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Preface: I will not be publicly or privately sharing any detailed route information for this trip. The people who have trusted me with this information and have spent a good part of their life scouting the area deserve as much.
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Cold River Bob, Valerie (fvrwld) and I started around 1PM Friday 5/25/07 at the Corey's trailhead. Black flies were biting. I forgot my deet (didn't even think to bring it). Fortunately Val and Bob were prepared. We made our way in humid and warm conditions over a mostly dry trail past the Blueberry Pond lean-to, where three packs were stuffed into a corner. To Ward Brook lean-to, where 2 friendly guys were camped, but decided to guarantee solitude by pushing the 0.7 miles further to the Number 4 lean-tos, but BOTH of those lean-tos had occupants.
Across from the lean-tos and into the woods we went, finding 2 good tenting spots away from the trail and water. We had dinner and relaxed. Around 8:30PM a small herd of teenagers showed. Eventually all 15 in the group filed in and started setting up tents wherever there was bare earth. I've forwarded this information to the appropriate authorities. Hopefully this outdoors group (based out of Central NY) will never do this again. More people need to question regulation violations when they see them, and let the authorities know. Otherwise this stuff goes unpunished and the more times and greater the impact over time the more likely we are going to be forced into a strictly permit based system.
[Just as a FYI, you must camp 150 feet from trails and water sources, and bury your poop. And for heaven's sake - if there's an outhouse, USE IT!]
We woke the next morning and made our way back up the Ward Brook truck trail, to a spot between Ward Brook lean-to and the horse trail. Bob had started from this point with an experienced Ouluska Pass hiker weeks prior. Initially there was only a faint hint that we were on a old road, and then at times it seemed obvious, and then not so obvious. It was a matter of 15 minutes before we realized we had headed off on a smaller lumbering road and were climbing up Seward. We followed a contour back to what we thought was the main trail/road but soon lost that. Then it became an in/out of Seward Brook bushwhack until we were about 0.25 miles from the top of the pass where the geography naturally funnels you into a single path. I had been this far 2 years ago, only to get a ways in and hitting blowdown. Our hopes were to get through the pass and camp near the base of Emmons.
Once into the pass we had to cut across/leave the trail. It was not at an obvious junction but we did manage to find the alternate route the first time trying. It leads you closer to the walls on Seward, so I did not get many clear photo opportunities. From the dead-end path we took 2 years back you get clear views of the cliffs. As we followed this route we suddenly found ourselves staring at blowdown. It was not clear whether the blowdown was new, and whether the path continued beyond our field of view. I was taking waypoints and recording tracks with my GPS for backtracking, so we opted to push forward and after about 45 minutes of struggling we finally reached a beaver pond with a clear view of Seymour. By this time Val had enough of wearing shorts and changed into some full length pants. Her legs were already scraped such that she had to cancel her mid-week modeling session for Victoria's Secret.
Bob recognized the beaver meadow, but because everything was still covered in a few feet of snow weeks prior nothing looked the same. He had a hunch about which way to find the route, and from this point he was right. It was in/out of the drainage for about 0.50 miles. The only hints of 'trail' were occassional cut logs. Very few ever make it this far, so the evidence of man is just about lost. After a few more open areas we were in/out of the drainage (now a full brook). Every time we were out of the water it was thick spruce and blowdown. This slowed our progress immensely. As we left the pass the blowdown lessened and we came upon the distinct remnants of a logging road that we followed for a ways until more bushwhacking. Eventually we made it to camp for the night, a clearing with great views of Emmons and Seward. We had dinner and I went to bed before dark. Those 4-4.5 miles were exhausting. It took us 8 hours.
On Sunday we followed another old logging road from camp to the NPT and surprised Gary (wildernessphoto) at Duck Hole. Gary and his friend Jason were the only people there. It had started to rain early into our hike, so we welcomed lunch, warm fire, dry lean-to and some dry clothes. The only bad news came when I was taking photos of the dam and noticed a 'shaking' effect which I recorded with the video feature on my camera. It appears that one side of the dam is shaking from the pressure. Time is running out to save it.
Monday morning came and we saw jason and gary off in their canoes, heading back via Preston and Henderson to Upper Works. We packed under sunny skies and headed out for the 10.5 mile hike back to the car. It was mostly uneventful and it appeared we were the last to head out (all 6 lean-tos en-route were empty). My back was a little sore, but not the injured part. My middle back was giving out after 4 days of hiking with a full pack.
We saw lots of artifacts, scenery, and wildlife in 4 days. It was the best way I could think to spend 4 days in the Adirondacks.
