Fall colors on McKenzie mountain

Bryan, Ken and I headed down to the Adirondacks on saturday for a hike to take in the fall colors. Along the way we debated several options including Whiteface via the Connery Pond/Whiteface Landing trail or McKenzie/Moose mountains. The debate came to a head as we passed through Saranac Lake and we dumped Whiteface in favor of McKenzie. We headed past the McKenzie trailhead on rte 86 and found the closer one on Whiteface Inn road (shaving 3.2 miles round trip the hike). We decided to take the state trail to McKenzie and then to descend via the Shore Owners Association trail. The trail starts out at a reasonable grade after passing a lean to and meeting the rte 86 trail it starts up at a steep grade which does not let up until you are on top of the first false summit.

Near the top of the false summit is the first of several ledges with stunning views east and south of Saranac Lake, the Seward and Santanoni ranges as well as the rest of the High peaks as far as the Great range. We stopped at each of these spots to eat, rest and take lots of photos. We finally reached at small lookout with views of Lake Placid and a somewhat blocked view of Whiteface. As we passed over the summit of McKenzie we were still hoping to find a ledge with clear views of Whiteface and even stopped at a viewpoint marked with a sign that seemingly went nowhere. At the split in the trail we decided against continuing on to Moose mountain and headed down the SOA trail which was very steep to begin with but soft underfoot. We stopped for a nap at Bartlett Pond and then continued back to the car.

All told, it was a great day exploring a great new mountain. I will come back sometime and hike along the lake and then up to Moose for that sweet view of Whiteface. The fall colors are not peak yet but well on their way.

Noonmark is my happy place

Let's say, just hypothetically of course, that you are having a rough day: some unpleasant medical procdure, your boss is yelling at you, you are stuck in traffic, etc,etc. What you need is a happy place. You close your eyes and imagine yourself in your happy place and all your troubles melt away! All you see is the wide open space and peaks as far as the eye can see and in every direction. The mountain breeze is soothing you with its soft whispers and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The occasional hawk sails by on thermals and there isn't a cloud in the sky.

Well Noonmark is a fine candidate to be your happy place. I hiked it for the second time yesterday. I was on the trail at 8 and on the summit by 10 with several short stops on various ledges for photos. It is a short hike at 2 miles but it sure is steep, especially when the trail is mostly rock at the top. I was surprised for a saturday to have the summit to myself for about an hour. I made use of the solitude to snap a few photos and otherwise soak in the views in every direction. Noonmark has probably the best view of Dix in the ADKs and also has views of Nippletop/Dial, the Great Range, Giant and RPR and at a distance Whiteface. There was cloud cover over some of the peaks when I first got there but it soon listed. After a few people arrived I packed up and left and was glad I did as a steady parade of hikers were coming up as I descended.

As I signed in the logbook...Noonmark rules!! :-) :-)

Gotta love the Couch

After today's hike I am a big fan of Couchsachraga (or Couch or Couchie), I think it gets a bad rap. People seem to complain about having to hike up over the Santanoni ridge and then down 800 ft and then back up to bag peak # 46 and they only do it to complete the list. I must say I really enjoyed hiking down the hill and said several times how much I liked the trail (Note that I only said it once on the way back up). The more I hike the long tough trailless 46er peaks, the more I find I enjoy them as much as the easier ones with killer views. I previously hiked the Santanoni range in 2007 but I didn't have time to get Couch that day. So, I returned on Thursday with my friend Mark with the goal of hiking only Couch. We knew we would have a clear sunny day and we hoped that the last few weeks of dry weather would mean clear sailing across the mud pits on the trail to Bradley Pond.

We arrived early to find one car and two tents in the parking lot. We were signed in and on the trail by 6:30. The gravel road was a nice way to warm up as the morning was somewhat brisk. After two mud-pit tap-dancing and rock hopping miles on the Bradley Pond trail we arrived at the Panther Brook herd path. You would think that after all the recent dry weather there would be less mud in the ADKs not so. There was plenty of mud, much more than the last time I hiked this trail. The herd path up Panther Brook is one of my favorites and by 10:30 we were at Herald Square. Some confusion ensued as we tried to follow a sketch of the area I had printed off the internet a while back. Eventually we followed the leftmost trail shown in the sketch and a minute later we were at Times Square. I guess the network of trails up there illustrates why the 46ers started to maintain herd paths so that there would be one clear path instead of many.

