Tremper Mountain Hike
Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:57 am
Started out 9am at Tremper Mountain. On the way to the parking area, the fog was incredible thick. Mainly by the Hudson River. When I got to the PA, there was still some fog, but nothing bad. Sunshine was poking thru here-and-there. Two other cars arrived ahead of me. Hunters or hikers? I didn't know, so I put on the orange vest. It was warm for Thanksgiving day. About 55 degrees.
Hiked up the initial climb about 100 vertical feet, and then the 1/4 mile across the flat section to the old Jeep trail. Signed up and headed up. I wasn't too far before I hit fog. I was thick. About 50-75 feet of visibility. The ground was wet from the thick fog. The rocks and leaves made it particularly slippery. When I got up near the quarry, I couldn't see it. Was still looking for rattlesnakes, but didn't see any. When I got up around 2000 feet, the fog was gone, and the sun was shining. Ground was still wet and slippery. I did get to one switchback on the west side, and had a view over Phoenicia and the valley. The fog was still socked in. Looked cool.
Stopped at the Baldwin Lean-to and checked it out. They have a new outhouse. Stopped at the spring about 100 vertical feet up the trail. No pipe, but it was coming out of the ground.
Around 2600' the trail leveled off, and the sun was shining well. I stopped at the Tremper Mountain Lean-to, and checked it out. The structure is severely rotted, and the roof is leaking and rotting. The fire tower is about 250' away, and can be seen from the lean-to when the leaves are not on the tree.
The oak trees surrounding the fire tower are almost as high as the 47' tower. Some other people were "camped" out on top, so I could not go up there. The treads of the fire tower are rotting and becoming dangerous. The sun was shining and it was beautiful on top. Still some fog in the valley.
Hiked down and ran into a couple of people.
Final Note: I did find a set of keys to a late model Subaru. If you lost them, please contact me.
Hiked up the initial climb about 100 vertical feet, and then the 1/4 mile across the flat section to the old Jeep trail. Signed up and headed up. I wasn't too far before I hit fog. I was thick. About 50-75 feet of visibility. The ground was wet from the thick fog. The rocks and leaves made it particularly slippery. When I got up near the quarry, I couldn't see it. Was still looking for rattlesnakes, but didn't see any. When I got up around 2000 feet, the fog was gone, and the sun was shining. Ground was still wet and slippery. I did get to one switchback on the west side, and had a view over Phoenicia and the valley. The fog was still socked in. Looked cool.
Stopped at the Baldwin Lean-to and checked it out. They have a new outhouse. Stopped at the spring about 100 vertical feet up the trail. No pipe, but it was coming out of the ground.
Around 2600' the trail leveled off, and the sun was shining well. I stopped at the Tremper Mountain Lean-to, and checked it out. The structure is severely rotted, and the roof is leaking and rotting. The fire tower is about 250' away, and can be seen from the lean-to when the leaves are not on the tree.
The oak trees surrounding the fire tower are almost as high as the 47' tower. Some other people were "camped" out on top, so I could not go up there. The treads of the fire tower are rotting and becoming dangerous. The sun was shining and it was beautiful on top. Still some fog in the valley.
Hiked down and ran into a couple of people.
Final Note: I did find a set of keys to a late model Subaru. If you lost them, please contact me.