Santanoni Range - 5/13

[rbalbs]

Still lots of snow spine above 2700 feet and a ton of snow depth on the New Old Trail - showshoes required on the New Trail and micro spikes most other trails.

Joe and Kerry's tracks from the prior day could be followed in the shady sections but were gone in the sunny areas. Santanoni Brook running strong and at the end of the day I just walked right through the brook to meet up with the marked trail. The snow conditions made for much slower travel then typical for this range.

New sign on Couchie - very nice :tup:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_J6cWkE6-aHc/Tc3DE3M4jMI/AAAAAAAACYs/xKE5hB_seFc/s400/DSCN0416.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_J6cWkE6-aHc/Tc3DluilCVI/AAAAAAAACY8/3hQVfnhzsCE/s400/DSCN0419.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_J6cWkE6-aHc/Tc3Drf2be6I/AAAAAAAACZA/82kfMHnHqDM/s400/DSCN0431.JPG

[Steep Descend]

Nice trail report. I'll be running a 5k in Halfmoon today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

[Trail Boss]

Thanks for the TR!

The new sign is compliments of these folks (http://www.fousderando.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4447).

[Neil]

That's a wicked snow spine!

[randomscooter]

That's a wicked snow spine!

And you thought post holes were bad.

Winter hiking should be banned altogether. It makes for too much of a challenge for the spring hikers. Spring hiking should be easy.

[JoeCedar]

Nice day, but that was one tough hike with the snow conditions! Going was slow with Microspikes or snowshoes when each step had to be carefully placed and stride had to be short to keep from falling.

We managed to cross Santanoni Brook by rock-hopping in morning but all the rocks were submerged in the afternoon. Snow depth started at about two feet (no kidding) right at the crossing and ranged from 0 to 3 or 4 feet as we ascended. The snow on the summit of Santanoni was about 6 feet lower that I saw on April 19--amazing! No more walking in the treetops.

We could not see that anyone had climbed Panther in a while so we punched out a nice path :). Descending Panther Brook the snow shell was weak and we could hear the water rushing underneath, but we seldom saw it. The water was too high at the usual herd path crossing, we had to find another nearby spot.

Oh, yeah, the road was badly damaged from flooding, but the Bradley Pond trail was hardly muddy--washed out down to rock/gravel.

Just an average day in the wild Santanonis..........:D

[TFR]

Thanks for the TR!

The new sign is compliments of these folks (http://www.fousderando.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4447).It's good to have a sign replaced up there, and for that, thanks. :tup:

But in general, *NEW* sign placement is to be avoided.