LOCALadk Magazine

62 Spring 2018 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk old trail by following the topography that seemed suited for driving an old jeep uphill. Then, like an antediluvian trail marker on the for- est floor: old Pepsi bottles and a few rims of rusted out cans. "Check this out!" I said. " Workers taking a lunch break? " "Seems likely," Cas- sandra said. Internet research later placed these Pepsi bottles circa 1940s, making the abandoned trail at least 70 years old. With temperatures rising into the 70s, we slowed our pace. And soon the ravine softened to a gully. "This is good," I said to Cassan- dra. " We're getting closer to the top. It should get marshy soon." The left side of the drainage became a bit over- grown, so we took to the middle, and the lower edge of what was now a gully. For a while we clambered over downed trees and some large rocks. Twice, grouse burst from the underbrush, surprised by the human pres- ence. We pushed through some evergreens and the ground leveled. We were closing on our goal. "Now it gets tricky, "I cautioned, half talking to myself. " We have to keep to the slight up-slope to the south, so we don't lose our westward line in the confusion of the marsh. Keep looking to the left and right, to stay centered in the dip," I said to Cassandra. Soon enough there was water, now flowing west. "The rest should be easy," I said. " We just need to stay on the edge of this flow, which must go to the pond." Trails can disappear in plain sight in the Adirondacks. "It has to be just up ahead," I said, leading us down the slight incline. And then, one step out of the spongy forest, and I was standing on the Cooper Kill Pond Trail. "Got it!" There is something supremely satisf ying in linking two trails by cutting through the untrafficked forest. Even more so, when you then walk a couple hundred yards and come upon your planned goal, the picturesque Cooper Kill Pond and lean-to. "Lunch snack? " I asked. "Uh huh." Cassandra nodded, ever the stoic partner. But I could tell by the way she nibbled jerky bits, cheese, and dried apri- cots, and sipped her drink, that she was happy. We read the lean-to log book, noting an entr y by a weekend morn- ing skier who had encountered a lean-to full of passed out, naked bros in sleeping bags, among scattered whiskey bottles, mid-winter, a few months earlier. "Ah, yet another reason to camp in untraveled places," Cassandra quipped. And then a loud crash from the dense forest echoed across the Pond. "Sounds like a human – or a bear who might come snuffling around the lean-to for spring scraps," I said. "Let's go." The wander back up, over, and down the Cooper Kill Pond Trail, was as long as it usually seems. But on this day temperatures broke forecast expectations and pushed into the 80s. After sleeping curled up in down bags, we were now sweating in T-shirts. Cassan- dra invoked her favorite thought on a hot hike out. "Guess what I'm thinking of ? " she prodded. "Hmm…Martinelli's Sparkling Cider? " I said. In Switzerland, where we've hiked quite a bit, mountain huts along trails ser ve cold sparkling cider, air- cured salt bacon, cheese, and bread. Cassandra covets this European fare when the going gets tedious. " Yeah," she said. "Good thing I put some in the refrigerator back home." I replied. By the time we reached the Cooper Kill Pond Trail Head, our feet were sore, our bodies hot, and legs tired. Now we had only the crit- ical last link for this hiker's grail, the one- car-loop. And the two trail heads are mercifully close, even for a hot walk along the sandy shoulder of the road. We reached the van in 10 to 15 minutes, noting a few cars at the popular Cobble Outlook Trail entr y. " Wouldn't it be great if people could hike the two or three pos- sible trail loops up and over to the Cooper Kill Pond Trail? " I said. "That would make this spot even more popular," Cassandra said, " We'd have to find some new rough loops to make." Note: Route-finding requires maps, compass, and gradual acquisi- tion of experience. GPS units don't always work and are sometimes inaccurate. It is best to practice these skills in a familiar environment before using them in the larger scale wilderness. Carrying a full com- plement of overnight gear, multiple days' supply of food, and essential safety gear reduces the chances and impact of wandering off course.

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