Redfield to Skylight

[MrOysterhead]

Has anyone whacked from Redfield to Skylight? Thinking of doing it next weekend (off rock climbing in the Chapel Pond area this weekend) during our midsemester break. On the map it looks like if you took a compass line right to moss pond, and from there up to treeline on Skylight.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[Pete_Hickey]

It is thick. Very thick. Very very thick. It is not 'a walk in the woods'

 

[Peakbagr]

On the other hand, in late January, with many feet of snow covering the sins underneath, we went directly from Lake Tear to Redfield and only the tops of things were protruding. On the other hand, the last couple of hundred feet from Moss Pond to the summit was a hand over hand nightmare of steep, thick stuff that got us soaked and worn out.

 

[MrOysterhead]

sounds FUN...if i come back i'll post a report...on the other hand, I may not do it...on the other hand...

peace
Oysterhead

 

[percious]

I have been wanting to do that whack for a couple of years now. Make sure you check out moss pond on the way. We will probably attempt it next summer.

-percious

 

[MrOysterhead]

If I can find it in this rumored maze of blowdown...I have decided that it just needs to be done though, so it will be done next weekend. It's shaping up to be a pretty ambitious weekend. A Great Range traverse one day, Nye and Street another, Marshall another, then finially Cliff, Redfield, Skylight, Gray, Marcy, and Tabletop. Shameless peakbagging at its best.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[Pete_Hickey]

On the other hand, in late January, with many feet of snow covering the sins underneath, .......

Yeah.. When I did it.... well sometime in the winter.. the spruce traps were TERRIBLE. I was going in neck deep... extremely tiring.

Moss pond... Be careful. very delicate environmentally and cannot take much traffic. Tred lightly, and don't walk on the moss.

 

[percious]

Are you also whacking Gray->Marcy? With full packs!?? Have you been to the dax before? Sounds like you put a lot on your plate. The great range alone is a long weekend for most folks.

-percious

 

[MrOysterhead]

yah - if the weather holds i'll whack cliff > redfield > skylight > gray > marcy > tabletop. Thats if the weather holds out. In a bad weather situation I'll probably do those 5 over two days and by the conventional routes.

i've got 25 peaks, but that dosen't really say much since I've done most of those 25 at least twice. The great range will only be done if its a super nice day, I've section hiked it three times now so I only want to do a full traverse if its nice out. As for full packs - hahah - not a chance. We're basing out of South Meadow (a friend from my dorm is dropping us off/picking us up).

It's definetly going to be a full on weekend - I'm super excited. I was climbing at the beer walls and jewels and jems (both locations near Chapel Pond) this weekend and I'm stoked to get back. I'm shooting to finish my 46 next summer after I get back from a NOLS Mountaineering course in Wyoming.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[percious]

sounds cool. I recommend just taking the herd path down cliff, then up redfield. Whacking straight over is going to take you the better part of a day, and you will end up missing skylight. There is a lot of blowdown between cliff and redfield, and some good cliffs there too. The herd paths are well maintained.

-percious

 

[PINPIN JUNIOR]

Hi MrOysterhead,

We hiked Cliff-Rdfield-Skylight-Gray-Marcy, from ADK parking and for the round trip We need 10h46m september 24 2004.

We hiked directely from Redfield to Skylight by Moss Pond and the mostly difficult was to go up Skylight: many blowdown and very stick, the last part We can not see the ground.....

We recommande to stay in the edge, never go down near Moss Pond, lest blowdown by also stict. We passed by this way with Bob Novick May 29 2004, in 10 h 25m. a little bit just a little bit easy.

The path beween Gray to Marcy was easy to find and hike.

If You like to have a partner for the Great Range, just é-mail me when & where, may be also to Redfield-Skylight-Gray-Marcy & Tabletop.

Have a great time.

Pinpin Junior.

 

[AOC]

Redfield-Skylight direct

I am no Pin-Pin and I did this bushwack a few summers ago. I don't remember it being off-the-charts. Kind of thick in spots, but clear sailing part of the way. Watch out for small overhangs near the summit of Redfield. I almost stepped over the edge a few times. There are good views from a slide just below Moss Lake. Have a great hike.

