Seward & Donaldson Mountains - Clockwise Loop - 7/5/14

So nice to have another weekend with perfect weather.  Two weekends ago, it was the same way.  I could get used to this.

 

This trip was planned by my wife Leesa, who needed Seward for her ADK 46 High Peaks.  She wanted to approach Seward via the Ward Brook herd path, then descend via the Calkins Brook herd path.  That was fine with me.  Any hike in the high peaks is a good hike, and I had not been on the Ward Brook herd path before.  I had heard nasty things about it, but we both wanted to experience it for ourselves.

 

We overslept a little and didn't get on the trail until about 8:15 AM.  There were only 2 parking spots left in the parking lot before cars would have to spill out into the shoulder of the Corey Road.  We grabbed one of the spots and got our gear together.

 



 

Drainage near Blueberry Pond

 

 

I thought the trail to the Blueberry leanto was surprisingly dry.  It's kind of a mindless, straight, flat trail and we hummed along.  At the leanto, we 4 tents pitched in various locations near the leanto, and one pitched in the leanto!  I always hate seeing this; it just shows a lack of common courtesy, not to mention it is against the rules.

 

We continued past the Blueberry leanto to the first cairn on the right, marking the Ward Brook herd path.  We had been hiking for 2 hours at this point.  As we began our way up, we both commented that it was nice that the path followed so close to the brook.  There were some locations with a fair amount of mud on the trail, but we were braced for what we thought would be something much worse.  

 



A very pretty Ward Brook

 

In addition to the pleasant Ward Brook, we enjoyed the viewpoints that offered us great views of Ampersand Lake and Mountain and Whiteface Mountain.

 

A look at Ampersand Lake and Mountain 

 

We didn't hurry our way up the Ward Brook herd path.  Leesa likes to hike cautiously on these rugged trails, and we had pretty of time.  We didn't intend to include Mount Emmons, just Seward and Donaldson on this day.  We spent 2 hours on the Ward Brook trail and we both rather enjoyed it.  I'm sure it can be a different story in winter, but it was fine on this day.  I wouldn't like to be on this trail if I was pressed for time, but at a leisurely pace, it is quite enjoyable.    

 

Working our way up the Ward Brook herd path

 

 

Another Ampersand picture.  I snapped a lot of these! 

 

 

Another spot along the Ward Brook herd path.

 

High on the Ward Brook path

 

As we approached the summit of Seward, we reached the band of cliffs that guard the summit.  We skirted around this and soon found ourselves on top.  This marks # 42 for Leesa!

 

We went past the wooded summit and stopped for lunch on the  west facing ledge.  There was a fantastic breeze all day and it felt real nice.  We continued on with our planned itinerary and headed for Donaldson Mountain.  In the col between the two, we ran into "Hiking Chick" and her hiking companions.  Nice to meet you!  She was doing the 3 Sewards.  We told her to consider the Ward Brook herd path to make her trip a counter-clockwise loop instead of going back down the Calkins Brook herd path that she had used on the way up.  She did just that and we saw her again back at the parking lot.  She got back just after we did.    

 

We also met a lot of other great people during the day.  Many of them recognized us from this blog.  It was nice to meet and talk with all of you.

 

 

Mount Emmons and Donaldson Mountain

 

We reached Donaldson and stopped again to soak up the perfect weather.  We could have easily taken a nap up there.  It was a perfect day.  Alas, we had to head back.  Besides, Rev can't sit still for more than a couple minutes before she begins her whimper indicating that it is time to move on.

 

a closer look

 

 

 

 

Coming down off Seward, heading for Donaldson

 

 

 

 

You can see from these pictures that we had lots of blue sky; just enough clouds were out to add some interest to the pictures.

 

Seward Mountain from Donaldson Mountain

 

 

 

 

Mount Emmons from Donaldson Mountain

 

The top third of the Calkins Brook herd path is fairly rugged, but once below a water crossing, the path becomes quite smooth and easy to walk on.  We did stop at the water crossing though to take off our boots and cool our feet off in the cold water, always a treat.

 

A small cascade on Calkins Brook

 

 

The Calkins Brook herd path bucket cairn

 

Interesting sign on the Calkins Truck Road intersection with the southern most trail leading to the parking lot.  

 

 

We found the distance from the trailhead to the Blueberry leanto to be 5 miles... not 3.8! 

 

We found the loop to be more enjoyable than an out-and-back and we give the Ward Brook herd path a thumbs up (in good weather and dry conditions).  The Sewards (and Seymour) are now done for Leesa.  She has 4 left (Cliff, Redfield, Sawteeth and Couchsachraga).  She wants to finish on Couch because nobody else does!

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  14.1 miles

Hike Time:  9 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 3000'      

 

The route was done clockwise.  (Click image to enlarge)

The Seward Range (minus Seymour) - 2/7/13

With a pending big snowstorm headed our way for tomorrow, I took the day off today and headed for the Seward Range to climb Emmons, Donaldson and Seward.  The road from Coreys was still drivable all the way to the summer trailhead.

I arrived at 7 AM and there was one other car there.  A man (Brian) was just preparing to head out for Donaldson and Emmons.  We talked for a minute and then we both headed out.

I made the mistake of trying to ski the first part of the trail. It was an obvious mistake since there was only maybe 2 inches of snow on the ground.  I didn't get far before ditching the skis.  I so wanted to ski for awhile, but it wasn't to be.

Brian told me to go on ahead since my pace was faster than his.  I made good progress in microspikes and switched to snowshoes at about 3500'.  I was up on the ridge shortly after 10 AM.  I stopped at Donaldson and enjoyed a nice view there.  Visibility was good, and blue skies were beginning to show.

