best trail to do sewards

[Adk_dib]

I keep reading that the caukins brook trail is the preferred way up the 3 sewards. Is this true. Where does the trail start and is it marked. I herd it is about 15 minutes from the parking area. this would be perfect becouse I do not want to walk all the way to the other herd path. last year I did seymour and that is a long walk out. I do not want to camp if I do not have to so if the caukins brook trail is close to the PA that would be great. In my book on the 46 peaks the guy who wrote the book says the 3 sewards is a 18 hour hike going the old way. What is a estimate of the caukins brook trail. If anyone has a trail description or a link to a report Iwould appreciate it. thanks.

 

[C.Tracy]

I climbed Donaldson & Seward just over a week ago, and judging by the wear on the paths, I would say Caulkins brook is the favorite (mine too). I approached by Caulkins and descended from Seward to the Ward brook trail. From the trailhead, you take the Blueberry foot trail for about 1/2 hour until you reach a marked intersection with the Caulkins brook horse trail that goes to the right (also gives a milage figure for the Caulkins brook lean too). You take that trail for about another 1/2 hour until you reach another intersection marked with a small cairn on the left which is the Caulkins brook herd path. I had a slow hiker with me the day I did the two peaks, so time wise I would guess probably 3 to 4 hours to reach Donaldson and a 2 hour round trip for each of Seward and Emmons making it probably a 12 hike (obviously depending on ones fitness level and speed). The Seward approach would definately take longer.

 

[Doodles]

I was up on Seward, Donaldson, and Emmons this past weekend. We went up the herd path from the Blueberry / Ward Brook lean-to area. We actually lost the herd path and ended up bushwacking up.

We came down the Calkins Brook path. This indeed would be the prefered trail to grab Seward, Donaldson, and Emmons. The path is much drier and much easier to follow.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I've done both. I don't know if there is much difference in time. Calkins Brook is less muddy. If you want to make good time, go up one way, and down the other way. It'll save you climbing an extra peak. If you go/return Calkins Brook, you dlimbe donaldson, emmons, donaldson, seward, donaldson (almost) and return. If you take the 'traditional' route, you climb Seward, Donaldson, Emmons, Donaldsom, Seward.

If you go the traditional, you climb Seward, Donaldsom, Emmons, Donaldsom, return Calkins Brook. Counter-clockwise, you climb Calkins Brook to Donaldsom, Emons, Donaldsom, Seward, return the traditional route.

My preference (no logical reason, just my preference) is to climb the traditional route, then return Calkins Brook.

It is NOT 15 minutes form the trailhead. It is about 15 minutes to the trail that takes you to the herd path. You still have a mile or three down that before you get to the herd path. THe herd path up the Calkins Brook route, is a long-ish one, but usually in good shape.

 

[AntlerPeak]

I keep reading that the caukins brook trail is the preferred way up the 3 sewards. Is this true. Where does the trail start and is it marked. I herd it is about 15 minutes from the parking area. this would be perfect becouse I do not want to walk all the way to the other herd path. last year I did seymour and that is a long walk out. I do not want to camp if I do not have to so if the caukins brook trail is close to the PA that would be great. In my book on the 46 peaks the guy who wrote the book says the 3 sewards is a 18 hour hike going the old way. What is a estimate of the caukins brook trail. If anyone has a trail description or a link to a report Iwould appreciate it. thanks.

It is a little more than 15 minutes. Tracy has the route described accurately. It is 1.2 miles along the Ward Brook Trail to the junction with the Calkins Creek trail to Shattuck Clearing. It is a horse trail but also a hard packed dirt road once used by DEC rangers for patrol/fire fighting. Guidebook time would suggest 36 minutes to this point as the Ward Brook Trail is fairly level.

Follow the road/horse trail 2.2 miles to where it crosses Calkins Creek on a bridge look for the cairn for the start of the herd path. Guide book time would suggest 1 hr 6 minutes along the horse trail in addition to the half hour on the ward brook. A total of 3.4 miles parking lot to herd path but mostly level.

