ALGonquin Bob
Well-known member
Santanoni is “History”! (My long prelude to the actual trip report):
When I needed Santanoni for my first time around the 46, it took me 3 tries. The first time up was Feb. 29, 2004. I hiked with my friend Lee. We made camp along Panther Brook, walked up and DOWN to Couchsachraga, then I sidled over to Panther; there was no daylight remaining to get “Papa Anthony“. I drove up alone 3 weeks later on the final weekend of winter to try for the big one. After walking up to Times Square on another great day, I wandered around looking for a track of any kind that would lead me to that range’s highest peak. At that time in my life, I was unwilling to break trail on a solo attempt, so I made the excruciatingly long walk that follows all failed attempts, and returned to my car a defeated man. In April, still needing Santanoni to keep me on schedule to finish in June, I met up with a group that was to have included my friend Ed K.. Turns out that Ed had to cancel, but I hiked with several of his friends and we tried again. This time, I was following in the fresh tracks of speedier hikers, and we hit Times Square in late morning. There was concern that we would still be on the mountain after dark, a prospect that amused me, a slow hiker who is quite familiar with being on mountains by headlamp. At 3pm, we still had much ground to cover, but the group decided (with some encouragement from me) to continue onward. We topped out on Santanoni around 4 that day, then retraced our steps to TS. We managed to exit Panther Brook just before dark, and had only to negotiate the forest herd path in the darkness. I still have a souvenir on my leg from a good fall I took near the cliffs, but it didn’t bleed that much and we continued. The others were camped at the lean-to, so I continued out the last 4 miles by myself. It’s a much easier walk when you’ve made the summit.
Winter Attempts:
Back in the winter of “ought five”, I was part of a VFTT group that was going to conquer the Santanoni Range in January (I think). We all tramped up to Times Square where we were slapped with a bitter-cold wind and deep snow. After starting out for one of the more distant peaks, everyone quite wisely would eventually turn back to avoid the very real risk of frostbite (“Getting to the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory" - Ed Viesturs). A few managed to “conquer” nearby Panther, but nobody got Couchy or Santanoni. People who had never before failed to reach their Adirondack goals tasted cold humility in the Dismal Wilderness. Although it was not my first failure on the mountain, I was so disgusted with the day that I shortened my time up there and drove straight home.
My second attempt was just last month in a not-so-hardy attempt. After sharing trail-breaking duty back to Bradley Pond, my co-worker Dan and I looked at the time of day, where we were, how much effort we had expended just to do the easy part of the trek, and considered how we both felt physically at that time. After projecting a (optimistic) summit time of around sunset, all of those factors added up to “let’s scratch and just hike out”. Disappointing, but not a big deal.
Fast forward now to last weekend.
I needed Santanoni to advance toward my Winter 46, and last week would again be my third try. When I drove into the plowed trailhead parking lot, I met HIKINGCAVER and his friends. They invited me to hike to Couchsachraga with them, but I still had to heat water and was an hour away from beginning. They went ahead, and by the time I was ready, SKIDOC pulled in. He was bound for Panther and Couchy, and I was still the only hiker headed to Santanoni. We left at about the same time, with me on snowshoes and SKIDOC wearing, what else, skis! I hiked up the road, then followed the group’s tracks to Bradley Pond (where I turned back last month), up the herd path past the cliffs, up Panther Brook, and arrived at Times Square at 1pm (I later learned that I missed seeing the group by just 5 minutes). Observing no track to the south, I decided to go over the big rock and see how things looked. Five years ago, I stood at that same spot and turned back because there were no tracks for me to follow. Now, having walked that route once, and with 5 more years of experience (and a GPS receiver!), things were different.
