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This hike was supposed to happen 2 weeks ago but thanks to a combination of wisdom and being in good with the hiking gods it got postponed until yesterday.
I had been eyeing this peak on the map ever since my son mentioned it to me. He heard about it from a summit steward on a solo sprint up Marcy last summer. Anyhoo, Hillman, Tim, Dan, Nick, Rik, myself, and some other guys headed off along the Indian Pass trail for a ways before striking off towards the summit.
The essential nature of this hike can be summed up in 3 words: steep, thick and gem.
If you have done MacNaughton from Wallface Pond this one is a lot steeper and a lot thicker. What was nice was the abscence of leaves (and bugs) which gave us unobstructed views back towards the MacIntyre range's backside. What was a little tough was not being able to see your feet or your partners even if you could smell their farts.
We cruised uphill a ways and then decided to check out a rock outcrop that we had some coordinates for. This took us a ways off course but would add considerable flavour to an already flavourful day. Gradually, we worked our way towards the upper reaches of the circle of peaks that surrounds Lost Pond (very aptly named). By now there was a fair bit of snow on the ground. At times it held you and at others it didn't. Breaking through would not have been so bad if it weren't for a crust of ice at the surface that bit into your shin.
We approached Lost Pond from the south and standing on its shore I was duly impressed by the magnificent scene created by the 270 degree arc of peaks rising several hundred feet above it. The surface was still covered with ice.
Skirting a cliff we struggled and pushed our way to the top of a subpeak then cut west to the highest point. Grouped together on a rocky outcrop we ate, wrote and soaked up the rays and checked out the following: Sawteeth 1,2 and 3, The 4 Sewards, the Santanonis, Snowy (maybe) a looong way off, McNaughton, Wallface and others.
The trip down was fairly straightforward and featured a couple of short butt slides (still!) near the top and some gorgeous drainages, cliffs and waterfalls closer to the bottom. As we descended we found some well camouflaged femur eating holes in the network of roots that interlaced the forest floor. Round trip from the Loj was 10 hours and would have been 8 had we ascended the way we descended.
All in all I would rate this very rewarding and soul satisfying hike as very strenuous. Ie. don't initiate your girlfriend (or boyfriend) to the wonderful world of hiking on this one.
I had been eyeing this peak on the map ever since my son mentioned it to me. He heard about it from a summit steward on a solo sprint up Marcy last summer. Anyhoo, Hillman, Tim, Dan, Nick, Rik, myself, and some other guys headed off along the Indian Pass trail for a ways before striking off towards the summit.
The essential nature of this hike can be summed up in 3 words: steep, thick and gem.
If you have done MacNaughton from Wallface Pond this one is a lot steeper and a lot thicker. What was nice was the abscence of leaves (and bugs) which gave us unobstructed views back towards the MacIntyre range's backside. What was a little tough was not being able to see your feet or your partners even if you could smell their farts.
We cruised uphill a ways and then decided to check out a rock outcrop that we had some coordinates for. This took us a ways off course but would add considerable flavour to an already flavourful day. Gradually, we worked our way towards the upper reaches of the circle of peaks that surrounds Lost Pond (very aptly named). By now there was a fair bit of snow on the ground. At times it held you and at others it didn't. Breaking through would not have been so bad if it weren't for a crust of ice at the surface that bit into your shin.
We approached Lost Pond from the south and standing on its shore I was duly impressed by the magnificent scene created by the 270 degree arc of peaks rising several hundred feet above it. The surface was still covered with ice.
Skirting a cliff we struggled and pushed our way to the top of a subpeak then cut west to the highest point. Grouped together on a rocky outcrop we ate, wrote and soaked up the rays and checked out the following: Sawteeth 1,2 and 3, The 4 Sewards, the Santanonis, Snowy (maybe) a looong way off, McNaughton, Wallface and others.
The trip down was fairly straightforward and featured a couple of short butt slides (still!) near the top and some gorgeous drainages, cliffs and waterfalls closer to the bottom. As we descended we found some well camouflaged femur eating holes in the network of roots that interlaced the forest floor. Round trip from the Loj was 10 hours and would have been 8 had we ascended the way we descended.
All in all I would rate this very rewarding and soul satisfying hike as very strenuous. Ie. don't initiate your girlfriend (or boyfriend) to the wonderful world of hiking on this one.
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