Seward Range Question

[TEO]

Seven peaks left to do in the ADK 46 and four of them are the Seward Range, which I'm planning to do midweek in early August.

My thought for an itinerary was to go in Blueberry Foot Trail/Ward Brook and do Seymour on the first day and spend that night at one of the lean-tos. The following day hike up Seward, go over to Donaldson and Emmons, return over Donaldson and descend via Calkins Brook to the trailhead.

However, I've heard that there is some tough blowdown on the Ward Brook side of Seward and that it would be better to do Seymour as a daytrip and Seward-Donaldson-Emmons as a daytrip.

Thoughts? Should I stick with my plan or is the blowdown really that bad?

--TEO

 

[placidnay]

Placidnay

We camped at Ward Brook LT last September and hit Seymour on day one and climbed Seward from Ward Brook LT the next day. There was a few sections of blowdown near the top, but nothing really memorable to report. There wasn't anything that you couldn't navigate around pretty quickly.

We actually had planned a similar trip to what you have planned, but when we hit the summit of Seward, we realized our dog had a cut on his webbed foot and we decided to call it a day. He ended up being fine, but we didn't want to take any chances.

This May, we went up Calkins Brook to hike up Donaldson and Emmons and that was a really nice trail. There was a little blowdown near the summit of Donaldson coming from Calkins Brook, but again, nothing you couldn't get around.

 

[mavs00]

While the last time I did that route was in the Fall of 2003, it wasn;t that bad then, and I've not heard any horror stories about blowdown along the Ward Brook approach lately.

I have some detailed info on the Sewards on my -ADKHIGHPEAKS- site. For a description of the exact route you propose, just hit -MY TRIP REPORT- on any of the 4 peaks.

One advantage to going up Seward the Ward Brook route is that you can visit a real cool -PLANE CRASH- site that sits just off the herd path at about 3800'

Enjoy.

 

[Doc McPeak]

The preferred new backpacking plan with the seasoned and all knowing vets (who have done both approaches many times over) is to backpack in to Calkins Brook, set up camp at the bottom, and do S/D/E via the CB. Day two, break camp, trek back to the blueberry trail junction, drop packs, and shoot down and hit Seymour. This works the best when doing a one-nighter with two full days. This is how I'll be doing the range this fall, though I'll spend two nights near the CB. Good luck on your final seven!

 

[masshysteria]

Couldn't agree more with Doc, CB is the way to go. Although when I did it, I went down the north side of Seward and took the Blueberry back. That was a mess in there. If you have to take the northside trail, use it in the descending mode. If you're adventurous enough, carry an ultralite pack up the CB, bang the three off, hike down the north trail, and stay the night at one of the LTs. Grab Seymour first thing in the morning and go home, with only 3 left to do.

I don't recall an over abundance of blowdownon the herd path on the north side of Seward, no more than usual. The mud was the one factor I found to be a pain. The BBFT was in good shape. It's still a great hike.

 

[Neil]

The preferred new backpacking plan with the seasoned and all knowing vets (who have done both approaches many times over) is to backpack in to Calkins Brook, set up camp at the bottom, and do S/D/E via the CB. Day two, break camp, trek back to the blueberry trail junction, drop packs, and shoot down and hit Seymour. This works the best when doing a one-nighter with two full days. This is how I'll be doing the range this fall, though I'll spend two nights near the CB. Good luck on your final seven!

This is the exact plan I had for hitting the Sewards sometime around Christmas time. BTW, there is a problem with the first weekend after the 21st. Sunday is the 25th. Try explaining that one to the wife and kiddees. "Gee whiz honey, the road's still open"! OTOH you could roast one helluva turkey at the BB lean-to now couldn't you?