2/18/12 Blackcap Mountain

Mild temperatures and a mix of sun and clouds. Had read that Blackcap was very icy in winter but decided to try it anyway and then complete the circuit of the pond. We started from the end of Fitts Pond and walked to the trail that climbs the mountain.



The trail was very icy and difficult but had a couple of nice views.

When we got to the top we met a couple who had come up the same trail we had and they were going down by way of the road - there are towers on the summit and a road for trucks that service them. We had been up here in summer and took a different trail down to the pond. Today we walked, following the blue/ white blazes, until the trail petered out without finding the trail down. Looking down I could see we were well past the pond and we turned back the way we had come. Not wanting to return by either the trail we had come up on or the road I decided we would bushwhack our way down to the pond. I say "I" because as I fought my way down Kelley looked at me several times with a puzzled expression that said, " this is not the trail, what are you doing?" This turned out to be a mistake and was worse than the trail so I started looking for the trail. We found it but going down was even worse than the trek up because the warming temps had made everything even more slippery.

Once down we went to a bench by the pond and had our lunch before heading home. There were several people ice fishing. 3 1/2 hours