Mt. Alander & Mt. Frissell -- Saturday, 2/19

[dr_wu002]

Alander Mtn. & Mt. Frissell -- Saturday, 2/19

This Saturday, I'm planning a little jaunt up to Alander Mtn. 2239' (which supposedly has a beautiful, open summit) and Mt. Frissell 2453' (High Point in Connecticut, I believe) -- two nice peaks in the Southern Taconics. Frissell actually has a prominence of nearly 800'.

I'm planning the following loop trail

Alander Mtn. Tr to Alander summit (2.8mi)
South Taconic Trail to Ashley Hill Tr. (2.9mi)
sprint over to Mt. Frissell via. Mt. Frissell Tr. (1.0mi)
Ashley Hill Tr. to Alander Mtn. Tr (3.4mi)

= 10.1 miles and about 1500' elevation.

Meet me at the Mt. Washington State Forest Headquarters at 7:00AM if you're interested.

Regards,

Dr. Wu

 

[Kevin]

I will know definatly Friday, but I'll plan to be there to hike! I have hiked a few little portions of the area a few years back, and always wanted to go back and do a good loop of the area.

I'm over in Dutchess County so if anyone wants to carpool, let me know.

Catch you later...
Kevin

 

[dr_wu002]

Hi Kevin,

Sounds great. I'm looking forward to this hike -- I think it'll be pretty easy but a lot of fun.

If you have any questions about directions or anything, let me know. Otherwise, see you at 7:00am at the trailhead. Hope we get good weather!

Regards,

Dr. Wu

 

[Quietman]

We did this loop in the fall and it was great. Allander has very nice views, and there are numerous views from along the ridge. The little side trail up Brace is well worth it. The Ashley Hill trail is a nice woods road, and if there is snow, I'd consider bringing CC skis. Have fun!

 

[jjmcgo]

Staying at the cabin?

Are you considering staying Saturday night at the Alandar cabin?

 

[dr_wu002]

Are you considering staying Saturday night at the Alandar cabin?

Nah, I'm just doing it as a day hike.

 

[percious]

I *just* did Frissel last weekend, from the CT side. We bushwhacked directly to the AMC hut off Bear Mtn. then up over round, and finally Frissel. I highly recommend taking a slight side trip to Round mountain. It has 360 degree views, and would make a great lunch spot.

The HP for CT is on the western side of Frissel as you approach the summit. It is marked with a cairn.

Almost forgot... Leave your skiis at home, consider instep crampons instead.

-percious

 

[dr_wu002]

I *just* did Frissel last weekend, from the CT side. We bushwhacked directly to the AMC hut off Bear Mtn. then up over round, and finally Frissel. I highly recommend taking a slight side trip to Round mountain. It has 360 degree views, and would make a great lunch spot.

The HP for CT is on the western side of Frissel as you approach the summit. It is marked with a cairn.

Almost forgot... Leave your skiis at home, consider instep crampons instead.

-percious

Hi Percious,

Where did you park? What is the condition of the roads in that area, particularly east road. We may be able to do a quick car spot so that we can hit a few more of the peaks in the area without pushing the distance to much. I'll have my G-10s with me and probably yak trax. What about snowshoes? Any need? There might be new snow there now though...

Regards,

Dr. Wu

 

[Kevin]

Are you considering staying Saturday night at the Alandar cabin?

I had thought about this, extending the day into an overnighter. Does anyone know the condition of the cabin this year? It would be nice to hike a few of the trails up in that area.

I just checked the weather.com forecast for Copake Falls, NY; they said:

FRIDAY
Partly Cloudy
High
25°F
Low
6°F

SATURDAY
Few Snow Showers
High
26°F
Low
8°F

SUNDAY
Partly Cloudy
High
26°F
Low
17°F

Of course, the weather on the ridge will be different, but at least that is something to plan with.

If the cabin is in decent condition, I may stay overnight. I do not have a decent 3+ season tent, so using the cabin would be prefered.

Catch you later... Kevin

 

[Quietman]

Copied from so previous posts 11/04


The cabin is still there

My daughter's in-laws told me (last month) that the cabin is still there. Better yet, they said it was recently fixed up and the booze bottles, etc were removed.

