Feral Child in the Sewards? 8/7/12

Makwa · 08-08-2012, 12:13 PM

It was a beautiful day yesterday for my trip to the Sewards. Only 5 cars in the Corey's Road lot when I arrived at 6:00 a.m. Packed up, geared up, signed in, and off I went.

After my recent misadventure of hitting the wall on Couchie (http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=18503) I made extra sure I wouldn't have a repeat performance. I monitored my food intake a few days before the hike, loaded up on carbs the day before, and packed extra food for the hike. One new product I thew in the bag was a Power Bar Energy Gel pack. http://www.powerbar.com/products/41/...l-vanilla.aspx Smallish gel pack with 100 calories. The grocery store only had the vanilla flavor. It ended up tasting like cake frosting and was kind of sickening. I may try a few other flavors before totally giving up on the product. Anyway, I ate and drank more yesterday and felt great the whole day.

The other change I made was ditching the long hiking pants in favor of shorts. Been wearing the pants this summer because I've been tackling mainly herdpaths but I end up sweating more than George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke when I don them. The shorts were much cooler and despite the scratches and mud-caked legs I felt a whole lot better in them than I did in the pants.

Rather uneventful walk from the trailhead to the junction of the truck trail then down to the Calkins Brook herdpath. Covered the 3+ miles in a just over an hour. The only bad part is covering the elevation gain back up the trail at the end of the night. You pretty much want to be walking on level ground at that point and the 200-250 foot elevation gain seems like way more than it actually is.

The Calkins Brook herdpath is great. Not too steep, not an overabundance of obstacles, and not too narrow and scratchy until near the top. And as a bonus it's soft on the knees. You barely notice you've climbed 2000 feet end to end. I'll assume it was scenic too but I can't say for sure as my prescription sunglasses were fogged up most of the way. You can hear the brook off in the distance the whole way up but you're never really near water unless you want to go bushwhacking to find it. You cross the brook about 5 minutes from the HP cairn, then another small stream at lower elevation then don't hit water again until around 3100 feet. I topped off there. There's more water about 15 minutes up the hill at around 3400 feet and that's it. If you're gonna refill, those are your choices. I was under the false impression there would be water the whole way up. I'm glad I stopped where I did. The source at 3100 feet has wide banks to drop your gear and a big flat rock in the middle where you can stand to pump from the heaviest flowing water.

Got to the ridgeline and decided to head to Seward first. All in all, a fun hike. Not at all what I expected. I was expecting torture and but instead had great fun the whole way. Was the only person on the summit and refueled, hydrated, and took pics. The two groups of hikers I met who scaled Seward from the northern herdpath approach had different opinions on the torture Seward can dish out. Hairy, scary, and be wary sums up their observations.

Back to the cairn and off to Donaldson. A quick 5-10 minute jump to the summit and the best views of the day. Lingered there for a while chatting with some other hikers and took more pics. Then off to Emmons to complete the trifecta. That's where the mud started in earnest. The other trails were pretty dry for the most part but the hop over to Emmons was very muddy. There were some sections that I found trickier than crossing the swamp on Couchie. Managed to navigate over & back without going ankle-deep in the muck and stayed dry the whole day.

Down Calkins Brook, refilled water at my spot at 3100 feet, and back to the cairn. The walk out was uneventful as the walk in except for some large animal tracks in the middle of the trail. The pics I took came out poorly and I cannot identify them. Oh well... it was probably a mountain lion, chupacabra, or flat-footed feral child with long toenails.

Great day in the Sewards to grab #40, #41, and #42 on the way to 46.

Pathgrinder · 08-08-2012, 12:56 PM

Glad to hear this hike went smoother than the Santanoni's and thanks for the trail update! This is my next stop as soon as time and weather allow. It sounds like Caulkins Brook is definitely the way to go.

TFR · 08-08-2012, 01:22 PM

I posted about that water source many years ago, glad to know it's still reliable.

xombehiker · 08-09-2012, 08:42 AM

Are you the guy I met on my way to Seward? I was the guy doing his 45th. It was such a nice day. Really enjoyed the entire hike.

