Bushwhacking from AT to South Taconic Trail

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Will

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EDITED TO ADD: Post #58 of this thread, 7/8/2015, has attached a text description of the Route as of that date, a GPS Track file, and an overall map of the Route. Message #60 adds some minor updates as of a trip I took in October 2018.


Off and on over the years I've looked at the South Taconic Trail (STT) along the Mass/NY border as it approaches the Appalachian Trail (AT) just South of Jug End, and wondered about a Northwest passage from the AT to the STT.

Such a crossing would create a huge loop since the trails are linked on the South at the CT/MASS border or even further South, making for wonderful multi-day trips in this area.

Once you get to it from the AT, a portion of the Jug End Loop Trail puts you on a nice S-to-N trail paralleling close to the STT to the West. Access from there would be over, or in the passes between, Mt. Darby, Mt. Sterling, or Mt. Whitbeck. Obviously East Street (or Mt. Washington Rd) would have to be crossed.

[Updated later: more recent maps have shown very little private property remains to get around]

[Updated to add: I am going to try to annotate my posts like this as we learn more, rather than simply clarifying further into the thread.]

If anybody has bushwhacked all or parts of this Northwest passage I'd like to hear some tips. Old paths and woods roads, game trails, and just open woods without brambles are what I'll be looking for.
 
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I've pondered the same thing. I don't think there's a better route in the north than the one you described. If you try this much further south than Sterling, you run into private property along East St. If you try it near the southern terminus of the STT, you'd have to cross Mt. Riga Corp's land, which I understand they don't take kindly to.

The closest thing that I've considered to a NW passage as you've described is going through the col between Mt. Darby and "Yagar Pond Peak" (x604.5 on the USGS quad.) Several maps I have indicate that a trail a trail or jeep path runs through it from the vicinity of the Jug End reservation to East St., but I'm not sure about the legality of crossing that land and I'm not even sure that the trail exists because there are discrepancies in the maps.

The best route I came up with was taking the AT north to Bear Mtn and then bearing left at the "trail" that comes in a bit after the junction with the Undermountain trail (it's unmarked, but apparently well used.) This will put you on East St. right near the CT/MA border. A five minute road walk will bring you to the Frissel trail trailhead, and that can be followed out to Brace Mtn. and the STT. I've done this several times and it works well. A loop back onto the AT could be reached at the end of the STT by bushwhacking over Sterling/Whitbeck to Jug End like you described.

If you want a variation on that route with more bushwhacking, you could also follow the AT into Sages Ravine, then bushwhack north to Mt. Plantain. Some maps show a forest road running along the west side of Plantain (I've never actually looked for it, but I'm confident that it exists. My BNRC map even indicates that there's parking available on it,) which could be followed to East St. It'd put you out at near the base of Mt. Ashley, crossing which would put you on the STT somewhere south of Alander Mtn.

(Ashley is a worthwhile bushwhack in its own right if you haven't done it. There are some great ledges between it and Frissel. Plantain is... less worthwhile. About all you get there are views through the trees of Bear and the Twin Lakes. Incidentally, I did find a trail of some sort on Plantain. It's yellow blazed and not indicated on any map. By the time I found it, it was getting dark, so I didn't investigate. It may lead back to the road I mentioned earlier.)
 
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On Mohammed's web site he describes a route starting at Bear on the AT and going over to the state high point on Frissell. From there I've been on the trail that continues to the tri-state marker and the South Taconic Trail. Is this route what you're looking for, or am I too far south?

http://home.earthlink.net/~ellozy/mount-frissell.html

EDIT: looked at the map again, yeah, I'm looking waaaaay too far south.
 
Michael, I think they are looking at is a way to loop that with a Northern bushwhack so you have a great circle. Bear & Frissel would be the southern connection but there is no northern connector between the two main trails.

