Sunny 46

The original plan for our family camping trip was for my son, Quinn, and me to stay at camp Thursday night together, but it turned out that would have meant he'd have been missing out on a fun event at school on Friday. Because of this, we decided that I'd just go up with Sunny and get everything set up for the next day. Well, then, if I'm doing that, I figured, why not get in the next hike? I was glad to have picked up a few things on my buy list a few days before. I got a fanny pack for my phone and bug spray, a much lighter shovel for burying Sunny's poop, and a new pair of Salomon boots. These were by far the most expensive footwear I have ever purchased. I was hoping they'd live up to the hype and the cost. Next on the mostly arbitrary list was Cascade and Porter. After listening to the 46 in 46 podcast, I figured this might be a good opportunity to try to do a dawn hike because Cascade sounded like an extremely well-trodden hike that would be difficult to get ...

Last updated:  December 11, 2024 General Hiking  Food/water 3L water bladder Snack tray Lunch Nut/cranberry mix Energy bars Water additive Packed clothing: Darn tough socks Sneakers Inclimate weather gear (based on season and weather) Ambidextrous gloves Bug hat Emergency and Health Tylenol Sunny's emergency sling Medkit Maps Bug spray Fire starting Toiletries TP Hand sanitizer Sunscreen Small bugspray Electronics: AAA Batteries 2 headlamps Portable charger & cable Watch - Airplane mode with touchscreen off Phone - Airplane Mode with touchscreen off Equipment Water filter Spikes Poles Fanny Pack Sunny Pack Leash Lead Spade Water bowl Sharpie 1L water bottle (if doing a ridge walk or other low water situations) Bug net Worn Conditions-appropriate clothing Long synthetic pants (need more) Moisture-wicking underwear Synthetic undergarments  Waterproof top layer Suspenders 3-season Boots Darn tough socks Duff Lodestones Adirondack Kommando Wallet Keys Car Large bug repell...

Sunny's second High Peaks adventure was on July 20, 2022 and we did Big Slide.  There are a few options for Big Slide and some of them are: you can climb The Brothers, then summit Big Slide and then come back; you can come back by "Big Slide Trail" which leads directly to JBL. That trail was described as "unmarked" by some blogs. You can also come back via Yard Mountain in a loop. I decided we'd do Yard as I didn't want to mess with an unmarked trail. I found out later that the direct trail from the summit to JBL was actually marked just fine. The high temperature in Keene Valley that day was supposed to be 90 degrees with 93% humidity. I did not want to be caught ridge walking in that weather, so I wanted to get a very early start. Fortunately, my in-laws have a seasonal campsite between our home and the high peaks region, so we stayed there overnight, cutting our travel time by an hour. There was plenty of parking at Yard when we arrived. We paid our...