Highland Forest County Park, Fabius, NY 5/31/09
Main Trail 9.2 miles
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So, we’ve been wanting to try a longer hike and see how we do with greater distances. We couldn’t have picked a nicer day for it; the weather was perfect. Highland Forest is becoming a main attraction for us. There are so many trails to follow, and it is beautiful. I doubt it will ever get old on us. Along the way, we crossed several streams, and encountered a fair share of hills, as well as some mud here and there. We didn’t run into a lot of people, which, of course, is fine with us. We did meet a group of three mountain bikers, who had started their journey several miles away and were pretty muddy themselves.
Forked Lake Primitive Campground (DEC), Adirondacks 5/23 & 5/24/09
Highlights: fishing; our new screen house; canoeing; freeze-dried food; bear lockers; loons singing after dark; coyotes in the distance
Not-exactly-highlights: black flies; the outhouse; rain; packing up wet camping gear; leaving early
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We’d heard about Forked Lake from a couple different people, so the first weekend in May we drove up to scope it out, and chose the perfect site to reserve, # 75. While planning this trip, we developed grandiose ideas of how we were gonna “really rough-it” this time. Oh yes! We were going to hike in about ½ mile to our site, with all our gear on our backs, and not much gear at that… just the bare essentials. We wouldn’t need our stove or the propane, as we would cook on the campfire. This campfire would not be lit with a modern lighter, or even matches. No, no, only a magnesium fire starter would be used. We wouldn’t need a cooler, either, as we’d be bringing only freeze-dried meals and other dry food items. What about something to drink? Well we’d be camping right next to a lake, for God’s sake! We can gather water from it and boil it over the campfire, rendering it perfect for drinking and cooking. We even bought a mess kit to cook with, thereby eliminating the need for our usual pots, pans, and tableware. This would be a lot less stuff to hike in with. We were also planning a hike along a snowmobile trail, possibly 15 miles round trip, depending on how quickly we tired. It was to be the mother of all camping trips!