From Times Square it is clear which way to go and we were off with a right turn heading down the ridge to Couch. At first the trail is very closed in and you would be happy to have long sleeves and pants and some sort of eye protection. The grade is quite gentle for most of the way and the trail gets a bit wider as you descend. Having pictured some hellacious bushwack, I kept saying how this was quite a nice trail. It did get steeper especially just before it descended to a col before two false summits. The col featured a swamp that was real nasty and it was pretty hard to avoid getting wet there. There was one good viewing ledge on the way down that had a sweet view of the Seward Range and Seymour as well as Whiteface.

On the way back we opted to use the New/Old Santanoni trail and in doing so we bagged Santanoni by mistake, We missed the herd path and since it is so close to the summit we didn't realise the mistake until we saw the summit. The trail itself is a shortcut if you intend to hike Santanoni but I otherwise am not a fan. It is very steep and currently quite muddy and slick. We managed to get back to the gravel road as the remaining daylight was fading and had to use the headlight for the last mile.

My shoes got wet early on and I had some nasty hotspots to treat at the end of the day but all told it was a very long day but enjoyable hike. Gotta love the Couch!

Treadway mountain

Mark and I were looking for a short hike to do the day before a longer dayhike. We were going to stay overnight in Schroon lake so we opted to hike to Treadway mountain in the Pharoah Lakes Wilderness. The book said "hidden gem" and "great views from mostly open summit". This little fella didn't disapoint! We left the trailhead at 2pm after asking an older couple who just finished how long it took. It was a nice up and down walk through open woods (mostly deciduous) and along the shoreline of Putnam Pond. The terrain was reminiscent of Gatineau Park. After an hour, we hit the side trail up to Treadway. It was not steep but got progressively rockier as we went up until it was open slabs. The summit was as advertised, mostly open with views of Pharoah Lake (as well as the rest of the Wilderness) and a whole lot of the high peaks. A spirited game of identify the peaks ensued. The debate raged (That is Algonquin! No, you are blind, it's obviously Marcy! etc) until we spotted the distinctive saddle shape of Saddleback.

A nice warm up hike in what looks like a great place to do some backpacking!

Redfield from LOJ

A wise man once described the Seward range as not the type of hike to do after a winter of watching NFL football from the couch. Well I can add that Redfield from the LOJ is not the sort of hike to do in NFL pre-season if you haven't hiked in the ADKs since the middle of the NHL playoffs. What I mean is, it is a very long day and even though much of the scenery is stellar the footing is often rough and it is a long way whichever route you choose.

On advice from my trusty ADK advisor, I went from via Avalanche Pass in both directions. This was smart advice as there were numerous stops for photos (Marcy Dam, Avalanche Pass, Avalanche Lake, Lake Colden etc) and the elevation is gained gradually. I left at 7 and had plenty of daylight for what I figured would be a long day. I motored along pretty fast to begin with and was passing people left and right. By the time I got to the Opolescent trail I was slowing down and I never did get a second wind. There was still a lot of mud, especially on the trail along Lake Colden and the Opolescent trail as well as the herd path. It took me 3.5 hours to the Uphill brook lean to, which was not bad considering all the photo ops. I had a quick chat with a guy in sandals who was staying at the lean to and clearly not on his way to either Redfield or Cliff. Today was a rest day (and sandals would not be appropriate for the herd path ascent).

The herd path is nice (as are all the 46er herd paths) and never too steep. It always amazes me that someone comes to such a remote spot to maintain a trail like this one. I did not stay long on the summit as although it was a clear day there is not that much of a view and I knew I had long trek ahead of me. Also the sandwiches that I had brought (in toasted english muffins) tasted like cardboard (not a good hike to try something new). It took me an hour and 45 minutes both up and down the herd path.

From there I took almost an hour longer to walk back to the LOJ that on the way in. Daylight wasn't an issue but the miles just seemed to drag on forever. There were many people backpacking in for the long weekend but not many dayhikers heading out. In the end it was a 12 hour day that was tough but one that I enjoyed. Having said that, it sure would have been nice to have stayed at the lean to and taken advantage of the many pools on the Opolescent or Uphill brooks. Perhaps that will be the plan when I return to hike to Cliff. Anyhow it felt great to finally get my 40th peak. I hope this will garner me more respect with my 46er friends!