Trek4dm
09-13-2005, 01:23 PM
Hello All- I am new to the ADKHighPeaks Forum...at the urging of Mike Becker...I am posting a trip report.
I recently finished the 46 High Peaks, Oct. '04 #5532...I have a steady hiking partner named Randy...he finished the 46 in Aug. '04 #5401. Now we have been working on the hundred highest...without too much research, we took on the challenge and set out to do Slide, Kilburn and Sentinel. Here is what I had to say to Mike:
I think I have met my limit, Randy and I did the insane act of hitting 3 Top 100 highest peaks on Sat…Slide, Kilburn and Sentinel. Oh-my-God...I nearly thought we were going to spend the night in the woods. Our plan was to use 2 cars for a thru hike starting out at the "Jack Rabbit" trailhead (Rock and River guide service is head quartered there) and ending on a dirt road called Bartlett (this is where we left my Jeep). We made it to Slide without hitting any major obstacles around 10:00AM, and then encountered steep cliffs after sideswiping the next major bump and descending into North Notch. Made the summit of Kilburn just after 2:00pm, encountering a guy from New Hampshire and his dog. The trip from Kilburn to Sentinel was a nightmare...we descended from the thick going on the ridge to about 3200ft level just below the second bump from the summit and then pretty much made a bee-line across to the top while trying to lose as little elevation as possible. We made it up to Sentinel through the thickest spruce I have ever experienced...tons of blow down and rotten wood with trick holes to lose your legs in...all this on extremely steep slopes. We got to Sentinel around 5:30 or 6pm...needless to say, daylight was burning and it wasn't looking any better directly east along the ridge we had planned to go out. We started slabbing southeast down the mountain to try to get to some more open going than the ridge offered. Because we were angling South, the GPS showed we were not getting much closer to my Jeep, and the going wasn't getting much easier. After darkness fell, progress was extremely slow through many thick areas and it was a tremendous effort to maintain any Easterly direction at all. At some point, going East required climbing another ridge through thick tangles, so we decided instead to head directly South (where the way was more open and at least downhill) to eventually hit Alstead Hill Road where we could walk to Randy's car. Tired and weary, we cont'd South...the slope eventually lessened and the woods became relatively open, easy going. Eventually we hit the road leading back to the car. I'm not sure how many miles we finally did, but we bushwhacked from 6am to 11:25pm!! Over 17 hours of bushwhack!! UGH!! I thought it would never end. Needless to say, we won't be pulling that stunt again anytime soon. We are all scratched and bruised up...and nearly brought home a bushel of pine needles and twigs, both in our backpacks and every orifice of our bodies! D-
I recently finished the 46 High Peaks, Oct. '04 #5532...I have a steady hiking partner named Randy...he finished the 46 in Aug. '04 #5401. Now we have been working on the hundred highest...without too much research, we took on the challenge and set out to do Slide, Kilburn and Sentinel. Here is what I had to say to Mike:
I think I have met my limit, Randy and I did the insane act of hitting 3 Top 100 highest peaks on Sat…Slide, Kilburn and Sentinel. Oh-my-God...I nearly thought we were going to spend the night in the woods. Our plan was to use 2 cars for a thru hike starting out at the "Jack Rabbit" trailhead (Rock and River guide service is head quartered there) and ending on a dirt road called Bartlett (this is where we left my Jeep). We made it to Slide without hitting any major obstacles around 10:00AM, and then encountered steep cliffs after sideswiping the next major bump and descending into North Notch. Made the summit of Kilburn just after 2:00pm, encountering a guy from New Hampshire and his dog. The trip from Kilburn to Sentinel was a nightmare...we descended from the thick going on the ridge to about 3200ft level just below the second bump from the summit and then pretty much made a bee-line across to the top while trying to lose as little elevation as possible. We made it up to Sentinel through the thickest spruce I have ever experienced...tons of blow down and rotten wood with trick holes to lose your legs in...all this on extremely steep slopes. We got to Sentinel around 5:30 or 6pm...needless to say, daylight was burning and it wasn't looking any better directly east along the ridge we had planned to go out. We started slabbing southeast down the mountain to try to get to some more open going than the ridge offered. Because we were angling South, the GPS showed we were not getting much closer to my Jeep, and the going wasn't getting much easier. After darkness fell, progress was extremely slow through many thick areas and it was a tremendous effort to maintain any Easterly direction at all. At some point, going East required climbing another ridge through thick tangles, so we decided instead to head directly South (where the way was more open and at least downhill) to eventually hit Alstead Hill Road where we could walk to Randy's car. Tired and weary, we cont'd South...the slope eventually lessened and the woods became relatively open, easy going. Eventually we hit the road leading back to the car. I'm not sure how many miles we finally did, but we bushwhacked from 6am to 11:25pm!! Over 17 hours of bushwhack!! UGH!! I thought it would never end. Needless to say, we won't be pulling that stunt again anytime soon. We are all scratched and bruised up...and nearly brought home a bushel of pine needles and twigs, both in our backpacks and every orifice of our bodies! D-