Winter boots

I wanted to start a new thread for winter boots, since the info I dug up using the search engine was at least a decade or more old, and most of the boots aren't made anymore and the links were dead.

This is the year I want to do some winter camping, but in the past my hunting boots didn't cut it, temperature wise. I know pack boots are generally warmest, but not easy to hike in. Any suggestions for something that I can hike in that will also be warm when just hanging around camp? What is everyone wearing these days?

Rocky Peak Ridge 10/13

A stone’s throw away from the Parking Hell that has become Route 73 is a trailhead in the hamlet of New Russia with no such problem yet giving access in the most spectacular way to a High Peak (and even two, should you do include Mt. Giant).

I wanted to make this a sunset hike, so I left home ludicrously early. On Route 9, I stopped to let two deer cross the road and thought about it being hunting season and not having anything orange to wear.

Of course, I was first to sign in at 5:25. I quickly removed a layer and hiked in summer clothes for the entire day, except on top of RPR. Hiking in the dark with my headlamp, I heard no other noise than the leaves falling. I jumped once as a huge spider came into focus only a foot away from my face.

The ground was soft, earthy and covered by pine needles. I reflected that this would be nice footing at the end of the day. On the other hand, it’s not the best type of forest for fall colors. But after 30 minutes or so, deciduous trees became prominent and the trail became a bit harder to follow with all the leaves on the ground.

My objective was to get to Blueberry Cobbles for sunrise and that was easily accomplished. Up to this first summit, the trail is gradual, in excellent condition (no blowdown nor mud) and free of slabs. Highly recommendable for a family hike. However, this summit is south-facing, so I could not grab a picture of the rising sun. I still got some great shots of daybreak on the Eastern Adirondacks. The orange tint of the rising sun combined with all the orange leaves in the valley made for a rare spectacle. I thought that wearing orange this day would be like wearing camo any other day.



Getting to the next summit, Bald Peak, is more strenuous and involves some slabs that could be a challenge in wet conditions, but not today. Aside from that, the trail remains in better condition than almost every other trail I’ve seen in the Dacks this summer. There are view points along the way that preview the next bump. Bald Peak itself has a huge summit separated by some wooded areas. Rocky Peak, Giant and the Dix range are all there to contemplate.



Great job, Sisyphus!


Getting to Rocky Peak (not Rocky Peak Ridge yet) involves going down almost 300’ into a col. From this summit, RPR can finally be seen, next to Giant. Any prospective 46er who turns away here is making more than one mistake since the short descent into the next col offers a great reward, almost worth the trip in itself: Lake Mary Louise (RPR is in the middle).



The next part up the ridge is fantastic with 360o views along the way. Yet, another reward awaits the determined hiker: almost all of the High Peaks are now visible, including the Great Range in all its glory, the Macs and Whiteface.



The return trip is much the same, but a bypass of Blueberry Cobbles allows to skip some of the elevation.
Total time: 10hrs including short breaks.

Fight for the Future: Kaspersky partners with 20th Century Fox for Terminator Dark Fate

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky teams up with Twentieth Century Fox for the launch of its "Terminator: Dark Fate" promo where thousands of tickets for the latest sci-fi action movie is up for grabs for all of its digital customers in Southeast Asia.

For every single purchase of Kaspersky solutions including Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS), Kaspersky Total Security (KTS), and Kaspersky Security Center (KSC), customers will get free tickets to see the gritty and intense sequel to the blockbuster 90s hit Terminator 2. This promo begins on September 1 to November 15 this year.

Best to be experienced on the big screen, “Terminator: Dark Fate” is the much-awaited, high-octane installment in the Terminator franchise. In this ultimate action chase spectacle, a technologically enhanced human warrior from the future called Rev-9 will emerge to protect an unsuspecting young woman from a lethal, relentless, state-of-the-art Terminator.

This film reunites Arnold Schwarzenegger as T800 and Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, who hunts and kills Terminators in the past.

“We are excited to have this movie as our treat to our loyal customers. The newest Terminator flick will showcase all the potential breakthroughs in technology and what the future would look like utilizing disruptive technologies. It’s similar to what we do at Kaspersky --- as we keep on staying ahead of potential threats, we get to give our customers the low-down on the next cyber threat looming in the web. But we don’t stop there. We continue to build a safer world for our customers as we say, bring on the future!” says Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.

Customers who purchase any of the Kaspersky products online at kaspersky.com would be able to redeem their tickets via email, regular mail or through pick-up to watch the Terminator film in select cinemas in each of the participating countries.

