Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Laurie and I had plans to do NE Halcott and SE Vly (an unsearchable peak) yesterday. We hit the trail by 8:00 and were heading up the last part of the paved part of Condon Hollow Rd. The road becomes a trail and was a little wet from dew and perhaps a brief shower, but the stream was very quiet. The nettles were quite thick but we managed them ok. We found the col where the old road passes down into Turk Hollow and took a quick break. There was no obvious route, so we just headed on a compass bearing towards the South. The first 20 minutes were mostly flat, but eventually it became steeper and we hit the ridge. We turned towards the East here and fought our way thru a jungle of blowdown and briars. Mostly briars! They were over our heads in places! I hope the bears enjoy the berries!
Navigation was pretty straight forward, up and over 2 little bumps and then the summit push. The going was slow though, as finding the best route was tedious. We got to the summit at +2:45.
After a summit kiss, some pics and some food, we attempted to retrace our route but failed. We did eventually come to a large rock that we recognized, so we knew we were almost back to the end of the ridge. Going back down to the col was harder than going up, but we managed to scramble down some ledges and find the road exactly where we left it! Whew! By this time it was too late to do SE Vly and be where we had to be by 3:00. We were very scratched and tired anyway, so we called it a day and plodded back down the road to our car.
No views, no wind, a few birds, but nice to get out and hike, as Mr. and Mrs.!
Navigation was pretty straight forward, up and over 2 little bumps and then the summit push. The going was slow though, as finding the best route was tedious. We got to the summit at +2:45.
After a summit kiss, some pics and some food, we attempted to retrace our route but failed. We did eventually come to a large rock that we recognized, so we knew we were almost back to the end of the ridge. Going back down to the col was harder than going up, but we managed to scramble down some ledges and find the road exactly where we left it! Whew! By this time it was too late to do SE Vly and be where we had to be by 3:00. We were very scratched and tired anyway, so we called it a day and plodded back down the road to our car.
No views, no wind, a few birds, but nice to get out and hike, as Mr. and Mrs.!
