New England ultralight weekend!

My wife and I are heading to PA and West Virginia for a week of backpacking at the end of the month.

That will be the last of my vacation time this year so I have to stick closer to home(NYC) until next year.

Nobody mentioned the Adirondacks yet? That and the Catskills could be a good central location if you want to include people from further south, but a long drive for many.

Bug season is coming to an end, there could still be some skeeters, but there shouldn't be any biting flies or gnats.

The AT is probably heavily traveled this time of year in New England as well as the Long Trail, but there are so many more options.

If you choose the Catskills to do the get-together, be sure and check this link to see which trails are open (since the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irene):

The DEC has set up a special page on its website to check on the status of individual trails. Click here for details.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/77168.html

However getting to the trailhead is another issue and a lot of roads are closed. This Yahoo group can answer questions about driving to the trailhead as to which roads are open.

3500club@yahoogroups.com

If you email me a pm asking to find out how to get to a particular trailhead you want to go to, I'll post to this group and reply.

Also, This group has a web site too:

http://www.catskill-3500-club.org/

PS — if the drive is not that far away, such as if you pick anything in upstate NY, or nearby in PA, I might be able to make it. I will be having an In Situ Stem Cell / Bone Marrow Prolotherapy done on my knee to treat a torn meniscus on October 18 and may not feel like hiking for a couple of weeks afterwards. (As it is now, my knee is not the best, but it did not stop me from doing my 4th JMT this summer (although I did use a great knee brace on the hike).)

While I know there are BPLers out there who can bang multi 20-mile days, if the goal is to get everyone together, we should focus on something with plenty of flat ground to pitch, ample water, and relatively easy access.

We can all launch tough multi-day trips where we tired as heck at the end. But if reading what the West Coast BPL get-togethers are about, they are about a chill meetup where any and every BPLers can easily access with a few miles trek in on easy terrain and a great site to shoot the sh_t for hours talking about and showing off gear around the campfire.

Looking at the BPL member map (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=217710768001213283190.0004ac9ffae6ae244e691) the middle ground of the NE appears to be in Southeast Mass.

Does anyone have an easily accessible site in that part of the NE where we can cram a bunch of BPL members for a night or two of farting around?

I don't know western Mass too well, but I do remember Upper Goose Pond being a gem on the AT down there. And the section of the trail near the border of Connecticut. Who knows the area really well? I'd come down there for sure.

"A night or two of farting around"… in that case, let's make sure it's not in an enclosed space. Lots of farting means ventilation is necessary. :)

I'll have my hammock so I won't have to share a tent…

From googling around, it looks like the area is run by the AMC and while they have tent platforms, and a really nice cabin, I don't know as if there is an open area for a bunch of us to pitch shelters w/out stealth camping (which we of course wouldn't be with so many people). Anyone have any more local knowledge?

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/mwas.htm

After a previous early post in this thread, I hiked around this area a few weeks ago. There is a VERY GOOD multiple site camping area with bear boxes about 1.5 miles from the ranger station. Good views from the peak (Alander Mt)and reasonable hiking. I was there after IRENE and not too much damage or washout. Foliage should be popping soon. Good spot for mixing chillin' and hikin'.

Frank

Francis,

I think you've found a winner there! I am working on throwing a survey together for dates. I'll post up ASAP.

(Please bear with me, I've never used this site before, and took 5 min to set it up. If it doesn't work, pls. let me know.)

Take the survey here:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22D9324XMU5

View results here:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Shared/SharedResultsPasswordPage.aspx?ID=L2622BLGLGZ6

Viewable results look to be working now and I see other responses.

Here is the historical, daily weather for the area:
http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USMA0370?month=1

I've camped at that site and it's quite nice. There's a lot of good hikes in the area:
S. Taconic trail, Mt. Brace, Bear Mt (CT), Mt. Frissel and Conn. high point, and points along the AT.
One factor for choice of date is that there used to be a boy scout campout with lots of scouts in the Mt. Wash. forest during peak foliage. You might call the office and ask about when that happens. When I've run into them they were camped closer to the forest entrance and park building than the backcountry camp sites.

Looks like 10/21 – 10/23 and 11/4 – 11/6 are most popular right now:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Shared/SharedResultsSurveyResultsPage.aspx?ID=L2622BLGLGZ6

I am available to carpool with anyone who needs a ride. I am in Norwalk, CT and am <1mi from the South Norwalk Metro-North Train Station. Let me know. Thx.

I'd love to do 10/21 – 10/23 as it'll be the warmest of the dates, will close this up some time tomorrow so everyone can plan ahead of time?

Awesome!!! I can't remember that section of the AT perfectly, but I remember it being really nice. I'm totally in for this. How exciting. Finally… a NE BPL get-together.

Well there are 5 people who can do 10/21 – 10/23 and 5 people who can do 11/4 – 11/6:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Shared/SharedResultsSurveyResultsPage.aspx?ID=L2622BLGLGZ6

I'd love to do this sooner rather than later. For those that replied to the survey, is 10/21 – 10/23 ok with this date?

Thanks,

Bryce

I'd only be able to do 11/4 – 11/6 and even that's tentative. I'm going to a gathering in Maryland 10/13 – 10/16 so any of the other dates wouldn't go over well with "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed". ;-|

Earlier is better, I say, especially with the foliage. Also, I'd do both dates if the first one turns out to be really fun :)

Well no further replies have been made to the survey and at this point in time I'd like to have everyone plan for the 10/21-10/23. The earlier the better!

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/mwas.htm

Who's in?

#1 Bryce F.
#2 Walter C.
#3 Ryan L.
#4 Steven A. (maybe)
#5 Ben E.
#6 Philip W.

I'm in. I have a foot problem that might limit me to shorter hikes, but there's a number of little peaks there I want to do. This is one of my favorite places.

Only potential problem I see at this time is a foot bridge may be out:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/recreate/camping.htm

From a 9/9 update:
"Mt Washington State Forest walk-in campground has limited access due to a washed out footbridge. Hike-in camping is available and knee-high boots are recommended!"

It will b ~1.5 months from this update when we arrive, so it might be no big deal, but I will call ahead. I figure experienced BPLers will still be able to get to the site even with the outage.

In for sure!

A river ford – ooo – we get to test our footgear!

all depends on the job/less situation, but it's on my calendar

Hey folks. Count me in for that weekend.

Sorry I disappeared–just got swept away with a new job and restarting school and relocating over here.

Ben

This is looking good folks…I can only imagine the geeking out that will occur over gear, hehe. The running list of attendees is up in a previous post on the 3rd page. Thx.