A purchase of KIS is equivalent to one free ticket while buying either a KTS or KSC license/code means a customer gets two free tickets. The SEA countries included in the promo are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Terminator: Dark Fate will hit the theaters on November 1.

For more details on the promo, please check http://kasperskytdf.com/

iphone 10 or huawei mate 20 pro

I'm using a 5 years old phone now and i think i need to upgrade. I'm thinking maybe changing to a new iphone 10 or huawei mate 20 pro. Both is great. Do you have any suggestions?

Lost diamond ring

I was hiking this weekend and lost my diamond ring my grandmother gave me and am heartbroken. I hiked Sawteeth, Pyramid Peak, Gothics and Armstrong on 10/11/19 and Wright Peak on 10/12/19. I really do not know which hike I lost it on, I was careful when opening the pocket that my rings were in but I guess not careful enough. If anyone has found it I would be so appreciative if you reach out to me and will offer a reward. My email is kaylarobinson7@yahoo.com. Thank you!

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Hudson River Recreation Area - 10/12/19

I biked north from Lake Luzerne to the Hudson River Recreation Area on a beautiful fall day. The road transitioned from pavement, to dirt, to a path as I headed north. I turned around when the path was difficult to follow at just past 10 miles from the start. Road surfaces were generally pretty smooth except for some washboard and soft sections on the town maintained dirt road. The path beyond the end of the seasonal road in the Hudson River Rec Area is more suitable for mountain bikes. There were very few cars on any of the roads. The views of the Hudson River and surrounding hills were beautiful throughout the trip. This area has many options for biking and hiking - the best hikes are bushwhacks to the open summits. A few pictures from my trip.

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4 glorious days in the Pharaoh Lakes region

My buddy Greg and I headed out early last Tuesday to do our annual camping/hiking/backpacking trip. We have never seen the PL region, so we decided to give it a shot, hoping that since it was mid-week and sort of late in the year we wouldn't have any trouble with crowds, given all that I had heard here about the popularity of the area.

We got to the Putnam Pond campground around 10am, paid our 4-day fee at the booth, and had our choice of parking spaces, since we were the only car in the lot near the Grizzle Ocean trail head. We got our packs on and headed out. It was a bluebird day, and our plan on day 1 was to get to Whortleberry Pond and camp there for our first night.

We hiked past the trail to Grizzle Ocean figuring we didn't have time to check it out, and continued past Wolf pond and the swamp. It was then that I realized that I had lost my expensive sunglasses somewhere along the way, which was a bummer, since they really belonged to my wife and she was not going to be happy. We continued on to Pharaoh Lake proper, stopping along the way to check out the tent sites and the lean-tos. None of them were occupied, so we poked around and took some pictures. Without exception the areas around the lean-tos seemed neat and clean, which was nice to see. There wasn't a stick of firewood within throwing distance, though, but that was to be expected. We did see this in one of the lean-tos.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/um0tpfrzmd...31.21.jpg?dl=0


I asked Justin if it was one of his, but he said no, he doesn't trust birch bark. :)

We saw some foundations in a clearing near the lake -- does anyone know what it used to be? It looked to be a fairly sizable building at one time, given the placement of the concrete supports.

Here's one of PL on the first day. (There wasn't supposed to be a second day, but we'll get to that...)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ttn3i9cyxl....01-1.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lxjo4xlsc3....00-1.jpg?dl=0

We kind of missed the trail to Whortleberry that sits directly behind the lean-to since we had USGS maps and didn't dig out the NG map from my pack to see exactly where it was. We cut off the trail too early and ended up just more or less heading toward Whortleberry through the woods since everything was pretty wide open. We skirted the marsh to the left (we didn't know there was also a camp site to the right) and ended up seeing red and blue through the woods, and we thought the site was taken. I walked up a bit closer and realized that the red we saw was just a derelict canoe and the blue was a tarp covering about a face cord of cut and split wood, and some sort of metal pop up canopy.

We had found our home for the night. We were getting the late afternoon sun, so it made setting up camp a really relaxing time. Greg was hanging, and I was a ground dweller with my one-man tent. After that we ate dinner and started a fire. If any of you guys were the hunters who processed all that wood, we stole a few pieces, I hope you don't mind.