Because some of the area is part of the Riga Trust, you will want to try & stay off their land, I believe some of the existing trails are easments they allow. At one point south of Bear & just north of Lion's Head, hikers were granted access to Bald Peak. (it had a very nice view from an open ledge, I was there in the 1990's) I believe that the trail has been a closed a few years.
 
too far south.
Yeah. There are quite a few connections on the south, some of them do unfortunately cross Riga Inc but I thought I had read they were tolerant of hikers, just no camping, or hunting without permission, etc. But there are also some completely legal connections on the south, for example using Mt. Washington Rd, which is very pleasant to walk.

[Updated later: recent land acquisitions seem to be adding flexibility to the southern end of this potential loop as well]

What would make the area great would be to close the loop at the north. With the many side trails and areas to explore this would make multi/many-day hikes possible without having to spot a car or backtrack.
 
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They are tolerant to hikers staying on the trails where they have granted access. Some areas I believe though are intended only for their use. (The pond I believe is one such place)

I've thought for years about bushwhacking to Gridley Mt. In CT, it would be I believe the third highest peak in CT. (Bear at 2316, Round & then Gridley at 2,211 - the map is in the car, I'm just off memory)

Camping I think they are okay with as long as you are in designated spots. There is no overnight parking at the Southern terminus of the STT in the neighborhood but I think that's a neighborhood issue not a Riga issue. Isn't there (was) a shelter on Alander, right. (I haven't been north of the trail to Frissel on the STT)
 
going through the col between Mt. Darby and "Yagar Pond Peak" (x604.5 on the USGS quad.) Several maps I have indicate that a trail a trail or jeep path runs through it from the vicinity of the Jug End reservation to East St., but I'm not sure about the legality of crossing that land and I'm not even sure that the trail exists because there are discrepancies in the maps.
Does exist and it's a possible start. I went up that way once, though not as far as East St. It's a very well-defined path. The advantage is it gets a lot of the climbing out of the way on a good path. But as you mention you are off Park land and potentially not legal

[updated later, probably legal, though maybe not the last few hundred feet to East St; there is however, a narrow public land corridor to East ST for that last, either exactly here or very close]

What I was looking for the day I did that, and one potential I will be exploring soon, is if I can find something going off to the right (north) of that path once you get the climbing done. Maybe at around the x562 pond climb north and contour around just east of Darby's peak, then either duck west between Darby & Sterling or continue to contour to the north around Sterling.

[EDIT:] None of this panned out, in terms of an easily describable non-bushwhacking (literally) route.
 
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I've thought for years about bushwhacking to Gridley Mt. In CT, it would be I believe the third highest peak in CT. (Bear at 2316, Round & then Gridley at 2,211 - the map is in the car, I'm just off memory)
I'll start by saying that I once tried to bushwhack to Bald--I had no idea about the old AT spur to it. I found the trail. The trail was heavily posted, so I left. I have no desire to trespass.

In regards to Gridley, I also wanted to do it for years, so I looked at maps and worked out a route that I was reasonably sure would steer me clear of land that was posted. I bushwhacked it by way of the AT and kept an eye out for any sort of property boundaries, but I saw nothing. I'm not sure who owns the land, but considering that access to the jeep trail is allowed, that Gridley itself is not posted (at least to the south and east) while the surrounding land that is private is heavily posted, and that it is so close to areas in which access is allowed, I think access may be tolerated.

Though I wouldn't recommend it. There are no views, the east face is a lot steeper than you'd think, there are swamps to cross, and the mountain laurel is thicker than anywhere else on the plateu--I have scars on my arms from pushing through it. I've been told that there's actually a cairn on the summit, presumably left over from the time in which the area was deforested, but I couldn't find it.

Isn't there (was) a shelter on Alander, right. (I haven't been north of the trail to Frissel on the STT)
There is (or was the last time I was there) a "cabin" just below the summit of Alander.

