Cliff and Redfield 45'th and 46'st High Peak Ascents

Cliff and Redfield Mountains

The 44'th and 15'th highest peak in New York State with elevations of 3,960 ft. and 4,606 ft.

Climbed with my son Joshua and Nathan on Saturday 8-6-16. We got up and left Speculator after 5:15 am and drove to the Upper Works parking lot in Newcomb, NY. The parking lot was almost full with only a couple empty spots. We signed in at the trail register and set out at 6:45 AM.

We arrived at the David Henderson Monument at 8:40 AM.

After spending a few minutes there at Calamity Brook we started out again. At the next water crossing we opted for the suspension bridge. The water was low but bridges are a little unusual so when we find one I like to take it. On the way back we would just rock hop over this waterway.

We reached the lean-to and next trail register at the flowed lands in a few minutes at 8:50 AM. This is a very picturesque spot but we had to keep moving since we had a lot of miles yet ahead of us.

We went left at the flowed lands and passed the cairn marking the trail to Marshal at 9:15 AM. We climbed down the ladder to the lake Colden Dam at 9:25 AM. We met a group of five there that were also headed to Cliff and Redfield, three of who were planning to finish on Redfield.

They set out ahead of us and Nathan suggested we stop here and take a snack break. I found this a little peculiar because he never wants to stop but always wants to keep moving. I would understand why on the Cliff summit.

There are a number of camp sites and at least one lean-to in this vicinity. This would be a nice spot to return to some time. At the next water crossing there was another suspension bridge this one a bit older, longer, and bouncier that the previous one.

After this crossing we passed the group of five and would not see them again until Cliff Mountain. At this point we started to gain some elevation. We knew that the heard path split was after the uphill lean-to so we expected to go up a bit. We didn’t expect to descend again but you do give back some of the elevation gain before you get to the lean-to. When we got close we smelt something like perfume or deodorant right before we saw people. We had to laugh because Josh said out loud “what is that smell” before we realized we were almost right on top of the people who were the source of the smell. Almost immediately after that we found the cairn marking the Cliff / Redfield path.

There was a couple sitting on a log there that I recognized. I said “hey aren’t you the two we met a couple weeks ago on Donnaldson and Emmons?” They said they were the ones going the wrong way and had become disorientated in the rain that I had to convince to turn around and head the same direction we were going. She thanked me again and said I was their guiding angel that day. We then said our goodbyes and set out toward Redfield at 10:35. The trail to the summit was much like Allen and Marshal, it was alongside and somethings in the river.

The trail was unique and really interesting to me. There were many waterfalls and pools along the way. There were also several deep gorges that had been cut in the rock with much water over many years.

We reached the Redfield summit at noon.

There were two other guys there having lunch. The summit is mostly treed in but there is a rock big enough for one person to climb up on the right side just before the summit that has a vantage point for some good views of the Great Range.

As we set out to descend another father and daughter summited. We headed back down a little slowly because of the conditions and because Josh’s knees were really bothering him.

We were back at the trail split at 1:40 PM. The trail to Cliff was extremely muddy at the start. There were muddy spots all along this trail but really muddy at the start.

We passed a group of three coming down Cliff headed to Redfield. They said the ascent to Cliff wasn’t too bad just to be careful on the three rock cliff sections and watch for hand holds and we would be fine. In the end I didn’t much care for this climb and liked Redfield much more. The distance was supposedly only 0.8 of a mile but you had to go over a false peak so if felt like climbing two mountains to only get one. I hate false peaks especially later in the day. The rock cliff sections were a little tricky but not nearly as scary as the cliffs of Saddleback.

We met more people coming down from Cliff than we had the rest of the day. Most people this day appeared to do Cliff then Redfield the opposite of what we had done. We reached the Cliff summit at 2:45 PM.

After pictures I went to move Nathan’s pack and could not believe it was so heavy. He then proceeded to take out a whole watermelon from the bottom of his pack that he had carried all day to celebrate my 46’th peak. That explains why he was more interested in taking breaks and not going his usual speed. After the best tasting watermelon of our lives we headed down.

