The Santanoni Range 2/23/13

      I woke up for this trip at 3AM to depart at 3:30. It was a different kind of morning considering Jeanette was out of town visiting my sister so I wouldn't have to slink quietly out. I'd also be hitting Warrensburg too early for Stewarts to be open so I actually spent some time readying myself and Koda at the house. Nothing too memorable about the drive. Koda was average as far as amount of whining and spazzing out. He's had better and he's had worse. A big improvement was my ability to not get bothered by it.

     We reached a full Santanoni Range parking lot at 5:30 and were hiking at 5:40. It was actually pretty bright already which was really nice. The snow also cranked up the first light of the morning and large segments of the road walk were done without headlamp. At the intersection with the hiking trail to Bradley Pond and Duck Hole beyond it, I met a group of people about my age just reaching their themselves. I got koda on leash successfully. We as a team have greatly improved the whole get on leash thing for people. There were several girls in the group and all in the group owned dogs so everyone had a very nice time.

     They were going to put on their snowshoes and I already had mine so I got right on the hike to the pond. It was immediately apparent that this approach is way better in the winter. All of the deeply eroded rock-hopping was paved over with a well traveled sidewalk of snow. I really wanted to set myself up to have a real chance of finishing all three so I went after it pretty hard. Somehow I had managed to reset my watch so time checks were less frequent after this but we made very good time to the beaver dam crossing reaching it around 7:40.

Walking on water: Bradley Pond beaver dam

     I wasn't hungry all morning after a huge dinner the night before, It's a rarity that I don't want food in the AM. I forced myself to water up, water Koda up and eat one of my hard-boiled eggs and some bacon. We continued making good time on the well-packed herd path. the upper 1/3 of the ascent truly dragged on. I kept remembering how when we climbed this in the summer, we had hiked in the night before and had fresh legs. I was already over 5 miles into the hike and had 3 ascents left!!!! Tough day.

Herd Path to Times Square

Loyal hiking companion

twisted trees and icy cliffs

Nearing the summit ridge

    Herald and Times Square were a welcome sight. We cruised right through making note of all the herd path branches for the return. I wanted to do the winter Santanoni's within a year of hiking them in the summer so I'd have a very fresh memory of them to follow. I was glad that I'd done so. We started hiking towards Couchsacraga. Down and down and down we went. After gaining around 2200 ft from the parking lot, you lose over 800 ft going down to Couchie. The winds were whipping on the ridge so it was nice to get into the protection of the trees.

looking back from the Couchie ridge

    Couchsacraga is a much reviled mountain. Largely due to the aforementioned down climb. There is also a large swamp just before the final ascent which doesn't help to win it any popularity contests. Basically, it's freaking hard to get to after pretty much summiting a high peak just to get to times square. That being said, both my first time and this time I truly enjoyed this mountain. The ridge walk has a lot of character. There are great views of some true and uninterrupted wilderness and lots of twists and turns to keep you engaged. I imagine that this is a much tamer place than it used to be though so I'm sure its earned it's rep.

    Along the final down-climb, I met John. Koda did too. Back on the leash he went but he caused quite a fuss anyway, barking and skittishly trying to lunge/ meet this very mild-mannered backpacker. John tried to charm him with a soft and soothing voice and gentle attitude but Koda was on the defense. We chatted for a bit anyway as Koda can suck it and he can't tell me how to live my life :). He was initially planning on staying at the Bradley Pond lean to but described it as "mot a place you'd want to be". No idea what that meant but pretty incredibly he hiked to the Couchie swamp and camped there for the night!!! I didn't really get the chance to tell him what an impressive hike/ camp that was.

peak #1!!!

magical yellow disc of joy

      We made our way to the summit and he began his climb back. It was great to see the summit rock and accompanying sign! We took a break and refueled, Koda getting a whole 3 serving tuna packet and some water-down Gatorade. There was no views and some decent wind so we didn't stay too long. Back on the herd path and after the initial boost from eating, my energy levels were pretty low. I got pretty grumbley too, muttering in my head about how hard it was and how I should just climb Panther and head out. As we got closer to Times Square I basically just wanted to hike out. I was shot. Couchie kicked my a#$!!!

