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!