On terrain like this I find a 20 minute mile not uncommon so it is possible to reach the herd path in a bit over an hour. The herd path is more than two miles to the ridge and gains more than two thousand feet so again if you get up to Donaldson in three hours from the parking lot you beat guide book time. The climb over to Emmons is about an hour each way. The same for Seward.

Rather than reclimb Donaldson, that seems to be a deep hole between S & D, it may make sense to descend to Ward Brook directly from Seward. Considering it is an hour back to Donaldson from Seward and then your hike out is six miles or so via Calkins. that hour woulr get you almost to Blueberry L-T where it is only 4.5 back to the parking lot.

 

[Rick]

It is a little more than 15 minutes. Tracy has the route described accurately. It is 1.2 miles along the Ward Brook Trail to the junction with the Calkins Creek trail to Shattuck Clearing. It is a horse trail but also a hard packed dirt road once used by DEC rangers for patrol/fire fighting. Guidebook time would suggest 36 minutes to this point as the Ward Brook Trail is fairly level.....

Antlerpeak,
I think you meant continue 1.2 miles along the Blueberry Foot Path (BFP) to the Calkins Creek Truck Trail (CCTT) rather than staying on the Ward Brook Truck Trail (WBTT) to the CCTT intersection - As I recall, It is still private property on the WBTT from the gate until the BFP Junction at about 4.5 miles (via the BFP).

Actually, here's a question for old timers. There used to be 2 paths from the Parking lot - The Blueberry Foot path and the Calkins Creek Horse Trail (which led to the Calkins Creek Truck Trail, intersection a little further south than the Blueberry Path). The Horse trail was a load of mud almost knee deep in spots, whereas the Blueberry Footpath had many, many mold covered slippery boardwalks. I think the original Blueberry Foot path was closed and the Horse trail was Hardened about 8- 10 years ago...
Can anybody add anything here??
Thanks

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Actually, here's a question for old timers. There used to be 2 paths from the Parking lot - The Blueberry Foot path and the Calkins Creek Horse Trail (which led to the Calkins Creek Truck Trail, intersection a little further south than the Blueberry Path). The Horse trail was a load of mud almost knee deep in spots, whereas the Blueberry Footpath had many, many mold covered slippery boardwalks. I think the original Blueberry Foot path was closed and the Horse trail was Hardened about 8- 10 years ago...

10 years already? Only the first mile or so. The ole foot trail from the parking lot went through a nice forest. THere was a long-ish section of bog bridges going through a wet area.

THe hardening of the horse trail was going on for some time. My son worked there a couple years ago.. He wondered why the state was spending so much money to fix up a horse trail.

Afer about a mile (on the current tral) there is a split, and the horts trail continues straight, while the foot path heads off to the left (north-ish).

 

[rhihn]

We did Donaldson/Emmons via Caulkins trail only (I'm told) a month or two after it was cut. It was an easy approach (care needs to be taken on the stream crossing), as was the climb. Shortly before approaching Donaldson we encountered the herd path to Seward.

We've never been between Donaldson and Seward.

We did Seward from the Ward Brook trail, and had no problems whatsoever. The path was easy to follow, and other than the tall headwall issue (Joanne is short!), there was no problem. But this was several years ago.

We recall some major trailwork done (trail hardening?) on Blueberry by the ADK 46er crew as we exited the Blueberry Trail several years ago. The work was happening literally as we exited the trail and approached the parking lot.

Someone ('Skyclimber'?) mentioned the overgrown path on Seward, due to to the 'preferred' route via Caulkins Brook.

Given recent rains and trail reports, the Blueberry trail could certainly use some work! Perhaps the trail to Caulkins Brook is better than the Blueberry trail? If so, I'd go that way.

"Cold River Bob" (on ADKHighpeaks.com) talks of thigh-high mud, and up to waist-high stream crossings on Blueberry Trail, as far as Duck Hole. But this was during the recent ADK rains, and may have subsided since then. Later reports appear to be somewhat more forgiving.


