Summit Cheeseburger

This site seems to be either very quiet or dead, but I'll post this anyway... Today, I joined a Taconic Hiking Club outing on the Taconic Crest Trail, along the border between New York and Massachusetts. With 14 people on the trip, and needing to leave cars at either end of the hike, I won't go into the logistical details. Suffice it to say that it got complicated to the point of being laughable, but everything worked out. After getting the transportation figured out and dropping cars as needed, we all started north from the trailhead on Madden Road, near Hancock, MA. After some steep climbing, we soon reached the open summit of Rounds Mountain. It was very windy and exposed here, and with temps only around 20F, we didn't tarry long. It was an extremely clear day, and the views were great to the south, west and north.

I quickly downed a cold, dry White Castle cheeseburger (note the expression), and got going again to get out of the wind.

Back in the woods, there was about 3-4" of fresh powder on top of 8-10" of very firm base, so the walking on snowshoes was pretty easy, and the trail was well-marked. We split into many different and varying groups over the course of the day, but all managed to be in the same place for lunch.

Continuing along the Taconic Ridge, and climbing and descending several more minor summits, we arrived at the junction with the Robinson Hollow Access Trail, just recently reopened. From there it was all down hill to the pre-spotted cars after about a 6.3-mile hike.

Happy New Year!!

It's been just over two months since I moved to North Wales and started my new life as a brewer. The landscape here is beautiful... I look around at the mountains I can see from my new home and think to myself: "cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger...."

But where to begin? The lure of the mountains of Snowdonia National Park, which is practically in my backyard, is strong, but another summit beckons... one whose name has been lovingly adopted by my new favourite (f-you spell checker, I'm in Britain now) brewery... The Great Orme.

The Great Orme Brewery, where I spend my days brewing beer and drinking the profits, isn't on the Great Orme, but rather has a commanding view of it from the property:

So today, the 3rd day of 2010, I set out with the founder of the Great Orme Brewery to consume my first Welsh Summit Cheeseburger (but not the first), Jonathan's first ever Summit Cheeseburger, and to share a pint of the brewery's flagship beer Orme on the summit of the land mass it was named after.

En-route to the Great Orme, we passed a world famous burger joint where we procured two "Big Tasty with Bacon" cheeseburgers. (Which, despite all my previous complaints about this restaurant, was actually quite good... must be the local beef.) The summit beckoned to us from just over yonder...

The Great Orme (elevation 207 m, or 679 ft) is quite the destination during the tourist season (this is for all of you who have threatened promised to visit me), with such features as a tram that will take you close to the summit (for the lazy), a cable car that will take you within 20 vertical feet of the summit (for the really lazy), wild goats (for me), and a year-round ski slope (I'm embarrassed for these people):

It was a perfect day for a hike to the summit... sunny skies, no wind, and crisp temperatures hovering just above the freezing point. The views from the trail and the summit were fantastic, and upon arrival at the stone marking the summit, we feasted.

Jonathan says he now has a taste for Summit Cheeseburgers (and a New Year's Resolution that has something to do with weight loss... hmm... not sure how well that will work for him), so in honour (again... f-you spell checker) of his local heritage (and because he thought names should be assigned rather than picked by oneself), I now bestow upon him the trail name Welsh Rarebit.

One final view of Wales to share with you, taken on our descent... Goats and rivers and mountains, oh my! (Maybe I should start a side-business publishing postcards?!?)

Looking forward to seeing you in Wales sometime soon!

Cheers,

Krusty Bunz and Welsh Rarebit

It’s been a few weeks now, but I’ve thawed out enough to remember our Thanksgiving weekend camping trip in Cedar Mesa. Located in southeastern Utah, near the Four Corners, Cedar Mesa is known for its concentration of Anasazi ruins. We ventured down for a bit of sightseeing as well as camping, cooking and playing in the desert. The weekend began in earnest only after towing our stuck van out of a pit of soft sand (in the dark – so no photos).

How do you cook a turkey in the desert? We used a ginormous dutch oven, weighing 65 lbs. which we purchased directly at the Maca foundry in Springville, UT. The svelte free-range turkey was nearly lost in the cavernous oven, but it ended up being one of the best turkeys EVER!

One side trip we took was to Moon House, located in McLoyd’s Canyon. It’s a fantastic set of ruins in a fantastic setting.

