MacNaughton/McNaughton

[Hank]

My brother Steven and I did MacNaughton/McNaughton yesterday under bluebird conditions. I use the double name as my old 46er peaks climbed printed list has it as Mac while the sign at the top has it as Mc. We entered via Upper Works, starting at 6:30 am, getting to the carin at the foot of the "bushwack" in 2 hours, about 5 miles. The conditions were dry, we are both fit even though there are 115 years between the 2 of us. I figured we would just knock off the 1.5 mile, all of 1600' ascent in short order, wrong! The whole thing with 0.5 hour on the summit for lunch took 10 hours. There are orange ribbons but they are discontinuous and the growth through the blowdowns which they cut through and around have obliterated any semblence of trail which might have been there when they were put up. The stream which the route is to follow has some steep walled gorges and debris in places so you are left to fend for yourself in the thick undergrowth and downed timber for some sections. I think most sane people will stay on the stream for as long as possible on the descent after having been whacked in the bush on the way up. Here was my first ascent since becoming a 46er and I had my comeupance. None of the trailless peaks I did since the 60s to complete my 46 showed this kind of wilderness. Both of us had the thought of not completing this pass through our heads. But we kept the thought to ourselves till dinner after the ascent. The 1.5 mile bushwack took 3 hours up and 2 down. We found a section of ribbon coming down which saved us a lot of time in the blowdowns and more skin. Not since bushwacking Couchie, Donaldson, Seward and Emmons while in my mid teens have I seen such tough going. If it had rainned yesterday as it had this morning I think I would have cried. The 2 pints of draught Saranac Pale Ale at The Cellar in Long Lake helped ease the pain. The lesson here is that doing the 46 is nothing till you do #47!

 

[rhihn]

My brother Steven and I did MacNaughton/McNaughton yesterday under bluebird conditions. I use the double name as my old 46er peaks climbed printed list has it as Mac while the sign at the top has it as Mc.

Hi Hank,

Feel free to use the "Mac" prefix. The peak is named after James MacNaughton (from Albany), president of the "Adirondack" ("Tahawus") Club, headquarters near upper works, near the turn of the century. He was the grandson of Acrhibald McIntyre.

Dick

 

[Hank]

Dick,

Hi. Do you have an answer to why it also appears as Mc if the man it was named after was Mac?

Does anyone know why the orange ribbons are not continuous? I couldn't help but consider how anyone knew the ascent so well as to understand where to put the ribbons. How much time does one have to spend in the blowdowns to feel confident enough for the task? What sort of dedication does it take to keep banging through carnivorous conifers? How much skin could anyone afford to lose for the cause? Not that I have all 52 cards in my deck...

 

[Peakbagr]

3 of us and a dog did the same route in late June. There used to be a herd path up along the brook until the blowdown field destroyed it. It appeared to us that someone tried to flag a route up it. Our impressions were a little different than yours, however. We thought that whoever flagged it must have had a lot of insecurity and we felt it was impossible to lose the route. There has been enough traffic up the route that if you were ever out of sight of a ribbon, all you had to do was look either uphill or down and you just hadda see another ribbon.
When we were able to stay in the stream, the going was "easier" a little higher up. When we were about 500' from the summit, we got over on the left hand side with the intention of forestalling further shredding. We came acoss a faded ribbon, then another, but picked up a herd path that wove its way up the stream right to the summit ridge. On the return, we came down the same way, but then found the going easiER on the right hand side of the brook.
I thought MacNasty was a long hike, but bushwhacking-wise, just another day in the office compared to a number of the other ADK100's.

 

[Hank]

The visibility was fine but there was no way we could see continuous ribbons yesterday. And there was no herd path where we lost the ribbons. It seemed as if each year of new growth around the blowdowns were exponentially more difficult to deal with.

We did follow the path down from the summit path but soon lost it only to find a line of ribbons later on that eventually dissolved into blowdowns. Did some of the next ribbons get blown away or was a herd path apparent a few years ago, only to become obliterated by new growth? We immediately found our way to the stream and stayed close by when we couldn't pass debris over it or it dropped too steeply.

If this was a normal day at my office I would consider a new occupation. You must wear shin guards, goggles and body armor. How many holes can you afford to step into and not break a bone? I couldn't see below my waist in the densest stuff.

 

[rhihn]

Dick,

Hi. Do you have an answer to why it also appears as Mc if the man it was named after was Mac?

