Cranberry Wilderness Jaunt

When we hit the river there was first a massive blowdown to crawl over, then a river to wade and then about another mile and a half to camp. We were beat. Patty said she was yelling "uncle":D

I hiked it 2 years ago and think I was a bit more exhausted then, but my pack was heavier then and it was hotter.

Still when we got to our camping place we threw down our packs laid on them like pillows and just sat there exhausted for about half an hour before we did anything.

Gradually camp was made and a pot of tea was poured to help us gather strength;):thumbup:

We got a fire going, dinner cooked and crashed.

This is camp the next morning. I had pitched my Hex 3 kind of crooked but my inflatable trail pad kept losing air so I pitched my tent on the edge of a little bank to use as a pillow and then used my trail pillow under my head and neck and my pack under my legs. Slept wonderfully!

Still we were all still slightly sore from the previous day. We had hiked just shy of 13 miles from 9:30 to PM. We did take an hour for lunch and 3 15 min breaks in that time though.

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MORE at BREAK
 
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great pics as usual HD...:thumbup: i always look forward to your trip reports...:D

that looks like a beautiful area... :eek:
 
So we headed up the final 9 miles to the car on Sunday morning.

The river was very dry
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There were a few places where it was running or you could wade though.

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Nice size tree here:

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Patty is checking out the diameter at the top

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Wow - that looks like an awesome time. You did a great job taking us right along the trip with the pics and your commentary.

I NEED to get out there!
 
HD, great pictures. Where's Mrs. HD?

I haven't backpacked in 30 years (bad back and you can carry more beer in a canoe :) ). Your pictures brought back some good memories.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
HD, great pictures. Where's Mrs. HD?

I haven't backpacked in 30 years (bad back and you can carry more beer in a canoe :) ). Your pictures brought back some good memories.

Doc
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Ms HD is still sore from surgery and has been off work for about a month now but is going back to work next week. When we planned the journey the prognosis was she'd be on the hike (outpt surgery nothing major) but they had to do some more stuff that made her recovery longer.

Doc, I messed up the discs in my back bad at a Grateful Dead show in 95 and I couldn't backpack for 5 years. But my friend said the least pressure on your discs is walking. I tried in the city but the pavement caused my discs to bounce together and it was worse.

Finally I just started hiking uphill a lot in my woods and that and a few other things got my back well enough to backpack. Even when my back was bad though it was driving and setting really aggravated it and caused the numbness in the foot and muscle spasms.:rolleyes:

Mike, if you look in those pics my skookum is in a lot of them. I took the nessmuk hatchet and felled some wood with it but mostly used it and the knife for cutting short sticks for my Zip Stove.

By the way for an experiment I used the 01 skookum for the 3 days and only wiped it off with a dry cloth or on my pants or a tree. I'll try to take a pic soon to show the effect on the finish. :thumbup:
 
lambertiana said:
Nice area. I especially like the spot on the river you had for your first night's camp.
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Lambert,

Both of those trails have numerous awesome campsites right by the trail. The hard part is getting over the hill from one to another. I'm fat so uphill is harder for me than level or downhill. But the descent to The Middle Fork off the mountain is TOUGH!
 
Absolutely STUNNING! You are one lucky man; I wish I could con my wife into something like that. Thanks for sharing!
 
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