Last Thursday night I once again drove up to Woodland Valley to camp for the night so that I could embark on a my second training climb. This time I tackled Panther Mt.. I drove up late Thursday night and the trip started with an exciting moment. About a mile down the road from the campground, a black bear jumped out in front of my car, ran down the street in front of my car for a few dozen feet, and then veered off into the woods. I have "seen" a black bear twice before, but neither time did I get a really good look at one. This was one of my best looks at one, albeit only from behind while he ran away from my car. As cool as it was to see one, it wasn't exactly the most comforting thing to see right before you're about to camp for the night. Unfortunately, my camera was in the trunk with the rest of my gear and I wasn't able to get a picture.
I arrived at Woodland Valley around midnight, set up camp and was asleep by 12:30 AM. Like last time, I was up early, around a quarter after 6 and was off before 7. I stopped at the White Shack Deli for breakfast again and was on the trail towards Panther by 7:45AM.
About a half hour later I hit the trail junction between the yellow blazed Denning-Woodland Valley trail and the blue blazed Giant Ledge-Panther Mt. trail.
Around 8:40AM I made it to Giant Ledge. At around 3200 feet, the views from Giant Ledge were great, much better than when I had last been on Giant Ledge in Feb. '04. I managed to snap a self-portrait using the timer on my camera and take a view other pictures of the great views while I relaxed on the ledge for about 10 minutes.
Below is the view of Cornell and Wittenberg Mts. from Giant Ledge.
Next the trail descended into the col between Giant Ledge and the summit of Panther Mt., from the col the trail climbs about 750 feet to the summit of Panther at 3720 feet. I managed to snap this self-portrait on the summit of Panther by rigging my camera to a tree. I plan on ordering a lightweight tripod from REI for the Tour and future trips to use for more of these self pics. 
After a small rest break on the summit, I headed back toward the parking area and was in my car by 11:15, having covered the 6.6 miles in about 3 hours and 15 minutes. Just one week of training in the gym made a huge difference in my pace and how I felt compared to the last climb on Slide Mt.. Hopefully a solid month of hikes like this and daily training in the gym will make the climbs on the Tour marginally less painful.
Next up this weekend: Asswrangler and I have tentative plans to do an overnight in the Catskills, possibly Graham Mt. A full trip report will follow whatever we do. Later on in the week, I'll post the gear lists I've been working on and a more detailed report of my training since I have nothing better to do now.
Nipplehonker.
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