My friend Curt only has a few peaks left for his 46W and invited me to join him on a trip to Couchie. He realized that I would want to do all three and we thought we could work something out. The conditions of the herdpaths were good as described in recent reports. I was surprised that the snow base in the Santanonis had survived the thaws better than other areas I have recently hiked. The going was easy up to Bradley Pond and on Panther Brook herdpath. I went over to Panther (8 min up/7 min back) while Curt took a break and got a head start to Couchie. One person was already on the mountain heading to Couchie (he had camped overnight and signed in for Santanoni). We met him as he was returning from Couchie and I asked him how he liked it. He seemed confused and didn't understand my question. Maybe he thought this was Santanoni? As we were close to the summit, we noticed his tracks turned around. Bob D., barebooter from Waterford, CT: if you read this--sorry, you not only did not hike Santanoni, you didn't reach the summit of Couchie either. Hope you are not a peakbagger, cause you need to come back for all three . . . if not a peakbagger, you certainly had a good time in the mountains except for sore ankles and knees from barebooting.
We were doing fine for time (Couchie in 4.5 hours) and arrived to Santanoni in 7 hours. The herdpaths were obvious for the most part (some variations on the way to Santanoni) and firm dense snow with a light fresh snow cover. Rather than returning by Panther Brook, Curt had decided to stay with me to Santanoni, even though he didn't need it (or as he joked, maybe for a second round). I had my GPS tracklog and was going to descend the New Old Trail (NOT) on the way back. I have done this several times before in winter and Curt had done it in summer. No problem, in an hour we'd be back to the trail.
We knew the trail would not be detectable up high due to drifting, but expected to soon be following it more easily once down to the ridge. We expected deep snow, but it was much deeper than anticipated (multi-feet and unconsolidated). We had to watch the tracklog to make sure we were not getting too far off the route. Usually we knew--when we started hitting bigger spruce traps. Truth is: there is no NOT currently until getting down to the cliff at 3900 feet. It is a bushwhack. The GPS served only as a guide of where the herdpath was; it helped us only with the general direction, i.e, not getting too far off the route. Below the cliff, the herdpath corridor is pretty well defined, but the snow is still multi-feet deep and unconsolidated almost all the way. I can understand excess snow accumulation on the east side up high, but it was still very deep even far down the mountain--totally different even from nearby Panther Brook. Our expected 1-hour descent took 2 hard hours. It was great to cross the brook (caution--shell of ice, not solid) and get back on the trail.
It's a little late now, but a special offer--valid today only-- the Santanoni NOT is broken. Don't count on it tomorrow. . . .
(Warning--do not attempt this trip unless you are experienced and capable of bushwhacking the entire 1.5 miles in deep snow). If planning to ascend this route, good luck!
We were doing fine for time (Couchie in 4.5 hours) and arrived to Santanoni in 7 hours. The herdpaths were obvious for the most part (some variations on the way to Santanoni) and firm dense snow with a light fresh snow cover. Rather than returning by Panther Brook, Curt had decided to stay with me to Santanoni, even though he didn't need it (or as he joked, maybe for a second round). I had my GPS tracklog and was going to descend the New Old Trail (NOT) on the way back. I have done this several times before in winter and Curt had done it in summer. No problem, in an hour we'd be back to the trail.
We knew the trail would not be detectable up high due to drifting, but expected to soon be following it more easily once down to the ridge. We expected deep snow, but it was much deeper than anticipated (multi-feet and unconsolidated). We had to watch the tracklog to make sure we were not getting too far off the route. Usually we knew--when we started hitting bigger spruce traps. Truth is: there is no NOT currently until getting down to the cliff at 3900 feet. It is a bushwhack. The GPS served only as a guide of where the herdpath was; it helped us only with the general direction, i.e, not getting too far off the route. Below the cliff, the herdpath corridor is pretty well defined, but the snow is still multi-feet deep and unconsolidated almost all the way. I can understand excess snow accumulation on the east side up high, but it was still very deep even far down the mountain--totally different even from nearby Panther Brook. Our expected 1-hour descent took 2 hard hours. It was great to cross the brook (caution--shell of ice, not solid) and get back on the trail.
It's a little late now, but a special offer--valid today only-- the Santanoni NOT is broken. Don't count on it tomorrow. . . .
(Warning--do not attempt this trip unless you are experienced and capable of bushwhacking the entire 1.5 miles in deep snow). If planning to ascend this route, good luck!
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