No good answer. Perhaps a mistake on the sign? It wouldn't be the first time an Adirondack sign was wrong!

 

[Hank]

But the list of the 46 peaks on the 46er website says, "*McNaughton (4000') is not required."

So the official spelling has obviously changed.

 

[rhihn]

But the list of the 46 peaks on the 46er website says, "*McNaughton (4000') is not required."

So the official spelling has obviously changed.

It depends upon what you mean by 'official.' and 'obviously.' It wouldn't be the first time there was a mistake on a web site either!


Seriously, I don't know the reason for discrepancy. I will point out that it is spelled "Mac" in the both the McMartin and High Peaks guidebooks. It is spelled "Mac" on the APA's and Association for Protection of the Adirondacks websites:
http://www.apa.state.ny.us/Press/OSI_Tahawus.htm
http://www.protectadks.org/about/history/watchdog.html

Perhaps you could contact the web master of the site and inquire about the spelling.

 

[hillman1]

The guy that painted the sign made a mistake. I remember a post about it from someone that is "in the know".

 

[Rik]

Is that peak near the MacIntyre Range or the McIntyre Range?

 

[rhihn]

Is that peak near the MacIntyre Range or the McIntyre Range?

Thanks, Rik, for trying to muddy the waters!

Note in ADK HP guide: "The spelling of 'MacIntyre' conforms to the USGS topographic map, which has been approved by the U. S. Board of Geographic Names. It is used throughout this guidebook to be consistent, but the man for whom the range is named spelled his name 'McIntyre.'"

 

[Pete_Hickey]

The guy that painted the sign made a mistake. I remember a post about it from someone that is "in the know".

Yep. I'm the guy who put the sign up there:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmpadk/mac1.jpg

I can tell you who spelled it wrong, and I could tell you how red his face was when I pointed it out to him.

I could tell you, but I won't.



And the flagging. It is there illegally, and should be removed.

 

[Hank]

But why is the spelling wrong on the current 46er website?

 

[Pete_Hickey]

You can either send them an email or PM Mike1989. Either way the same person will answer you!

Mike just manages the roster. Send it to [email protected]. It looks like that page was wrong for a long time. It IS spelled correctly on the web page on the "Printable CLimbinb Brochure"

 

[Hank]

Done. Let's see what the reply will be.

Hank

 

[rhihn]

While we're at it:

In the interest of anal-retentive accuracy , I have some questions:

Shouldn't "peak" or Mt. follow the peak names? I'm thinking in particular about "Rocky Peak" (4060 ft.) which is different from Rocky Peak Ridge (4420 ft.).

Include proposed names Carson and Grace for S. and E. Dix?

Should "Wolfjaw" be two separate words?

Remove the misleading "t" code for "trailless" (they all have trails), or change the word?

 

[Pete_Hickey]

While we're at it:
......

That's too much for the webmaster. Know anyone on the 46er board so that you can get it brought up at the fall meeting?

 

[rhihn]

That's too much for the webmaster. Know anyone on the 46er board so that you can get it brought up at the fall meeting?

I'm thinking...just give me a minute...

 

[Tom Rankin]

Shouldn't "peak" or Mt. follow the peak names? I'm thinking in particular about "Rocky Peak" (4060 ft.) which is different from Rocky Peak Ridge (4420 ft.).

Include proposed names Carson and Grace for S. and E. Dix?

Should "Wolfjaw" be two separate words?

Remove the misleading "t" code for "trailless" (they all have trails), or change the word?

The names should mirror the signs at the summits as much as possible.

Yes! East should be Grace, etc.

Jaws? Hmmm, refer to my 1st response.

't' - maintained by the DEC vs not...

 

[rhihn]

The names should mirror the signs at the summits as much as possible.

Yes! East should be Grace, etc.

Jaws? Hmmm, refer to my 1st response.

't' - maintained by the DEC vs not...

Hi Tom,

My only "source" (I thought it was a good one) is the ADK High Peaks guidbook, which lists Wolf and Jaw as separate words. It has already been demonstrated here that summit signs are not infallible. However, I also must note that the ADK map shows these peaks as one word.

My point about the 't' for "trailless" was that the word is misleading. While at one time all of the peaks were trailless, these mountains now have either marked trails or well defined but unmarked paths. Some of these unmarked trails have had various degrees of maintenance, for the purpose of avoiding the creation of multiple herdpaths (not hiker convenience).