Lucky Laura
Active member
Having seen no posts to Sewards for weeks, I had resigned myself that finishing the Winter 46 would have to wait till next year. Still, the last weekend of winter beckoned and I had a lovely visit to Skylight and Gray Saturday in wicked wet weather via Lake Arnold. After changing into dry clothes and getting to my car as it started to rain hard, I found a message on my cell phone from Inge who saw that Dunbar and ferrisjrf had broken out the Sewards on Friday!
My socks were soaked in blood from a bad blister Saturday, but I drove over to Saranac Lake, bandaged them up well and packed for Sewards Sunday. Corey's Road was littered with debris but you could see the work someone did in enabling a car to squeeze by the downed trees everywhere. Arriving to the winter trailhead at 5:15am, I found 2 men in their car there. I thought they were going up, also. But no- they had just recently arrived after climbing Donaldson and Emmons! That was a fearful thought- yikes.
Set off on skis at 5:30am- the road was ideal for skiing and managed to ski another 3/4 mile up the horse trail before switching to snow shoes. The cooler temperatures allowed me to ride on top of the snow instead of sinking in. The herd path up Calkin's Brook was very easy to follow and I arrived to the ridge by 9:45. It took about 2 hours to get over to Emmons. Wearing goggles made the scratchy brush no problem. There were no views but it was such a relief to see the yellow Emmons button.
I returned to Donaldson, with a breeze picking up. There was still no visibility but I was SO pschyed and singing the praises to Dunbar and Ferrisjrf for making such a nice path. After drinking up, I set off for Seward. The wind buried the tracks in many places but one could make out the depression in the snow further along. It was so foggy that I overshot Seward wanting to be sure I hit it. Suspecting I was heading to Ward Brook, I turned around and found the marker back where it was trying to flag my attention. Seward was less than 2 hours RT.
Started descending Calkins Brook at 2 and was happy to strap on my skis the last hour. No one else had signed in all day but I did find a fun looking trio heading in on the road with impressive provisions- they were pushing a dog sled- with no dogs. The cooler made me consider turning around and following them but it was not long to the car now. Thankfully, I made it out by 5:30pm- and not 5:30 the next morning.
Thanks to Inge for the call and to two strong hikers, Dunbar and Ferrisjrf for breaking. Sewards were the only peaks I had never visited in winter. What fun it's been!
-Lucky Laura
ADK Winter 46 finally!
My socks were soaked in blood from a bad blister Saturday, but I drove over to Saranac Lake, bandaged them up well and packed for Sewards Sunday. Corey's Road was littered with debris but you could see the work someone did in enabling a car to squeeze by the downed trees everywhere. Arriving to the winter trailhead at 5:15am, I found 2 men in their car there. I thought they were going up, also. But no- they had just recently arrived after climbing Donaldson and Emmons! That was a fearful thought- yikes.
Set off on skis at 5:30am- the road was ideal for skiing and managed to ski another 3/4 mile up the horse trail before switching to snow shoes. The cooler temperatures allowed me to ride on top of the snow instead of sinking in. The herd path up Calkin's Brook was very easy to follow and I arrived to the ridge by 9:45. It took about 2 hours to get over to Emmons. Wearing goggles made the scratchy brush no problem. There were no views but it was such a relief to see the yellow Emmons button.
I returned to Donaldson, with a breeze picking up. There was still no visibility but I was SO pschyed and singing the praises to Dunbar and Ferrisjrf for making such a nice path. After drinking up, I set off for Seward. The wind buried the tracks in many places but one could make out the depression in the snow further along. It was so foggy that I overshot Seward wanting to be sure I hit it. Suspecting I was heading to Ward Brook, I turned around and found the marker back where it was trying to flag my attention. Seward was less than 2 hours RT.
Started descending Calkins Brook at 2 and was happy to strap on my skis the last hour. No one else had signed in all day but I did find a fun looking trio heading in on the road with impressive provisions- they were pushing a dog sled- with no dogs. The cooler made me consider turning around and following them but it was not long to the car now. Thankfully, I made it out by 5:30pm- and not 5:30 the next morning.
Thanks to Inge for the call and to two strong hikers, Dunbar and Ferrisjrf for breaking. Sewards were the only peaks I had never visited in winter. What fun it's been!
-Lucky Laura
ADK Winter 46 finally!
