October 12, 2014
During the hike to Marshall with the Adirondack Mountain Club, I spent some time talking with the only other solo woman in the group and at the end of the day we exchanged emails so that we might one day hike together again. So on Saturday the 11th, I headed down to Newcomb, NY to the Hoot Owl Lodge where I planned to meet Anya and her friend Steph. I arrived around 7 pm and we enjoyed the comfort of the bed and breakfast while discussing our plans for the next day as well as some of our previous hiking experiences. After not too long, we headed up to our room to get to sleep so we would be well-rested for the next day. The Hoot Owl Lodge was very comfortable, we stayed in the Santanoni Room which had a double and single bed in it. There was a full bathroom on each floor and the common spaces were very cozy. The next morning we awoke at 5 am, ate breakfast (an array of continental-breakfast type foods was available since we were leaving so early) and hit the road at 5:30 am to arrive at the trail-head by 6 am.
We signed in at the trail register at 6 with plans to summit Panther, Couchsachraga and Sanatanoni. We set off at a brisk pace down the road despite the difficulty of walking over uneven rocks in the dark. We each had our headlamps which helped but we still managed to miss the turn off onto the trail. This was the first time I have ever started in the dark. At one point, Anya seemed to think the sun was coming up but upon reaching a clearing, I pointed out we could still see stars including the constellation Orion. “Okay maybe it’s not the sun yet,” she replied.
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The Path Less Travelled 