We headed out to get some exercise on Monday of Dogcation. We were in the Adirondacks after all. We decided on OK Slip Falls. We remembered this from a trip in January with ski club to North River. While some of us were skiing a small group went snow shoeing at OK Slip Falls and reported back that it was nice fairly easy tromp through the woods to a beautiful water fall at the end.
We park and hop out of the car and immediately start walking in the wrong direction up a road into what appeared to be a residential area. We turn around and follow Route 28 until we see the trail head sign across the road. We’ve opted to bring one day pack and two one liter bottles of water. We figure the dogs will get drinks from the streams and won’t need any. Its supposed to be an easy day so we don’t bring any snacks. Meanwhile Joe stops and asks me to put the water inside the pack because its not sitting right in the day pack. I review the situation and tell him if we adjust the pack they can stay in the water holders. Its just that the straps weren’t properly tightened.
We sign in and start off. Its very muddy and there is crew in blue with materials to replace some of the mud crossing. We exchange pleasantries and carry on. It’s a fairly uneventful hike and Joe has Molly off leash as she is a very good listener and doesn’t care about other people or dogs she comes across while hiking. Its like she has blinders on. Buster and I are leading and I still have him on his leash because it’s a pretty well traveled trail and he has issues with both people and dogs that we come across.
We make one small wrong turn and head off onto something that is not a trail for a bit but don’t get far before we realize we did something wrong. We double back and pickup the proper trail. We are moving pretty fast over fairly flat terrain and soon we decide to stop for a drink. I go to get the water out of the pack and announce we have lost a bottle! We have one liter of bottle. Joe is not happy with me and neither am I. After we each take a drink the bottle goes into the pack this time.
We did very little research on this hike and I somehow thought it was a three mile round trip hike but it turns out that its three miles one way. Oh well we needed the exercise and it was fairly flat. We hike on and cross a road that has markers for the NPT. Ah the NPT. Someday, someway, somehow, we talk about it. How long would we have been on the trail when we hit this section? Where would we have gotten food?
We come across a couple with a dog loose who comes rushing up to Buster. They just stare at each other and its like seeing a reflection of the other. They are doppelgangers! They just look at each other as they each keep going in the direction they were heading. It was very odd. We finally arrive to the pinnacle of the hike. The waterfall. We had expected to find a little swimming hole for Molly and a nice refreshing drink for both dogs but the waterfall was waaay across a ravine on the other side from where we were standing. We could hear water rushing below but the way down was more steep than we were interested in tackling on this day. So it was disappointing and after a 10 second look at the waterfall we turned back.
Less than a tenth of a mile back on the trail there was a sign that said ‘Hudson 0.9’. Joe says let’s go see the Hudson. I’m tired and anxious to get out of the woods and back to relaxing but agree. We head down into a ravine. Way down. Buster and I are leading and he is focused and following the trail. Its eerily quiet and there is not another soul on this trail besides us. Joe talks about the possibility of there being another way back rather than climbing out of the ravine. He remembers another trail on the map. This of course makes me anxious because I have no interest in following a vague memory.
Sometimes the woods feels creepy. Like there is something lurking out there that is not of this world. When I get that feeling my skin starts to crawl and I move faster. That was starting. We kept moving and make our way to the Hudson. I was surprised how mucky the ground was on the shore of the Hudson. Joe put is feet in and the dogs got their drinks. We talk about who has stood there before us? Some Indians probably. American Revolutionaries maybe.
I still can’t shake that creepy feeling. Finally Joe is ready to head back the way we came. Buster and I get moving and that little dog can move. I’m going as fast as I can behind him, motivated by the creepies and that feeling I always have on the way out of the woods: it’s over, get out, get to the car, get food, get rest! I came, I saw, now I want to go! That’s me.
We stop a few times to sip our single bottle of water. What I left the lake house thinking was a 3 mile hike has now become almost a 9 mile hike with one bottle of water between us and not a nibble of food. We talk about how we have foolishly handled the water situation yet again and so soon after the Dix Range.
Buster and I are moving as fast as we can back up out of that ravine that was cut by the Hudson. At one point Buster stops and very vigorously sniffs the ground. Something had come through there since we had been through that was for sure. Now I’m even more creeped out. We emerge from the ravine and back on the main trail where the rest of the tourists are. We are cruising because I am on a mission to get out of the woods. We are passing people on the trail. In the high peaks we are never the ones passing, we are the ones getting passed. So this is what its like! Cool!
Finally we are back to the stretch where the missing water bottle might be. Its of course the special ADK purple bottle that Joe bought at the Loj so I’ve got my eyes peeled looking for it. Near the trailhead Eureka! The lost bottle was carefully set to the side of one of the newly installed mud bridges. We made our way back to the car, happy to be done with what we had started referring to as the death march. Not terribly impressed with OK Slip Falls but we got some exercise.
Words of Wanderers 