Salty's The Fool Killer Trip Reports

Not much to say about this one. We were supposed to do this one, plus the Tripyramids, Sleepers and Whiteface. Crossings on Sabbaday (not one of my favorite trails) were easy, but there was a layer of slippery slush that made for slow going. I finally threw on the shoes as we made the long trip to the place we would turn off the trail, but I was just having another one of those days where I was run down.

We made the turn, and the conditions just sealed it then and there. There was a few inches of wet snow that had no grip on the ground, it was steep, and I was struggling to move upward. We slabbed left at first to stay in open woods, but also to keep the slope down, but eventually Brian and Greg headed more to the right to the saddle between the two bumps on the ridge. We had great open woods all the way, and came to the summit where I declared they could go on without me and take my shoes.

They had no interest in doing this, we were here together, we would stay together. The conditions sucked, and time was not on our side due to my pokiness. Good friends that they are, they showed zero remorse, and we decided on a more direct route down. Yowzah, it was steep. It was taking a lot out of me to stay upright, as we were sliding all over the place. It looked like the valley was right there, but not so. Back to the trail, I had a death march on the way out, feeling badly beaten.

Days like this just seem to come a few times a year. No reason why, they just happen. So, another day, another time.