The Sewards

[ward]

Just wondering, and maybe i,m crazy ....Is it possible to do all the Sewards
in one day ? If so where would be the best place to start?

 

[Neil]

I know that it has been done. I suppose I don't really need to say, "Expect a long day" now do I?

 

[Tom Rankin]

I know that it has been done. I suppose I don't really need to say, "Expect a long day" now do I?

There is someone in the ADK who leads this kind of trip every fall. Check their hiking schedules. Be aware, the ADK chapters all have separate hiking calendars. That's both good and bad...

 

[TCD]

In terms of overall distance and climbing, Sewards in a day should be no problem. Many hikes we talk about here are a lot longer and harder.

I don't plan to do it, but if I did, I would do a prelim trip and familiarize myself with the Calkins Brook approach, or bring someone who knew it. I would think the logical route would be Ward brook trail to Seymour, then down, then Seward, Don, Emm, and out Calkins (or the reverse).

 

[Rivet]

Just wondering, and maybe i,m crazy ....Is it possible to do all the Sewards
in one day ? If so where would be the best place to start?

Possible route would be to take Caulkins brook herd path up to ridge (near summit of Donaldson). Do Donaldson - Emmons - Donaldson - Seward. Take usual herd path down to blueberry trail. At this point, you could bail if you wanted - or continue on and take the usual herd path up to Seymour.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Possible route would be to take Caulkins brook herd path up to ridge (near summit of Donaldson). Do Donaldson - Emmons - Donaldson - Seward. Take usual herd path down to blueberry trail. At this point, you could bail if you wanted - or continue on and take the usual herd path up to Seymour.

Seconded. This is an excellent suggestion. You will maximize your peaks early on, and give yourself an out. The path out from Blueberry is long but mostly level.

Bring a headlamp.

There is usually plenty of water in the Sewards. Once you are up high though, be prepared with a couple of liters until you get back down. Then you can restock, and continue to Seymour.

 

[Neil]

Another route is to go directly from Seymour to Emmons. You'd want to do some homework before starting out. There are whispers of old logging roads and herd trails and a lot of thick bushwhacking not to mention cliffs on Seymour that can easily be avoided if you know where they are. There are threads on this forum discussing it. Also there's a TR on Adkhighpeaks/forums as well as ADKforum.

 

[prino]

Possible route would be to take Caulkins brook herd path up to ridge (near summit of Donaldson). Do Donaldson - Emmons - Donaldson - Seward. Take usual herd path down to blueberry trail. At this point, you could bail if you wanted - or continue on and take the usual herd path up to Seymour.

That makes sense.
I take it that there is no easy direct route through the pass between Seward and Seymour?

 

[Rivet]

Here are some good descriptions for the routes (not my site)...

Caulkins Brook herd path

Seymour herd path

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Possible route would be to take Caulkins brook herd path up to ridge (near summit of Donaldson). Do Donaldson - Emmons - Donaldson - Seward. Take usual herd path down to blueberry trail. At this point, you could bail if you wanted - or continue on and take the usual herd path up to Seymour.

I've done it in reverse. Seymour first, then down and up Seward via the 'traditional' route, over to Emmons, back do Donaldson, then down Calkins. My reason for choosing this route, is that it gets most of the climbing done early. Seward to Emmons has relatively little climbing.

Bring lots of water.

 

[hermit]

We climbed all 4 in a day back in 2001,which included a 420 mile round trip back to the Catskills. None of us had been there before,but the Caulkins Brook herd path helped to make the trip shorter.Bring a headlamp and some maps and you will be fine. We started at Corey's rd.and climbed Seymour 1st also.

 

[skidoc22]

A word of caution

I've done it in reverse. Seymour first, then down and up Seward via the 'traditional' route, over to Emmons, back do Donaldson, then down Calkins. My reason for choosing this route, is that it gets most of the climbing done early. Seward to Emmons has relatively little climbing.

Bring lots of water.

Having hiked this route in this direction (without having done Seymour first that day) I can tell you that if you have never hiked the Calkins Brook path it is a bit nerve wracking to hike it for the first time in the dark. We ran out of daylight after coming back over Donaldson from Emmons and thought the Calkins would be a piece of cake. Although it is a well used path, in the dark it was considerably longer than we thought it would be and we had a few crises of faith. Fortunately we had a GPS which showed we were on the right path but it did make for an interesting evening. With two nine year olds among the group the going was slower but still it was a long way home.

IMHO the suggestion of Seymour last is the more prudent. The bailout is always there and even if you hike in the dark on the way out, the trail is mostly flat, pretty well marked and well-worn. There is much less chance of missing the trail at a stream crossing and spending an unplanned night out. Even if you bail you have done Seward, Donaldson and Emmons and can come back for Seymour without having to redo any others. If you bail before Emmons in the other direction due to time constraints you have to go back over Donaldson to get to it.