I'm not sure I'd want to stay in it, though. I've never been in it (it has always been occupied in the mornings I've passed it,) but it looks like it should have collapsed about 20 years ago. It's pretty rough. I remember reading somewhere that it was supposed to be torn down when the firetower was removed, but wasn't.
 
Does exist and it's a possible start. I went up that way once, though not as far as East St. It's a very well-defined path. The advantage is it gets a lot of the climbing out of the way on a good path. But as you mention you are off Park land and potentially not legal. What I was looking for the day I did that, and one potential I will be exploring soon, is if I can find something going off to the right (north) of that path once you get the climbing done. Maybe at around the x562 pond climb north and contour around just east of Darby's peak, then either duck west between Darby & Sterling or continue to contour to the north around Sterling.
Interesting. I can't imagine that it's a "private" road because the maps indicate that it doesn't actually go anywhere.

Since you seem to be much more familiar with that end of the plateau than me, let me ask you this: Is access to the summit Mt. Darby allowed? This is another point that my maps seem to disagree on. I know that is where the transmitters are, but I've never been close enough to see if it's posted.
 
Is access to the summit Mt. Darby allowed? This is another point that my maps seem to disagree on. I know that is where the transmitters are, but I've never been close enough to see if it's posted.
I've never bee up that high. There is, as you know, a road up to the towers from the west.

The towers are_definitely_ just off the Park boundary. Just going by the topo there seem to be some ledges to the east that are nearly at the peak and they are definitely within the Park. Those ledges have actually been on my bushwhack list for a long time.

BTW the Alander cabin mentioned was still there a month or so ago, occupied when I passed. I think I remember there was smoke so it may have a stove,

On the subject of ramshackle cabins in the area, there is one just east of the southeastern tip of the Jug End Loop Trail (actually the tip of the more southern of the 2 loops). It is even faintly possible that this was once the "destination" of the woods road/path we just spoke of, coming in from East St.
 
If you want a variation on that route with more bushwhacking, you could also follow the AT into Sages Ravine, then bushwhack north to Mt. Plantain.

Please don't do this. Almost nothing is gained as there are official trails east and west out of Sages. The area you would cross there is popular with hunters, crosses private property and then a YMCA camp.
 
Old paths and woods roads, game trails, and just open woods without brambles are what I'll be looking for.

Without better info I think your safest bet is from Everett across the Guilder Pond Trail to East St and then south to the Alander Mtn Trail to the STT, or further north it would involve more roads: Jug End Rd to Mt Washington Rd and then straight up the northeast shoulder of Mt Fray towards Catamount.
 
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If you click on this map link you can then expand and search the map by clicking on its lower right corner. Between Mt Washington Rd and the STT; there seems to be a trail near the stream/ravine between Fray and Prospect Hill and a road between Prospect Hill and Dugway. I'm interested in this area also as I have only ever done the AT up there.
 
Between Mt Washington Rd and the STT; there seems to be a trail near the stream/ravine between Fray and Prospect Hill
[[Updated later:]This was a key contribution. There is both a dirt road, fully legal to walk as long as you don't stray off the road onto two (maybe three) private holdings which are posted. This is part of the final route I posted. There is also an old parallel trail on the other side of the stream that is badly overgrown and difficult.
 
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Please don't do this. Almost nothing is gained as there are official trails east and west out of Sages. The area you would cross there is popular with hunters, crosses private property and then a YMCA camp.
I appreciate your concerns, but I think you entirely misunderstood what I suggested. Look at the map that you linked. Plantain is located entirely within park land and the route I suggested doesn't go anywhere near the YMCA camp--the road I mentioned is within the park corridor, and that corridor extends all the way to East St (and is in fact even marked as a trailhead.) The YMCA camp is further north and no private property is along this route.

