Last weekend (8/26-8/28) Valleygirlhikes and I set up base camp on Friday night at one of the designated tent sites off the Peekamoose-Table trail. The Neversink is very low but still flowing well enough for getting water. The tent site was in good shape, with enough space for at least 5 tents, hammocks, etc.
On Saturday 8/27 we hiked "the six" starting with Table, Peekamoose, Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap & Friday. Left camp almost an hour late (7:55am) because I did not organize my day pack the previous night. Doh! Anyway, the spring near the Bouton lean-to on Table was not flowing; maybe a tiny drip. Met aspiring gridiot Al on Peek, had a good chat. It was more than 10 years since we'd last hiked these trails and I knew that that the herd paths were much more established, but it was still strange to see such clear trails where there used to be none. About halfway to Rocky, we decided to leave the herd path's very circuitous route and aim more directly for the summit. Hit only a small patch of thick stuff but really not too bad. Did the same to BC but the woods fought back a bit more. Then followed the path/ highway towards Friday, but again felt like the herd path was losing way too much elevation so we backtracked a bit and turned west towards the headwall. Found the path up through the slabs and on to the canister.
We followed the path off the other side of the summit but lost it after about 5 minutes. Then the fun began. We decided to whack down towards the Fisherman's Path since it was the most logical route back to camp. The first 0.5 mile was thick and slow going. Lots of pokey things wanting our flesh and blood. Several rock shelves but found a way down from all. Eventually the woods opened up (somewhat) and our pace improved slightly. Finally hit the FP, but we were still about 90 minutes late from our morning's time estimate. 90 minutes later, refilled water at the river before climbing up to the tent site. Made it to camp just after 7pm. A long, but fun, challenging, excellent day.
Hiked Red Hill on Sunday, for a wonderful short hike on our way out.
See pics at:
https://imgur.com/a/n4yldAe