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Ha-De Ron-Da Loop Pics

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  • Ha-De Ron-Da Loop Pics

    Middle settlement lake

    View from camp

    Filtering water

    Where are we? Can we stop for lunch yet?

    Big Otter Lake morning coffee and a view

    Middle branch lean-to

    Very determined butterfly

    Sunset at Middle Branch

    On the way home...
    Last edited by 111t; 03-18-2008, 04:21 PM.

  • #2
    I loved the pictures, can't wait to get back into the woods this summer!
    In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. John Muir

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    • #3
      It's been on the list but I've never been there. great shots, has me excited to get out there.
      sigpic

      "As to every healthy boy with a taste for outdoor life, the northern forest -the Adirondacks- were to me a veritable land of enchantment." -Theodore Roosevelt

      Mountain Visions: The Wilderness Through My Eyes

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      • #4
        Yeah i've been there a few times... It's not at all overcrowded.

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        • #5
          Nice pictures! How long was the hike in miles?

          Windsong

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          • #6
            Originally posted by windsong781 View Post
            Nice pictures! How long was the hike in miles?

            Windsong
            As you can tell from the one pic... i was a little confused at times. I figure about 20-25 miles? The GPS kept pretty good track of the hike:

            The trailhead at the bottom right is on rt 28 near old forge. If we had a little more time i would have liked to take the side trail to grass pond. Those hills look neato on the topo. The topo is from the eastern national parks version of Garmin Mapsource. (24k scale) It has all of the Adirondack park at this resolution, as well as the whole AT corridor and, closer to me, all of Allegheny national forest. Well worth the $80. The only thing I don't like about it is that there is no way to output an electronic version of a map like this. You can print it... But I had to scan it on a scanner to put it here. Oh well.
            This is really suited to a long weekend trip because the hike into middle settlement isn't that long... to account for travel. The third day from big otter to middle branch was not long in miles leaving us most of the day to hang out and relax. (Though short, this leg was very wet. The trail was submerged in several spots due to the activity of some local beavers.)
            Last edited by 111t; 03-21-2008, 03:55 PM. Reason: nobody's perfect

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            • #7
              Originally posted by 111t View Post
              If we had a little more time i would have liked to take the side trail to grass pond. Those hills look neato on the topo.
              Here's a picture of some bottle gentians near the outlet of Grass Pond. Those hills, as well as the pond itself, are in the background.

              This picture was taken in the summer of 2004, but in November 2000 I did this same exact loop as a two-day trip, camping at East Pine Pond. My estimate at the time was that the loop was 17.3 miles, although I never verified that distance. The entire trip was unplanned for me. My dog and I were feeling fine when we got to Middle Settlement, so we kept right on going and decided to do the loop.

              I'm glad to see you had a good time.
              Attached Files

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              • #8
                Originally posted by wildriver View Post
                Here's a picture of some bottle gentians near the outlet of Grass Pond. Those hills, as well as the pond itself, are in the background.

                This picture was taken in the summer of 2004, but in November 2000 I did this same exact loop as a two-day trip, camping at East Pine Pond. My estimate at the time was that the loop was 17.3 miles, although I never verified that distance. The entire trip was unplanned for me. My dog and I were feeling fine when we got to Middle Settlement, so we kept right on going and decided to do the loop.

                I'm glad to see you had a good time.
                AWESOME! I would defer to your estimate of the distance... Like I said... I was confused at points... Thanks for the pic of the grass pond area! Everything was so beautiful! I had been to Middle Settlement lake before, back in '95 or so, and the trip was cut short by a leaky tent and soaked gear. We were very well prepared this time. The trip couldn't have gone better!

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                • #9
                  We did the same loop except we bushwacked from middle settlement to big otter,it was he!!ish!When we got to the fire road at big otter,I got down on my hands and knees and kissed the ground,we had our 4 and 5 yr. old kids with us,they were real troopers.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by backwoodsman View Post
                    We did the same loop except we bushwacked from middle settlement to big otter,it was he!!ish!
                    I imagine you must have gotten a little wet... lots of wetlands to cross.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by backwoodsman View Post
                      We did the same loop except we bushwacked from middle settlement to big otter,it was he!!ish!
                      The bushwhack between Middle Settlement and Middle Branch wasn't bad, as I recall. The beavers were pretty active in the two little valleys you cross, but we had an easy enough time crossing on dams. Ambitious fellows too -- we saw a 2 or 3 foot diameter tree that had been chewed on for a while. Anyways, MSL to MBL is a pretty short 'whack compared to going all the way to Big Otter, so your kids definitely are troopers!

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                      • #12
                        Wow, awesome photos.

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                        • #13
                          Great photos. I love that area. MSL can get busy on Saturdays it seems quite a few people hike there for day trips.

                          The trail from MSL to Cedar pond apparently doesn't get much use. While marked, it had a lot of blowdown last summer to traverse. We took the Grass pond side trail to check it out, a nice little hike but I didn't see it as a great place to camp. MBL was nice, but not as nice as MSL IMO, but the shelter journal was much more entertaining to read.
                          "There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go." -from "The Call of the Wild" by Robert Service

                          My trail journal: DuctTape's Journal

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                          • #14
                            one of my favorite spots. my first solo overnight was at middle branch lake. i can still hear the coyotes yipping.
                            He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.

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