Panther Gorge Hike - Day 3

May 21, 2012

Had a lazy morning with the Deb and Hilary while Katharina slept in. Nevertheless we got packed up and on the trail by 08:30. The girls said goodbye and that was the last we saw of them. Another sunny day awaited us. We sped down the trail, me scooting on ahead and waiting up every ten minutes or so for Katharina to catch up. I found a sweater in the middle of the trail. It looked like Hillary's so I packed it up, hoping to return it to her back home. At the river we decided to ford it at the place where the bridge used to be, and this proved to be a much better option than last time. We also met three other guys coming the other way. Of course, we don't see a soul all day except for the point we are stripped down to our skivies fording a river! Anyway, we continued on. It got cloudy and threatened to rain so we ate lunch before it could get us wet. The sky never openned though and shortly thereafter it got sunny again. The last few kilometers down wide vehicle tracks seemed never ending, but finally we arrived back at the Elk Lake trailhead about six hours after we had left camp. I was hoping to ask someone for a ride back to the overflow lot, but the place was deserted so I just dropped my pack and trudged off down the road. After a couple of kilometers a dude in a pickup truck came along and asked me to hop in, which I graciously accepted. Our car was the last here too, and I was glad to see that it was still here as I had to creatively park it two days prior, since the overflow lot was full. Drove back to fetch the packs and Katharina, followed by a long drive home. We stoppped in Tupper Lake at a lumberjack diner with chainsaws covering the walls and ate a whack of food.

View from inside the tent in the morning.

Split logs to help across Marcy Swamp.

Fording the river at a more appropriate location.

Long walk along the roadbeds.

Big ass, er, I mean moose print.

Final bridge to the trailhead.

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