      I was saved by humanity though. I heard some murmuring and saw a face at a very odd, close to the snow level so back on the leash he went. It was the same group from earlier. They were sprawled out on the snow having a snack, hence the weird perspective. We chatted some more and the woman who was the sweetest on Koda gave him some PB+J after asking me if it was ok. She asked me (again, damned peer pressure!) if I was gonna try for all three and after my spirits had been sufficiently lifted, I replied truthfully that I was.

      Thankfully, we were just below Times Square so up and around the rock and south to Santanoni I went. Despite my spirits lifting, I was increasingly dopey and was stumbling quite a bit. In hindsight, I think I could have prevented this. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn't eaten much that morning. I had a huge dinner the night before and had overeaten a bit due to nerves about a very serious hike. Since my whole metabolism and hunger levels were off, I hadn't put in the appropriate fuel for a day like this. Often at this point in the day I would have eaten 2 eggs, some meat and veggies, possibly an energy bar or some trail mix and some baked goods.

      So at this point in the hike I'm very dopey and nauseous and the herd path isn't as clear cut. I felt like a not so prize fighter. I think it's at this point that a sharp branch ripped my shell. Getting slapped around a little bit in the ADK!!! It was a trudge up Santa. Still no views. It was again, a welcome relief to see the summit sign and there was an audible cheer. Koda wanted to keep going!!! On the way back down I stumbled and fell a lot, cursing as I struggled back to my feet and fell again. What a mess. Reaching Times Square for the third time in the day I was quite pleased to watch Koda immediately trot towards Panther. What a good peak-bagger! Little did I know he was about to make some friends...

a little beat on Santa

       He trotted out of sight and I heard some barking and a woman yelling "get away from here!". I immediately yelled Koda come and he reluctantly did after the woman yelled again "yeah, get out of here" or something like that. I was mortified and apologized profusely. She was around 60 as was her companion and was afraid of Shepherds as she had been bitten by one. Man did I feel bad. It's hard to find the balance with leash time. I really can't take him to the high peaks most popular trails during busy days. It's technically the law too in the Eastern High Peaks so I need to be careful there. I just don't want people to have a bad impression of me or my dog. I just wish he acted around people in the woods like he does people in the house: a little barking or excitement at first and then settles down.

     I was so flustered that I let the high peaks foundation hikers blow right by me soon after even though I wanted to chat them up. Well aside from some spots on Couchie, the exposed rock of Panther was one of the few places with limited views. I snapped a few pictures including one of Koda on the rocks above me which Jeanette fell in love with. We blew it up and framed it. Being on the final summit of the day, having some views and remembering our 46er finish here certainly cheered me up after some frustrating dog times. I was very happy! We took a little more time here, soaking it all in and getting peeks of Santa, Couchie and down towards Long Lake. After flurries all day and more heavy snow in the forecast for after 1, I knew it was time to get down off the ridge.

Fleeting glimpses from Panther towards Couch

regal pup

another magic disc

     I was glad to not have run into the women as I'm sure they were heading up Santa or down to Couch. We made great time down the herd path and slid around in the snow. This was Koda's strongest hike yet. I got the most water into him yet and it really kept him perky. When we got down to the open area that is the beaver pond at the bottom of the herd path I threw a stick out into the deep powder a few times for him to bound around in. Happy hiker and happy dog!

following our track back

a freshly dusted dog

lovely spot

getting deep

     I think I finally managed to get enough food into my body to reduce the nausea so the hike out was much more comfortable than the previous portions of the hike. Again, Koda had tons of energy still and managed to get some fetch out of me. I met a group of three skiers coming in and man did that look like a tough time. They were trying to get over a tree. They had a ton of gear for over-nighting and big packs plus ski's did not look fun to me.

new sign

     The hike lasted around 9 hours and was probably my hardest day to date. The food thing was a factor (I've honestly never gotten nauseous on a hike before) as well as lack of sleep but it's just a demanding day any way you slice it. It's really nice to have it out of the way though. I am greatly enjoying being much more selective with the order I'm doing the winter 46 in. Saving some special stuff for the end. 

