buckyball1
New member
I was faced with a real quandary on Thursday-game 4 Cs/Lakers won't end until midnight and i need to be up at 2AM for a long day to NH and on Davis. I slept a few hours during the day and hoped to catch a few more after the game. With the Celtics down 21 at the end of the first, i decided sleep was a better bet. Imagine my surprise when headed down I-95 at 230AM, i hear the Cs pull off the biggest comeback in history 
There have been several threads on VFTT re the location of the "true summit" of Davis. I planned to hike in from 302 (i've never been further that way than Stairs) and if the body was willing, explore the situation "on the ground".
The older maps and text show a "spur" path leading E from the Davis Path to a knob with a 3800' contour ("south knob") the spur then appears to bend NE, then N to another 3800' contour where the summit "X" is marked on the map and listed as 3819'. The total length of the spur on the map appears to be 0.2-0.25 miles.
Conversations with several VFTTers (thanks Roy, Mike, Ron, dug)and review of past threads indicates a "consensus"?? the the spur is shorter than shown on the map and most likely ends at the south knob. (this is apparently reflected on newer maps). Some who summited Davis "south knob" feel there's a "higher" knob visible some distance to the north (about where the summit "X" and spur's end are shown on older maps). Between the knobs is what looks like a pretty thick section.
I left 302 shortly after 6AM expecting a long day. I gulped a quart of water before setting on the trail and carried/consumed four more quarts during the day. Fortunately the heat didn't start to bite until about 10AM. Many of you are probably familiar with the Davis Path-good under foot, decent grades, but enough PUDs so it's 5500' of ups over 17.5 miles to Davis and back. Other than being inside my head for an awful long time, the hike was really nice-trail pretty dry, some blowdowns, but manageable. If you've not hiked this area, I recommend some/all of Crawford, Resolution and Stairs-all have superior views (i bypassed them this trip)
I had lots of solitude and excellent views/visibility on the hike in. There is one spot about a mile beyond the spur to Stairs where the trail is a bit iffy in a boggy section (it goes left across a small brook) Once you gain the Davis ridge, it seems like the flat section to the spur is endless. As I neared the spur, i heard voices and met a "serious" AMC trail crew clearing water bars and whaling away with axes at a large number of large blowdowns-impressed by their energy.
I had brought along my modest GPS and had entered waypoints from mapping software for both the "south knob" and the 3819 summit "X". The spur path to the south knob seems to be about a 0.1 mile and ends there (i think). There is a large cairn which most hikers assume to be the summit. Great views of course. If you look almost directly N, there is another set of ledges about 250-300 yards away which appears higher and more ledges a bit closer to the NNE. The intervening area has a slight col and lots of thick looking stuff.
I was looking around for a good way to head toward the N ledge when two hikers appeared. After some good conversation, I found it was VFTT Spirfire and her daughter who expected i might be on Davis after talking to "rocket21" on Isolation. After a lot of procrastination (there are a few pretty steep drops right off the south knob), I headed toward the N ledge and man is it ever thick--really thick--evergreen growth over your head in most places, blowdown and lots of sharp, dry older stuff. I managed to slash my ear and there was enough blood that i almost turned back (getting to be a habit..however--i finally worked my way into lower vegetation and came up on the closer ledge to the NE from whence i could see several more ledges. I visited 4 ledges culminating with my original objective. My best guess (using my pretty good Thommens) is that several ledges are 5-8' higher than the "south knob summit" and that the furtherest ledge is 10-15' higher. This north ledge was also right where the 3819' summit waypoint was on my GPS. I looked around hoping to find a real herd path (perhaps directly down to Davis Path) and found only animal trails which petered out--so back i went on a compass bearing to the south knob (had the compass flipped out of my hand in the thick stuff-took 5 minutes to find it hung like an ornament on a X-mas tree)--Over and back with visits to several ledges and a few breaks to gather myself took well over an hour--some spots were as thick as any i've seen.
I'm certainly not an authority, but my best guess is that the spur path goes to the south knob only (big cairn) and that the "true summit" (and the 3819' "X") is the north knob and the last ledge i visited-it was exactly 0.2 miles straight line from south knob cairn. Oh, and someone has been there as there was a small cairn/pile of rocks on the ledge (but not on it's top??)