We passed a few more hikers on the way down and were back at the heard path split at 4:10. From here it was one section of up just past the uphill lean-to and then mostly down until we got to the flowed lands. Along the way were some nice river waterfalls that Nathan took advantage of for a quick waterfall shower and swim in a cool clear pool. This was the first time I saw the advantage he had in hiking in sandals. No socks or boots to contend with just take off your shirt and jump into the river with your sandals on.

The hike back out wasn’t too tough but it was very long.

We finally arrived back at the Upper Works parking lot and signed out at 7:30 PM. All in all a great day to finish and almost 20 miles in 12.75 hours. On the way back to Speculator we stopped for dinner at Basil & Wick’s Restaurant in North Creek, NY. After dinner we stopped at Stewarts across the street for our traditional coffee shakes for the drive home. It has been a great experience over these past five years hiking the 46 High Peaks. It was personally the hardest physical thing I have accomplished in my life. I have many pleasant memories of friends I experienced it with, people I met, and things I have seen along the way. 

The End.

Or is it???

Allen 44'th High Peak Ascent

Allen Mountain

The 26'th highest peak in New York State with an elevation of 4,340 ft.

     Climbed with my son Joshua on Saturday 7-23-16. We got up and left Speculator after 5:15 am and drove to the Upper Works parking lot in Newcomb, NY. The weather forecast for the day was clear with a chance of thunderstorms around 4. There were several other cars in the lot but plenty of parking available for us. We signed in the register and were on way at about 6:40.

There is an outhouse at the parking lot area which we both visited before leaving for what would surely be a long day.

After about five minutes we came to the first water crossing. There is a steel suspension bridge which makes this the easiest crossing of the day. It is funny to think that this is the mighty Hudson River. We cross the Hudson every weekend to come up to Speculator and are more familiar with it around NYC. Here the river is only about 30 feet across and would be no big deal to walk across if there weren’t this neat old bridge to cross.

In another ten minutes we would be at the second water crossing. Crossing Lake Jimmy is a little more challenging. This is more like a stagnant pool of muck. We missed the trail sign and so we came out to the water’s edge. Evidently there used to be a bridge across the lake that had been washed away in a storm and not replaced. I thought we were going to have to walk across this mess but knew something was up when we didn’t see any other footprints at that point. So we started to make our way around to the left and sure enough found a trail with boards and planks that took us around and over not through the muck.

After another little bit of walking we came to the old Mt. Adams Ranger cabins. The trail turns to the left at this point and then in another little bit on the left is the start of the Mt. Adams trail so we continued straight.

After another little bit we saw a small cairn and went left leaving what appeared to be a truck trail and started slightly down to and around Lake Sally. The trail had been wide and mostly flat to this point. The trail now, although flat, becomes narrow.

Around Lake Sally you don’t get near enough to see anything but can just spot the lake through the trees. Next up is the third water crossing. The Opalescent River is clear and cool with a flat rocky bottom. I had my sandals on from the start but this is the first time that I really needed to use them. Josh rock hopped across but I went straight through. The cool water felt good on my feet. Apparently there also used to be a suspension bridge across the Opalescent that was no longer there.

We turned to the left and found the trail and kept on. In a short while I changed out of my sandals and switched to socks and hiking sneakers. The trail became really narrow now and looked more like a bike path with overgrown grass on either side.

At 8:50 we came upon a sign pointing to the left to Marcy/Colden and just past a sign pointing to the right toward Allen.

After a short distance we came out to another truck trail with a cairn that jogged left and then right to the second sign in register of the day.

This register was at the end of what appeared to be a parking lot and was the real sign in for Allen I guess. I felt like I did when we climbed in the Sewards, why can’t we have gotten a ride to this point and avoided all these miles to this point since obviously there is a way to drive here! We signed the register at 8:55 and pressed on. We estimated from here the trail to the summit was about three and a half miles. The trail now started to go up. Most of this section of the trail was parallel to the river.

