AntlerPeak
New member
After reading Tom Rankin's tr a few days ago and the rather close proximity of the trail head two of us decided to give it a go. Armed with Papa Bear's excellent report and pictures posted on his site, Bob and Gerri's detailed route found on their site and Tom's recent write up we were off. The GMC's day hikers guide was also carted along.
We drove up the Tower Road, ( signed ) at the point where the upper and lower Dorset Hollow roads come together. Just before reaching the logging equipment mentioned by Tom the road became dicey and we found a flat spot to park. We took the left fork at the clearing and soon reached the "camp". Ironically Bob's gps indicated we had walked 1.1 miles from the vehicle exactly the distance mentioned in the guide book. How odd as the GMC must have began their measurements from the same random spot we were forced to park. Bob and Geri's photo of the camp confirmed this to be the same one. It was the first confirmation we were on the correct track.
Papa Bear got it right when he said the next mile was relentless. We gained 1200 feet in the next mile without any respite. It seemed like every time the road gave signs of "rounding off" it took yet another sharp twist with a radical incline. The col was very short perhaps ten yards of level ending at a T intersection. To the left and this is only a guess suggested by others the road descended to Danby. To the right it began another ascent to the first right turn mentioned by Papa Bear. His photo three years old, or is it four, showed the junction with little change over time. The second right turn was pretty much the same as seen in another Papa Bear photo.
This turn led up a narrow path rather steeply to the South summit and it's tower remnants. One small view was had to the Northeast. There were simply too many horseflies to allow any extended rest. As you face the tower on the approach trail the ridge trail exits left in front of the tower. It is a rather gentle descent to an unmarked intersection. We have no idea where those old roads go and did not check them out. Continuing straight across we soon discovered a rather muddy section before reaching the second intersection with the faded board signs. Again crossing the intersection we soon came to the tree with the door knobs. Straight across leads to the north summit and the register. To the left as you are facing the door knobs the path leads back to the main trail. Soon we were at the register. It is about one mile across the ridge from the South Summit to the North Summit with a very moderate rather easy elevation change.
On our return we turned right at the door knobs to avoid a return to the South summit. In less than five minutes we reached the side trail we had taken to gain the tower. The relentless climb from the cabin to the col proved to be a relentless descent. All in all it is a worthy hike but be aware there is nothing to identify the begining of the trail. The street sign where Tower road meets Dorset Hollow roads is it. As we approached the vehicle it struck us that Tower Road got it's name because it led to the Tower on the south summit, duh, revelation!
We drove up the Tower Road, ( signed ) at the point where the upper and lower Dorset Hollow roads come together. Just before reaching the logging equipment mentioned by Tom the road became dicey and we found a flat spot to park. We took the left fork at the clearing and soon reached the "camp". Ironically Bob's gps indicated we had walked 1.1 miles from the vehicle exactly the distance mentioned in the guide book. How odd as the GMC must have began their measurements from the same random spot we were forced to park. Bob and Geri's photo of the camp confirmed this to be the same one. It was the first confirmation we were on the correct track.
Papa Bear got it right when he said the next mile was relentless. We gained 1200 feet in the next mile without any respite. It seemed like every time the road gave signs of "rounding off" it took yet another sharp twist with a radical incline. The col was very short perhaps ten yards of level ending at a T intersection. To the left and this is only a guess suggested by others the road descended to Danby. To the right it began another ascent to the first right turn mentioned by Papa Bear. His photo three years old, or is it four, showed the junction with little change over time. The second right turn was pretty much the same as seen in another Papa Bear photo.
This turn led up a narrow path rather steeply to the South summit and it's tower remnants. One small view was had to the Northeast. There were simply too many horseflies to allow any extended rest. As you face the tower on the approach trail the ridge trail exits left in front of the tower. It is a rather gentle descent to an unmarked intersection. We have no idea where those old roads go and did not check them out. Continuing straight across we soon discovered a rather muddy section before reaching the second intersection with the faded board signs. Again crossing the intersection we soon came to the tree with the door knobs. Straight across leads to the north summit and the register. To the left as you are facing the door knobs the path leads back to the main trail. Soon we were at the register. It is about one mile across the ridge from the South Summit to the North Summit with a very moderate rather easy elevation change.
On our return we turned right at the door knobs to avoid a return to the South summit. In less than five minutes we reached the side trail we had taken to gain the tower. The relentless climb from the cabin to the col proved to be a relentless descent. All in all it is a worthy hike but be aware there is nothing to identify the begining of the trail. The street sign where Tower road meets Dorset Hollow roads is it. As we approached the vehicle it struck us that Tower Road got it's name because it led to the Tower on the south summit, duh, revelation!