Gregory Karl · 08-09-2012, 09:26 AM

Your thread title puts me in mind of an old Simpsons episode wherein Nelson Muntz emerges from a theater with the title "Naked Lunch" displayed prominently on the marquee. He says, after having just seen the film: "I can think of two things wrong with that title." In your case it's just one.

Makwa · 08-09-2012, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xombehiker

Are you the guy I met on my way to Seward? I was the guy doing his 45th. It was such a nice day. Really enjoyed the entire hike.

That was me.

Have fun on Big Slide for #46. Congrats in advance...

Makwa · 08-09-2012, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregory Karl

Your thread title puts me in mind of an old Simpsons episode wherein Nelson Muntz emerges from a theater with the title "Naked Lunch" displayed prominently on the marquee. He says, after having just seen the film: "I can think of two things wrong with that title." In your case it's just one.

I knew I should have gone with chupacabra over feral child. Just a little attention grabber. How many more TRs from the Sewards do people want to read? I needed a hook.

Gerard01 · 08-09-2012, 12:15 PM

Great TR, Mak. Congrats on doing the trifecta. I enjoy reading your TR's.

DackerDan · 08-09-2012, 07:14 PM

Nice job - we were a day behind you. Was that huge horse trailer parked smack dab in the middle of the parking lot when you were there. It was when I was there making 2/3 of the parking lot almost unusable and they stayed there all night.

Makwa · 08-09-2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DackerDan

Nice job - we were a day behind you. Was that huge horse trailer parked smack dab in the middle of the parking lot when you were there. It was when I was there making 2/3 of the parking lot almost unusable and they stayed there all night.

Not there in the a.m. but was there at the end of the day. It was easy to get out from where I parked but I can imagine squeezing in to the parking spots on the right/trail register side would have been a problem with it there.

xombehiker · 08-09-2012, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DackerDan

Nice job - we were a day behind you. Was that huge horse trailer parked smack dab in the middle of the parking lot when you were there. It was when I was there making 2/3 of the parking lot almost unusable and they stayed there all night.

Wow...SOME PEOPLE!

It was there when I got out at 330. I was tempted just to slam into it on my way out, but thought that to be inappropriate in the end

Unbelievable to think that guy left it there ALL night into the next day.

Where are the rangers when you need them?(Partially joking)

Was that a legal way for him to park?