Our kitchen: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tvwpa9tplo...49.59.jpg?dl=0

Our canoe that only works if you put everything in the front: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2cosf7esoc...56.42.jpg?dl=0

Sunset: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zdjlyu38t9....48-1.jpg?dl=0

We had a good night's sleep, and in the morning we got up early to break camp and get on our way to Crab pond. As we were hiking out and just about to loop around the southern end of PL, we met a ranger coming the other way. Ranger Chuck (we didn't catch his last name). He's the one who told us there was another site on Whortleberry, and that it was hunters who put up the wood. He also told us what we suspected -- that there was a canoe stashed around there somewhere. We had looked around for one for a few minutes, but didn't plan on going out on the water anyway, so we didn't really search too hard. He didn't seemed thrilled that it was there, but he said people keep bringing them in. Really nice guy. We talked a bit about the ranger lifestyle -- the benefits and drawbacks -- the need for more rangers, the crazy hours he works since they are always shorthanded and their territories are huge, but he waved his hand around in an arc and said, "On the other hand, this is my office." Hard to argue with that. We told him of our plans to hit Crab Pond for our second night, then Rock, then back out to Putnam and the car on the last day. He said there might be one guy in front of us, but then amended that and said that no, he thought that person was actually on their way out so we probably wouldn't see anyone.

When we started around the lake, the trail took a decided turn for the worse.

To quote DSettahr: "There's a lot of little ups and downs especially that don't show up on the topo maps- and these do tend to add up to considerable added elevation gains over longer distances. Don't get me wrong- it's not exactly like the area is super rugged or anything- but it's also not uncommon for folks new to the Pharaoh area to find that they end up hiking at least a little bit more slowly than they'd anticipated."

Um, Yes. By the time we got to the spot where we were supposed to head to Crab, it was much later than we anticipated it would be, and we would likely get to Crab close to dark at the rate we were going. The trail had taken a toll on us. It seems like the trail on the N/W side of the lake is less of a trail, and more of series of trail markers pointing in a general direction over rocks and roots, while simultaneously wandering from right to left and up and down.

Everything was covered in wet leaves, so it was PITA hiking. It felt like you had to evaluate every step before taking it, and test each step after taking it to see if you could put your weight down. Not my favorite way to hike. I don't think either of us looked up the entire time. When we reached the turn-off, we rested for a bit and Greg said, "What was your favorite part of day 2 so far? Rocks covered in moss, or roots covered in leaves?" I voted rocks, since they're prettier.

We decided right then that Crab pond and Rock Pond were out. I looked at my GPS and we had been traveling at about 1.5 mph on average, about half what we were doing on the way into Whortleberry. My boots looked like someone took a rasp to the toes and sides. So we made an executive decision to continue on around PL with the goal of reaching Split Rock Lean-to for our second night. We got there without incident, both feeling a little like we wimped out, but we thought it was the right choice, given how we felt.

We checked out the lean-to, but opted to keep going a bit farther and take the tent site just past the lean-to. It looked to be another beautiful night, and we didn't want to risk someone showing up at the lean-to after we were settled in.

Some pictures:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/foiswg8u45...29.46.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/arhsc3tmpk...14.52.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tx3znce94y...01.08.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/owd1vtoqzo...17.22.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5zknukgfvr...23.56.jpg?dl=0

We had an early dinner and then hung around the fire for bit before turning in.
It looked like there were two other campers on the lake besides us -- one group way down on the other end, and one person directly across from us who seemed to be camping alone. Hope we weren't too loud.

The next morning, we figured we'd head for Grizzle Ocean lean-to, since we had decided to cut the loop short. It was an easier hike for sure, and we made great time once we got past Wolf pond swamp. I was walking up one of the final hills before the straightaway to Grizzle, and I looked down and found my glasses! Unbelievable.

We got there early afternoon, just in time for lunch. It was a nice place and in good shape, although you could tell it must get pounded on, being so close to Putnam pond camp ground. We were a little concerned we'd have someone showing up at night, but it didn't happen. We hiked around Grizzle Ocean for a bit, looking for other sites, but didn't see any. We did see what looked to be one illegal site down by the water to the left, but still within throwing distance of the lean-to. I threw a few lures in but it's so shallow I couldn't get to where the fish were.

The sunset on the leaves was brilliant: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tp38b4wn4y....19-1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qo5czktaaw....02-1.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nc60vm0h14....15-1.jpg?dl=0

We also found something in the woods when hunting for firewood, so if anyone knows the owner, you can let them know where it is:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tgi3x1c3qo...13.46.jpg?dl=0

The next morning, we ate a leisurely breakfast and headed back to Putnam Pond and the car. It was a fantastic trip, with the best weather I think I've had for any extended camping trip since we did the West Canada Lakes loop in 2015. I felt a lot younger then. :) In total, we saw three people including the ranger. Not bad at all!

Rock and Crab are still on our list however. Maybe as an out and back. Thanks for reading this (incredibly long) trip report. Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry I didn't put the pictures somewhere linkable.....