prino
New member
I thought I'd add my own very rare write up, as I was out there in that heat on Thursday (2nd)climbing Allen and couldn't let it go without a word or two.
Having read many TR's on Allen and knowing what a slog it is... Mimi and I decided to hike it on the hottest day of the year
....It was Mimi's birthday and she had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she'd like to do a hike to celebrate it, so Allen being one of the few peaks we both had left was chosen. It was # 42 for me and #35 for Mimi.
We left Montreal around 4-30am and got to the Allen trailhead near upperworks at 8-40am Started hiking at 9-00am. The temperature was at 68f when we started but warming up quickly. It was a joy to find so many ripened raspberries ready to scoff…. Only trouble was we lost a good 20 minutes over the first 5 miles picking them… well worth it though.
I didn’t realize the trail was so open for that first 5 miles and the sun was getting pretty high by the time (11-00am)we hit the turn off for the herdpath and we were beginning to feel the effects.
Still the berries kept us reasonably sane.
Good job there are plenty of river/stream crossings on this hike, they were all well used for dunking our heads to cools off. It was nice to hike that 2.2miles to skylight brook in the shade of the trees.... a very nice stretch.
We spotted a lot of young toads on the trail, they seem to like the hot dry conditions. So did the garter snakes, one of which we watched chase one of the toads thru the long grass and over the trail…we didn’t see if it caught it or not though.
When we finally hit Allen brook and the waterfall… it was time to really cool off before the steep climb up the slide to the summit.
The climb up Allen “trickle” went well, though quite challenging trying to stay off the wet rocks with the slippery notorious red slime being quite hazardous.
The slide itself is quite short and sweet and can be bypassed by the herdpath to the left at the steepest part.
The climb seemed endless and we finally hit the summit at 2-36pm 6 minutes before Mimi’s actual time of birth.
The views from the West side lookout are limited but we could see the Macintyres over on the horizon. The lookout to the east just down from the summit on the other hand offers a great view of the Dixes, Boreas mt. and the Pinnacle ridge over to Colvin and Nippletop. If you get brave enough and drop down a little, one can spot Gothic’s Pyramid and Sawteeth and even Skylight.
The hike down the slide was made easier by using the path to the right. We met the only three other people climbing Allen this day on the way down they had come over from Lake Colden no easy hike either.
A quick fill of the hydro packs back at the falls at 4-15pm and then the long haul out.
The hike back was made a little faster by the “pick the berries on the run” rule…. After a few minutes practice you can end up eating about the same amount mainly due to their great abundance.
The deerfly were driving us nuts by the end and they were starting to take chunks out of the back of my neck.
Chips and beer from the cooler awaited at 7-45pm before the long drive back to Quebec…. Home at midnight…. A total of 19 ½ hours… 8hrs driving (320miles) and 10 ¾ hrs hiking (18 miles) in 93F weather. You got to be crazy to do this kind of thing!
Pictures to follow
Having read many TR's on Allen and knowing what a slog it is... Mimi and I decided to hike it on the hottest day of the year
....It was Mimi's birthday and she had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that she'd like to do a hike to celebrate it, so Allen being one of the few peaks we both had left was chosen. It was # 42 for me and #35 for Mimi.We left Montreal around 4-30am and got to the Allen trailhead near upperworks at 8-40am Started hiking at 9-00am. The temperature was at 68f when we started but warming up quickly. It was a joy to find so many ripened raspberries ready to scoff…. Only trouble was we lost a good 20 minutes over the first 5 miles picking them… well worth it though.
I didn’t realize the trail was so open for that first 5 miles and the sun was getting pretty high by the time (11-00am)we hit the turn off for the herdpath and we were beginning to feel the effects.
Still the berries kept us reasonably sane.
Good job there are plenty of river/stream crossings on this hike, they were all well used for dunking our heads to cools off. It was nice to hike that 2.2miles to skylight brook in the shade of the trees.... a very nice stretch.
We spotted a lot of young toads on the trail, they seem to like the hot dry conditions. So did the garter snakes, one of which we watched chase one of the toads thru the long grass and over the trail…we didn’t see if it caught it or not though.
When we finally hit Allen brook and the waterfall… it was time to really cool off before the steep climb up the slide to the summit.
The climb up Allen “trickle” went well, though quite challenging trying to stay off the wet rocks with the slippery notorious red slime being quite hazardous.
The slide itself is quite short and sweet and can be bypassed by the herdpath to the left at the steepest part.
The climb seemed endless and we finally hit the summit at 2-36pm 6 minutes before Mimi’s actual time of birth.
The views from the West side lookout are limited but we could see the Macintyres over on the horizon. The lookout to the east just down from the summit on the other hand offers a great view of the Dixes, Boreas mt. and the Pinnacle ridge over to Colvin and Nippletop. If you get brave enough and drop down a little, one can spot Gothic’s Pyramid and Sawteeth and even Skylight.
The hike down the slide was made easier by using the path to the right. We met the only three other people climbing Allen this day on the way down they had come over from Lake Colden no easy hike either.
A quick fill of the hydro packs back at the falls at 4-15pm and then the long haul out.
The hike back was made a little faster by the “pick the berries on the run” rule…. After a few minutes practice you can end up eating about the same amount mainly due to their great abundance.
The deerfly were driving us nuts by the end and they were starting to take chunks out of the back of my neck.
Chips and beer from the cooler awaited at 7-45pm before the long drive back to Quebec…. Home at midnight…. A total of 19 ½ hours… 8hrs driving (320miles) and 10 ¾ hrs hiking (18 miles) in 93F weather. You got to be crazy to do this kind of thing!
Pictures to follow
