Lower Higby Twin Pond
Spending most of the morning and much of the afternoon getting around Dismal Pond within the southern Five Ponds Wilderness Area, it is apparent that reaching the Red Horse Trail is not likely to happen on my second day of a nine day adventure exploring the pond’s east of the trail. This is especially true after an hour lunch break at Hawk Pond, and a late lunch break at that. With rain moving in tomorrow afternoon, I need to finish my bushwhack to Negro Lake early in the afternoon tomorrow to avoid getting caught in the worst of it. Doing so will require me to make it farther east today AND getting an early morning start tomorrow, with minimal dawdling during the day.
Making this happen requires camping as close to the Red Horse Trail as possible tonight. Given the late hour, it is necessary to readjust my expectations and instead head for the lower Higby Twin Pond for the night rather than push on to the relative civilization of a camping site on Witchhopple Pond. With that decision made, I slip my feet into my boots, arrange my gaiters, brush the crumbs from my lap and pack away my gear, as it is bushwhacking time again.
Following along Hawk Pond’s southern shoreline remains easy enough. Although mostly coniferous near shore, the forest quickly transforms to hardwoods just a short ways inland. After the struggle along Dismal Pond, I choose to keep my distance from the water and hike within the hardwoods. The going here proves absolutely heavenly, providing an easing reintroduction into bushwhacking again after an extended lunch break.
Section Stats:
Date: June 26, 2015
Length: 2.4 miles (6.1 total daily miles; 12.4 total trip miles)
Difficulty: Moderate
As the end of the pond approaches, I continue southeast, slowly reentering the surrounding forest. Once again, I try to thread the needle through a col along a ridge of small peaks that separate Hawk Pond from its twin neighbors to the east. The climb remains steady but much more gradual than the others previously during the day. The forest remains hardwood and pleasant, allowing me to make good time bushwhacking.
After climbing through a drainage, a detour around a cliff causes me to head over the northern peak, leading me to get way off my original bearing. With the afternoon giving way to the approaching evening, I decide to ditch my plan to head north before coming back south, and instead prepare myself for a direct descent down the steep ridge to the northern Higby Twin Pond.
The descent is steep, really steep. Looking down into the forest below it appears as if I am entering a chasm in which I may never escape. Making it to the upper pond requires a 354 foot descent in a scant 0.35 miles. Another cliff forces a detour to the northeast, where I eventually, and quite conveniently, find a boulder slide where the cliff apparently crumbled apart at some point in the past; thank God for apparent frost heaving. Even though no longer a cliff, it is still steep, and with the constant threat of a leg falling through the left litter between boulders, quickly followed by a snap of bone and a scream of agony. Being airlifted out because of a medical emergency would be a real bummer; not to mention an end to my trip.
Luckily, this does not happen, even with the heavy load on my back.
When the upper pond appears through the trees way down slope, I finally begin to relax some, as the ponds transition from a theory to an absolute reality. Approaching the upper pond at its northwestern corner, I head immediately south to cross its inlet. With the time being a tad after five in the evening, there is not a moment to spare for sightseeing or photography. Well, not too many to spare anyway.
A rocky inlet stream allows for a quick crossing to the opposite shore where a short rise awaits me. There is not much time to enjoy the upper pond, as I quickly return to the forest continuing eastward towards the lower pond. It is just a short descent before the lower pond appears through the forest, my ultimate destination for the day.
Once drawing close to the lower pond, I head northeast in an attempt to reach the closest point to the outlet stream where I can descend to the Red Horse Trail following the outlet, as I did several years ago during my first visit to this place. But when the opportunity to scan the pond presents itself, I take it up on the offer. A female common goldeneye floats on the pond, her two chicks following in her wake. They hastily move away from me, and I soon continue on along the northern shoreline in a search of a campsite for the night.
Bushwhacking is easy along the shoreline, with the trees being mature and the understory open. When I get about two-thirds of the way down the shoreline, a level area under towering hemlocks provide an ideal spot for a campsite, so I waste no time in making it so.
Well, that’s not quite true, as I waste a little time checking out the pond before getting to my chores.
The spot provides some nice scenery from the lower Higby Twin Pond. A large glacial erratic lies on the edge of the opposite shore, appearing almost as a rock cliff, its gray surface contrasting with the Stygian water before it and the dark green of the forest behind it. Some small protruding rocks in the pond add to its wild and scenic nature.
Descending to Higby Twin Ponds
Upper Higby Twin Pond
Setting up camp begins with the usual flurry of activity soon after admiring the scenery, a little most hastily than usual as the sun begins vanishing under the western ridge. The water filter is put together, soon making clean water for me for tomorrow morning. In the meantime, my still-wet tarp goes up in a nice level area, with my sleeping gear underneath it. With the light decreasing, I attempt to hang my food line, which goes up fairly easily for once, with only a small amount of swearing. Making dinner follows soon after, requiring me to eat as fast as possible, giving a whole new meaning to the term fast food.
By slightly after eight in the evening, I am climbing under my tarp and getting ready for a good night’s sleep, avoiding the typical horde of mosquitoes as a bonus. The weather forecast calls for rain tomorrow afternoon, and the following day, sometimes heavy at times, as well as most of the days remaining in my trip. My plan is to get up at four in the morning and make an attempt for Negro Lake before the rain moves in, after that, it is anyone’s guess.
After such a long day, I fall asleep soon after my head hits the wad of clothing that I use as a pillow.
Lower Higby Twin Pond
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