New Here with a Question

Hi!
Great site, I'm very happy to have found it!

I'm planning a hike in the Adirondacks, Bear Den Mntn>Dial Mntn>Nippletop with an overnight camp at Elk Pass in a few weeks with my traildog.

I read that dogs are not allowed in the Adirondack Preserve, and although this hike isn't technically there the access point to the trailhead is.

Does anyone know if dogs are allowed to access this trailhead?? (on leash, of course)

Thanks!

Sabrina
& Terra Firma

Hi Sabrina! Welcome to VFTT!

(I know una_dogger from AlpineZone ... she won't be trouble )

Not on AMR land, leash or no leash. If you must do those peaks with your dog you can access the ridge via the North Fork of the Boquet River by following it from the lean-to on the Dix trail. About a half mile above the lean-to it used to be an open forest all the way up to a few hundred feet below Dial. I have not been in there since 95 so can't say what blowdowns have occurred since. This is a bushwhack and not too difficult but I would not suggest you do this alone. At least you avoid AMR property.

Speedy!

Hi MikeJ, its so great to have friends in "high places", thanks for the good words.

AntlerPeak, thank you for clarifying those regulations. I see the river on my map and it looks like an easy follow up along side it (that is, as you say, there's not tons of blowdown). That changes my loop plan, though.

Sabrina

Sabrina it is/was real pretty in there. We followed that ridge coming off the Dial Summit. There was a band of spruce about two hundred feet below the ridge but it was not too bad. The AMR has a gate with a caretaker keeping track of hikers and where they are going. From their parking area you walk a paved road past the golf course, summer camps and tennis courts. The road turns just before the club house. It is a stately very large 19th century "house" Think Rockefeller/Vanderbilt/Robber Barons That kind of structure.
There is no way anyone could get a hundred feet down the road during the "season" with a dog unnoticed. They even have a dress code for the golf course.

As Antler Peak mentioned, the Gravestone Brook approach is the one (easiest) that can bring you and dogs up to the ridge. If you have the stamina and really want to loop (Are you looping for varieties sake?) with the dog, there are a few other options.

1. You can access the Noonmark TH with a dog. (You just can't walk the road on AMR property) This gives you another way on to or off of the ridge, though it is some effort. (ie. a tough hike) The route goes from the Noonmark summit right over to the ridge ... where you get to climb Bear Den, etc.

2. It is the hardest of the return routes, but you can drop off the ridge south of Dial and head back to the Dix trail and take it back between Noonmark and Round to the Noonmark TH.

However, the only legal camping spot up there is in Elk Pass. And that is a very sensitive one at that. I think making this into an overnighter is the hardest part of the equation. Unless you have two cars and want to turn this into a big traverse spending the night in Elk Pass and then climbing over Colvin, Blake, South Blake, and numerous Pinnacle Bumps to the bottom of the Pinnacle Ridge, where you get to re-climb over a hole in the ridge on easement land, and then head the 5 miles out to Elk Lake. Perhaps a second night out would be in order for that one!

And welcome to VffT, the home of good news...

If you change ideas and want more info, just post.

Doc that wears me out just thinking about it. Why not just camp at the Boquet Lean-to? Day hike up Dial to Nippletop and return to the lean-to. Saves issues with sensitive camp at Elk Pass, avoids AMR entirely and saves hauling all that weight up 3K.

Welcome, una dogger!

AntlerPeak said:

Doc that wears me out just thinking about it. Why not just camp at the Boquet Lean-to? Day hike up Dial to Nippletop and return to the lean-to. Saves issues with sensitive camp at Elk Pass, avoids AMR entirely and saves hauling all that weight up 3K.

Click to expand...

That's what I would do ... unless I was doing the 46 with a dog. Then heading on to get Colvin and Blake makes some sense, though I wouldn't backpack the Pinnacle Ridge unless it is past bug season and the weather is cherry picked for an ultralight tent-less pack. Getting the four with a dog makes that trip one of the more difficult ones for sure.

All awesome ideas!

So happy I stumbled upon this forum (thanks MichealJ )!

All excellent alternates, actually, lets just call them refinements; because they are better than my original plan!

Doc, I really like the idea of a two day packing trip over the whole ridge, with a first night at the camp over Pinnacle and a second night at the Bouquet River Camp. I have only one car so that limits my options. The trail along the Bouquet River is absolutely gorgeous, my second mountain in the Daks was Dix and I full packed it UP the Beckhorn - OY!

My other hurdle is that I live near Poughkeepsie, so I really like to turn these hikes into overnighters; a little too much for me to drive up and back in one day and also once I'm up there, I don't want to leave. For a weekend trip I really like Antler's idea, slackpacking it up the stream, hiking out to Nippletop with a return trip the same way and a nice night out at the Bouquet camps.

Doc, what is the ladder situation across the Pinnacle Ridgeline?? Are there any?? (trail dog concern)

I'm heading up to Nova Scotia in two weeks to backpack the Cape Chignecto Coastal Trail, I was toying with the idea of doing the Pemi Loop in the Whites on my way back, but spending a couple of days in the Dix Wilderness is far more tempting!

Thanks for all your suggestions, and warm welcomes!!!

Sabrina

Hi Sabrina, I'll try to answer a couple of these...

una_dogger said:

Doc, I really like the idea of a two day packing trip over the whole ridge, with a first night at the camp over Pinnacle and a second night at the Bouquet River Camp.

Click to expand...

Which camp? The one after Colvin? I believe that's the first camping once you start up the ridge, but I'm not sure since to answer you next question...

Doc, what is the ladder situation across the Pinnacle Ridgeline?? Are there any?? (trail dog concern)

Click to expand...

This fall season I have plans for a first traverse of the ridge. Though I do know of someone who did it with a Rotty so that bodes well for just about any other trail dog. This Rotty was an exceptional mountain dog though ... 38 HPs, as well as Algonquin, S&N and others in winter.

I'm heading up to Nova Scotia in two weeks to backpack the Cape Chignecto Coastal Trail, I was toying with the idea of doing the Pemi Loop in the Whites on my way back, but spending a couple of days in the Dix Wilderness is far more tempting!

Click to expand...

I'm an ADK home based guy, but was blown away by my backpack of the Pemi Loop last year. Here's a link to last year's trip report with some pictures links. We also lucked out with impeccable weather and empty trails the second week of September, but it was hiking beyond amazing.

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3688&referrerid=10

Have fun in Nova Scotia, and post a report for us!

Sean

Doc's Pemi Loop Adventure

Wow! Doc, thanks for the link to your pics and trip report!

Question on this trip; time of year and hoards of people??

Would mid august be peak season??

Sabrina

una_dogger said:

Wow! Doc, thanks for the link to your pics and trip report!

Question on this trip; time of year and hoards of people??

Would mid august be peak season??

Sabrina

Click to expand...

I think it will be busier than my second week of September. Almost sure, but I've only done a handful of trips in there. I did some of the Northern Pressies in mid august and it was pretty crowded on a weekend, but that is probably always the case up there. There may be a website to check Guyot campsite, Galehead Hut, and Garfield Ridge to gauge their occupancies?

reservations & crowding

The AMC has an availability & reservations page for the huts, but the campsites are first-come-first-served.
They do have a voluntary "notification" phone line for larger groups using the campsites, so it may be worthwhile to give the AMC or the rangers a call.

AMC hut availability
AMC hut reservations

More info:
Camping info on Mt Guyot page on Summitpost

Muchos gracias

For the links!
Sabrina