Guinness
Active member
My “Welcome Back” hike after a 2 month sabbatical was a planned solo trip into the Santanoni Range. The plan was to hike with full pack up near the cliffs at 3,200, or if I was feeling good to go all the way to Times Square. Then off to Panther and Couchie first, saving Santanoni for later that day.
I departed the parking lot at 7:15 am and was at the 3,200-foot level before 10:00. There I setup my camp. Pitched the tent and dropped off extra gear. I brought a second daypack and after transferring some gear, set off for Times Square. I followed some fresh tracks of another solo climber.
Upon reaching elevation, I turned right for Panther Peak. The winds were still high and the visibility was varying between 100 yards and a quarter mile. I snapped a shot of the summit sign and returned to the tree line before the winds removed the exposed sections of my trail.
I then set off for Times Square and decided to try and locate the herd path for Santanoni. I could not find a distinct start to the trail. I attempted to start one using compass, GPS and previous knowledge. Several times I came upon a packed herd path and attempted to follow it. Most ended up going no where. After 0.3 miles and 1.5 hours, I returned to Times Square.
Now it was 1:30 pm and I took off for Couchie, Just as I started on the trail, I met the other climber. We exchanged our pleasantries and wished each other good travels. The herd path was in good shape with only two errant spurs, which I marked with crossed branches. The trip to the Couchie summit was uneventful. Upon returned to Times Square the weather improved and the visibility opened to 50 miles or more. Great views!
I returned to my camp while it was still light out. Settled in for a comfortable evening with a hot meal and hot drink. I heard three other climbers pass by later in the evening, but I did not get an update where they went. I assumed it was Santanoni and I hope they had better success than I did.
In the morning, I broke down camp and off the mountain I went. On the trail, I met Shin, Harry, Nancy and a few minutes later, Alain with Pin Pin Jr. I reported my progress as they were off for Couchie and Santanoni. The weather this morning was great compared to just one day previous. I was back at the car by 10:00 am and back home before 5:00 pm.
A great weekend to get back into climbing!
On a side note: I always carry a spare meal on every excursion. This had been a Mountain House Lasagna dehydrated meal. I believe it is almost a 46er with all the summits it has seen. It has been on Elbert (CO) in 2003, Hood and Rainier (2005) and I believe it started in the Adirondacks in 2001 traveling with me. This package no longer had writing on it and even the envelope was starting to delaminate. It has become a legend, as it was always the package in the bottom of the pack while newer packages were used up first. Well I can say, it is now history as it joined me for dinner Saturday night. Most important, it was still good!
I departed the parking lot at 7:15 am and was at the 3,200-foot level before 10:00. There I setup my camp. Pitched the tent and dropped off extra gear. I brought a second daypack and after transferring some gear, set off for Times Square. I followed some fresh tracks of another solo climber.
Upon reaching elevation, I turned right for Panther Peak. The winds were still high and the visibility was varying between 100 yards and a quarter mile. I snapped a shot of the summit sign and returned to the tree line before the winds removed the exposed sections of my trail.
I then set off for Times Square and decided to try and locate the herd path for Santanoni. I could not find a distinct start to the trail. I attempted to start one using compass, GPS and previous knowledge. Several times I came upon a packed herd path and attempted to follow it. Most ended up going no where. After 0.3 miles and 1.5 hours, I returned to Times Square.
Now it was 1:30 pm and I took off for Couchie, Just as I started on the trail, I met the other climber. We exchanged our pleasantries and wished each other good travels. The herd path was in good shape with only two errant spurs, which I marked with crossed branches. The trip to the Couchie summit was uneventful. Upon returned to Times Square the weather improved and the visibility opened to 50 miles or more. Great views!
I returned to my camp while it was still light out. Settled in for a comfortable evening with a hot meal and hot drink. I heard three other climbers pass by later in the evening, but I did not get an update where they went. I assumed it was Santanoni and I hope they had better success than I did.
In the morning, I broke down camp and off the mountain I went. On the trail, I met Shin, Harry, Nancy and a few minutes later, Alain with Pin Pin Jr. I reported my progress as they were off for Couchie and Santanoni. The weather this morning was great compared to just one day previous. I was back at the car by 10:00 am and back home before 5:00 pm.
A great weekend to get back into climbing!
On a side note: I always carry a spare meal on every excursion. This had been a Mountain House Lasagna dehydrated meal. I believe it is almost a 46er with all the summits it has seen. It has been on Elbert (CO) in 2003, Hood and Rainier (2005) and I believe it started in the Adirondacks in 2001 traveling with me. This package no longer had writing on it and even the envelope was starting to delaminate. It has become a legend, as it was always the package in the bottom of the pack while newer packages were used up first. Well I can say, it is now history as it joined me for dinner Saturday night. Most important, it was still good!
