TMax
New member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 589
- Reaction score
- 85
JayH, mcorsar and I met Friday evening at the Harris Lake Campground on a very crowded site. Between our 3 tents, 3 cars, and 1 screenhouse it seemed more like the parking lot at a Dead show and we had to be careful not to fall on top of anything! Mcorsar played some cool tunes 
while a camper somewhere in the park practiced "London Bridge" on some woodwind instrument! We went to bed early for an early start. Up before dawn, quick bagels and at the Upper Works parking area by 6:00. There was a surprisingly large number of hikers there, mostly folks hiking with the Albany chapter of ADK. The walk up the Santanoni Club road was quick and easy. Then the Bradley Pond Trail started out nice with soft, easy terrain but quickly turned muddy. Lots of log-root-rock hopping to try to avoid the muck. But even at the worst of it, you always had a reasonable option to step on that would keep you from sinking too far. The turn for the herd path just before Bradley Pond Lean-to was clearly marked by a cairn on top of a large boulder. The path up through and alongside Panther Brook entailed a lot of rock hopping but nothing too bad. We were making good time and I started to question all the nightmare stories I'd heard about this hike. I thought "what's all the fuss about? This is no problem." Well, as the mountains have a way of doing, I was soon to be humbled.
At Times Square, we ran into a very friendly hiker who chatted with us about our recent Rainier trip (How'd he know about that? Did you fill him in Matt??) and he told us that he had just done Granite and Gannett!! He was waiting for his girlfriend to catch up who was just about to complete on Panther. We then shoved off for Couchsachraga- joking about having to descend to a summit! The brush was thick and scratched the heck out of exposed skin but the path was otherwise in great shape. Even the swamp below the summit, while wide, deep, and smelly, was crossable without too much difficulty. The ADK was on their way down as we ascended. Good thing, there isn't room on top for that many folks! A short break on the summit while mcorsar identified the peaks around us and off we went. About halfway back to Times Square there's a section of the path that opens up with a fantastic view of the Seward Range. We stopped there for a well-deserved lunch. On the trek back to Times Square I started to get "what all the fuss was about" as we fought the brush and continued climbing. At Times Square some of the ADK group who only needed Couchie, were waiting for the rest of the group to return from Santanoni. After a brief moment of envy, on I went. JayH and mcorsar quickly passed me by and put distance between us as I started to get chewed up by the hike. Lots of interesting and fun scrambles led to false summits and at the bottom of one of those I ran into a guy who said "Hey Terri, good job, hang in there, you're almost there!" JayH and mcorsar had sent me encouragement via a descending hiker (who we would later meet coming back up Santa He had managed to get turned around somehow...was he ticked!!). It was just what I needed and I blasted (OK, maybe not blasted but at least I wasn't crawling ) up to the summit. We tagged the top and then retreated to the false summit just before the true one to enjoy an amzing view . We were all impressed. But the clock was ticking so off we went to Times Square AGAIN. We decided it wasn't making the summits that was tough on this hike, but the multiple climbs to Times Square!!
Back at TS, a small group of hikers who were also humbled by the hike, were getting some R&R. The walk up Panther was was quick with a great scramble up some slabby stuff. We took a short break and then started the slog out. At Panther Brook I filtered some water, having consumed the 3 liters I started out with, and mcorsar cleaned up a liter for himself. JayH didn't need any stating "I didn't even work up a sweat today." Is he human The Bradley Pond trail seemed even drier on the way out. Maybe the ADK group soaked it up in their boots? Once down, the priorities were ice-cream and showers, in that order.
All in all, a long day and fairly demanding (but very interesting) hike. I think the trail conditions were excellent compared to all the stories I've heard and trip reports I've read. Thanks Jay and Matt for another great hike!
while a camper somewhere in the park practiced "London Bridge" on some woodwind instrument! We went to bed early for an early start. Up before dawn, quick bagels and at the Upper Works parking area by 6:00. There was a surprisingly large number of hikers there, mostly folks hiking with the Albany chapter of ADK. The walk up the Santanoni Club road was quick and easy. Then the Bradley Pond Trail started out nice with soft, easy terrain but quickly turned muddy. Lots of log-root-rock hopping to try to avoid the muck. But even at the worst of it, you always had a reasonable option to step on that would keep you from sinking too far. The turn for the herd path just before Bradley Pond Lean-to was clearly marked by a cairn on top of a large boulder. The path up through and alongside Panther Brook entailed a lot of rock hopping but nothing too bad. We were making good time and I started to question all the nightmare stories I'd heard about this hike. I thought "what's all the fuss about? This is no problem." Well, as the mountains have a way of doing, I was soon to be humbled. At Times Square, we ran into a very friendly hiker who chatted with us about our recent Rainier trip (How'd he know about that? Did you fill him in Matt??) and he told us that he had just done Granite and Gannett!! He was waiting for his girlfriend to catch up who was just about to complete on Panther. We then shoved off for Couchsachraga- joking about having to descend to a summit! The brush was thick and scratched the heck out of exposed skin but the path was otherwise in great shape. Even the swamp below the summit, while wide, deep, and smelly, was crossable without too much difficulty. The ADK was on their way down as we ascended. Good thing, there isn't room on top for that many folks! A short break on the summit while mcorsar identified the peaks around us and off we went. About halfway back to Times Square there's a section of the path that opens up with a fantastic view of the Seward Range. We stopped there for a well-deserved lunch. On the trek back to Times Square I started to get "what all the fuss was about" as we fought the brush and continued climbing. At Times Square some of the ADK group who only needed Couchie, were waiting for the rest of the group to return from Santanoni. After a brief moment of envy, on I went. JayH and mcorsar quickly passed me by and put distance between us as I started to get chewed up by the hike. Lots of interesting and fun scrambles led to false summits and at the bottom of one of those I ran into a guy who said "Hey Terri, good job, hang in there, you're almost there!" JayH and mcorsar had sent me encouragement via a descending hiker (who we would later meet coming back up Santa
He had managed to get turned around somehow...was he ticked!!). It was just what I needed and I blasted (OK, maybe not blasted but at least I wasn't crawling ) up to the summit. We tagged the top and then retreated to the false summit just before the true one to enjoy an amzing view . We were all impressed. But the clock was ticking so off we went to Times Square AGAIN. We decided it wasn't making the summits that was tough on this hike, but the multiple climbs to Times Square!!Back at TS, a small group of hikers who were also humbled by the hike, were getting some R&R. The walk up Panther was was quick with a great scramble up some slabby stuff. We took a short break and then started the slog out. At Panther Brook I filtered some water, having consumed the 3 liters I started out with, and mcorsar cleaned up a liter for himself. JayH didn't need any stating "I didn't even work up a sweat today." Is he human
The Bradley Pond trail seemed even drier on the way out. Maybe the ADK group soaked it up in their boots? Once down, the priorities were ice-cream and showers, in that order.All in all, a long day and fairly demanding (but very interesting) hike. I think the trail conditions were excellent compared to all the stories I've heard and trip reports I've read. Thanks Jay and Matt for another great hike!
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