My first Solo Bushwack (North Dome & Sherrill)

[imarchant]

I completed my first Solo Bushwack peaks on 7/4/05. I started at the western terminus of the Devil's Path on Spruceton Rd about 7:30 AM with a temperature of about 58 Degrees. I followed the Devils Path for 1.5 mile to the swamp. The bugs did not bother me untl this point. as soon as I stopped I was swarmed by mosquitoses. I applied 35% deet repellant which immediately kept the pests at bay. From there I took a 300 degree bearing, hoping to skirt any cliffs to the east of the peak and planning to intersect the ridge at 3,000' elevation. I intended to keep to the left of my intendended bearing if possible. Shortly after leaving the trail the nettles began, Though not the worst I have seen, they were thick and tall. The worst part about the nettles was not this itching, but the fact they obscured the ground and made it a little difficult to find good footing. The last thing I wanted to do was take a head first dive into stinging green sea. At about 2,800' the nettles began to thin. I took a quick break and ate an energy bar. From there I started trying to bear a little more to the left. There were lots if interesting rock formations which made for some fun scrambles. I finally came to the ridge at about 3,300'. At this point the trees started to thin and there were several open patchins with long grass and light brush. I followed the ridge hoping to find I a lookout shown on the map. I did not find the lookout, but soon found a herd path that lead me directly to the summit. I took another break to catch my breath and take a couple pictures. The sun was filtering through the trees and it was beginning to feel a little warm. From there I took bearing to Sherrill. The route started by following a herd path, it passed through a swampy area and the a thick fern patch. I saw a snake disapear into the ferns, The I saw a place were deer had slept, evident by the area of crushed ferns. After that the herd path started to fade. I reached a moderate drop off just before the rise to Sherrill. This forced me to the right for about 100 yds. This brought me directly to the col. I had ben on the trail for just over three hours and came to the realization I would not complete the trek in the time I had envisioned of 5 hours, but decided to continue on. From there it was a steady steep ascent, once the terrain started to moderate I knew I was approaching the summit. I found a small viewpoint and took in the vistas for a short moment and then continued soon I picked up another herd path which again lead me directly to the summit. I took off my pack, took a couple pictures, relaxed a few more minutes. I was about 1 hr. behind my planned time of 3 hrs. I hoped to make up some of this time on the reurn. I considered my options for a return to the car. It may have been slightly quicker to find a route towards the north back to the road and follow the road back to the car, but since this was my first solo bushwack and the planned route I had left at home had me returning the same way I had come, I decided on the latter. I had navigated to this point using mainly on my map and compass, using my GPS mainly as a reference. I planned to return using my GPS's trackback feature. I started back, following the herd path. I had an easier time staying on the herd path on the return trip. My gps showed I had been very near the herdpath the entire time. I was beginning to run a little bit low on water, but didn't worry because I had seen a small stream on the west side of ND. Once I came across the stream the herd path followed the stream to a small spring. I filtered some water into my empty bottles and continued. Shortly after I lost the herd path, I continued in a straight line, knowing the herd path was somewhere to my right. Eventually I found I faint herdpath that brought me back to the ND summit from the NW. I continued tracing my path back. The descent was uneventfull and I closely matched my approach route. I started getting some leg cramps, but knew they would subside if I pushed on. There was a long section that the GPS had lost signal, I estimated my direction and continued. I intersected the Devils Path within 50' of my starting point. From there I was an easy return to the car. The temperature was 75 degrees upon my return. It had taken my 6:30 minutes to complet this 7.25 mile trip. Success! 10 more new peaks and one return to Balsam to complete my 3500!





A few pictures

 

[onestep]

Congrats on your first solo 'wack

I like the idea of using a GPS to back-track the route.

My first solo bushwack was a month or so ago up Cupsuptic Snow in Maine. The route I took led up a vally untill the tote road I was on faded out. From that point I turned left, 'wacked up to the ridge, followed that to the left and up to the summit. Easy! On my return I completly missed the tote road and ended up on the "other" side of the vally. It was no big deal. I came across a trickle of water, followed that downstream untill it reached the main stream along side the tote road I follow in. A GPS would have been nice, but, it sure would not have been as much "fun"

Onestep

 

[Jay H]

Hi Ian, thanks for the trip report, will probably be doing ND and Sherril with a group this weekend.. I'll remember to bring the long pants and bug spray!

You can go towards Spruceton road and cross the west kill if you had to save time, FYI. There are even a couple of bridges that you can bushwack to and then use to cross. A friend and I did that once and was able to stay in public land too since the bridge seemed to abut the park land.

Jay

 

[Tom Rankin]

I completed my first Solo Bushwack peaks on 7/4/05.

Way to go Ian!

IMHO, everyone should do at least 1 true bushwhack, where they are personally responsible for getting to the destination. I led a b.w. up to Fir and Big Indian a few years ago. We were never 'lost', but we did have an interesting adventure! Between Fir and Big Indian, we descended into the valley, which is choked with nettles. Ouch! Then on the other side, we had to climb a cliff to get to the summit of Big Indian. Best advice: Stay on the ridge!

The use of a map and compass is a good skill to have. As Ian pointed out, his GPS was not working for quite some time, but he still made it out.

 

[Jay H]

What Tom said! I tend to be a fast(er) hiker than most so on many bushwacks, I tend to navigate and lead. I will usually have my GPS with a couple of important markers marked, like car, summit. But I'll never really use them unless it's an emergency, I just will try to remember to get an accurate marker for the canister cause usually I'll input the summits with a topo program (Terrain Navigator) but the canisters and the topos are generally a bit off even with matching datums and stuff.

Jay

 

[daxs]

Great report. I will be doing this bushwack this weekend with Jay. It sounds like we could come out of this pretty scratched up and eaten up by bugs. WOOHOO

 

[MattC]

I also did this one as a solo last fall. I made the brilliant decision to return along the north face of North Dome instead of going back over the summit. It was miserable side-hilling through scrubby, scratchy beech until I said the h*** w/ it and climbed back up a ways. Other than this it was a great time. North Dome is a nice one, with all the little ledges. I too couldn't locate any lookouts (too focused on making a beeline for the canister) and would like to look harder the next time I'm up there.

Matt