I've never been up there earlier in the year than July 25th, so I can't say how muddy it's likely to be for you, but it seems to me that the Calkins Brook route itself shouldn't be any worse for the mud; the ridge path is where you'll suffer. I suppose there could be a problem simply crossing Calkins Brook. If necessary you could probably bushwhack after crossing the brook on the bridge along the truck road (there must be one, although I've never gone that far). The herd path is at the base of one of the drops along the truck road; as the road curves right, the herd path leaves left.
Also, unless you're extremely slow, I don't see how you can possibly spread this trip out over three days. I think Harry K and I did Donaldson, Emmons, and Seward in 10-11 hours back in 2001. Granted that was September, not May, but it was miserably hot and muggy that day, so we weren't exactly jogging, and our time wasn't particularly fast, either. Plus, we went down the Ward Brook route, so it was longer than retracing our steps to Calkins Brook.
On the other hand, if you did it in a day, I suppose you'd have to spend the night before and the night of the hike in a motel, so you can save some money (and sacrifice some comfort) by camping. When Susan and I climbed Seward for her
45th a couple years ago, we stayed in Lake Placid, but there are motels in Tupper Lake too, if not as many decent places to eat. The drive from Lake Placid was only about 45 minutes, I believe.
Anyway, the Calkins Brook route intersects the ridge a short distance north of the summit of Mount Donaldson. I predict that someone will claim that it's only a minute from there to the top, but it isn't really THAT close. At least five (minutes), I'd say. Maybe ten. It depends upon how quickly you can climb steep, slick rock. The summit is up on a big rock to the left of the herd path. In 2003 there was a trail marker in a tree with "Donaldson" written on it, but the wooden sign that had been there in 2001 was gone.
There's a good-sized blowdown section pretty close to the ridge. You won't want to try to maneuver full backpacks through there. I think I've read on more than one occasion on this Web site that the blowdown begins around 3500 feet elevation, but I don't recall what my own wristwatch altimeter indicated, aside from my not trusting its accuracy anyway. On the descent, right after you leave the blowdown and cross a stream, keep an eagle eye on the herd path. On both of my descents I've veered off to the right somehow and lost it and had to retrace my steps to locate the correct path.
There are also some notes on
Adirondack Journey's Web site.
