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Hunter Mountain 3-23/24 2013

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:35 pm
by Jon
Our expedition up Hunter mountain this weekend was a success! I met some guys who were looking for a backpacking trip, they had a bunch of gear but just didn't know anywhere good. I told them I could show them the good spots, I gave them some gear suggestions and picked them up on saturday at 8. We got to the spruceton road trailhead a little late, but we were slow getting our stuff together. The guys were a little new to backpacking and had to get all their gear adjusted properly.
They had rented a couple pairs of snowshoes from R.E.I. and we started with them at the trailhead because of all the snow.
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The long slope up
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Taking a break by the intersection
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Hiking up hunter with East Rusk and Rusk behind us.
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The spring was flowing but I was filling up the water bottles and forgot to take pictures.

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I had to dig into a 3 foot snow drift to find the firepit. Once found we started gathering firewood and I got a fire going.
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The viewpoint in front of the john robbe leanto. I love this spot
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Later in the day
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Panarama
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Headed up to the summit in the morning. It was a cold and windy night, but we warmed up with some breakfast, and thawed our water out by the fire. We went light, only a few backpacks and some water and made pretty good time for the last mile to the summit.
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We got back to the camp, relit the fire again, warmed up, burned off the rest of our firewood and had some snacks while we cleaned up the campsite. We rolled everything up and snowshoed back down to the car. It was a fairly quick walk back, and we didn't stop for much. The sun had started shining and we were all getting a little sunburned by the reflecting snow.

Re: Hunter Mountain 3-23/24 2013

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 10:06 pm
by mike
Nice looking backpack. The John Robb lean-to is my favorite. The view is exceptional.

Back in 2010 when we had the big snowsnow, the John Robb lean-to was completely buried. When I walked up to it, I was standing on level ground, and was actually on the roof. There was a small crack where you could slip into the lean-to.

Re: Hunter Mountain 3-23/24 2013

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:41 am
by SNEAKers
Thanks for sharing! Great pics, looks like a lot of fun!

I did this hike two summers ago and really enjoyed it. Next time I do it I'll do the full loop and check out the waterfall on the other side.

Re: Hunter Mountain 3-23/24 2013

Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:38 pm
by daveoleary
Hi -
Did it snow on Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday?
I climbed Hunter & SW Hunter/Leavitt on Thursday (May 23). 70+ degrees at the trailhead just before noon when I started, and about 60 degrees when I got back down at about 6:30 p.m., after a bunch of showers and some thunder (I only saw a bit of lightning but heard lots of thunder). I went up Becker Hollow, visited the fire tower and cabin then across to the Devils Acre lean-to, up to Leavitt, back to the shelter, and down the Devils Path to the road (then back along the road to the Becker Hollow trailhead where I left my car. I saw two people coming down BH trail as I was going up, and then a couple of people at the Devils Path picnic area on Rt 214, these were the only people I saw through the whole hike. All in all a good day . . . with little to suggest there would be that much snow on the mountain just a couple of days later. I was hiking in the Finger Lakes from Friday - Monday, where we got a slight snow dusting on Friday afternoon but nothing like the Catskills & up on Whiteface! I was a bit surprised that it got down almost to freezing on Friday afternoon and overnight throughout Memorial Day weekend, some of the people with me were pretty cold! Glad to see that you made it up there and had a good trip!

Re: Hunter Mountain 3-23/24 2013

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 9:12 am
by mike
Yes, it sure did. Melted the next day.

Re: Hunter Mountain 3-23/24 2013

Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:16 pm
by Jon
Hmm These pictures are from the end of March, not the snowstorm that hit Memorial Day.

Wish I could have hiked for that!