Being able to move my hike from Sunday to Monday allowed time for drier air to move in from the northwest. Saturday and Saturday night still carried the threat of showers and I didn't want to be setting up camp in the rain or starting out the next morning wet if the moist air lingered longer than expected.
I arrived in Newcomb mid-day, set up the tent and then headed to Goodnow Mountain for a short hike. This short hike turned out to be a bit longer than I expected and had me worrying that the following day I would regret walking so much. As it turned out it wasn't a problem.
At the summit of Goodnow the fire tower exceeded my comfort level by a factor of two! Reaching the 5th level out of 10, after pausing to take a few pictures, I didn't feel like continuing. I hate fire towers! But with shaking knees usually climb them anyway. Next time, keep head down, concentrate on next step and just don't stop until at the top.
A couple weeks earlier I had made a day trip here and hiked the trail to Bradley Pond/Santanoni lean-to. It was another weekend that had rain the day before and again the following day. Leaving home before 6 put me at the trailhead around 10 with plenty of time for a relaxing walk out and back.
Talking with some hikers on the previous walk, I was told they heard that it was about 12 hours round trip from Bradley Pond to do the 3 peaks. Add to that about 4 hours from the trailhead to Bradley Pond and it was going to be a 16 hour day!
Prepared for walking in the dark with a headlamp on the top of my pack I was at the trailhead as the horizon was just coming visible in the northeast. Getting out of the car it became clear to me that walking down the trail in the dark was not something completely comfortable for me. After a 15 minute wait there was enough light for easy walking and I headed out about 5:40
The first part is an easy walk on a little used dirt road. A little under 2 miles up this road the trail to Santanoni lean-to exits to the right. There are 2 stream crossing shortly after this. Over the first the bridge is completely out, but crossing using stones was quite easy with the water level as it was. At the second crossing the bridge is fine but the exit on the far side it falling apart. Weeks earlier I was wearing a full pack and it was a bit of an effort coming down off the bridge. This time with a light day-pack it barely slowed me down.
Standing on the bridge looking at the exit ramp
After this crossing, the hike to Bradley Pond area held no surprises and was mostly easy uphill and good walking to the 2900 foot level
I made it to Bradley Pond in well under 2 hours and crossed the marshland onto the trail to Times Square.
After rounding Bradley Pond shortly after turning up this trail you then begin a moderately steep ascent to the 4,300 foot Times Square.
Along this section I joined up with a family that had the same goals as me for the day. While giving them a little room during the walk, we were together for most of the day and on the summits together. I ended up being their photographer for group photos using cell phones handed to me. I hope that made up for intruding on their outdoor time.
Leaving Times Square it was a long and annoying(?) walk to Couchsachraga giving up 500 feet along the way. I say annoying only in that if the original survey of this mountain was done correctly, we probably wouldn't even know the name of this 3,793' peak as it falls short of the 4,000' height of a 46er.
There was one good muddy area that had logs across it to step on. Some were steady other not so much. There was a supply of sticks on the approach end that could be used to steady yourself on the crossing. It might have been possible to get by without any but it seemed a good idea to not take chances as the mud was at least knee deep judging by how far my sticks sank in.
At the top it was a little crowded. We took pictures, had a quick snack and headed back.
Looking back towards Couchsachraga from Panther. After posting this on Facebook : Aspiring Adirondack 46ers, Michel Rochefort commented saying that was him in the picture below.
And a bit more room for relaxing
Leaving Panther and the trail off the peak down to Times Square with Santanoni in the distance.
Arriving atop Santanoni ahead of the group I was there when this young lady (in purple) completed her final peak and became a 46er!
Looking down at Bradley Pond at the base of Henderson Mountain where the trail turns for the climb to Times Square. Beyond that Algonquin, Colden and Marcy from the center to the right.
Looking back towards Tahawus and the start of the trail just this side of the lake and mine in the center of this picture
Leaving Santanoni the plan is to descent the "Express" route rather than backtrack to Times Square. This route was quite steep with one particular section that was very difficult. It is a large rock face with a slope that increases until exceeds the traction of hiking shoes. The first of the party tried to descend along the right side using plant growth to keep from sliding. This woman also had a medium sized dog along for the hike. I'm not sure exactly what happened as they were out of my view but she slipped and slid to the bottom. Fortunately only a few scrapes and she was okay. The youngest of the group and the new 46er tried the other side and found with the help of plant growth a was to lower ourselves to a narrow ledge that we could work our way down to a point where lowering to the ground was possible. I tried to get a picture but at it was too close and wide to capture well.
One of the group who has hiked this before said this was the worst section until you come to the part with the ropes. Ropes? You mean to steady yourself like on Gothics, right? So, all the way to the bottom I'm thinking about the ropes. Well, he was just pulling our leg, no ropes. The trail ended up at at this pool about a half hour below Bradley Pond, then into the woods to join up with the trail I came up on.
My total time on the hike was 12 hours and 15 minutes. Much less than what I expected and planned for. Stopping at a sandwich and ice cream stand just outside Harris Lake State Park I bought a wrap followed by an ice cream cone and I was back to camp in time to see sunset on the lake.
