Ward Brook / Calkins Brook Truck Trails: 3.3 miles
Calkins Brook Herd Path: 3.0 miles
Seward Range Heard Path: 4.0 miles
Ward Brook Herd Path: 2.5 miles
Ward Brook Truck Trail: 0.7 miles
Seymour Herd Path: 2.5 miles
Ward Brook Truck Trail: 5.4 miles
Total Miles: Around 21.4 miles (5,500 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- After a good nights sleep I felt refreshed and strong and got an early start to beat the heat to tackle all four of the Seward Range peaks.
- On Trail 6am, Donaldson 8:25am, Emmons 8:55am, Seward 10:05am, Seymour 12:25pm, finished 3:25pm. Temps where in the 80's, hot and humid, hazy views, wind was picking up in the afternoon up to 25 mph gusts above 4,000 feet.
- The Seward Range is usually done in two separate hikes, hitting the three peaks of Donaldson, Emmons, and Sward all along a ridge in one day and then Seymour by itself on another day, but I decided it would be a pretty challenging hike to knock off all four in a day. I decided to head up to do the three peaks first and drop down, head over, and up and down the steep ascent up Seymour last.
- The hike to the Calkins Brook herd path was very easy over old truck roads. The start of the heard path is marked by a cairn with and old rusted bucket on top of it.
- The herd path was easy to follow and was never steep as it gains the ridge just below the summit of Donaldson Mountain where there are terrific views.
- The hike over and back to Emmons is in the woods and other than a few minor mud pits is easy going, there are limited views from the summit of Emmons where I didn't spend much time and quickly headed back to Donaldson and took a break before heading to Seward.
- I was surprised that the herd path to the peak of Seward didn't go along the ridge the whole way, it drops down a little before climbing steeply back up to the ridge a few tenths of a mile from the summit. This steep climb up was the highlight of the hike up into a gully with some ledges providing excellent views back to Donaldson and Emmons.
- I was hoping for a nice outlook from the summit of Seward but it was in the trees so I refueled and headed down the steep and eroded herd path to the Ward Brook Trail. I actually enjoyed this trail, it has went rock slabs, rough rocks, mud, then levels off and follows the picturesque brook for the last part over soft level footing with just a couple mud spots in places until reaching the Ward Brook Truck Trail.
- Now it was off past the Ward Brook Lean-to to the herd path up to Seymour. The herd path was easy to spot, about a tenth of a mile past the lean-to marked by a small cairn.
- The path up to Seymour is steep, a few tenths of a miles in the path parallels a slide for awhile. I was really bummed the herd path didn't go strait up the slide, I would have liked that (I think at one time it did). Once past the slide I finally "bonked" out and hit a wall a few tenths of a mile from the summit. I knew I was close but it was so friggan hot and humid. I just kept chugging water and chugging my way to the summit where it became very breezy while taking a break on the ledgey outlook just below the true summit.
- After relaxing for a half hour enjoying the breeze, views, and my lunch it was time for the long descent back to the car. The hike back to the Ward Brook Truck trail went quickly, the hike back to the car was not as fun as once again I had an annoying fly buzzing around my head for most of the final five miles along the mostly flat trail.
- I ran into a group of eight heading into the lean-to's along the way, about two dozen toads hopping along the trail, and well over one hundred "Posted" private property signs every couple of hundred feet nailed to trees right off the trail.
- Back at the car I changed up and drank up all the fluids I could find before checking the weather report to see if Monday's forecast was promising, unfortunately it wasn't so I decided to head back to RI.
- This ended a great two day adventure in the Adirondack High Peaks, I'm getting closer to finishing the "Forty-Sixers." So far it has been fun, I really like the area alot, the trails are pretty wild and rugged and I will never ever complain again about the trail conditions in the White Mountains...trust me you've never seen mud like this!
Pictures: Click here for all pictures
Calkins Brook
Seward Mountain
Donaldson and Mount Emmons
Blueberry Lean-to
Private Property Boundary - Ward / Calkins Brook Truck Trail
Awesome pictures! Do you have any suggestions for footwear for hiking here? You mention mud worse than the White Mountains, potentially too much for average hiking boots? Also, are the bugs bad enough to carry an insect repellent?
ReplyDeleteHi JamNSam,
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the pics, thank you! As for the mud, you don't need any special hiking boots. Actually since I was there in June the mud has improved significiantly but there's still spots here and there where you have to watch your step or "PLOP" your going boot to shin deep! The bugs have never really bothered me other than in the afternoon walking on the old roads / private roads when one annoying fly buzzes around my head. I do carry bug spray for mosquitos which are usually out in the early morning.
Have a great time hiking!
-Chris
Thanks for all of the great trip reports, they have helped me a lot in planning my hikes. I'm curious, how do you track your mileage and elevation gains? I'm assuming you use a GPS, if so what is your preferred GPS?
ReplyDeleteHi Doug, Glad you like the trip reports, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAs for finding out milage and elevation gain I do not have a GPS. I basically use three things to figure it out, The High Peaks guide book, the maps, and this website http://alavigne.net/Outdoors/FeatureReports/Adirondacks/index.jsp?navpage=peaklist which has trip reports with a gps that show milage and elevation. So my milage and elevation gain aren't extremely accurate but close enough.
-Chris