The Santanoni Range: Our 46er Finish 6/09/12

    We started our hike late Friday afternoon under fairly sunny skies though there was some rain in the forcast. Once we got under way, some gray skies started rolling in, getting more and more threatening. The first portion of the hike in is along a road and goes fast. There is a hard right onto the trail proper which started out pretty and got awfully rugged (muddy, rocky and heavily eroded) awfully quick. I think we both had a lot of nerves about our last big trip of the 46ing journey and hadn't seen each other for a few days so we bickered a bit on the way in. I made some sort of smart ass comment about how it was going to rain soon and we both started picking up the pace. Thunder rumbled more and more intensely. About a mile before the lean to, a significant reroute was marked around some even worse trail. We pushed through scrubby pine and swung off of trees to keep our balance while trotting with three days worth of backpacking gear. We started to get kind of giddy in our race to the lean to and any animosity or irritation between us dissolved as the rain started to fall. Before we got too wet we reached the lean to. As we did, it immediately started raining harder. We gleefully settled in for the night. We had passed two guys on the way in who got to the lean to at the begining of the storm too. We immediatly invited them to share it with us for the night but they seemed intent on setting up their tent so we had it all to ourselves all weekend.

       The next morning we got it together pretty early and got on the trail. On the way in, at the reroute start, there was a small cairn. I assumed that this was the start of the herd path to Times Square though I was a little unsure as it was pretty small. I was able to rationalize that since there is now a trail reroute, the herd path start probably got a bit rerouted too. Here, me being overconfident got us into some trouble. First off, I hadn't checked any trip reports beforehand which I had been pretty vigilant with over our last handful of trips and the info had been pretty valuable. I might have gotten better info as to herd path start and how it was affected by the reroute. Secondly, I didn't pull out the McMartin map, sticking to the ADK map. The McMartin map has the herd paths and I would have very quickly seen my mistake. I left it in the freaking lean to.

     So we headed into the woods at the cairn and quickly lost any sign of a herd path. I was still sure that it was nearby as I thought I remembered that the herd path went south of Bradley pond. So if I took a bearing, stayed south of the Pond and hit Panther Brook, I'd HAVE to stumble into the herd path. The trees, christmas tree sized pines, were heavy with last nights rainfall and dew and quickly soaked me as I pushed through the brush. Jeanette trusted my judgement (oops) and followed but I can't say that either of us were pleased. We followed the southern shore of the pond and got some pretty sights.  




A boat stashed in the woods in what looks like ship shape.

 



Impromptu Bradley Pond bushwack

           We reached Panther Brook where it feeds into Santanoni Brook just south of Bradley Pond and began to follow it up still with no herd path in site. All throughout this I was checking my GPS constantly. Here I was, overly depending on it (which I've made fun of other people for....karma'd) and getting in trouble because of the warm and fuzzy feeling of having a dot on a map telling exactly where you are. We slogging along the banks of Panther Brook, crossing from one side to the other, looking for the herd path. The banks of the Brook became increasingly steeper with cliff faces rising to our right and it eventually made more sense to simply climb up the rocks in the stream. We paused for a snack and to get our heads back on straight. Surely the herd path would eventually cross the brook, probably after we rose out of the deep valley we had entered. Our hopes were based on our experiences with the Herbert Brook, Seward and Redfield herd paths which all follow brooks and cross at least once. Even if we didn't find the path I'd taken a way point for times square and between the GPS, compass and map i was confident we could hit the point. The strategizing and snacking were just the refresher we needed and spirits were well on their way to lifted as we stumbled upon backcountry gold: a cairn!!!!! Back on track folks.


Those are some lovely cascades...lets climb em!





Jeanette before and after shots: before finding the herd path

 


After finding the herd path!!!!

