Allen from the East

[moose_mckenzie]

I am thinking of hiking Allen from the Marcy Trail. does anyone have any experience on this side?

Many thanks

Moose

 

[Peakbagr]

Moose,

There used to be a "route" from Sand Brook. I know of one party that did Allen from that way and took 24 hours, including a bivouac, to do the trip. It was that thick.
The woods change over the years, but the thick stuff coming from the east has been legendary. I hope you find a good way over and let us know.

PB

 

[bigmoose]

In 2000, a year after the infamous remnants of hurricane Floyd devestated much of the woods, the damage was apparent from atop Redfield. Massive stretches of trees keeled over onto each other, as far as I could see, east, north, and west of Allen. The next year the trail to Allen was rehabilitated, but I doubt anyone's straighted the rest of those woods just yet... If that bushwhack took 24 hours before, it might be 48 now....

 

[mavs00]

Here are a couple thread that address the issue.. They are old cached "google" results from here that I remember reading. In them, ADK b-whacking legands Tom Haskins, Pin Pin and Dennis Crispo chime in. It shoud help should you attempt this silliness .

Thread -1-

Thread -2-

Good luck and let us know if you make the trek.

 

[randomscooter]

gymnastics not optional

I still have fond memories of my 18 hour day with Mark Lowell climbing Allen from the east back in September of '00. It was during those bleak days when the future of the Allen herdpath was uncertain, so Mark and I decided to scope out a legal approach from the east. We went up the Elk Lake Marcy trail to state land then roughly contoured toward Allen, then up to the Allen-McDonnel col, then finally up the ridge to the summit. It took us about 5 hours through essentially interminable blowdown and thickets, 2 hours of much-needed recovery time on the summit (mostly to allow the painful flesh wounds to stop throbbing), 5 hours back to the trail just at full darkness, then a long slog by lamp out to the trailhead.

One technique I adopted during that ascent was to grab ahold of the upfacing limbs of a downed tree, often at head height (couldn't go under because the downfacing branches formed an inpenetrable barrier), then carefully maneuver a leg over the tree trunk, pack hanging upside down off my shoulders, and hoist myself up onto the trunk in a sitting position. Mark, having much longer legs than I, was often able to "simply" step over the tree.

If you are into adventures I highly recommend this one. You might wait for a dry day (a friend did a similar route up Allen with water soaked tree branches, which is an act of sheer determination if ever I saw one). Best if the weather is a bit cool so you can comfortable wear long sleeves and full pants. It was quite hot when Mark and I climbed it, and I wore shorts most of the way up (a major cause of my shredded flesh problem) before zipping on the legs.

An interesting aside, the Allen hike was when Mark and I found our first (and second) wilderness balloons, way up on the side of Allen in the middle of blowdown. Since then we have VERY frequently found balloons on our bushwhacks, including a fully inflated one between Big Slide and Porter in '03. Just last month Mark and I found a balloon on Kilburn one day and Sentinel the next day, then Paul Coarding and I found one on Slide Mtn (Sentinel Range) a few weeks later. There must be tens of thousands of balloons in these mountains for us to find them so frequently.

 

[masshysteria]

This thread got me thinking. If the East River Club ever decided that they have had enough of hikers crossing their land to get to Allen, and they posted the land as off-limits, where would the legal access to Allen be? Is the route from the east any shorter or longer, distance wise? Obviously, a trail would have to be hewn through the woods. One problem that comes to mind is parking. The parking area before Elk Lake wouldn't be big enough to handle the extra traffic of Allen. It fills up pretty quickly from hikers doing the Dixes. Just wondering what everyone thinks.

 

[moose_mckenzie]

Allen From East

Thank you, everyone. for the heads up on Allen. I know it's three miles shorter than the current trail. I would certainly be inclined to do the bushwhack to the Allen-McDonnell col, as a way of hiking the latter peak, as well.

As far as a route for the masses, let's leave it alone. I will keep my machete in my pack for emergency.

Moose

 

[randomscooter]

east route stats

The route Mark and I took is about 9.5-10 miles and 3200' elevation gain (thanks in large part to the 600' Pinnacle Ridge "speed bump"), so it's not a whole lot longer than the current Allen approach. But the hiking community relationship with the East River Club seems to be in good shape for now, so I don't envision any movement to develop a new route to Allen. The east approach is a gem largely because of it's physical difficulty and solitude, so I for one am happy that the traditional standard approach to Allen was reopened.