Naturlvr73]

Thanks Kevin!

Thanks Kevin! Yours was the deciding piece of advice re: where to camp. That really made the trip. I guess we're more about "bagging" experiences, adventures, joy, relaxation etc. than "bagging" peaks, and this trip fit the bill. And we got a peak too!!! Thank you so much again for runnig this forum, and for your personal advice.
If you and Val ever organize a slower-moderate paced hike, we'd be happy to tag along and help with some of the birds. Even when you don't have time to stop its fun to learn a few of their calls, and know who is out there.

Best Wishes Always,

Teresa