08-08-2012, 12:13 PM	#1
Makwa Consultant Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 278	Feral Child in the Sewards? 8/7/12 It was a beautiful day yesterday for my trip to the Sewards. Only 5 cars in the Corey's Road lot when I arrived at 6:00 a.m. Packed up, geared up, signed in, and off I went. After my recent misadventure of hitting the wall on Couchie (http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=18503) I made extra sure I wouldn't have a repeat performance. I monitored my food intake a few days before the hike, loaded up on carbs the day before, and packed extra food for the hike. One new product I thew in the bag was a Power Bar Energy Gel pack. http://www.powerbar.com/products/41/...l-vanilla.aspx Smallish gel pack with 100 calories. The grocery store only had the vanilla flavor. It ended up tasting like cake frosting and was kind of sickening. I may try a few other flavors before totally giving up on the product. Anyway, I ate and drank more yesterday and felt great the whole day. The other change I made was ditching the long hiking pants in favor of shorts. Been wearing the pants this summer because I've been tackling mainly herdpaths but I end up sweating more than George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke when I don them. The shorts were much cooler and despite the scratches and mud-caked legs I felt a whole lot better in them than I did in the pants. Rather uneventful walk from the trailhead to the junction of the truck trail then down to the Calkins Brook herdpath. Covered the 3+ miles in a just over an hour. The only bad part is covering the elevation gain back up the trail at the end of the night. You pretty much want to be walking on level ground at that point and the 200-250 foot elevation gain seems like way more than it actually is. The Calkins Brook herdpath is great. Not too steep, not an overabundance of obstacles, and not too narrow and scratchy until near the top. And as a bonus it's soft on the knees. You barely notice you've climbed 2000 feet end to end. I'll assume it was scenic too but I can't say for sure as my prescription sunglasses were fogged up most of the way. You can hear the brook off in the distance the whole way up but you're never really near water unless you want to go bushwhacking to find it. You cross the brook about 5 minutes from the HP cairn, then another small stream at lower elevation then don't hit water again until around 3100 feet. I topped off there. There's more water about 15 minutes up the hill at around 3400 feet and that's it. If you're gonna refill, those are your choices. I was under the false impression there would be water the whole way up. I'm glad I stopped where I did. The source at 3100 feet has wide banks to drop your gear and a big flat rock in the middle where you can stand to pump from the heaviest flowing water. Got to the ridgeline and decided to head to Seward first. All in all, a fun hike. Not at all what I expected. I was expecting torture and but instead had great fun the whole way. Was the only person on the summit and refueled, hydrated, and took pics. The two groups of hikers I met who scaled Seward from the northern herdpath approach had different opinions on the torture Seward can dish out. Hairy, scary, and be wary sums up their observations. Back to the cairn and off to Donaldson. A quick 5-10 minute jump to the summit and the best views of the day. Lingered there for a while chatting with some other hikers and took more pics. Then off to Emmons to complete the trifecta. That's where the mud started in earnest. The other trails were pretty dry for the most part but the hop over to Emmons was very muddy. There were some sections that I found trickier than crossing the swamp on Couchie. Managed to navigate over & back without going ankle-deep in the muck and stayed dry the whole day. Down Calkins Brook, refilled water at my spot at 3100 feet, and back to the cairn. The walk out was uneventful as the walk in except for some large animal tracks in the middle of the trail. The pics I took came out poorly and I cannot identify them. Oh well... it was probably a mountain lion, chupacabra, or flat-footed feral child with long toenails. Great day in the Sewards to grab #40, #41, and #42 on the way to 46. __________________ 46/46

08-08-2012, 12:56 PM	#2
Pathgrinder High in the Whites Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Pine Plains, NY Posts: 561	Glad to hear this hike went smoother than the Santanoni's and thanks for the trail update! This is my next stop as soon as time and weather allow. It sounds like Caulkins Brook is definitely the way to go. __________________ Pecking away at the Cats, ADK's & Whites

08-08-2012, 01:22 PM	#3
TFR Peek-Bagger Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Tillson, NY - Avatar: Whiteface Slide Posts: 5,390	I posted about that water source many years ago, glad to know it's still reliable. __________________ Tom Rankin - 5444W - Proud Member #0003 of ADKHP Foundation Volunteer Balsam Lake Mountain President Catskill 3500 Club CEO Views And Brews! Trail maintainer for the Dry Brook Ridge trail from Mill Brook Road to just past the Lean-to

08-09-2012, 12:15 PM	#8
Gerard01 aspiring 46'r 10/46 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 1,381	Great TR, Mak. Congrats on doing the trifecta. I enjoy reading your TR's. __________________ Nothing like being in the woods. http://www.gerardsadirondackpics.shutterfly.com

08-09-2012, 07:14 PM	#9
DackerDan Commander Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Nisky, NY Posts: 1,307	Nice job - we were a day behind you. Was that huge horse trailer parked smack dab in the middle of the parking lot when you were there. It was when I was there making 2/3 of the parking lot almost unusable and they stayed there all night. __________________ Enjoying the journey with my favorite hiking partner. Please visit ADKGurl's Blog: 46-High-Peaks

08-09-2012, 08:42 AM	#4
xombehiker Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 57	Are you the guy I met on my way to Seward? I was the guy doing his 45th. It was such a nice day. Really enjoyed the entire hike.

08-09-2012, 09:26 AM	#5
Gregory Karl * — * — * — * — * Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Jay Posts: 1,942	Your thread title puts me in mind of an old Simpsons episode wherein Nelson Muntz emerges from a theater with the title "Naked Lunch" displayed prominently on the marquee. He says, after having just seen the film: "I can think of two things wrong with that title." In your case it's just one.

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