Dick

 

[AntlerPeak]

Rick

You are correct but my old guidebook refers to the blueberry foot trail as the Ward Brook Trail. The two names have always been interlaced with each other and hikers used both names to indicate the footpath. The blueberry trail joins the actual Ward Brook road a short distance beyond blueberry lean-to.

Pete

I recall that old footpath/trail and yes it was wet. During the infamous "Newcomb to Axton" backpacking trip as we named it we turned onto that "nice" trail when we were hauling out from Shattuck. That was not the first wrong turn we took on that trip, it was the third. The first was after a night at Moose Pond. In the morning one of our stellar members suggested it would be neat to follow Pine Brook to Shattuck. It seems there was an extended wet area that forced us southwest where we ended up squarely on top of Gooseberry Mt. Not much for view but another summit bagged.

Once we secured the lean-to at the Cold River Bridge another member suggested we push on to the lean-to at Latham Pond. I objected saying it looked like rain and there is no lean-to at Latham Pond. He had an old map clearly marked shelter at the south end of the pond. Out voted I slogged along on wrong turn number 2 finally reaching the pond an hour later. All we found was thick undergrowth and wetlands. Of course that coincided with the time the rain started. It took surprisingly little time to hoof it back to the high and dry lean-to above Cold River we had left earlier.

So the next day when we reached the side trail to Latham Pond several voices suggested we take a walk into Latham Pond where they heard there was a nice lean-to. A solo voice muttered "shutup". It seems the guys were not quite ready to forgive the needless miles in the rain just yet. That long walk up the Calkins Road caught us inattentive and we turned onto the old path. It did not take long to discover it was wrong turn number three. Having done the Sewards four or five times before I should have recognized the junction. But the combination of being tired and inattentive led us down that nice muddy lane.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Rick is talking about the two trails that were parallel. Over 10 years ago, from the parking lot, an immediate left put you on the foot trail, while going straight was the horse trail. Both of these trails ran along side each other, never more than a quarter mile apart. They both hit the ward Brook Truck trail.

The map which comes with ADK guide books, does not have the first few miles of the trails, but McMartin's does, as does the Plinth-someone-big green-map.

Within the past 10 years, they closed off he first half mile or so of the foot trail and one must now take the horse trail for the first half mile. There is a split, and one can take either to the (other) horse trail leading to shatuck Clearing (passing the Calkins Brook approach). If the horst trail it taken, there are more ups and downs, if the foot trail is taken, there is more mud. At the junction to the Shattuck Clearing trail (going to Calkins Brook) the horse trail and the foot trail are about a tenth of a mile apart.

 

[Raymond]

How come half the people here seem to think that it's Caulkins Brook instead of Calkins Brook, as it says clearly on the map? Has the name ever changed? Was there a Caulkins of Adirondack lore whose name has become corrupted over time (like the original McIntyre)?

I don't get it.

 

[rhihn]

How come half the people here seem to think that it's Caulkins Brook instead of Calkins Brook, as it says clearly on the map? Has the name ever changed? Was there a Caulkins of Adirondack lore whose name has become corrupted over time (like the original McIntyre)?

I don't get it.

Nothing to get. No changes or folklore. It's very simple, really. We, who spelled it 'with a 'u' spelled it incorrectly.

 

[C.Tracy]

Nice to see so much information on the Seward trail system. I submitted a thread just over a week ago with a question on the Seward herd path and had no posted replies. Thanks

As far as the spelling, oops.......I did not realize the profound importance of these forums

 

[Neil]

Best route to the Sewards?

From Couchie.

I promise you there is no mud on the trail.


OK, just to make sure no one goes missing looking for the trail from Couch to Emmons. It's a bushwhack all the way.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Nice to see so much information on the Seward trail system. I submitted a thread just over a week ago with a question on the Seward herd path and had no posted replies. Thanks

As far as the spelling, oops.......I did not realize the profound importance of these forums

A lot of people were up there this past weekend.

All I want to add is that as of 7-1-6, the streams were all at what I would call normal levels, (so was the mud level, which is to say pretty bad!). There were no difficult crossings at all. Now the bugs ... !!!