Route to the Long's in Stark

[HikerDoc]

Has anyone been into the Long's this winter from Christine Lake? What route did you use. I am co-leading a group in a couple of weeks and could use any tips. Thanks.

 

[John H Swanson]

As Nan would say...just how old is the data?

I climbed the two Longs on 2/21/98 with Anne Gywnne's AMC hike. They were Anne's last two NH100 in winter.

The road around the lake was plowed and a sheet of ice so we parked down at the base of the hill as only one car could get up the hill.

After walking some of the road we cut up towards Rowells Brook. We wanted to use the obvious woods roads for efficiency but found them impassable or very difficult to pass because of trees bent across them from ice storm damage. Otherwise the woods were not bad. If I recall we left the roads in frustration. It was slow going and 2300 ft Anne ws starting to doubt she would get the peaks. We continued and we got above the bad stuff at 2600 ft (?) In the woods without blowdown we made fast work of the climb. The top was not bad.

Here are the times:

Car 7:30, WLong 12:20, ELong 2:05, WLong 3:15, Car 6:24.

 

[HikerDoc]

Longs in Winter

Thanks John,
You guys made good time. The group who did this trip in Jan. took about 12 hours but they had to break about 2' of snow. Looking at the map, it seems like the valley of Rowell brook, just west of Bald mt. is the way to go. The steep part starts at 2600' but as I recall from the last time I was there, the woods are fairly open. The top looks easy on the map and I recall the route finding is straightforward. I don't want to get bogged down in a myriad of criss crossed log roads that don't go north. Looks like there will be 6 in the group. I'll let you know how it spins out.

 

[RoySwkr]

They were Anne's last two NH100 in winter.

Not quite. Anne went to W Long a couple of years earlier on an AMC trip that also included myself & DC (and HD?). I hadn't got enough sleep and decided to go back from W Long by myself, but she insisted on going back with me while the others including the leader went to E Long. She even drove me home although it was out of her way as I rode up with somebody that went by my house. In fact I think her last half dozen NH100W were all similar stories of having missed one peak of a pair because somebody else pooped out. Sometimes nice people wouldn't finish last if they weren't so nice.

I don't want to get bogged down in a myriad of criss crossed log roads that don't go north.

I had hiked Bald Mtn and Victor Head the previous summer and knew where all the snowmobile trails in the area were, but another guy on the hike had talked to a woman who had talked to a snowmobiler and had a different idea of their location. It turned out we were both right, there were old roads and trails all over.

My fastest winter ascent of Longs was up Boman Valley on a day you could drive in the road but put on snowshoes when you left it, the state may lock the gate now even if the road is driveable. I think Tom Sawyer went up Roberts Brook from Paris. The potential shortest route depending on logging is from Phillips Brook, with 2 people in a Subaru we parked on the main road but the side road was poorly plowed and with a couple of SUV you could have driven to
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4952027&e=315698&s=100&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

which would get you the Longs in maybe 10 miles RT.