It was a perfect weekend to choose to do this trip. Day temps where in the low 80’s, overnight is supposed to be in the mid 50’s, and humidity is low. The sun has been peeking out from behind the clouds every so often. Ahh, what a perfect weekend to go camping.
So where did I go? I chose Bumps Pond near Whitehall, NY for this adventure. Why? Well, I’ve not been there yet and I like checking out places I’ve never been. And it turned out to be quite the adventure. Definitely need to return and explore the area more.
Where is Bumps Pond?
Bumps Pond sits nestled between Sleeping Beauty Mt and Erebus Mt. From the trailhead, you’ll hike about 1.5miles from the 2nd parking lot to Bumps Pond. So where do you park? The trailhead has 2 parking lots, there’s the first one you come to immediatly off the road and the second parking lot aboiut a mile or so beyond it. As you enter the first lot there’s an “access road” at the far end of the parking lot that you follow. I’ll admit, it looks and feeld sketchy but I promise you it’s legal to drive as long as the gate is open. There are several “car camping” spots along the road and the road is narrow (barely wider than one vehicle) with plenty of bends to make it interesting. So drive slow and be aware of pedestrians and oncoming traffic. Do take note of pull offs to allow the other vehicle(s) to pass as you may need to backup to get to one.
Hiking to Bumps Pond
Starting at the trailhead, assuming you’ve parked at the second parking lot, the tail starts at the gate to the right as you’re driving in. You’ll follow that trail up about a half mile to a large “Y” intersection. At this point you can go right and summit Sleeping Beauty Mountain then follow the trail down the back side to Bumps Pond or you may go left, taking the more direct route to the pond.
I choose the direct route, ascending the switchbacks approximately 800′ or so. The hike is not terribly difficult, but it was moderately challenging for me because of how out of shape and overweight I am. I just simply dealt with being out of breath and took a lot of breaks on my ascent. Since I’m never trying to beat someone else’s time or pace, I just go at the pace I’m comfortable with and enjoy the hike. It’s my hike after all, not theirs.
Arrival
After about a 2 hour hike, I reached Bumps Pond. As I walked along the West side of the pond, I noticed on the pond side of the trail a fire pit in a quaint little area. I decided to note it’s location as I continued my search for where I wanted to camp. Continuing along the trail, I rounded the north end of the pond. The hiker, who was just finishing his lunch, told me about an area he saw that looked like a camping spot, so I went to check it out.
After looking around and finding a human built fire ring, I assumed camping was allowed at this spot. So, I broke out my chair, sat down and took in the view as I enjoyed the other half of my sub from dinner the night before. Then began the ritual of setting up camp. Once camp was setup, it was time to test the hammock to see if I had to tweak it at all. Getting the setup near perfection, I fell asleep for an hour or so. The best part was I wasn’t interrupted by someone obnoxiously pointing out that I was sleeping and possibly snoring.
After my peaceful nap in the hammock, I went about collecting the firewood I would need to cook my dinner with. It was around the time I finished, did a Park Ranger find my camp. Whilst I have forgotten her name, she kindly informed me that I would have to move as I was in a “no camping” spot. Now in all honesty, there was a fire pit and it wasn’t marked either way, so I didn’t know you couldn’t camp there.
There is, however, ONE DEC camping site at Bumps Pond, but as of my stay, it wasn’t very well marked and I would have never found it without the help of the ranger. Remember that first fire pit I saw? Well, there’s a small foot path across from it (that looks more like a game trail and yes I did see that trail too) that leads to the campsite and what I believe may have been at some point either a homestead or hunting cabin. All that’s left is the chimney to mark it’s location. The camping site is directly behind the chimney while the fire pit is in front as you are approaching the site.
Sasquatch or something, you decide…
I have in my research I read and heard that the Whitehall, NY area has the highest concentration of bigfoot sightings in the state of New York. Bumps Pond is adjacent to Whitehall, NY on its west side. Besides the strange noise, I did have a sense of being watched and thought I saw a dark colored figure about 75 yards away to the north of my camp as I was setting up.
I grabbed my phone, camera at the ready, hoping to get a picture of what I saw. My first thought was it could be a rare encounter with a black bear. It wasn’t, however, until I was hiking back, did the possibility of bigfoot cross my mind. I never felt like I was in danger, just being watched.
So at some point in the middle of the night, I awoke to a loud bang sound. It was kinda strange because it almost sounded like an M80 going off but with the distinct crackling of wood fibers being ripped apart. To add to the enigma, I didn’t hear what I would think I would, if it was a tree or branch falling.
The next morning, as I packed up camp, I did a quick search around the area staying within 30-40 feet of my hammock and didn’t notice anything unusual. For whatever reason, I decided to look north up the trail opposite of the way I was heading and noticed a branch about the size of my calves being across the trail that wasn’t there the night before. I decided to investigate it since it appeared safe. On closer inspection, it didn’t look like it fell there, there were no splinters on the ground, no marks on the rocks or ground to indicate that it fell. It was perfectly perpendicular (within a few degrees) to the trail and looked placed there on purpose. It was about 25′ north of the path to my campsite.
So what was it?? Bear pushing a tree over, maybe. Bigfoot letting me know I was in his territory, maybe. Something else in the paranormal spectrum, again, maybe. Your guess is as good as mine. I have zero idea what I may have encountered.
Conclusion
Taking in the sum of the trip, it was a good time and I’m glad I went. I met a few really nice people along the trail, and some of their trail dogs. The ranger I ran into was very nice and sociable.
The trail, while some parts were a little challenging for me, wasn’t overly difficult. With dropping a few more pounds in my body weight and better conditioning, the trails I pick will get easier. I do recommend if you’re going to get to your campsite bringing a book or something that doesn’t require internet or cell signal to keep yourself entertained.
If you’re at a spot with a fire pit and no stone chimney, you’re not at the DEC camping site at Bumps Pond. The other fire pits are more of a “picnic” site and not a camping site, so backcountry regulations are enforced. Unless it’s marked with a DEC camping marker, don’t assume and apply the backcountry camping rules to the site.
The Wandering Leatherneck 