The summit disc on Donaldson

I spent the next 40 minutes going over to Emmons.  The route felt much better to me in the winter than in the summer.   I noticed that in addition to the summit disc, there is now a summit plaque (and on Seward as well).  Don't know why  Donaldson didn't get one.

On the way to Emmons with the summit in the background 

Long Lake from the trail to Emmons

Once I reached Emmons, I had my first sandwich.  Well I should clarify, I attempted to eat my sandwich, but my dog Rev got about 2/3 of it.

The summit disc and plaque on Emmons

Here's Rev getting ready to eat my sandwich'

On the way back to Donaldson, I had to lift Rev over a couple exposed ice flows.  She had no problem jumping off them on the downhill, but on the uphill, she needed a boost.

Heading back to Donaldson

Once back at Donaldson, I saw the other hiker (Brian) on the summit.  We talked for a couple minutes, then he headed for Emmons and I headed for Seward.  I didn't see him again.  I got back to the Calkins Brook trail before he did.

Seward from Donaldson

As I made my way over to Seward, I noticed that nobody had been that way lately and I had to break trail.  Donaldson and Emmons had already been broken out.  The breaking trail wasn't that difficult.   There was only perhaps 6 inches of snow on the trail.

Seward and Seymour on the right

The blue skies really came out as I headed for Seward.  I also warmed up a bit.  It was -5 degrees Fahrenheit when I started out.  When I got back to the car it was +20.

Heading up Seward. and the blue skis were out

I ran into a longer ice flow on the trail to Seward and gave Rev some more help.

More ice flows

Rev had no difficulty when the ice was covered with snow.

Donaldson and Emmons from the shoulder of Seward

We reached the summit of Seward about 12:45 and it was really a beautiful day by this point.

The summit of Seward, and another new summit plaque

At the summit I carefully guarded my sandwich and was able to eat the whole thing.  We retraced our track back to the Calkins Brook Herd path and retreated back to the car by 3:45. My winter Sewards have been successfully completed.

I really did make it

Blue sky and ice

This trip took me about 8.5 hours as opposed to 9.5 hours when I did them in the summer with Leesa.  The descents are faster in the winter, and I tend to stop for shorter amounts of time due to the colder temperatures.

Seymour Mountain - 2/3/13

In planning a hike for this weekend, I really had no decision to make.  I was sure the warm spell during the week had melted all the snow on the Corey Road leading to the summer parking trailhead for the Seward Range.  Having the summer parking accessible for save us 3 miles of road waking (highly desirable).  

Leesa, Rev and I headed out early this morning and got to Corey's at 7:30.  I was right, the road was clear except for 1 inch of fresh powder.  We had no problem driving in with our all- wheel drive car.  We assembled our gear and were  on the trail at 7:50.   

The foot trail from the Corey Road to Blueberry Leanto and Ward Brook Leanto is not very exciting.  It is a 4.8 mile trail that is mostly straight and flat.  At times in the warm weather, it is often wet and muddy.  Fortunately on this day the 3 days of cold weather gave us a mostly frozen trail.

Blueberry Leanto

We made good time on the flat portion of the hike and arrived at Blueberry Leanto in less than 2 hours.  We passed the Ward Brook leanto minutes later and were on the herd path after 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Ward Brook Leanto

The morning was cold, it was zero when we started, but Leesa's concern for the cold disappeared early in the walk.  She was plenty warm, even on the flat and the sunshine was awesome.  Her breath though was freezing on her hair.

The frosty hair didn't bother Leesa

By 9 AM it was beginning to warm up and the frosty hair disappeared.  The sunshine stayed with us all day.  We never saw the snow squalls that were forecast for the afternoon.

Beginning up the Seymour herd path

The Seymour herd path in winter is just as steep as in summer.  No surprise.  What surprised me was the lack of ice.  I was expecting more ice on the trail, but a nice dusting of an inch of snow provided all the traction we needed.  I wore Kahtoola Microspikes and Leesa wore Hillsound Trail Crampons, both with good results.  We had our snowshoes with us, but we never needed them.  

Leesa climbing the herd path

This was Leesa's first visit to Seymour and she was cursing the steepness of the herd path by the time we neared the summit.   It took about 2 hours to make it up.  Leesa was happy that it was sunny and there was no wind.  The upper portion of the mountain was pretty with the fresh snow still in the trees.

Nearing the false summit

One of the steep pitches on the herd path

The  summit of Seymour

We reached the summit right at noon time.  Although the wind was minimal, Leesa only lingered long enough to give Rev a snack and quickly eat her sandwich.  She always gets cold quickly when she stops moving and this summit was no different.  I stayed a little while and snapped some pictures.

  

The Santanoni Range in the distance 

Rev getting her well earned snack 

Mike on the summit

Seward, Donaldson and Emmons in the distance

As I began to head back I could see Leesa's tracks in the snow, but only back to the false summit.  After that she was butt sliding her way down.  I stayed on my feet and did the Microspike boot shuffle slide.  I was able to catch up to her after a couple minutes.  

Rev beginning the descent

The descent, as usual in winter, was quick.  We made it down the herd path in 50 minutes.  After that, it was the same 4.8 mile walk on the flat back to the car.  We only saw one hiker during the day, and that was while we were descending the herd path.  He was a young man from Keene, NY named Nick.

The total hike on this day took us 7.5 hours.  My summer trip was 6.5 hours.   

Our route shown in blue (click image to enlarge)