Toughest 3000'ers in ADKs?

[SpencerVT]

What are the toughest 3000'ers in ADKs? Curious to know input.
Obviously Sawtooths are at the top of the list. I know that Sentinel is up there and the Hoffman Range. What else?
McDonnel Mountain (next to Allen) looks absolutely brutal. So isolated. I am trying to do Spruce Lake Mountain soon - another Whack-tastic mountain way the hell out where the busses don't run.

What else? There are a lot of them!

 

[Sherby]

Sentinel range is overrated, really not that bad. Blue ridge Mtn, West peak (Hoffman Notch wilderness) is tough, but I doubt it's one of the toughest.

 

[SpencerVT]

Good to know on Sentinel - it does seem like there are some approaches with Sentinel that aren't as isolated as some of the others.
I keep looking at the approach for McDonnel - it seems like the smartest way to do McDonnel is by doing it as if you were going to hike Allen Mountain and then part way up the Allen Brook herd trail whacking left towards the summit of McDonnel. Seems like this hike would require 2 days or one very, very long day.

 

[Sherby]

We tried McDonnel from Skylight at the end of winter, hoping for some crust, but it was a total failure . Will try again this year, but from Allen's summit.

 

[SpencerVT]

Yeah I wonder if it's easier from Allen's summit, or better to cut across from the Allen Brook to the McDonnel summit - Allen is quite a bit taller than McDonnel so it would seem like avoiding Allen's summit might be easier.

Some of the West Canada Lakes peaks seem pretty remote too....what about Lyon Mountain, anyone know how the 3's in there are?

 

[Neil]

I did McDonnel from Skylight on 6 feet of good crust on a sunny April day and it was wonderful! (Even exited up the Redfield slide.)

Hardest whack I think I ever did was take a direct line from the top of Calamity to the top of Adams.

Averill South was easy from the Standish Road.

The North River Range from Cheney to Rist South on state land isn't exactly a cake walk but that has changed recently.

Aside from the remote (ie. distance) factor it's often the chosen route that makes them easier or harder.

 

[John H Swanson]

I think it is tough to make a conclusive argument because there are many ways to climb any peak. Even the same general approach can make a difference if the track taken is slightly left or right.

McDonnel from Allen is how I did it as a day hike. A hiking companion need Allen and I offered to do it if we thru in McDonnel. Offers like this reduce the number of people that still hike with me. I was surprised that the route to the col was so nice. Almost enjoyable. Then from there it got quite ugly, but hey, it is not that far.

Sentinel, the way I did it, from Kilburn but just off the ridge on the east side was some of the worst growth I've been in. Blowdown chest high and dense new growth spruce. The recovery from that trip was not a quick one. Not to mention what became of my pants.

Those western Sewards were not too friendly either, but I not a big fan of matchstick forests.

The southern peaks (west Canada area) left no scars on my memory.

I think things are not the same now with availability to satellite images.

 

[Dennis C.]

I did McDonnel from Skylight on 6 feet of good crust on a sunny April day and it was wonderful! (Even exited up the Redfield slide.)

Isn't it great doing some of the nastiest whacks on hard packed snow? I've heard McDonnel from Allen is a 'bear' 3-season (Sherby), but in a winter type setting, it's all about .... conditions! You hit it perfect, Neil. Besides the thick terrain, the real problem getting some difficult Adirondack peaks is accessibility .... often long drawn out slogs. Dealing with private land issues can be a problem also. A few examples: Spruce Lake Mountain: Approach it from the west, you're on private land (gated). From the northeast: a 2.5 mile bushwhack from the south end of Spruce Lake, plus another 3.5 mi. trail walk from logging road. How about Buell and Panther area peaks? It's a (7) mile gated and private camp road sojourn, but I've been reading that DEC access here may become a reality. Van Dorrien: This peak can be combined with the trailed Ampersand Mtn. It's a scrappy 1.5 mile bushwhack each way from there.

 

[Peakbagr]

Dennis, due to the recreation easements in the Little High Peaks, soon, maybe next year there will likely be a trail up Buell and along the ridge to Panther.

 

[bigmoose]

Alan, you're such an optimist

 

[SpencerVT]

Some good, interesting responses from everyone and also good to have two of my hiking heroes - Swanson and Crispo chime in here. Western Sewards do look pretty tough. I did Wolf Cub recently and I know what you're talking about with regards to those matchstick forests - that's mostly all it was going from up Wolf Cub. I wanted to tackle Spruce Lake Mountain this year, but ended up doing Three Ponds Peak instead - which I got brutalized on by all the snow falling off the conifers onto me during the ascent. I want to do Spruce Lake at a time where there's more daylight. Long whack off of the NPT just to get there. I am intrigued by the remoteness - looks like a cool mountain.
I have now heard many conflicting reports on Sentinel - I think it really just matters what line you take going up that makes all the difference - just a few yards can make a big difference, but the remoteness is also a factor with these peaks because there are so few roads in the Adirondacks.

 

[Neil]

I went up Sentinel twice this summer. I think I have the route wired now! Near the end we went up onto the summit ridge too soon and encountered nearly impregnable thickets so we dropped off a small cliff and walked through open woods for a spell and when we went back up onto the ridge it was nice and open! By far the easiest Sentinel for me is Slide but Kilburn is a close 2nd if you go the right way.

I hiked off of Stewart twice, having ascended it from other peaks in the range, and on both occasions I found it rough going but friends of mine said they found it pretty easy! Toss the dice!

Donaldson West is pretty straightforward if you do it back and forth from high up on the Calkins herd path. But, a much more interesting route follows a curving ridge from the truck road-herd path junction.

Besides the Calamity-Adams "route" the east side of Henderson from Henderson Lake was really bad due to blowdown and re-growth but we got to explore a massive set of cliffs cliff lower down. After we got home and looked at it on sat view we saw how we should have done it. Not that we plan on going back in the immediate future.