 

[MrOysterhead]

AOC, I suspect that if you go 10' in either direction you may find a totaly different piece of terrain - I have a feeling that there a some serious pockets of blowdown and some nice 'open' parts...I guess I'll find out this weekend...

Pin Pin - thanks for your offer - we don't know what we're doing when yet, it's going to be spur of the moment on this trip because of the weather reports. I'll catch yah for a hike some other time.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[MrOysterhead]

due to the god awful weather this weekend neither the whack from redfield to skylight nor the whack from gray to marcy were done. they're on the waiting list until after I finish my 46.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

Oysterhead -

I had thought about this bushwhack as well. But, since the visibility on Redfield was about 30' yesterday, it took me about one nanosecond to decide to bail on the bushwhack.

 

[Dave]

We are doing the Redfield - Skylight route this Saturday. This has been planned for a long time. The weather is looking positive so we should get a better crack at it.

Any way I was wondering what you thought of our planned route.
It is based on the visible wood density on the satellite image. The blue path is my best guess, the red Xs are areas to avoid.

I've done a few of these crazy bushwacks and I get the feeling luck plays a big role... I thought I'd throw in a bit of science and see if I could shift the odds in my favor a bit!

Staying in Newcomb on Friday night and starting from Tahawus early Saturday.

 

[Johnnycakes]

Dave,

I drew in the route that we took from Skylight to Redfield on your map and attached it. Not sure how to include it in my post like you did. Surprisingly, we came very close to, and crossed through quite a few of your Xs, but yet found that the route was not that bad. Perhaps only the first 0.2 miles were particularly thick with blowdown, but it was smaller blowdown that was easy to negotiate. The route I outlined will save you a little elevation loss and gain as well. Additionally, you might face some marshy terrain heading north of Moss Pond, but I don't know for sure as I have never been that way. You won't loose as much elevation with the route I outlined, but you won't get to see Moss Pond either. This route took us 1 hour, 30 minutes if I remember correctly.

We intentionally did not aim for the summit of Redfield, but to the northeast of the summit so as to intercept the herd path and avoid a lot of the blowdown on the summit ridge. If you are trying to intercept the herd path, it helps to cross it as close to perpendicular as possible. Otherwise, you could be bushwhacking through nasty stuff while the herd path is just 50 feet off to one side or the other.

John

 

[Dave]

Thanks for tip Johnnycakes.
We will try your route. Experience trumps science!

Departing now! Weather looks perfect. We'll bring back photos.

 

[Johnnycakes]

Dave,

Please let us know how it went when you get back.

John

 

[Dave]

Success!

We made it. See the trail conditions for the story.

We tried to follow the proposed track but it didn't quite work out that way.
Here is the path we ended up on:

From Redfield down to the pond wasn't too bad but still quite dense. No cliffs or dangerous drops seen. The last few steps down to the pond did include a six foot wall to drop down from. Didn't see the moss either... I guess it was beneath the snow!

After the pond we followed a contour line with the idea of getting as close to the Skylight summit as possible before climbing. Not good! Terrible blowdown the whole way; very slow going. We started the final climb up Skylight and things were not getting any easier. We were starting to worry that we would not make it out before sundown! About half way up the blowdown stopped but it was replaced by dense shrubs and conifers! That's when we were 'saved'. We stumbled on a flagged route. Actually it would have been difficult not to find it... surveyor tape every ten yards or so! Who put this there? We considered removing it. Nevertheless, it did define a rather efficient path through the densest part of the wack.

We hit the first ledges below the summit and took some sunset photos. Then we headed through two more lines of conifers and hit the top around 6:15. Made it back down the icy slopes on the north side of Skylight and the Feldspar trail to our campsite at Flowed Lands around 10:30.

The whole thing was a blast. #42 for me, #41 and #42 for Hardy Phil and #28? for JF. I'll try to post some photos and videos of the wack on my site (www.davidkennedy.com) by Tuesday so you can get a better picture of what it was like.