The rest is anti-climactic--back on south knob, poured all the needles/duff out of my boots, cleaned numerous cuts (shorts and "T" as usual) and headed out. The trail crew had cleared all the blowdowns to 302 (yeah), but i was still pooped,
Got some welcome grease at McDs, slept in the Forester in a parking lot and felt human enough to go up Wildcat E" via the ski slopes shortly before 5 this morning--great, great views from slopes as usual
jim
There have been several threads on VFTT re the location of the "true summit" of Davis. I planned to hike in from 302 (i've never been further that way than Stairs) and if the body was willing, explore the situation "on the ground".
The older maps and text show a "spur" path leading E from the Davis Path to a knob with a 3800' contour ("south knob") the spur then appears to bend NE, then N to another 3800' contour where the summit "X" is marked on the map and listed as 3819'. The total length of the spur on the map appears to be 0.2-0.25 miles.
Conversations with several VFTTers (thanks Roy, Mike, Ron, dug)and review of past threads indicates a "consensus"?? the the spur is shorter than shown on the map and most likely ends at the south knob. (this is apparently reflected on newer maps). Some who summited Davis "south knob" feel there's a "higher" knob visible some distance to the north (about where the summit "X" and spur's end are shown on older maps). Between the knobs is what looks like a pretty thick section.
I left 302 shortly after 6AM expecting a long day. I gulped a quart of water before setting on the trail and carried/consumed four more quarts during the day. Fortunately the heat didn't start to bite until about 10AM. Many of you are probably familiar with the Davis Path-good under foot, decent grades, but enough PUDs so it's 5500' of ups over 17.5 miles to Davis and back. Other than being inside my head for an awful long time, the hike was really nice-trail pretty dry, some blowdowns, but manageable. If you've not hiked this area, I recommend some/all of Crawford, Resolution and Stairs-all have superior views (i bypassed them this trip)
I had lots of solitude and excellent views/visibility on the hike in. There is one spot about a mile beyond the spur to Stairs where the trail is a bit iffy in a boggy section (it goes left across a small brook) Once you gain the Davis ridge, it seems like the flat section to the spur is endless. As I neared the spur, i heard voices and met a "serious" AMC trail crew clearing water bars and whaling away with axes at a large number of large blowdowns-impressed by their energy.
I had brought along my modest GPS and had entered waypoints from mapping software for both the "south knob" and the 3819 summit "X". The spur path to the south knob seems to be about a 0.1 mile and ends there (i think). There is a large cairn which most hikers assume to be the summit. Great views of course. If you look almost directly N, there is another set of ledges about 250-300 yards away which appears higher and more ledges a bit closer to the NNE. The intervening area has a slight col and lots of thick looking stuff.
I was looking around for a good way to head toward the N ledge when two hikers appeared. After some good conversation, I found it was VFTT Spirfire and her daughter who expected i might be on Davis after talking to "rocket21" on Isolation. After a lot of procrastination (there are a few pretty steep drops right off the south knob), I headed toward the N ledge and man is it ever thick--really thick--evergreen growth over your head in most places, blowdown and lots of sharp, dry older stuff. I managed to slash my ear and there was enough blood that i almost turned back (getting to be a habit
..however--i finally worked my way into lower vegetation and came up on the closer ledge to the NE from whence i could see several more ledges. I visited 4 ledges culminating with my original objective. My best guess (using my pretty good Thommens) is that several ledges are 5-8' higher than the "south knob summit" and that the furtherest ledge is 10-15' higher. This north ledge was also right where the 3819' summit waypoint was on my GPS. I looked around hoping to find a real herd path (perhaps directly down to Davis Path) and found only animal trails which petered out--so back i went on a compass bearing to the south knob (had the compass flipped out of my hand in the thick stuff-took 5 minutes to find it hung like an ornament on a X-mas tree)--Over and back with visits to several ledges and a few breaks to gather myself took well over an hour--some spots were as thick as any i've seen.I'm certainly not an authority, but my best guess is that the spur path goes to the south knob only (big cairn) and that the "true summit" (and the 3819' "X") is the north knob and the last ledge i visited-it was exactly 0.2 miles straight line from south knob cairn. Oh, and someone has been there as there was a small cairn/pile of rocks on the ledge (but not on it's top??)
The rest is anti-climactic--back on south knob, poured all the needles/duff out of my boots, cleaned numerous cuts (shorts and "T" as usual) and headed out. The trail crew had cleared all the blowdowns to 302 (yeah), but i was still pooped,
Got some welcome grease at McDs, slept in the Forester in a parking lot and felt human enough to go up Wildcat E" via the ski slopes shortly before 5 this morning--great, great views from slopes as usual
jim
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