Jason Berard
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Greg, Joe, Jason, and I piled in Greg's car to meet Marty in Manchester at Up for Breakfast for a pre-hike feed, and then on to Dorset Hollow to start our two peak "bushwack" day. The plan was to do Dorset, and then Mendon.
We started up the road to the start of the hike, and parked at the last "T" in the road. As we continued up the road, we realized we could've parked about half way to the tar paper cabin that is referred to in so many reports. This might save .25 to .5 miles total off the trip....There is a nice mowed parking spot on the right, near a small brook crossing. Th logging road is well travelled, and easy to follow the entire way. Marty set a good pace....perfect for a two peak day.
We all gathered at the junction of our route, and the route up from Danby Four Corners, and decided to forgo the Doorknob junction turn to the old tower, and head up the second turn which comes to a four way intersection with an old sign with mileage to both summits.
There was a trail that headed straight ahead of us to the east, and I wonder if this heads over to the campground on Rt. 7 on that side of the mountain..... class....Bueller (said in my best Ben Stein voice). If you go to the campground website, the trail doesn't go near the top.....
We went left and were at the old Fire Warden's cabin in no time. The woods in this section reminded me of the Kilkenny Range....open, and lush softwoods with a dense fern ground cover. We checked in the cannister and added our names to the roll call. We saw recent entries from ToeCozy, and whichway, among others. This was my first cannister!!! Whoo-hooo!!!! The sign was a little interesting....it was written backwards!
There were several moose browsed trees in the summit area, including one of the biggest I've seen, about 10" in diameter. Most of the ones I see are moose maples in the 2-5 inch range.
Down we go after signing in, getting a drink, and a snack. We arrived back at the car with a round Trip time of about 3.5 hours, and headed to Mendon.
As we headed up the road, we compared notes on possible routes, and it seemed all the sources Marty and I had combed agreed that the third cairn was to place to head in. We were concerned about the water crossings, especially the first one, and although they were high, we all got across dry. At the first cairn, we met timmus and Motobobo on the way down who had come from doing Stratton in the morning. They agreed we should take the third cairn. we said our goodbyes and headed up. AT the third cairn...the "can cairn", we headed in, and after a brief bit of confusion, we found the herd path, and made good time most of the way along the well defined herd path, until we hit a big patch of blowdowns. We decided to head right here, and were soon on the herd path again. Just a bit further along there was a junction, and we had a discussion as to which way to go. The more direct route seemed to go straight at the summit, but Marty had heard that we should bear to the right and head around the back side of the summit, and approach from there. Off to the right we go, and it is pretty open and clear, with one steep,dense section which I would imagine would be tough in the winter. Soon we arrived at the top, and boy, am I glad we didn't take the direct route. From the ledges on top it looked steep and dense! Again, we signed in, had a snack, and headed down, with rain threatening....
On the way down, very near the "can cairn", we found the decaying remains of an old cabin sinking into the moss.....
Anyone know anything about that?
All in all, there was a wide range of opinions on "bushwacking", as a couple of us were newbies to bushwacking. As for me, I'm hooked! Marty, It was good to finally get to hike with you. I hope we get out again soon!
pics are here
We started up the road to the start of the hike, and parked at the last "T" in the road. As we continued up the road, we realized we could've parked about half way to the tar paper cabin that is referred to in so many reports. This might save .25 to .5 miles total off the trip....There is a nice mowed parking spot on the right, near a small brook crossing. Th logging road is well travelled, and easy to follow the entire way. Marty set a good pace....perfect for a two peak day.
We all gathered at the junction of our route, and the route up from Danby Four Corners, and decided to forgo the Doorknob junction turn to the old tower, and head up the second turn which comes to a four way intersection with an old sign with mileage to both summits.
There was a trail that headed straight ahead of us to the east, and I wonder if this heads over to the campground on Rt. 7 on that side of the mountain..... class....Bueller (said in my best Ben Stein voice
). If you go to the campground website, the trail doesn't go near the top.....We went left and were at the old Fire Warden's cabin in no time. The woods in this section reminded me of the Kilkenny Range....open, and lush softwoods with a dense fern ground cover. We checked in the cannister and added our names to the roll call. We saw recent entries from ToeCozy, and whichway, among others. This was my first cannister!!! Whoo-hooo!!!! The sign was a little interesting....it was written backwards!
There were several moose browsed trees in the summit area, including one of the biggest I've seen, about 10" in diameter. Most of the ones I see are moose maples in the 2-5 inch range.
Down we go after signing in, getting a drink, and a snack. We arrived back at the car with a round Trip time of about 3.5 hours, and headed to Mendon.
As we headed up the road, we compared notes on possible routes, and it seemed all the sources Marty and I had combed agreed that the third cairn was to place to head in. We were concerned about the water crossings, especially the first one, and although they were high, we all got across dry. At the first cairn, we met timmus and Motobobo on the way down who had come from doing Stratton in the morning. They agreed we should take the third cairn. we said our goodbyes and headed up. AT the third cairn...the "can cairn", we headed in, and after a brief bit of confusion, we found the herd path, and made good time most of the way along the well defined herd path, until we hit a big patch of blowdowns. We decided to head right here, and were soon on the herd path again. Just a bit further along there was a junction, and we had a discussion as to which way to go. The more direct route seemed to go straight at the summit, but Marty had heard that we should bear to the right and head around the back side of the summit, and approach from there. Off to the right we go, and it is pretty open and clear, with one steep,dense section which I would imagine would be tough in the winter. Soon we arrived at the top, and boy, am I glad we didn't take the direct route. From the ledges on top it looked steep and dense! Again, we signed in, had a snack, and headed down, with rain threatening....
On the way down, very near the "can cairn", we found the decaying remains of an old cabin sinking into the moss.....
Anyone know anything about that?
All in all, there was a wide range of opinions on "bushwacking", as a couple of us were newbies to bushwacking. As for me, I'm hooked!
Marty, It was good to finally get to hike with you. I hope we get out again soon!pics are here
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