There were also some flat sections along this trail but mostly up with little down. The trail now was more of a typical Adirondack trail through the woods with rocks, roots, and trees to climb over or duck under. The first section was atypical because it was mostly flat and either a truck trail or a very narrow overgrown path.

The most memorable thing on this section was a wooden toilet box, not outhouse, but a wooden box with a lid on it almost right on the trail. I guess if you gotta go you gotta go. I've heard other people refer to this as a "thunder box". Not sure why but I like the sound of it. 

We arrived and crossed Allen Brook at 10:20 and then it really started to get steep. This was the climb section as we started to go up, up, up. The trail at this point is not very defined but if you keep moving up along, and somethings in the path of the water you can’t go wrong. All paths at this point lead up to the summit. After a little bit we saw our first other hikers of the day. Two women came up behind us. They were moving steadily and faster than us. We said hello and allowed them to pass. One woman said she had climbed Allen previously but in the winter. I thought we wouldn’t see them until they passed us going down but we actually did catch up to them on the slide.

Next we met a guy and his small dog coming down. He told us that we would be at the summit in about an hour. I was hoping we would get there sooner, and time predictions are always unreliable because they are based upon how fast one hikes not how fast I hike, but he was dead on with this estimate. It was 10:45 when he made this prediction and we would be at the summit at 11:45. We were also passed by another group of three who were moving pretty quickly. Next we passed a man and woman who were taking a break just beneath the slide. They were with a group of two others who had gone up ahead. I felt pretty great when they told us that they had started this morning from the parking lot at 5. We had started 1.75 hours later and we just passed them! We would see them again at the summit after we got there. We did meet up with the other two who were waiting for them to catch up. We passed them but then they passed us as they were only waiting long enough for the others to catch up and then obviously headed out again. On the slide we again met the two women, two guys and one woman. They all went left but I went straight up the slide. Since I had done the slide on Saddleback this was easy compared to that. I actually passed them all and got to the top of the slide first. I knew this was short lived because I hike steep sections in spurts not steady and they would all pass me out again at this point.

Josh and I got to the Allen summit at 11:45.

The summit was totally treed in but just past there is a sweet lookout where you can see a great view of Haystack, Skylight, Marcy, et al.

We spent a half hour on the summit and congratulated one of the guys who had just completed the 46 on Allen. We left and started the descent at 12:15. The first part of the descent down Allen was a little tricky because it was steep and slippery. Josh and I both took a couple falls but thankfully nothing serious.

Interestingly enough a couple more groups passed up climbing up at this point. We got back to the Allen Brook at 1:35. The hike from here was just long and tiring. I just try to think of something else and put one foot in front of the other. There was a little section that had an incline, which was tough, but most of it was relatively flat or slightly descending.

Not much to comment on or pictures to be taken on the way out. This was a long hard day but I’m getting really close to finishing now. Sure enough right around 4:00 we heard thunder and got rained on a bit. Nothing terrible but we did get out the rain gear for a bit. When we got to the trail register I had to take off my pack and lay down for a few. I probably would have stayed longer if it hadn’t been for the small spiders that wouldn’t leave me alone. The last stretch was pretty tough but I loved crossing the Opalescent. I put my sandals back on and walked in and down for a bit as Josh rock hopped across rocks. We arrived back to the parking lot and signed out at 5:40. Overall this hike was about 18.4 miles over 11 hours. Fortunately Josh agreed to drive back to Speculator and I was able to just sit and relax. We did stop in Minerva at the Stewards for a dirty dog and a coffee shake. One other cool thing that would happen this day was that on Rt 30 we had a black bear cross the highway in front of us. Unfortunately before I could grab my iPhone to take a picture it was gone. Only two peaks left Cliff and Redfield. I’m hoping to finish this year! 

Seward 43'rd High Peak Ascent

Seward Mountain

The 24'th highest peak in New York State with an elevation of 4,361 ft.

Climbed with my son Josh and good friend Evan on Sunday 7-3-16. We got up and left Speculator after 5:00 am and drove to the Corey's Road parking lot. The parking lot was full and we had to park on the road with several other cars. 