Further, the bushwhack that I suggested doesn't require any climbing on the ravine slopes. If you cross the river at the campsite and head due north from it, you cross a very flat area before hitting a road, and by that point you're basically out of the ravine. You can follow the trail through the camping area literally 95% of the way to the road, and then it's just a walk across flat ground and open woods to reach it. Plantain itself is outside of the ravine, and it's a very gradual climb. I can appreciate your concern about damage to the ravine itself as I have seen evidence of people climbing steep slopes further in and doing damage--I'd never suggest that. Sages Ravine is one of my favorite places and is a pretty rare environment in CT, so I'd be loathe to suggest anything that could damage it.

Everything that I suggested in regards to the bushwhack was completely kosher both legally and environmentally--I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise. I think you misunderstood what I was saying.

Your point about hunters is probably a good one, though.
 
Everything that I suggested in regards to the bushwhack was completely kosher both legally and environmentally--I wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise.

I believe you. I'm actually not that concerned about the woods there, or the ravine, to be honest. I've been 'whacking east out of the ravine to the "A Place for Miracles" property as a quick exit for years.

Your point about hunters is probably a good one, though.

A member here as had a personal and unpleasant experience in that area of the woods with a hunter, and this was more what I meant to caution about. I should have made that clear. Sorry about that. I just don't think a lot is gained by exiting the ravine that way, unless you really want to do Plantain.
 
I believe you. I'm actually not that concerned about the woods there, or the ravine, to be honest. I've been 'whacking east out of the ravine to the "A Place for Miracles" property as a quick exit for years.
I'm not familiar with that property and don't see it on the map. What is it?

I've never explored the ravine east of where the AT crosses the river. My first time in there I noticed that somebody had recently done a real number on the slope in that area and I didn't want to make it worse.

I should have made that clear. Sorry about that. I just don't think a lot is gained by exiting the ravine that way, unless you really want to do Plantain.
It's OK. And I agree completely--Plantain is a waste of time. I only suggested it in case Will really wanted to use a bushwhack to connect the AT to the STT, because it's about the most interesting option at that end. :p
Following the trail that runs between Bear and Gridley out to East St. and the Frissel trail makes more sense and is what I've always done.
 
I've been 'whacking east out of the ravine to the "A Place for Miracles" property as a quick exit for years.
Years ago in one of the more stupid of my stupid day trips I became "trapped" in the ravine very late one afternoon. While it was pleasant late Fall a few hundred feet lower in elevation, Bear and all the trails and rocks were glare ice, inches thick. Apparently there had been massive amounts of flowing, freezing, melting, flowing, re- freezing, rinse & repeat. No traction was among my stupid mistakes of that particular day; no way I was going to be able to retrace.

I had climbed down from Bear into the ravine basically hanging from tree trunks at trailside. Based on the topo it seemed the woods road north above the ravine would became a path extending to east far enough down so that I could make a final ice free crash through the woods to the road. The ravine itself was a luge course.

I climbed north to the woods road and it was pretty much ice free, as expected.

A fine fellow came strolling down the road from the west, accompanied by two of the biggest, most beautiful Afghan hounds I have ever seen. I was so grateful to see a human being at this point. Obviously he knew what was ahead!

Turned out "this was [his] private road." I had no business being anywhere but on the AT. Every question I asked about egress to the east was met with Appalachian Trail, this is my private road. I mentioned the ice. He smiled for the first time. "Yes, it's all iced in. You'll never get down."

[Updated for clarification later: whether or not this was a private road THEN, it is certainly not now, at least in the Sages area. At the very least the entire road is eased, with the POSSIBLE exception of two very brief stretches to the west near East St.]

At that point I turned my back on him and continued east on his "private road." I figured, even big as they were (and originally a hunting breed), these particular Afghans were too pretty to be attack dogs.

Anyway, the road (then path) remained relatively ice free, I encountered snow but very little ice as I descended through the woods, and probably went through the "Place for Miracles" property you described.

As you get older you tend, not necessarily to get wiser, but at least not to repeat the same stupid mistakes you've already made. As the universe of potential stupid mistakes therefore becomes smaller due to your having already made most of them, you take on the appearance of wisdom.
 
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