We also stopped at the Mule Canyon Ruins to see a set of ancient, crumbling towers set up at the head of Mule Canyon. There isn’t much left of these structures.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to House on Fire Ruin located in upper Mule Canyon. It’s no surprise that it’s been well-photographed.

Now we get to the cheeseburger. We selected Salvation Knoll as our destination because of its advantageous location – right next to the road, and its small elevation gain. And as the roadside sign indicates, it has some historic significance.

Despite its small size, Salvation Knoll was a worthy opponent. Steep and crumbly, it took some climbing to get to the summit. Endless views into Arizona and Colorado greeted us, along with a package of tasty burgers.

I have been waiting for quite a while to summit Hot Springs Mountain in San Diego County . At 6,533', it is the county's highest point. And, for the past 5 years, it has been closed to the public. It is located within the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation. Apparently, due to the bad behavior of some off road enthusiasts, as well as some within-tribal politics, the tribe closed their campgrounds and trails to all outsiders in 2004. A friend of mine let me know that it has just opened and I jumped at the chance. After summiting the wrong peak, we climbed back down to the barely-maintained road. Due to the capability of my trusty Tiguan, we were able to make it up to the summit parking lot, which was only .2 miles from the actual summit. So, it wasn't much of a hike, but it sure was a delicious burger. Except in an airplane flying over San Diego, it doesn't get any higher than this.

Derek 100peaks.com

Aprez Halloween, Sunday Morning, November 1, 2009, in the shank of an Indian Summer to die for, 'Chases Rabbits' (or pikas, or marmots, or badgers, or coyotes, or buzzworms, or skunks, or raccoons, or squirrels, or deer, or elk, or moose, or anything that moves) wakes to realize that (in spite of her complete domination of the Canine Division) she has NEVER consumed a CHEESEBURGER upon a SUMMIT in her home state of Utah.

City Ordinance demanded she be escorted on leash through the megopolis by her low-life guardians (Cold Fusion, Old Bull) to trailhead 2-miles distant, at which point she was turned loose for a direct assault up the southwest face of Quarry Peak. Following a brief snack of the patented "nano lamberghinis," a photo op, and some fine views of the valley, beyond and below, she proceeded to lead the expedition north into the Red Butte drainage and a casual jaunt back to the homestead. November 1, 2009 Chases Rabbits, Cold Fusion, Old Bull Quarry Peak, 5774', Salt Lake County, Utah, USA

I was off to a late start on a scorching day in San Diego. It couldn't be helped. Once again, I drove through downtown Ramona and was presented with several options for cheeseburger satisfaction. This time, I opted for the Cheeseburger Deluxe from Jack-in-the-Crack. And by crack, I mean box. And by box, I mean there is no box any more. Just a weird red cube that is the new logo. There isn't any graphic Jack on the logo any more, just the word "Jack." The clown is only in the commercials and on posters inside. You'd think one would take more advantage of the branding potential of an easily recognizable large-headed spokesperson. Nope, just a red box with a scripted "Jack." But I digress... Regardless of any logo-identity issues, the cheeseburger proved to be worlds better than the forgettable cheeseburger I had on my perilous trip to Mount Gower (See earlier post.) I don't even remember where I got the other burger. But this one was great. Perhaps it's because I didn't have 4 hours of waterless wandering as I did on the previous hike. Or perhaps this burger was just plain better. I drove past Wynola into the rolling grasslands just southeast of Julian, CA, and nearly drove off the road while enjoying the view. I then passed an overturned car in a field in the Inaja Reservation that showed me how perilous this trip could be if I wasn't careful.

With temperatures flirting with the mid 90's, I started up the trail. One part of my mind was on the burger I would eat at the top and the other part of my mind was on the soda that would be waiting for me back in my car at the trailhead. Another part of my mind was on the dusty trail that lead upward through the sun-baked grasslands. Another part of my mind was humming the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (If you don't know what I am talking about, then you simply haven't had children in the past few years.)

