McDonnel is a mountain spoken of only in hushed tones, even amongst avid Adirondack bushwhackers. Advice on the best way to approach this seldom-visited mountain varies from “Don’t” to “Hope for a good crust.” It had been on my to do list for too long.
My partner-in-crime and I pulled into the Allen trailhead around 6:15 AM and we wore snowshoes right from the beginning. We “broke trail” through 3-5 inches of fresh powder all the way to Allen’s summit, which we reached 4h45m later.
Leaving Allen’s summit, we traveled down the steep north slope of the mountain. The woods were pretty open and the views were excellent. We wisely skirted the northern bump of Allen by staying to the west.
In the col between Allen and McDonnel is a stadium-sized field of blowdown. While we didn’t have a great crust to work with, the 5+ feet of snow did a good job of covering most of it up and allowing us relatively easy travel. This place would be an absolute nightmare in the summer.
Once we began ascending McDonnel, we found generally agreeable woods. Whenever things got tight, we pushed to the right (east) and found open channels. The summit ridge is pretty dense with spruce but it also contains sufficient runways to make forward progress without resorting to spruce-swimming. Excellent views from the top of Haystack, Marcy and Skylight. Much to my surprise, it took only 1 hour to travel from Allen to McDonnel.
It was great having tracks to follow back to Allen, but re-ascending the treacherously steep north face was absolutely soul-crushing. It felt like we were crawling. At times, we were. Alas, we made it back to Allen just about two hours after we first left it. All that remained was the long walk out.
I had planned on 14-16 hours for this trek. It took less than 11. McDonnel: you ain’t so bad after all.
My partner-in-crime and I pulled into the Allen trailhead around 6:15 AM and we wore snowshoes right from the beginning. We “broke trail” through 3-5 inches of fresh powder all the way to Allen’s summit, which we reached 4h45m later.
Leaving Allen’s summit, we traveled down the steep north slope of the mountain. The woods were pretty open and the views were excellent. We wisely skirted the northern bump of Allen by staying to the west.
In the col between Allen and McDonnel is a stadium-sized field of blowdown. While we didn’t have a great crust to work with, the 5+ feet of snow did a good job of covering most of it up and allowing us relatively easy travel. This place would be an absolute nightmare in the summer.
Once we began ascending McDonnel, we found generally agreeable woods. Whenever things got tight, we pushed to the right (east) and found open channels. The summit ridge is pretty dense with spruce but it also contains sufficient runways to make forward progress without resorting to spruce-swimming. Excellent views from the top of Haystack, Marcy and Skylight. Much to my surprise, it took only 1 hour to travel from Allen to McDonnel.
It was great having tracks to follow back to Allen, but re-ascending the treacherously steep north face was absolutely soul-crushing. It felt like we were crawling. At times, we were. Alas, we made it back to Allen just about two hours after we first left it. All that remained was the long walk out.
I had planned on 14-16 hours for this trek. It took less than 11. McDonnel: you ain’t so bad after all.
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