     I'm sure that our happiness and relief for finding the herd path colored the experience but from that crossing to the top went quick and felt decently easy. We got to the big interesction, rested and snacked and made our way down to Couchsacraga. This much maligned peak turned out to be pretty enjoyable for me. I do understand though how looking DOWN the long ridge from Times Square has taken the wind out of many a sail. We made what I felt like was good time, taking in some lovely and remote views of the Cold River Valley and the Seward Range. Up to the summit and yay! It was a pretty good one with a fairly open rock you could get a nice 360 from. I had been dragging energy wise and ripped into our new go to trail protein, foil packet tuna in sunflower oil and a little broth. Doesn't sound appetizing but when your body is craving/ needs a big dose of protein, it's freaking amazing. Met some nice guys and a dog, the guy was a 46er and his nephew just climbed his second and third, Santa and Couch! Whoa, he's gonna be glad he got those out of the way early on.

   


Almost to Times Square, the view back towards Bradley Pond, the Mac Range and beyond.





an ocean of fog

 



Cold River and the Seward Range

        With a fully belly and some bubbly conversation (Jeanette filled me in on the two episodes of HBO's Girls I had missed haha) we made our way back to Herald Square and began our trip up Santanoni. It looks huge from the first ledge overlook heading in that direction and I think we were both a bit intimidated. This climb though, like Couchy went relatively guick and uneventfully. Other than how awesome it was!!!! Freaking great views from this mountain. On the ridge trail we saw some painted trilium which was interesting as I'm used to seeing them much lower and near creeks. Jeanette nearly ran up, her excitement for being so close to our 46 un containable. Pretty summit and more chatting with nice folks. It was fun telling everybody how close we were.

    We rested for a while and like Allen, got visited by a summit bird.  Jeanette (and I) were very curious about a certain bird song we often herd in the Adirondacks. As a kid, my dad would whistle back to them and convince my sister and I he was talking to them. Which I now do to Jeanette haha. So this little bird with these brown almost hawk like wings, a striped black and white head and a yellow spot on it's cheek hopped around us for several minutes. It took off, perched on a nearby branch and lo and behold, sang the ellusive song! We now had all the identifiers we need to find out what kind of bird it is. It's called a white-throated sparrow. About a month later we decided to climb Phelps for sunrise and while we were completely socked in, we were visited again by WT sparrow and were treated to an extensive serenade which Jeanette managed to film. Such special moments!



Summit trillium?




The view from Santanoni; Pure wild Adirondacks

      Now all that we had left was to climb back down to Times Square and up A short distance to Panther. This is the sortest of the three ascents and I was stoked to be so close. Down in up with nothing particularly memorable other than our excitement. We celebrated on Panther, posing with our flag and swatting the occasional fly. You'd like to say that you sat back on your final summit and reflected about the long journey but I guess I really didnt though that happened plenty before and after. I took it in like any pretty and hard fought summit and we made our way back to camp. 




Santanoni from Panther

       I was curious to see what the trail was like on the stretch we had missed going up the creek. Well it turned out to be a pretty and moderately easy stretch of trail. It was well to the north of the creek for the most part, avoiding the cliffs that had pinned us in. Using our trail-finding "strategy" while we were "off-trail" would have NEVER led us to this path. Sometimes it seems like you do the opposite of right every possible time when something goes wrong and sometimes you feel like everything went miraculously right when the flows are flowin'. We got down to the pond and crossed the beaver dam. Turns out the herd path started pretty much right in front of the lean to, which i would have know if I had consulted the McMartin map before hand. Guess now I'll know for the next time haha. All things considered it could have gone way worse. We probably added about an hour to the day and one or two gray hairs.

     In the lean to that night we cooked a nice dinner, at some chocolate and drank a bottle of Finger Lakes ice wine I had gotten for Jeanette for Christmas and took in a lovely and restful evening alone in a lean to. I guess I didn't spend much time reflecting on the past because I feel in the middle of a fluid lifestyle more than someone who had just closed a door or finished a chapter. As I sit here writing this, I'm planning several camping and hiking trips for the coming months and beyond. I love these mountains with all my heart and feel so grateful for how they've changed me. I feel like I am finally a man. A man shaped by mountains, mud, weather, exhuastion, exaltation and solitude.