I've not been there but, as said earlier in the thread, it sounds like a nice place. It is an addition to this winter's todo list.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Quietman
It's still there, between the two Alander "peaks". It's in rough shape getting rougher. At last report, the tarp on the roof was still holding, but someone used the chair and table for firewood. I've tried to find out who is responsible for the upkeep to see if a fix up party could be organized, but I've had little success. It's located in a dell and gets dark early so bring good light sources.



At last, a sign of hope.

This June I received this report:

Sad to say, it's a mess. The roof is shot, someone put a blue tarp over it. It appears to be dry inside though. Structurally it looks okay, other than the roof. It's a mess inside. There is a woodstove inside that looks like it works. There are two wooden bunks. It would be an okay place to spend the night, just a little creepy. Certainly a lot of hikers do. It is well used and the log book inside is filled with entries. It's a shame people don't take better care of the place.

And from the park ranger in May:

I had no clue the old observer's cabin still exsisted on Alander Mnt.
I assumed it would have been dismantled the same time they disamntled the tower. Alander from what I have been told is on private land and is no concern to me as a state forest ranger.

From the State Forest Map , it appears to be within the Forest's boundries.

I'd appreciate any additional info.....

Quietman

 

[dr_wu002]

Kevin,

We should meet at the original location - the Mt. Washington State Forrest HQ -- at 7am and if East Road is ok, we'll make our way down to the trailhead to Mt. Frissell. From there we can hike Round Mtn, Mt. Frissell, hop over to Brace and South Brace (ridge is supposed to be nice) and then onto Alandar Mtn. If you want to camp there, fine -- I'll probably head back on the South Taconic Trail rather then making it a (longer) loop. If the weather is bad for some reason we could always use the Alandar Mtn. Trail as an escape hatch. What do you think?

Regards,

Dr. Wu

PS. Anyone else interested -- love to have you.

 

[Kevin]

Dr Wu... Sounds good to me. That looks like a nice route too.

Kevin

 

[dr_wu002]

Kevin,

If you're not going to camp then we'll just do a carspot and exit via. the Alander Mountain Trail. That'll cut the mileage down a bit and allow for extra exploration!

-Dr. Wu

 

[jjmcgo]

Cabin

I was there in late November. Before I hiked, I met a big guy, local, in his 30s and his friend. They said they had been up to the cabin, plugging leaks and they had used tarp and boards. Said the cabin should be OK. He also said he half runs up to the cabin in 25 minutes. I started up the trail to the cabin around 1 p.m. after it stopped raining hard. After a half hour, it started lightly snowing. Nice walk. At 2:20 I'm still on the trail and it was getting really dark. I got a few hundred yards past the new camping area and made a decision to turn around because it was dark, cold and wet and I didn't think I'd find enough dry wood to start a fire in the stove, which he said is still there.
I don't know if I'm strong enough to walk the loop to Alandar. I might walk directly there and set up for the night. Then walk toward Frissell, knowing what awaits me back at the cabin. I don't want to get there around 4 p.m., tired, and decide it's too dirty to stay there, leaving me with another 90 minutes of walking.

 

[dr_wu002]

7:00am

We'll just all meet at the Mt. Washington State Forest Headquarters at 7:00AM and decide what we want to do from there.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Mike P.]

Sounds like you folks have the road logistics (what's open, closed, etc) wired if talking to park HQ. I've done Brace, Frissell & Round from either CT 41 or the road in NY that is in the development (no overnight parking)

Summit of Frissell is in MA but when I was last there, the Highpointers log book is near the summit, the CT highpoint is between Brace & Frissell & is easy to find right next to the trail. The Tri-State marker is neat too. Brace Summit is about the nicest sub 2350 foot summit you will find in New England outside of Acadia. Brace is 2311 in this area Race is only peak that may be better. South Brace okay not sure it's worth the walk except in blueberry season as ridge between the two peaks is loaded with them.

Alander is only promienent (sic?) peak in South Taconics I have not been too yet.

 

[jjmcgo]

Alandar trip

The Mt. Washington St. Forest office is closed and calls are being taken at Beartown, 413-528-0904. The ranger there on Thursday, 10 a.m., said the Mt. Washington HQ parking lot is clear and may be used for car camping. He said trails may be a bit icy if it rains and freezes as predicted. Said there hasn't been much snow lately.

 

[Kevin]

jjmcgo, Thanks for the update!

Kevin

 

[dr_wu002]

Kevin has cancelled -- is anyone going on this hike with me? I may change my plans if answer is no.

-Dr. Wu