I scooted down the trail, wondering aloud why I chose to hike on a day that I knew would get to 100 degrees when I spied a familiar sight. Once again, I found a mylar balloon tangled into the sage scrub. This one was nowhere near as cute at the hello kitty balloon in my earlier post. I imagined some child weeping for days at the loss of this fading, flaccid balloon. I crumpled it up and stowed it in my pack. As I noticed the pink color staining my hands, part of my mind wondered how long it had been out here. Another part of my mind wondered if the colors would wash out easily, if at all. A third part of my mind was wondering if it was made in China and has lead-based ingredients that were causing serious reproductive harm (Thanks, Wikipedia). The last part of my mind was singing "Wheels on the Bus" (see previous child comment).

I made it to the peak and was presented with glorious views of Boulder Creek and El Cajon Mountain. It was as if there was a canyon dividing Ramona from the area around Julian. Actually, there is a canyon dividing Ramona from the area around Julian, and I was dangling my legs into it (well really a perpendicular canyon, but close enough). There were many birds taking advantage of the drop off and soaring on the thermals. I am sure they were eying my cheeseburger, ready to swoop down and snatch it from my hungry grasp. Luckily, I swallowed the thing practically whole and managed not to drop it, or myself, into the abyss.

I got down safely the way I had some, nourished by the cheeseburger and the thought that I didn't need to steal water from a garden hose to avoid dying in the backcountry. That's always a good thing. Part of my mind was of the journey behind me. Another part of my mind was on the journey ahead. A third part of my mind was singing, "We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship..." Yes, I have a child.

After our last off-trail hike to Moose Mountain a few weeks ago, Holly wanted to learn more about map and compass navigation. Normally, I do the route planning, give her a compass bearing to follow, and she gets us to the destination through the woods very well. But she wanted to understand better how that compass bearing was arrived at. She suggested a trailless Catskill summit, since deer season hadn't yet opened to our south, and I chose Rusk Mountain as a simple and relatively short learning exercise. It's about 3/4 mile on a trail, and then about another 1.25 miles on a straight line to the summit. It's quite steep, and there are no views, but it would serve our purpose well. Arriving at the trailhead, I helped her understand the map and the route and she came up with a bearing she wanted to follow. And off we went. It was a beautiful day to be out, with temps in the 50s, no wind, and an extremely blue sky as a backdrop to the yellow beech leaves still remaining on the trees.

After struggling upward through the beeches (and a few especially nasty sons of beeches), she nailed the summit dead on. We knew this because on the trailless Catskill summits, the Catskill 3500 Club maintains canisters where hikers register a successful ascent. This then qualifies them, after completing all of the 3500-foot summits, for membership in the Club. We're both already members, but the canister was still a welcome sight.

The summit is otherwise very nondescript, with no views whatsoever of the surrounding territory. We ate our lunches, and of course the requisite cheeseburger, signed the register, and then headed back down.

On the way down, I made a small mental error, following a bearing that caused us to intersect a stream a little farther up its bed than I would have liked. It wasn't a big deal, just a little rocky and sloppy for a ways as we followed it down, but then we were back on the trail and reached the car in good time. Ice cream at the Prattsville Diner completed a great day in the woods.

At 2533 feet, Pharaoh Mountain is the highest summit in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area of the Adirondacks. (Oddly, there are 2 identical entries here for Pharaoh in the Essex County, NY Summits list - do I get double points?) Today, I joined a Schenectady ADK trip to its summit, approaching from the south via Pharaoh Lake. It was a 13.8-mile round trip, longer than we had realized because a former 1.1-mile road to a more interior trailhead was now unmaintained and impassable to all but high-clearance vehicles.

As we reached the end of the road and the old trailhead, the morning fog was just burning off.

Further along, we came to a very large beaver dam and pond. This shot only shows about a quarter of the total length of this dam.

Our destination, Pharaoh Mountain, towered above the pond behind the dam.

On the summit, clouds were beginning to fill in, and it was cool and windy. We ate lunch and enjoyed the view to the east toward Vermont in the far distance, with part of Pharaoh Lake directly below.

The summit has several views in different directions. Here, we're looking more northwest toward the Adirondack High Peaks on the horizon.

Since the forecast was calling for an increasing chance of rain as the day wore on, we left the summit and made good time back to the outlet of Pharaoh Lake. The sky was getting gloomier by the minute, but we never did get any rain from the ominous clouds reflected in the lake.

The last 3.6 miles back to the cars seemed like an eternity, but the old road provided good walking and we reached the cars about 8 hours after we started.