We signed in and were on the trail toward Seward at about 7:10 am. The forecast was for a beautiful clear day and we got what we expected. At the first split we went left and took the foot trail not the horse trail. We met a Canadian woman there and she took the horse trail. When we got to the truck road we went right. We met the Canadian woman a bit later after 7:30 as she emerged from the horse trail. It really is about the same time to that point no matter which trail you take. It took us a little over an hour to hike the mostly level or slightly descending trail to the upturned metal bucket marker on a pile of rocks just before Calkins Brook around 8:20. 

At the bucket we went left and started to climb towards the mountains. The trail was very muddy this day and mostly up with very little flat spots to catch your breath. 

Most of the trail looked familiar to me since I had hiked this several weeks ago with my other son and Paul and Peter. Josh was out in front, I was in the middle, and Evan brought up the rear. 

For a change I wasn't the last man in line. Not sure why I was feeling better this weekend maybe it was because I had hiked this same trail last month but for whatever reason I was feeling better this hike. I had mentioned to Josh that Donnalson was just about a five minute climb to the right from where we were going to split off to the left and down toward Seward. I wasn't totally surprised that when Evan and I got to the split around 10:25 he wasn't there. I figured he had gone right to also bag Donnaldson. We called and waited and sure enough after a few minutes he called back and descended from Donnaldson. He said there were several people up there and also the Canadian woman we had started the day with. I was quite surprised because of all the cars in the lot I figured we would see more people. We had seen a few others but not many. 

Now that Josh had returned we all headed down toward Seward. We met several more people coming from Seward than we had seen previously in the morning. I guess this makes sense since a all the others had been in the lot and on the trail ahead of us. The trail down and then up to Seward actually wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. I had heard of a false summit or "bump" that had to be crossed before the summit of Seward. I must have missed it because I bet Josh a coffee milk shake at Stewarts that the next rise was not the summit. Of course this was a bet I had actually hope to loose. In fact I did loose the bet because the next bump was the Seward summit. Evan said he was buying anyway so even though I lost I didn't have to pay up this time. It was a almost perfect cool and clear day but the summit of Seward is totally treed in when we got there around 11:30 and not a good picture to be had, except with the summit sign. 

After a short break and a few snacks we started the descent. There were a couple nice spots for pictures on the way to and from Seward, just not on the summit. 

I really like this panoramic shot.

Although the descent is always easier for me, I don't get as winded, it is tough on the knees. The descent typically feels longer because you always think you are right around the corner from the parking lot but it never seems to come. But in the end you just put one foot in front of the other.

Eventually you pass the split to Donnaldson around 12:45, pass over over Caulkins Brook several times, pass the overturned bucket around 2:45, pass the horse trail, pass the truck trail, and there you are back at the Corey's Parking trailhead around 4:05. All in all another great day in the High Peaks. We project our mileage to have been around 13.4 miles and our time hiking to be a bit under 9 hours. Another great day climbing in the ADK High Peaks and excited to only have Cliff, Redfield, and Allen remaining! 

Getting close now Number 43!

Donaldson and Emmons 41'st and 42'nd High Peak Ascent

Donaldson and Emmons
The 33'rd and 40'th highest peaks in New York State with elevations of 4,140 and 4,040 ft.

Climbed with my son Nathan, buddy Paul, and his son Peter on Sunday 5-29-16. We got up and left Speculator after 5 am and drove to the Corey's Road parking lot. We signed in and were on the trail toward the Seward's a little before 7:30 am. 

The parking lot was crowded but not quite full. There were a couple spots open and available for us. The forecast was for thunder and lightning storms in he afternoon but you would never know because it appeared clear and sunny as we started to hike. We took the foot trail not the horse trail and when we got to the truck road we went right. If you continue straight you will end up at the lean to's and the trail to Seymour, which we did last fall. Today we were headed to D and E. It took us a little over an hour to hike on a mostly level or slightly descending trail to the overturned metal bucket marker on a pile of rocks just before Calkins Brook. At the bucket you go left and start to climb towards the mountains. 

