Hiked by: Jim Charboneau, Shannon Hughes,Tim and Valerie on June 29, 2007 - via Calkins Brook Trail (herd-path) to Seward ridge herd-path
Conditions: The day started early. We needed to leave the house at 6am to get to the parking lot on Corey’s Rd by 8am. The drive over was easy, and the day looks glorious - blue skies everywhere, and still chilly.
We arrived at a parking lot on Corey’s Rd (outside Saranac Lake) right on time. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were questioning if we were in the right parking lot. There are two lots on this road, and we weren’t sure which one we should be in. A park ranger pulled in and we chatted. He (correctly) told us that we could get to the Calkins Brook Trail from either parking lot, but he (very incorrectly) told us that it was about the same distance from both. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about, so we packed our bags, signed in at the trail register, and started hiking.
After a couple miles, Tim’s GPS wasn’t jiving, and we knew we were hiking farther than we should have to get to the start of the Calkins Brook Trail. It took us 7.1 miles to reach the start of the Calkins Brook Trail. If we had gotten back in the car and driven to the second parking lot, it would have only been 3.3 miles to the same junction.
Well, what’s done is done, and we were there at the junction. Only 3 miles to the ridge, 1 mile or so across the ridge to Seward, then the same 4 miles back down to the junction where we were standing. Then, we intended to walk out the *correct* way, even though we didn’t know how far apart the parking lots were on Corey’s Rd. Walking on the dirt road after dark would be easier than walking in the woods.
We headed up towards the ridge. The first two miles were easy walking. The last mile was a mess of blowdown and mud. Trees everywhere. We were climbing over them and squirming under them for the rest of the hike to the ridgeline.
We ran into one couple – Jeff and Varda. They were doing a loop over all three (Seward, Donaldson and Emmons) and were on their way down already! Once on the ridge, it didn’t get any better. We could see Seward. By now it was 2:30pm. We headed off across the ridge – which is a bit of a joke. There is no ridge. There is a col (valley) between the mountains that is HUGE. We went down, down, down through a million spikey trees and then up the same.
Close to the top, there was a bit of a view. We could see beautiful mountains and lakes everywhere. Visibility was perfect. Hardly a cloud in the sky!
We arrived at the treed summit around 3:45pm. We all cheered Dad. We gave him his “congratulations” T-shirt – customized with the date and summit name, and then we pulled out the world’s tiniest bottle of champagne and toasted him. OK, sorry for such a short celebration, but we still have miles to go. So off we go, back the same way we came.
Back across the ridge, then down the Calkins Brook Trail… it got easier after the first couple miles. Soon we were making decent time. Once we got back to the Calkins Brook Horse Trail, then it was even easier. Although we were getting sorer as the day progressed, everyone was in great spirits.
Tim ran ahead. He was going to dump his pack when he got out of the woods, then jog up the road to get the car. He would drive back and meet us wherever we were on the road at that time. The poor guy jogged for 2.8 miles after hiking 18.5 miles already that day.
Jim, Shannon and Val only had to walk about 1 mile on Corey’s Rd before the headlights were coming at us. After picking us up, and going back for Tim’s pack, we finally headed home about 9pm. We were smelly and tired. Everyone but Jim was sporting some fine blisters. Shannon won the “biggest, nastiest blister” contest. As we drove out of Corey’s Rd, the moon started to rise. By the time we got to Saranac Lake, it was hovering, yellow and full, over the lake, which was like glass. It was truly beautiful.
We decided that drive-thru was our best food option at this time of night. We stopped at McD’s for some burgers and milkshakes. Then, we still had a 2-hour drive home. Arriving about 11:15pm. It was a very full and rewarding day. We all have bruises to show and stories to tell. Dad’s ready for that 46er patch!!
Totals for the day: Jim/Shannon/Val – 19.5 miles, Tim – 21.3 miles in about 13 hours.