Neil
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- Apr 26, 2004
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If you're like me you may have looked upon Henderson as a rather drab and uninteresting mountain. I’ve always looked at it as if I would climb it from Bradley Pond LT, or have viewed it from lofty summits like Santanoni. From those points of view I didn’t see much to get worked up over. However, I didn’t want an uninteresting hike so I looked at it as a climb to do from the East. Prior to freeze-up I drew up a route from Upper Works that looped north then south along the Indian Pass trail. After freeze-up Randonscooter suggested cutting across Lake Henderson and that sealed it as a must-do hike as far as I was concerned.
So, this morning at 8 am Prino, Nessmuk and I stepped onto the frozen surface of Lake Henderson. My spirits soared as we made our way west along the bay that spills into the Hudson. The land all around us was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. Those of you who eschew the non 46er peaks should have been there with us as we rounded the corner exiting the bay. From our vantage point Mounts Henderson, McNaughton, Wallface and Adams were huge behemoths that towered over us puny humans as we inched our way across the lake. Henderson in particular was deserving of reverence with its many ridges, bumps and knobs. The summit was so very far away! It looked completely and absurdly out of reach but we humans with our purposeful and persistent goal oriented behaviour and our maps, technologically advanced equipment and experience were headed straight for it.
Standing on the lake we studied my proposed route and discussed various alternatives. Nessmuk gave me a lesson in map and compass and then into the forest we headed aiming for my route.
A quick aside is in order here. Many of you may know that Nessmuk is not a GPS aficionado and is an ace map and compass man. Today I had a front row seat and the rare opportunity to observe and learn from a true master. (I’m sure he’ll shrug his shoulders and say it was nothing.) but he knew exactly where we were at all times (as verified with the gps) and moved just as quickly as if with a gps. Just when I thought I knew it all! Paul you are very good!
On the lower reaches of the mtn. we moved as easily as 2 feet of structureless snow allows through open hardwoods and gentle slopes. Then we hit a wall, a low band of insurmountable vertical rock that ran perpendicular to our desired line of travel. We had no choice but to follow it. This is also where we started to encounter blowdown. We put the wall behind us but then both the blowdown and the pitch increased simultaneously. The blowdown was most impressive. A more effective impediment to our progress could not have been contrived to accompany the steep pitch and the deep unconsolidated snow. A single wind event it seemed had felled massive yellow birches at a 60 degree angle to our line of progress. Of course there were plenty of new growth conifers rushing to fill the gaps in the open canopy. They dished out generous helpings of snow.
We huffed and puffed our way up the mtn. but our progress, no matter how we measured it, was very, very slow. Finally, I had to say it. Turnaround time would be 1:00. Nodding heads agreed readily. As we climbed we learned something quite interesting. The clear, open sky that attracted us was clear and open as a result of blowdown! We headed into the thick conifers for best progress.
Then we decided that since our ridge had likely been exposed to violent winds creating all the blowdown that maybe we should check out the gully/bowl to the south which would have been protected. Sure enough, it looked a lot better. It was only noon but it was obvious we would never even get close to the summit and the open channels leading down to the bowl were so inviting….Oh, sweet surrender! We descended the powder slopes knowing we had earned each and every vertical foot the hard way.
As we worked our way back down to the lake we discussed what we had learned on this particular trip. We also noted that a person could spend a couple of weeks poking around on this one “little” mountain. Back on the lake, our views of Henderson Mountain took on a meaning which was totally different (less naïve) from 6 hours previously.
So, now there is a beautiful snowshoe track leading halfway (horizontally) up Henderson that will torture my mind until either it snows a ton or until I go back.
So, this morning at 8 am Prino, Nessmuk and I stepped onto the frozen surface of Lake Henderson. My spirits soared as we made our way west along the bay that spills into the Hudson. The land all around us was quiet, peaceful and beautiful. Those of you who eschew the non 46er peaks should have been there with us as we rounded the corner exiting the bay. From our vantage point Mounts Henderson, McNaughton, Wallface and Adams were huge behemoths that towered over us puny humans as we inched our way across the lake. Henderson in particular was deserving of reverence with its many ridges, bumps and knobs. The summit was so very far away! It looked completely and absurdly out of reach but we humans with our purposeful and persistent goal oriented behaviour and our maps, technologically advanced equipment and experience were headed straight for it.
Standing on the lake we studied my proposed route and discussed various alternatives. Nessmuk gave me a lesson in map and compass and then into the forest we headed aiming for my route.
A quick aside is in order here. Many of you may know that Nessmuk is not a GPS aficionado and is an ace map and compass man. Today I had a front row seat and the rare opportunity to observe and learn from a true master. (I’m sure he’ll shrug his shoulders and say it was nothing.) but he knew exactly where we were at all times (as verified with the gps) and moved just as quickly as if with a gps. Just when I thought I knew it all! Paul you are very good!
On the lower reaches of the mtn. we moved as easily as 2 feet of structureless snow allows through open hardwoods and gentle slopes. Then we hit a wall, a low band of insurmountable vertical rock that ran perpendicular to our desired line of travel. We had no choice but to follow it. This is also where we started to encounter blowdown. We put the wall behind us but then both the blowdown and the pitch increased simultaneously. The blowdown was most impressive. A more effective impediment to our progress could not have been contrived to accompany the steep pitch and the deep unconsolidated snow. A single wind event it seemed had felled massive yellow birches at a 60 degree angle to our line of progress. Of course there were plenty of new growth conifers rushing to fill the gaps in the open canopy. They dished out generous helpings of snow.
We huffed and puffed our way up the mtn. but our progress, no matter how we measured it, was very, very slow. Finally, I had to say it. Turnaround time would be 1:00. Nodding heads agreed readily. As we climbed we learned something quite interesting. The clear, open sky that attracted us was clear and open as a result of blowdown! We headed into the thick conifers for best progress.
Then we decided that since our ridge had likely been exposed to violent winds creating all the blowdown that maybe we should check out the gully/bowl to the south which would have been protected. Sure enough, it looked a lot better. It was only noon but it was obvious we would never even get close to the summit and the open channels leading down to the bowl were so inviting….Oh, sweet surrender! We descended the powder slopes knowing we had earned each and every vertical foot the hard way.
As we worked our way back down to the lake we discussed what we had learned on this particular trip. We also noted that a person could spend a couple of weeks poking around on this one “little” mountain. Back on the lake, our views of Henderson Mountain took on a meaning which was totally different (less naïve) from 6 hours previously.
So, now there is a beautiful snowshoe track leading halfway (horizontally) up Henderson that will torture my mind until either it snows a ton or until I go back.
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