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After several changes of our plans Rik sent me a PM saying he and Charlene planned on doing D&E. Considering that a recent VFTT trail conditions report talked about post holing mid-thigh on Marcy my enthusiasm for Marcy-Gray- Marcy had dampened considerably.
So on Friday night at 10 Dominic and I slowly cruised Coreys rd. looking for a silver Honda. Once we spotted it we parked and set up camp, meaning we laid out our sleeping bags in the back of the van and went to sleep. At 6am Rik moseyed on up to where we were parked and we noted the bluebird skies which were in contrast to the forecast. After a leisurely meal by the broad and shallow Ampersand Brook we drove to the TH. The lot was pretty full and the register indicated a group of 12 was ahead of us on their way up Calkins.
The birds were singing, the sun was shining and the bugs were not there. We had a pleasant stroll chattering away along the flat approach walking 2 abreast most of the time. The Calkins turnoff is marked with a cairn but the herd trail is very obvious. I'd been up this route twice since March and it was interesting to see it in summer conditions. Such a pleasant contrast to the other side (from the BB LT) which we did with Doug last December.
This route clearly has a "custodian" and his or her recent axe work and blowdown clearing was much appreciated as we climbed up to the ridge.
We caught up to the group of 12 on D's west lookout so we went over to the true summit. It turns out that Dominic, Val and I didn't go over to the true summit this winter thinking the West lookout was the summit. IIRC We were up so high on the snow that we had views both east and west. I couldn't believe how differently everything looked! Anyway, we have done Donaldson now for sure. Thanks Rik both for guiding us to the true summit and for all the teasing.
And sorry Val but I guess you already had D.
Next on the agenda was Emmons which Dominic declared to be a "rip-off". After the 15 hour winter trip when we turned back on D's SW bump and the December trip when we decided to stop at Seward because it was late we were fairly pumped to finally being assured of Emmons. I have never spent such a short time on a summit. How does 3 seconds sound?There were 13 people there and the views and solitude of D. were much more attractive.
I scoped the bush down toward where the slide should be and indeed things looked pretty gnarly, thick and steep by any standards.
Our trip out was about as nice as it gets. A soft Robert Frost trail wending its way through open woods, a creek nearby, sunshine and great company. We flaked out for a while at the Calkins herd trail-Calkins truck road junction basking in the sun and then headed back to the TH. After rehydrating with a couple of brews and watching Ampersand Brook slide by we relunctantly left Rik and Charlene to their perfect campsite and drove home. All I have left to do for the 46 now are Gray and RPR. Dominic needs those two plus Tabletop.
So on Friday night at 10 Dominic and I slowly cruised Coreys rd. looking for a silver Honda. Once we spotted it we parked and set up camp, meaning we laid out our sleeping bags in the back of the van and went to sleep. At 6am Rik moseyed on up to where we were parked and we noted the bluebird skies which were in contrast to the forecast. After a leisurely meal by the broad and shallow Ampersand Brook we drove to the TH. The lot was pretty full and the register indicated a group of 12 was ahead of us on their way up Calkins.
The birds were singing, the sun was shining and the bugs were not there. We had a pleasant stroll chattering away along the flat approach walking 2 abreast most of the time. The Calkins turnoff is marked with a cairn but the herd trail is very obvious. I'd been up this route twice since March and it was interesting to see it in summer conditions. Such a pleasant contrast to the other side (from the BB LT) which we did with Doug last December.
This route clearly has a "custodian" and his or her recent axe work and blowdown clearing was much appreciated as we climbed up to the ridge.
We caught up to the group of 12 on D's west lookout so we went over to the true summit. It turns out that Dominic, Val and I didn't go over to the true summit this winter thinking the West lookout was the summit. IIRC We were up so high on the snow that we had views both east and west. I couldn't believe how differently everything looked! Anyway, we have done Donaldson now for sure. Thanks Rik both for guiding us to the true summit and for all the teasing.
And sorry Val but I guess you already had D. Next on the agenda was Emmons which Dominic declared to be a "rip-off". After the 15 hour winter trip when we turned back on D's SW bump and the December trip when we decided to stop at Seward because it was late we were fairly pumped to finally being assured of Emmons. I have never spent such a short time on a summit. How does 3 seconds sound?There were 13 people there and the views and solitude of D. were much more attractive.
I scoped the bush down toward where the slide should be and indeed things looked pretty gnarly, thick and steep by any standards.
Our trip out was about as nice as it gets. A soft Robert Frost trail wending its way through open woods, a creek nearby, sunshine and great company. We flaked out for a while at the Calkins herd trail-Calkins truck road junction basking in the sun and then headed back to the TH. After rehydrating with a couple of brews and watching Ampersand Brook slide by we relunctantly left Rik and Charlene to their perfect campsite and drove home. All I have left to do for the 46 now are Gray and RPR. Dominic needs those two plus Tabletop.
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