Post by ridgerunner on Oct 28, 2009 18:15:08 GMT -5
Thought everyone might like to read the email we just received.
We appreciated their work a great deal!!!
Thanks again Bill and Jim
Good Morning
This past Friday and Saturday night my brother and I spent at the Baldhead shelter on the CT. We did a little work of a nonpermanent nature which we hope will be helpful to fellow hikers.
On Thursday we started from Percy as the clouds were clearing out and rising. There was a nice view from Victor Head and even better from South Percy and then North Percy, but more weather was headed our way. We had just set up our tarp and had a first course of soup in an out of sight out of mind place south of the Devil Jacuzzi when it started to rain.
The rain had ended in snow and Friday morning showed clearing which resulted in interesting views from Sugarloaf. Lafayette, the Twins and the northern Presidential summits were all just above a lower cloud layer. Nash Bog looked glorious below us The gods of nature blessed us with clear sky above us. We watched the clearing make the Percy’s visible. Muise, Gadwah Notch and those to the north glistened with their ice and snow just below a dark gray ceiling.
We moved on north to Baldhead shelter, a place I wanted my brother to see on a day with a view – it is special. The view was excellent as the high clouds moved in signaling what had been forecasted as a rainy Saturday.
Not too long after we were in bed – maybe even asleep – the wind began to blow a gale blasting into the shelter from the northeast. Some time after that the sleet started and we were clearly going to be wet if we did not do something fast. Quickly we hung one of our 8x10 sil tarps, fortunately a decent fit, and created a web of rope to keep it from ballooning into our sleeping space against the back wall. Two other times during the night we had to get up to make adjustments. One time was for two nails that got pulled out and another time was to draw the web tighter. There were more than a few gusts that rocked the shelter. How much we slept I’m not sure.
With the morning came the view of everything coated in a ¼ to ½ inch of ice. The front two feet of the shelter floor had a nice frozen collection of sleet. The wind was as strong as ever and we dared not take down the tarp. After a hot breakfast we decided there was no point in moving north. We knew the trail up Dixville Peak is an open roadway and to get to Kelsey Notch is to walk into the wind and this was an out and back trip; out by Sunday p.m.
Now that we could see what we were working with we decided to hang the shelter’s tarp, a big piece of plastic. Sliding on our bellies under our tarp we got out into the weather and found enough lumber behind the shelter to make a web of wood over which we would place the plastic. To cover the full front of the shelter including the wooden half wall on the left side we split the plastic and wrapped the ends around a long 2X4 and nailed that up under the eves. The plastic hangs down from that. A few other smaller scraps of wood we nailed over the plastic to tack it to our frame.
Thank you for leaving the hammer there and some nails! There are some left as Jim straightened them all – strong teeth – just kidding
We then removed our tarp and got rid of the accumulate sleet.
Following a soup break we thought about the person(s) who might arrive in the fury of a storm. About a third of the front on the left side has built up protective wall with boards running horizontally – we added a board to the top of that as rain and sleet was coming in over the top of it.
Boarding up the front in a permanent way was we thought probably contrary to what the original builders wanted. The view is too wonderful to do that. So we built a removable partition that can be tied in place – it held in the wind – and when not in use slid behind the permanent front 3/4 high wall.
Our final project of the day was a door frame that could be lowered into place to complete full coverage of the front of the shelter when the portable partition is used. The frame is set and swings to the ceiling. It needs some plastic covering and it will be complete. As we left on Sunday we realized we should have hinged it such that it could swing back against the side wall. That is simply done if desired. We had no real hinges but we got creative with what you had left behind.
On Sunday we took another 2x4 the width of the shelter and rolled the plastic up on that from the bottom and tied it up under the eves. Thus a next visitor needing the protection can simply lower it as long as there is some support behind it. The wood pieces for tacking the plastic are in the shelter along with nails for such. We left in place the removable wall.
The great view was back Sunday when we rose. We retreated south to a point where Moran Notch was due north of the CT and headed into it. At its terminus we headed westerly to the adjacent unnamed peak and then down the ridge line before dropping in to explore around Cranberry Bog, leaving through Cranberry Bog Notch working the contours south and westerly to get to the Columbia Road and eventually to a car.
I’ll be doing a more detailed write up of the trip, but I wanted you to know who tampered with things at Baldhead and the spirit in which it was done. Perhaps there is a way you would want to share this information. You may edit or use this in anyway helpful.
I have pictures which I’m happy to give you – I can send along via picasa and you can use as you wish. Two show the work we did. I’ll only send if you ask.
Also someone had built a fire and cut some wood. We threw away the cut wood and got rid of the fire aftermath as best we could.