The trail is not bad from here on out as Adirondack trails go but mostly up with very little flat to catch your breath. I have a hard time with constant up so I was bringing up the rear. The other three went up ahead and we did meet up a couple of times just to make sure we were still all together. I reached the col or more accurately described as the "T" where the trail spits at 10:50. If you go left and down at this point you go toward Seward. We had originally planned on doing all three so the intent was to come back after summitting the other two and do this as well. The weather changed our plans which I will described later. I headed right and so did the others I found out shortly at 11:00 when we all met at the Donaldson summit. 

There are some good views and especially from the opposite side of the mountain, although not technically the summit the views are better there and you can see a lot toward Seward. 

After a short snack break we headed on toward Emmons. This is really the mentally hard part of climbing for me. The trail toward Emmons obviously goes down again before it starts to go up to the summit. I like down as opposed to up but I'm smart enough to realize that every step down is a step up in the opposite direction when I'm even more tired. Mentally and physically i have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and try not to think to much about it just keep pressing on. I'm not sure we had actually seen any other people to this point but now we had started to see a couple as it had gotten later in the day and a few people passed us on the way to Emmons. Nathan and Peter kept up the pace out front and I actually caught up to Paul, who was now slowing a bit, and we hiked the last bit together in this in between section. As we were almost at the summit Nathan and Peter had returned and encouraged us to keep up the pace because they had been to the Emmons summit and seen the rain clouds quickly moving towards us. Shortly after that we all summitted Emmons at 12:20, Paul and I for the first time, Nathan and Peter for the second. 

We took a few pictures and then got back down as the rain, thunder, and lightning started at about 12:30. We did put on our lightweight rain gear and covered our packs so we would stay dry, we thought. I'll jump ahead a little to tell you that we all got soaked to the bone and even though the rain did let up a little in spots it basically down poured until we got back to Corey's at 5:30. As the lightning strikes started, and were quite close, Nathan went into his Deerfoot Lodge counselor mode and made all of us get off the mountain and off the trail and wait for the thunder to pass before he would let us move along. At this point we did have one single guy and one couple pass us on their way to the summit of Emmons. They took a short break but then decided to keep moving past us as we were coming down and they were going towards Emmons. A bit later they all past us as they were moving towards Donaldson and out. We didn't know it then but we would meet the couple again later in the day. When we got over Donaldson we were beat and especially because of the storms there was no way we would attempt Seward this day. We would return yet another day to complete this range. The descent was a bit slippery because of all the rain and Paul actually slipped a couple of times. The descent always seems a bit longer to me than I remember but eventually we got back to the intersection with the overturned bucket and it was really down pouring at this point. This is where we met the couple from earlier between Donaldson and Emmons. They were walking towards us. The guy was smoking and they both appeared nervous and very frigidity. The guy asked "where we were headed" and I said "to the Corey's parking area". He then said we were headed the wrong direction. I asked where they were headed and he said to the Blueberry lean to. I said he was the one headed in the wrong direction. They had been that direction and had turned around and walked back to this point. It was raining but I asked if he had a map. He said he did and so I told him to get it out. After a little convincing with the help of the map I was able to convince him I was right and he was confused. The woman from behind his back held her hands together and mouthed the words "thank you". It is kind of scary to think of getting lost and especially if you are wet and cold. Any way after we set them straight I'm sure they got back to the lean to for the night. We continued walking the right direction and they passed us because the trail was slightly uphill and i was dragging now. When crossed the horse trail and then when we got to the truck trail we turned left for the last push towards the parking area. We arrived there at 5:30. The rain let up a bit at this point just enough for us to get into the truck and towel off a bit. I was soaked and shivering at this point so after a quick stop at Stewart's in Tupper Lake Nathan drove the rest of the way back to Speculator. All in all another good climb and excited to only have Seward, Cliff, Redfield, and Allen remaining! 

Donnaldson #41

Emmons #42