Early Saturday morning I hiked about 10.25 miles into Spruce Lake from the Piseco Lake trailhead.  I spent the night in lean-to #2, and then hiked back out on Sunday.  What a beautiful trip!!!  It was 25º in my bedroom when I woke up Sunday morning, and the wind chill was probably -25.

I left home about 4:30 Saturday morning and drove to Utica, then north on NY8.  It started snowing lightly, and soon the road was covered.  The farther north I went, the higher the elevation, and the more snow.  There was only about an inch, but it was the first snow, and there was no salt or sand down, so I knew the road would be slick.  The wind had pasted the snow against all the road signs, so I couldn't tell what towns I was going through.  I got to the parking lot just before first light, and to my surprise there was not another vehicle there.

On the drive I had decided to hike in my rain gear, since everything would be snow covered, and it would be near melting temperature.  This way I would stay fairly dry.  I also remembered that I had my heavy Marmot gloves in the trunk, and that my hands got cold the last time, so I would wear them.  At the parking lot a pickup truck went by, over the bridge, and parked.  Then a single fellow backed in next to me, heading in for "the big buck."  I told him I'd be hiking along the trail, and he said I wouldn't bother him.

So, in I went.  I signed in at the register and noticed the tracks of a two-wheeled cart, and several different boot tracks.  I figured the pickup truck must have held some guys with the cart.  After about a mile I passed them.  They were three hunters, with a cart, hauling in some gear, or maybe supplies.  We chatted for a little and I told them I'd get out of their way.  They said I wouldn't bother them.

I felt good hiking, my pack felt light, and the trail was nice.  It was also pretty with snow stuck to everything.  It took a little getting used to having a little snow and slush on top of the wet leaves on top of the wet, moss-covered stones and boards.  In other words, it was pretty slippery, but I didn't fall.  I also didn't pay much attention to foot placement, since you couldn't see what you were stepping into anyway.  After I passed the hunters, I stopped briefly to put my gloves and rain jacket in my pack, since it was warm enough walking without them.

After crossing Fall Stream, I stopped to put the rain jacket back on and took a few pictures.  I was getting wet from the snow melting on my shirtsleeves, and that made it a lot cooler.  Then I got going right away.

Right after crossing Fall Stream, about 4.4 miles, I stopped to re-arrange a few things.  What a beautiful day!  Notice my pack has the rain cover on, and my orange safety vest to make sure the hunters don't think I'm a wildlife.  And see the GPS in front of the pack on the ground.

About 6 miles in I met a man walking the trail toward me.  He was impressed that I was hiking in from the Piseco Airport.  He has a private camp off the road from Perkins Clearing, and offered me their help if I needed it.  He said it was probably less than 4 miles to the lean-to from where their cars were parked.  He was an older guy (said he was 66) and was happy to see me having an interest in the outdoors, and lamenting the fact that most of his contemporaries were now stay-at-home types.  He was a very nice man but I didn't get his name.

I followed his tracks back to a junction where they went off to the east, and I kept hiking.  I started seeing other footprints, crisscrossing the trail, then walking along it.  I figured they were other hunters from that fellow's party, but after crossing the Jessup River (6.6 miles) I came upon a tent and a couple of hunters decked out in orange.  They also were very friendly and we talked a few minutes.  I said I hoped I wouldn't be scaring their game away.  They said not to worry, the guns were more for appearances and they were there mostly for the atmosphere.  I made sure they knew I'd be hiking back out the next day, and on I went.  They had also come in from Perkins Clearing, and I followed their tracks up the trail to the junction with that trail.  The tracks continued on in my direction for a while, coming toward me, and I wondered if someone was out hunting from the lean-tos.  But eventually this set of tracks bore off to the west from the trail over the ridge, about a mile before the first lean-to.

I stopped by the first lean-to just to check it out and see if there was any equipment there to borrow.  The lean-to was in good shape, and there was some canned heat there, but I left everything there and hit out for lean-to number 2.

I got to the lean-to in just over 4 hours of hiking.  My clothes were damp from perspiration, and the wind coming off the lake was pretty chilly.  You can see in the photos below that the snow was blowing right into the lean-to.  I suppose I could have tried to tie my tarp up across part of the opening, but I don't think I would have had much luck.

Anyway, I started unpacking.  I wanted to have a hot lunch and then decide what to do next.  I dropped my stove in its stuff sack and heard a metal clang.  When I took the stove out to set it up, it was in pieces.  Some pieces were also missing.  A brief moment of "what happens if I can't boil water and cook food and die of hunger and freeze to death and they find me half-eaten in the spring" but then I found all the missing pieces in the stuff sack, put the stove back together, using my finely honed engineering skills, and lit it.  It worked just fine.  While cooking my lunch I set up my bed and changed into dry clothes and noticed that I had neglected to bring a heavy jacket.  I had a poly layer, a fleece layer, but that was it.  So I decided that while I was cooking and getting very cold, I would need to spend time inside my sleeping bag to get warm, and then, hopefully, stay warm.

After lunch of chicken soup, macaroni & cheese, and coffee, I crawled into the sleeping bag.  My feet were pretty cold by now, and my hands were getting cold also.  So I just got in the bag and laid down to get warm.  I woke up a little while later, thinking I had slept a few minutes, and found it was 3:30.  So I had slept a couple hours.  The wind was still howling, the temperature was 28 in the lean-to, and I still didn't have a heavy coat.  So, after taking some photos, below, I got back in the sleeping bag and wrote in my journal for a while, read for a while, and then fell back to sleep.  I decided I wasn't going anywhere else today anyway.

I was able to keep very warm in the sleeping bag, but also to get very cold whenever I got out of it.  I wasn't very hungry, so I decided to skip supper.  I hadn't done anything active since eating lunch anyway.  I eventually went and hung up my bear bag just before it got dark, and put my food up on it before going to sleep.

During the night I was awakened a few times by a mouse.  Crawling over me,  Making noise with my stove windscreen, looking for something to eat, but didn't find anything.  It was 25 in the middle of the night, and the same in the morning.  The wind never did really let up.

In the morning I decided after some thought to make coffee and instant oatmeal, which I did while packing things up.  I was hiking before 8.  I felt good again today - none of the “day after” soreness I've had before.  I hiked along and after a few miles met a fellow hiking along with a power saw in a milk crate attached to a home made backpack harness.  We talked for quite a while.  He said he had a wall tent with a woodstove across the lake, and was going in to get his camp ready for some hunters he was guiding in the next week.  I got his business card, and will look him up after Bob and I get our guide licenses.

I got back to the trailhead in a little less than 4 hours hiking.  It was a beautiful day, and I had a nice hike.  I changed my clothes, headed out, and was home by 2.  A very successful trip - I was hoping to hike through light snow falling on a cold day - and that was just what I got.

After lunch I took a few pictures.  There's a canoe here now - I flipped it over to dump the water.  See the ice dripping off the roof?  See the blowing ice?

The wind was relentless, and a view across the lake.