DSettahr
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- Apr 23, 2005
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While staying with a friend at Heart Lake, I decided to spend a morning climbing Street and Nye, as they were the last 2 high peaks I needed to climb in the Heart Lake vicinity, and I had been told that I could make it up and down in a little over 4 hours.
Contrary to stories I've heard about what it was like climbing these mountains years ago, the herd path is now extremely easy to follow. Despite it not being a marked trail, there has been extensive trail work done on the lower half of the path, including the removal of brush and down trees, as well as some rock work to facilitate crossing muddy areas. There were a few muddy spots, but nothing major. The upper half of the trail has some down trees, and a couple spots where multiple paths branch off but these all come back together within 50 feet or so. All of the major deviating herd paths have been blocked off.
The junction between the trails up Street and Nye is marked with a moderate sized cairn in an old fire pit. Someone carved directions in a tree to the left of the cairn, and N with an arrow pointed straight for Nye, with an S and an arrow pointed to the left for Street. The summit of Nye is about 5-10 minutes from this junction, while Street is significantly farther and took me about 25 minutes to reach. At the summit of Street, a trail to the right leads to a lookout with some good views of the MacIntyre Range and the Seward Range. There was no view at all that I saw from the summit of Nye.
It may be that there has been a lot of work done to consolidate the herd paths, because the hike was not nearly as bad as I expected after reading some old reports. Also, it must have been family day on the mountain, because I passed at least 3 extended families on my way up, probably all staying at Heart Lake. Also, I made it up and down in 4.5 hours, including stopping for lunch at the junction, so these mountains can be an easy day for anyone in good shape.
Contrary to stories I've heard about what it was like climbing these mountains years ago, the herd path is now extremely easy to follow. Despite it not being a marked trail, there has been extensive trail work done on the lower half of the path, including the removal of brush and down trees, as well as some rock work to facilitate crossing muddy areas. There were a few muddy spots, but nothing major. The upper half of the trail has some down trees, and a couple spots where multiple paths branch off but these all come back together within 50 feet or so. All of the major deviating herd paths have been blocked off.
The junction between the trails up Street and Nye is marked with a moderate sized cairn in an old fire pit. Someone carved directions in a tree to the left of the cairn, and N with an arrow pointed straight for Nye, with an S and an arrow pointed to the left for Street. The summit of Nye is about 5-10 minutes from this junction, while Street is significantly farther and took me about 25 minutes to reach. At the summit of Street, a trail to the right leads to a lookout with some good views of the MacIntyre Range and the Seward Range. There was no view at all that I saw from the summit of Nye.
It may be that there has been a lot of work done to consolidate the herd paths, because the hike was not nearly as bad as I expected after reading some old reports. Also, it must have been family day on the mountain, because I passed at least 3 extended families on my way up, probably all staying at Heart Lake. Also, I made it up and down in 4.5 hours, including stopping for lunch at the junction, so these mountains can be an easy day for anyone in good shape.
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