The snow had a nice supportive crust, the sky was brilliant blue (with a cloud on the summit), and there was no wind to contend with. I had perfect conditions, so I figured that was my time to solo over to the elusive peak, and I began my bushwhack to Santanoni for number 45w. There was no hint of the tracks from last weekend, and it was slow going weaving among the trees and forcing my way up the slope to the first false summit. Once I obtained the ridge, it was a bit easier. When I topped out on the last false summit (there seemed to be 5 of those), I was greeted by the very welcome sight of a broken trail coming up the “new old” path (Tahawus Club trail). I was on the summit at 5pm, and descended the mountain on the nicely broken herd path. The time spent standing on the summit taking in the view and taking pictures allowed my body to cool down quite a bit - my clothes and mittens started to freeze. My hands became ice cold as I hustled down the path toward the brook far below. I paused to eat, drink my last liter of Gatorade, and don my headlamp. Finally, I warmed up again, and felt comfortable…. except I kept thinking, “I really should carry a spare headlamp, because I’d be in deep $h1T if this one failed!”. But it didn’t. When I reached the yellow trail, I paused to make a GPS waypoint, and there was HIKINGCAVER and friends. SKIDOC had hiked out ahead of them, and the rest of us continued together. It was a long but extremely satisfying 14-hour day on the trail; it’s a much easier walk when you’ve made the summit! One more “W” left for me. - BVH
PHOTOS (and 1 video) http://tinyurl.com/Santanoni45w-Feb21-09
When I needed Santanoni for my first time around the 46, it took me 3 tries. The first time up was Feb. 29, 2004. I hiked with my friend Lee. We made camp along Panther Brook, walked up and DOWN to Couchsachraga, then I sidled over to Panther; there was no daylight remaining to get “Papa Anthony“. I drove up alone 3 weeks later on the final weekend of winter to try for the big one. After walking up to Times Square on another great day, I wandered around looking for a track of any kind that would lead me to that range’s highest peak. At that time in my life, I was unwilling to break trail on a solo attempt, so I made the excruciatingly long walk that follows all failed attempts, and returned to my car a defeated man. In April, still needing Santanoni to keep me on schedule to finish in June, I met up with a group that was to have included my friend Ed K.. Turns out that Ed had to cancel, but I hiked with several of his friends and we tried again. This time, I was following in the fresh tracks of speedier hikers, and we hit Times Square in late morning. There was concern that we would still be on the mountain after dark, a prospect that amused me, a slow hiker who is quite familiar with being on mountains by headlamp. At 3pm, we still had much ground to cover, but the group decided (with some encouragement from me) to continue onward. We topped out on Santanoni around 4 that day, then retraced our steps to TS. We managed to exit Panther Brook just before dark, and had only to negotiate the forest herd path in the darkness. I still have a souvenir on my leg from a good fall I took near the cliffs, but it didn’t bleed that much and we continued. The others were camped at the lean-to, so I continued out the last 4 miles by myself. It’s a much easier walk when you’ve made the summit.
Winter Attempts:
Back in the winter of “ought five”, I was part of a VFTT group that was going to conquer the Santanoni Range in January (I think). We all tramped up to Times Square where we were slapped with a bitter-cold wind and deep snow. After starting out for one of the more distant peaks, everyone quite wisely would eventually turn back to avoid the very real risk of frostbite (“Getting to the summit is optional, getting down is mandatory" - Ed Viesturs). A few managed to “conquer” nearby Panther, but nobody got Couchy or Santanoni. People who had never before failed to reach their Adirondack goals tasted cold humility in the Dismal Wilderness. Although it was not my first failure on the mountain, I was so disgusted with the day that I shortened my time up there and drove straight home.
My second attempt was just last month in a not-so-hardy attempt. After sharing trail-breaking duty back to Bradley Pond, my co-worker Dan and I looked at the time of day, where we were, how much effort we had expended just to do the easy part of the trek, and considered how we both felt physically at that time. After projecting a (optimistic) summit time of around sunset, all of those factors added up to “let’s scratch and just hike out”. Disappointing, but not a big deal.
Fast forward now to last weekend.
I needed Santanoni to advance toward my Winter 46, and last week would again be my third try. When I drove into the plowed trailhead parking lot, I met HIKINGCAVER and his friends. They invited me to hike to Couchsachraga with them, but I still had to heat water and was an hour away from beginning. They went ahead, and by the time I was ready, SKIDOC pulled in. He was bound for Panther and Couchy, and I was still the only hiker headed to Santanoni. We left at about the same time, with me on snowshoes and SKIDOC wearing, what else, skis! I hiked up the road, then followed the group’s tracks to Bradley Pond (where I turned back last month), up the herd path past the cliffs, up Panther Brook, and arrived at Times Square at 1pm (I later learned that I missed seeing the group by just 5 minutes). Observing no track to the south, I decided to go over the big rock and see how things looked. Five years ago, I stood at that same spot and turned back because there were no tracks for me to follow. Now, having walked that route once, and with 5 more years of experience (and a GPS receiver!), things were different.
The snow had a nice supportive crust, the sky was brilliant blue (with a cloud on the summit), and there was no wind to contend with. I had perfect conditions, so I figured that was my time to solo over to the elusive peak, and I began my bushwhack to Santanoni for number 45w. There was no hint of the tracks from last weekend, and it was slow going weaving among the trees and forcing my way up the slope to the first false summit. Once I obtained the ridge, it was a bit easier. When I topped out on the last false summit (there seemed to be 5 of those), I was greeted by the very welcome sight of a broken trail coming up the “new old” path (Tahawus Club trail). I was on the summit at 5pm, and descended the mountain on the nicely broken herd path. The time spent standing on the summit taking in the view and taking pictures allowed my body to cool down quite a bit - my clothes and mittens started to freeze. My hands became ice cold as I hustled down the path toward the brook far below. I paused to eat, drink my last liter of Gatorade, and don my headlamp. Finally, I warmed up again, and felt comfortable…. except I kept thinking, “I really should carry a spare headlamp, because I’d be in deep $h1T if this one failed!”. But it didn’t. When I reached the yellow trail, I paused to make a GPS waypoint, and there was HIKINGCAVER and friends. SKIDOC had hiked out ahead of them, and the rest of us continued together. It was a long but extremely satisfying 14-hour day on the trail; it’s a much easier walk when you’ve made the summit!
One more “W” left for me. - BVHPHOTOS (and 1 video) http://tinyurl.com/Santanoni45w-Feb21-09