Thank you to everyone who continues to make this all possible
Bill & Jim Geller
We appreciated their work a great deal!!!
Thanks again Bill and Jim
Good Morning
This past Friday and Saturday night my brother and I spent at the Baldhead shelter on the CT. We did a little work of a nonpermanent nature which we hope will be helpful to fellow hikers.
On Thursday we started from Percy as the clouds were clearing out and rising. There was a nice view from Victor Head and even better from South Percy and then North Percy, but more weather was headed our way. We had just set up our tarp and had a first course of soup in an out of sight out of mind place south of the Devil Jacuzzi when it started to rain.
The rain had ended in snow and Friday morning showed clearing which resulted in interesting views from Sugarloaf. Lafayette, the Twins and the northern Presidential summits were all just above a lower cloud layer. Nash Bog looked glorious below us The gods of nature blessed us with clear sky above us. We watched the clearing make the Percy’s visible. Muise, Gadwah Notch and those to the north glistened with their ice and snow just below a dark gray ceiling.
We moved on north to Baldhead shelter, a place I wanted my brother to see on a day with a view – it is special. The view was excellent as the high clouds moved in signaling what had been forecasted as a rainy Saturday.
Not too long after we were in bed – maybe even asleep – the wind began to blow a gale blasting into the shelter from the northeast. Some time after that the sleet started and we were clearly going to be wet if we did not do something fast. Quickly we hung one of our 8x10 sil tarps, fortunately a decent fit, and created a web of rope to keep it from ballooning into our sleeping space against the back wall. Two other times during the night we had to get up to make adjustments. One time was for two nails that got pulled out and another time was to draw the web tighter. There were more than a few gusts that rocked the shelter. How much we slept I’m not sure.
With the morning came the view of everything coated in a ¼ to ½ inch of ice. The front two feet of the shelter floor had a nice frozen collection of sleet. The wind was as strong as ever and we dared not take down the tarp. After a hot breakfast we decided there was no point in moving north. We knew the trail up Dixville Peak is an open roadway and to get to Kelsey Notch is to walk into the wind and this was an out and back trip; out by Sunday p.m.
Now that we could see what we were working with we decided to hang the shelter’s tarp, a big piece of plastic. Sliding on our bellies under our tarp we got out into the weather and found enough lumber behind the shelter to make a web of wood over which we would place the plastic. To cover the full front of the shelter including the wooden half wall on the left side we split the plastic and wrapped the ends around a long 2X4 and nailed that up under the eves. The plastic hangs down from that. A few other smaller scraps of wood we nailed over the plastic to tack it to our frame.
Thank you for leaving the hammer there and some nails! There are some left as Jim straightened them all – strong teeth – just kidding
We then removed our tarp and got rid of the accumulate sleet.
Following a soup break we thought about the person(s) who might arrive in the fury of a storm. About a third of the front on the left side has built up protective wall with boards running horizontally – we added a board to the top of that as rain and sleet was coming in over the top of it.
Boarding up the front in a permanent way was we thought probably contrary to what the original builders wanted. The view is too wonderful to do that. So we built a removable partition that can be tied in place – it held in the wind – and when not in use slid behind the permanent front 3/4 high wall.
Our final project of the day was a door frame that could be lowered into place to complete full coverage of the front of the shelter when the portable partition is used. The frame is set and swings to the ceiling. It needs some plastic covering and it will be complete. As we left on Sunday we realized we should have hinged it such that it could swing back against the side wall. That is simply done if desired. We had no real hinges but we got creative with what you had left behind.
On Sunday we took another 2x4 the width of the shelter and rolled the plastic up on that from the bottom and tied it up under the eves. Thus a next visitor needing the protection can simply lower it as long as there is some support behind it. The wood pieces for tacking the plastic are in the shelter along with nails for such. We left in place the removable wall.
The great view was back Sunday when we rose. We retreated south to a point where Moran Notch was due north of the CT and headed into it. At its terminus we headed westerly to the adjacent unnamed peak and then down the ridge line before dropping in to explore around Cranberry Bog, leaving through Cranberry Bog Notch working the contours south and westerly to get to the Columbia Road and eventually to a car.
I’ll be doing a more detailed write up of the trip, but I wanted you to know who tampered with things at Baldhead and the spirit in which it was done. Perhaps there is a way you would want to share this information. You may edit or use this in anyway helpful.
I have pictures which I’m happy to give you – I can send along via picasa and you can use as you wish. Two show the work we did. I’ll only send if you ask.
Also someone had built a fire and cut some wood. We threw away the cut wood and got rid of the fire aftermath as best we could.
Thank you to everyone who continues to make this all possible
Bill & Jim Geller