TLP
New member
I did Santanoni, Panther, and Couchsacraga yesterday. First time in that area. I wasn't expecting a fun time.
The weather forecast said it was going to be sunny. It appeared that way in the morning. However the tops of Santanoni and Panther were still in the fog for quite some time. Couchsacraga was cleared up by the time I got there.
I started off from the tralihead at 0630. I was going to go up the express to Santanoni, and take it from there. I didn't have to do all 3 in a day. I wanted to be back to my house early, but things didn't turn out that way.
The express trail really narrows towards the top, It wasn't difficult to follow, or anything like that, but it made me soaking wet! The tree scrubs brush right against the trail, and they were still wet from the day before. I get to the top of Santanoni, and it felt like I walked through a rainstorm, but there was no rain, except from the day before, and there's no views. I wasn't thrilled. I was so annoyed, I said I'm definitely not going back down that way. So I might as well go down to Times Square.
I slipped once going down and stopped myself by banging my head on a tree. It sounds worse than it actually was. Wasn't a big deal. But it further annoyed me. So I get down to Times Square, and see the trail that leads down to Couchsacraga. I decide to find the way to Herald Square. I go right up Panther, which is what I wanted to do, but I wanted to at least spot the trail going back down Panther Brook. I figured I would spot it on the way back, which I did. It's easier to see coming from the other direction. I walked right by the little cairn there too. I was disappointed there were no views from Panther either. I went back to Times Square. It was around 1100. I was having a miserable time sort of. I was happy I got two done, and I now had 40/46. I knew it would take me probably 3 hours to do Couchsacraga. Did I really have to do it today? No, I didn't. I decided to say screw it, and do it mainly because I was so mad, and I didn't want to ever come back to this area. Ha! I'm sure a lot of you know what I mean.
It seemed to take forever to get there. Two groups of people passed me coming back up. They both warned very loudly to be careful of the bog. I read about the bog. They made me a little paranoid. I had my poles with me, and I went straight down the middle. It wasn't that bad. You just have to be very careful. I took a slow pace heading back. I got back to Times Square around 1400. I headed back down the Panther Brook trail, hoping I wouldn't get off track. I made it back to the man trail around 15:30.
I got to say that Bradley Pond trail is one of the worst in the Adirondacks with the mud, if not the worst. Some Boy Scouts should make that their project, to lay down planks, or a boardwalk on the trail! Just joking. I guess that's part of it's charm though, right?
Long day on the trail. I wasn't back at my car until 17:15. That's almost 11 hours.
So I only have 5 more to go to reach 46. Couchsacraga was my 100th out of the NE 115. So that was nice.
The weather forecast said it was going to be sunny. It appeared that way in the morning. However the tops of Santanoni and Panther were still in the fog for quite some time. Couchsacraga was cleared up by the time I got there.
I started off from the tralihead at 0630. I was going to go up the express to Santanoni, and take it from there. I didn't have to do all 3 in a day. I wanted to be back to my house early, but things didn't turn out that way.
The express trail really narrows towards the top, It wasn't difficult to follow, or anything like that, but it made me soaking wet! The tree scrubs brush right against the trail, and they were still wet from the day before. I get to the top of Santanoni, and it felt like I walked through a rainstorm, but there was no rain, except from the day before, and there's no views. I wasn't thrilled. I was so annoyed, I said I'm definitely not going back down that way. So I might as well go down to Times Square.
I slipped once going down and stopped myself by banging my head on a tree. It sounds worse than it actually was. Wasn't a big deal. But it further annoyed me. So I get down to Times Square, and see the trail that leads down to Couchsacraga. I decide to find the way to Herald Square. I go right up Panther, which is what I wanted to do, but I wanted to at least spot the trail going back down Panther Brook. I figured I would spot it on the way back, which I did. It's easier to see coming from the other direction. I walked right by the little cairn there too. I was disappointed there were no views from Panther either. I went back to Times Square. It was around 1100. I was having a miserable time sort of. I was happy I got two done, and I now had 40/46. I knew it would take me probably 3 hours to do Couchsacraga. Did I really have to do it today? No, I didn't. I decided to say screw it, and do it mainly because I was so mad, and I didn't want to ever come back to this area. Ha! I'm sure a lot of you know what I mean.
It seemed to take forever to get there. Two groups of people passed me coming back up. They both warned very loudly to be careful of the bog. I read about the bog. They made me a little paranoid. I had my poles with me, and I went straight down the middle. It wasn't that bad. You just have to be very careful. I took a slow pace heading back. I got back to Times Square around 1400. I headed back down the Panther Brook trail, hoping I wouldn't get off track. I made it back to the man trail around 15:30.
I got to say that Bradley Pond trail is one of the worst in the Adirondacks with the mud, if not the worst. Some Boy Scouts should make that their project, to lay down planks, or a boardwalk on the trail! Just joking. I guess that's part of it's charm though, right?
Long day on the trail. I wasn't back at my car until 17:15. That's almost 11 hours.
So I only have 5 more to go to reach 46. Couchsacraga was my 100th out of the NE 115. So that was nice.
