Hiking ADK Firetowers

On Sunday, after Saturdays heavy trail mileage, I was up for something a little more sedate. I opted to go visit a few of the firetowers in the high peaks. I really enjoyed visiting Hurricane earlier in the summer and there are 22 other firetowers currently standing in the Adirondacks. Most of them are an easier walk when compared to clambering up a 4000-foot peak. Easier yes but by no means easy – they don’t put firetowers in the valleys so there is still some elevation to climb. That said the length of trail is typically much shorter for most of the peaks with firetowers and I chose some with a mile or two of trail so I could take stock after each short hike, assess how I felt and adjust my plans accordingly. In the end I visited Goodnow Mountain in the morning and then grabbed some lunch. In the afternoon I went to Mounts Arab and Azure firetowers and enjoyed all three – each in a unique mountainous setting. I also got to experience some of the backroads of the park and … ummm, get a little lost (and then found). Lots of other people had the same idea (to climb a firetower peak), as it was a perfect fall Sunday. Lots of families out on the trail enjoying the weather and the summits were busy spots.

Azure Mountain Firetower's shadow

We only have one firetower at home in the Gatineaus... and I seem to visit it regularly. I like the idea of firetowers in general. Having “Ranger Gord” sit in a little summit post all summer staring over the vast ocean of trees keeping them safe from harm seems an interesting approach. Of course today forest fires are monitored by satellite so the towers have long been abandoned (first replaced by plane surveys). In some cases the towers fell into decay but local community groups are conserving a number of them for their historical merit. There are also legal battles being fought to save a few of the towers, as these manmade structures don’t conform to the wilderness ethic of the Parks “forever wild” policies. Seems a shame to tear down a part of the past whose original purpose was to preserve and protect the park. From the size of the crowds I met on Sunday I would guess there are lots of others that support that idea as well. Certainly makes for a nice destination to take the family for a Sunday hike. ... and the view on a fall day - stunning!!

Visiting (the) Santa(s) in September

Headed down to the Adirondacks for the weekend. Saturdays hike was to the Santanoni range. This is one of the hikes I have been dreading since I started going to the Daks to climb. It’s a long (long) hike over rough terrain. Things started badly as – on the drive down Friday evening – I found all the grocery stores closed so I had to load up on food supplies from a gas station minimart for my Saturday lunch - slim pickins...

Started just after 6am and headed up a short stretch of gravel road to the main trail. Soon I was off the trail and onto a herdpath for Santanoni. It was steep going and the weather was looking grim as the sun came up – heavy overcast clouds with a ceiling of ~ 4000ft. When I finally got up on to the ridgeline (at ~ 4500ft) I found the far (west) side of the ridge clear! Maybe things were looking up!! Tagged the summit and then waited in hopes that the neighbouring peaks to the east would poke out through the cloud cover but it wasn’t to be.

Headed off for Couchsachraga, which is a small bump on the Santanoni massif that involves an out and back hike from the main ridge with a lot of down (and then some up… and then back down and back up again to the main ridge!). The trail out to Couch wasn’t too bad and the weather had cleared nicely. Lots of down, a (thankfully) mostly dry swamp at the bottom and then a short climb to the summit but I was surprised at how tight the trail was. This was the longest time I’ve spent on a herdpath (unofficial trail only “lightly” maintained by the 46ers club). The herdpaths are maintained by agreement with the DEC in order to concentrate us hikers onto one route rather then creating a maze of paths on the fragile high peak vegetation. They are usually great trails especially considering the light maintenance they receive. This one required lots of plowing through the narrow scrub on the way through the bush. Never any problem finding my way but narrow and scratchy the whole way…. and a long climb back up to the main ridge again.

Finally on my return to the main ridgeline I climbed up Panther Peak and met a guy from Rochester sunning on the summit rocks. He had been given a “free pass” from his wife to take the weekend on his own (he has a family of five girls!) to commune with nature, howl at the moon, clear his soul etc – whatever his Y chromosome required. He’d spent most of the weekend alone at a nearby leanto and clearly this wasn’t what he was used to in his household so he was eager to chat. It was a beautiful afternoon in a beautiful spot so I wasn’t in a rush to leave. After about an hour we parted ways and I made the long descent back to the car.

Strangely dark clouds started to form as I descended the east side of the ridge – a real storm maker this peak was turning out to be and I lifted my pace to get out before any rain came. Somewhere along the way out I ran out of water but decided that I should push for the car rather than stopping to filter some water from a nearby stream. This may have been my last mistake of the day as dehydration effects slowed me in the final walk out. By the time I crawled (not literally) into the parking lot I was done (physically and literally). I had planned to head to camp before making dinner but I was so hungry I pulled out the stove and made dinner on the spot. A big bowl of pasta, a beer, lots of water and half a Hershey bar (all I had left) later I was ready to consider setting up camp. Lucked into a nearby camp spot and spent an early night as I tried to read for a bit but was quickly overcome by sleep.

Santa played a strong role in my dreams that night....

Santanoni 32 of 46
Couchsachraga 33 of 46
Panther 34 of 46

Flagpole Hill

Flagpole Hill
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Sunday I took a hike in Frontenac Park. The section of the Rideau trail that passes through the park is tough to do as a solo day hike and is really designed to be a through hike. Its about 12km of rugged walking from the Park entry to the Perth Village road crossing. As luck would have it my parents were off to Toronto on Sunday morning so I arranged with them to meet me at the Perth Village road and ferry me around to the Park gate so I could hike through the park and back to my car. It worked perfectly and I enjoyed a piece of the trail I have long wanted to hike.

The section of trail is a really pretty one passing many small lakes and bogs, climbing rugged Canadien shield and then diving deep into deciduous forests.... a real nice mix that was continually changing as I hiked along. The highlight was Flagpole hill which was a high granite rock that stood above the park with a good view in all directions. Only met a few people along the trail so it felt quite remote - perhaps more so than it actually was.

Fall was truly in the air as cool overnight temperatures (3C) made for a brisk start in the morning. By midday things warmed up and I had shed layers pretty quickly but it was a good reminder that colder temps lie ahead.

Jay walking

Walking the ridge
Originally uploaded by kenmore photos

Saturday I went down to the Jay range in the High Peaks with Mike. This is a hike I had heard many (many) good things about and was looking forward to giving it a try. It’s not a "46er" (sitting at 3500ft) but it sounded like a worthwhile hike none the less so we decided to give it a go. As it turns out it was a stellar decision. The trail climbed steeply from the parking spot and finally deposited us on the main ridge which is for the most part an open walk. Seems there was a forest fire here a hundred years ago (+/-) and the tree cover hasn't been able to grow back. The result is an open scrambly ridgeline with stunning vistas in all directions. This is not a walk to try to rush through. Too many good things to see along the way and the cameras were clicking all day as Mike and I came home with 2-300 photos. The day was perfect for hiking - slightly cool with a few clouds that eventually blew off leaving a clear bluebird sky. Fall is starting to take hold as the trees and alpine meadows are slowly turning colours but we still had some luck to find a few late season blueberries for some “free” calories along the trail. From the summit we could see to the east and the green mountains of Vermont while just south of us were the main high peaks of the Adirondacks and to the north was Montreal, Mont. St Hilaire, Orford and Owls Head. We spent 7 hours on this hike and came across only a dozen or so people – amazing for the start of the long weekend. Guess this hike is a bit of a local secret….. shhhh! Back to the car, de-booted and refreshed we popped into the Lake Placid brew pub for an excellent hefeweizen and some dinner. A day well spent to be sure.