Preface: I will not be publicly or privately sharing any detailed route information for this trip. The people who have trusted me with this information and have spent a good part of their life scouting the area deserve as much.
_______________
Cold River Bob, Valerie (fvrwld) and I started around 1PM Friday 5/25/07 at the Corey's trailhead. Black flies were biting. I forgot my deet (didn't even think to bring it). Fortunately Val and Bob were prepared. We made our way in humid and warm conditions over a mostly dry trail past the Blueberry Pond lean-to, where three packs were stuffed into a corner. To Ward Brook lean-to, where 2 friendly guys were camped, but decided to guarantee solitude by pushing the 0.7 miles further to the Number 4 lean-tos, but BOTH of those lean-tos had occupants.
Across from the lean-tos and into the woods we went, finding 2 good tenting spots away from the trail and water. We had dinner and relaxed. Around 8:30PM a small herd of teenagers showed. Eventually all 15 in the group filed in and started setting up tents wherever there was bare earth. I've forwarded this information to the appropriate authorities. Hopefully this outdoors group (based out of Central NY) will never do this again. More people need to question regulation violations when they see them, and let the authorities know. Otherwise this stuff goes unpunished and the more times and greater the impact over time the more likely we are going to be forced into a strictly permit based system.
[Just as a FYI, you must camp 150 feet from trails and water sources, and bury your poop. And for heaven's sake - if there's an outhouse, USE IT!]
We woke the next morning and made our way back up the Ward Brook truck trail, to a spot between Ward Brook lean-to and the horse trail. Bob had started from this point with an experienced Ouluska Pass hiker weeks prior. Initially there was only a faint hint that we were on a old road, and then at times it seemed obvious, and then not so obvious. It was a matter of 15 minutes before we realized we had headed off on a smaller lumbering road and were climbing up Seward. We followed a contour back to what we thought was the main trail/road but soon lost that. Then it became an in/out of Seward Brook bushwhack until we were about 0.25 miles from the top of the pass where the geography naturally funnels you into a single path. I had been this far 2 years ago, only to get a ways in and hitting blowdown. Our hopes were to get through the pass and camp near the base of Emmons.
Once into the pass we had to cut across/leave the trail. It was not at an obvious junction but we did manage to find the alternate route the first time trying. It leads you closer to the walls on Seward, so I did not get many clear photo opportunities. From the dead-end path we took 2 years back you get clear views of the cliffs. As we followed this route we suddenly found ourselves staring at blowdown. It was not clear whether the blowdown was new, and whether the path continued beyond our field of view. I was taking waypoints and recording tracks with my GPS for backtracking, so we opted to push forward and after about 45 minutes of struggling we finally reached a beaver pond with a clear view of Seymour. By this time Val had enough of wearing shorts and changed into some full length pants. Her legs were already scraped such that she had to cancel her mid-week modeling session for Victoria's Secret.
Bob recognized the beaver meadow, but because everything was still covered in a few feet of snow weeks prior nothing looked the same. He had a hunch about which way to find the route, and from this point he was right. It was in/out of the drainage for about 0.50 miles. The only hints of 'trail' were occassional cut logs. Very few ever make it this far, so the evidence of man is just about lost. After a few more open areas we were in/out of the drainage (now a full brook). Every time we were out of the water it was thick spruce and blowdown. This slowed our progress immensely. As we left the pass the blowdown lessened and we came upon the distinct remnants of a logging road that we followed for a ways until more bushwhacking. Eventually we made it to camp for the night, a clearing with great views of Emmons and Seward. We had dinner and I went to bed before dark. Those 4-4.5 miles were exhausting. It took us 8 hours.
On Sunday we followed another old logging road from camp to the NPT and surprised Gary (wildernessphoto) at Duck Hole. Gary and his friend Jason were the only people there. It had started to rain early into our hike, so we welcomed lunch, warm fire, dry lean-to and some dry clothes. The only bad news came when I was taking photos of the dam and noticed a 'shaking' effect which I recorded with the video feature on my camera. It appears that one side of the dam is shaking from the pressure. Time is running out to save it.
Monday morning came and we saw jason and gary off in their canoes, heading back via Preston and Henderson to Upper Works. We packed under sunny skies and headed out for the 10.5 mile hike back to the car. It was mostly uneventful and it appeared we were the last to head out (all 6 lean-tos en-route were empty). My back was a little sore, but not the injured part. My middle back was giving out after 4 days of hiking with a full pack.
We saw lots of artifacts, scenery, and wildlife in 4 days. It was the best way I could think to spend 4 days in the Adirondacks.
.
. When our scoutmaster quietly says "You've done some traveling", that's big.
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