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Well, not quite. I got to the parking lot around 7am. There was a truck with a snowmobile trailer and one other car, both had snow on them and had obviously been there overnight. The last person to sign in at the register was on 1/23, so I figured this was going to be a solo hike………had my mind set on doing the Santanonis.
I brought microspikes based on reports from various hikes, but it was snowshoes all the way. Actually I was surprised with the amount of snow. The trail out to Bradley Pond was broken, but not packed too well………did not appear to see a lot of use recently. It took about an hour and forty five minutes to get to Times Square HP. I was surprised to see two backpacks left there. I guess I will have some company after all, depending on how far they have gotten. A little over an hour I catch up to them on their way up Panther. Vincent and Simon from Montreal, they had stayed at the Bradley Pond lean-to the night before. I asked if they were planning to do all three peaks and if they would mind some company……..the more the merrier. The trail to Panther wasn’t bad at all and I figured this day wasn’t going to be that hard, long perhaps.
After Panther we figured best to get Couchie out of the way, as we get to the beginning of that HP, it didn’t look like anyone had been on the trail yet this season, which I doubt, there was no path broken or discernible. Not the easiest trail to find, many spruce traps and dead ends/turnarounds and that was with Vincent’s GPS. We would take turns breaking trail and it took almost 2 hours to finally reach Couchie. It was cold out but with the bright sunshine and minimal winds it felt nice as we ate our frozen sandwiches. I was grateful for the company of my friends from north of the border, breaking trail on my own would have been pretty difficult and the GPS was a big help. So, the trail is broken for now although there are a half dozen or so divergent dead ends.
It was after 3 by the time we got back to the cairn for Santanoni. That trail did not look broken out and, as much as it pains me, we all decided to save it for another day………..I had told my wife that I would be back in time for a nice dinner at the Ausable Inn in Keene Valley and that would easily add 2 more hours to my hike with an hour drive back. Couchie was the prize of the day, Santanoni can wait. Got back to the car by 5:30, roughly 10 hours total. 9/46W was hoping for double digits
Gary
I brought microspikes based on reports from various hikes, but it was snowshoes all the way. Actually I was surprised with the amount of snow. The trail out to Bradley Pond was broken, but not packed too well………did not appear to see a lot of use recently. It took about an hour and forty five minutes to get to Times Square HP. I was surprised to see two backpacks left there. I guess I will have some company after all, depending on how far they have gotten. A little over an hour I catch up to them on their way up Panther. Vincent and Simon from Montreal, they had stayed at the Bradley Pond lean-to the night before. I asked if they were planning to do all three peaks and if they would mind some company……..the more the merrier. The trail to Panther wasn’t bad at all and I figured this day wasn’t going to be that hard, long perhaps.
After Panther we figured best to get Couchie out of the way, as we get to the beginning of that HP, it didn’t look like anyone had been on the trail yet this season, which I doubt, there was no path broken or discernible. Not the easiest trail to find, many spruce traps and dead ends/turnarounds and that was with Vincent’s GPS. We would take turns breaking trail and it took almost 2 hours to finally reach Couchie. It was cold out but with the bright sunshine and minimal winds it felt nice as we ate our frozen sandwiches. I was grateful for the company of my friends from north of the border, breaking trail on my own would have been pretty difficult and the GPS was a big help. So, the trail is broken for now although there are a half dozen or so divergent dead ends.
It was after 3 by the time we got back to the cairn for Santanoni. That trail did not look broken out and, as much as it pains me, we all decided to save it for another day………..I had told my wife that I would be back in time for a nice dinner at the Ausable Inn in Keene Valley and that would easily add 2 more hours to my hike with an hour drive back. Couchie was the prize of the day, Santanoni can wait. Got back to the car by 5:30, roughly 10 hours total. 9/46W was hoping for double digits
Gary
#7106W
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