Santanonis - Group Trip - 2/24/6 Weekend

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alistair said:
Tom, Cross me off the list for 2/25. If you climb Couch on Saturday you may want to try the easy climb of Santi and Panther on the Sunday?
Click to expand...

Ok Alistair, thanks.

The thought of breaking up the Santa's into 2 hikes has crossed my mind.
 
I'll defer to the entire group, but if things bleed over to two days, I'm in for it all. I'd prefer to nail down Couch first Saturday and go from there with regards to what gets done on what day, but it's up to the team...I have no objection to hiking out in the dark. Whatever works...
 
Suck it up guys!

Faced with the choice of hiking in and out from Times Square 2 days in a row versus one bear of a long day and getting all three mountains I think I'd go with choice #2. Not only will the beer taste that much better at the end of the day but that leaves Sunday wide open for the Sewards or a full Dix range traverse. Right, Pin-Pin?

Of course this is all academic for me as I already have Couch and Panther as winter peaks and will be in a chalet bushwhacking in the Laurentians that weekend. :D
 
Ok Santa-baggers, a few questions for you:

Does anyone have a GPS (particularly useful for Couch!) ?

Do we all want to stay together, or just make sure that everyone gets out safely? I would prefer the latter, due to the differences already stated (and known) in hiking speeds and abilities. I have 2 walkie talkies. Anyone else have any ? Personally, I think I'll go for Couch first, but we'll see.

I heard about one trip a few years ago where they split up into 3 groups. Each went to a different peak first, so there was a broken trail for the other groups. This also helped the subsequent groups know if there were any tricky sections encountered along the way.

FYI: Pinpin just did the Santa's recently:

http://vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11133
 
I have radios (2) with good range, which I'll bring. I'll also bring my GPS, but admit first hand that I am GPS challenged! As for groups, I will leave it to "our leader" on this trip! Just tell me where to be. L
 
I don't have a GPS or radios, so basically I'm useless. :eek:

My vote is for Tom's second option...but I'll defer to the votes of the group. Should we elect to separate into multiple teams at Time's Square to break trail on all three peaks, I'm willing to tackle either Santanoni or Panther...with the caveat that this is my first time on either of these mountains, so I won't be relying on personal experience on these particular peaks. But whatever works is fine- I'm sure plenty will depend on conditions as well.

I'd prefer to attempt Couch first, but I'm up for anything. Just happy to be out there...
 
Splitrock821 said:
I don't have a GPS or radios, so basically I'm useless. :eek:

My vote is for Tom's second option...but I'll defer to the votes of the group. Should we elect to separate into multiple teams at Time's Square to break trail on all three peaks, I'm willing to tackle either Santanoni or Panther...with the caveat that this is my first time on either of these mountains, so I won't be relying on personal experience on these particular peaks. But whatever works is fine- I'm sure plenty will depend on conditions as well.

I'd prefer to attempt Couch first, but I'm up for anything. Just happy to be out there...
Click to expand...

Anyone who can break trail is not useless! :D

Slamdog, I prefer to think of myself as the organizer! :D

I've been there once before (in the summer), but not in the winter. Laurie was there in winter a few years ago, and of course Pinpin has been there a lot! I'm sure we'll figure it out, one way or the other...
 
Tom Rankin said:
Anyone who can break trail is not useless! :D

Slamdog, I prefer to think of myself as the organizer! :D

I've been there once before (in the summer), but not in the winter. Laurie was there in winter a few years ago, and of course Pinpin has been there a lot! I'm sure we'll figure it out, one way or the other...
Click to expand...

I have been there half a dozen times (twice in winter) but only to Couch 3 times. I'm confident we will do fine.
 
A gps is an very potent tool on a pure bushwhack. But, when you're trying to stick to a very specific path en route to a location (herd path to Couch) it's good to be aware of the limitations. Just one example: say you have a tracklog of someone else's loaded into the unit but once in the field maybe you'll see a faint but supportive snowshoe tread. Juggling the information from the "trail" in the field with the data in the gps may requires a certain "mind space". Also the discrepancy between what the original gps laid down as a track and what the current gps is reading from the satellites may be more than enough to throw you off.
Still, with the summit waypointed into the unit at least you'll know if your getting closer or further away. ;)


Oh, and Rik rocks as a navigator.
 
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A slower approach?

Anybody interested in wandering in a ways, say on Friday, spending the night, recharging the batteries, checking out whether there any hungry shrews or ripped marmots? We could leave the campfire burning with warm soup simmering for this rocket crew when they arrive, spend the day nipping the peaks at a more leisurely pace, then split out with the gang (or nearby so as not to violate the Rule of 15) Saturday afternoon.

Just a thought. Looking at the week ahead I see that I have two significant confllicting obligations scheduled for Monday the 24th, both of which I will try hard to resolve to free up the weekend. So I'm just a maybe myself, but this is very much on my To-Do List.

I think the corresponding weekend two years ago (plus or minus a couple of days) was also a mega-Santa party. Anybody remember that? There must have been thirty people bagging the range that day, maybe more. (They were still emerging when I finally got back from hiking Allen, and that was really late!)

Cheers.
 
"I think the corresponding weekend two years ago (plus or minus a couple of days) was also a mega-Santa party. Anybody remember that?"

I remember! I was camped adjacent to Panther Brook at maybe 3500 feet, and saw the groups passing by. That was the weekend of Feb. 28-29, 2004.

By the way, for those first-timers, Panther is a mere 15 minutes or so from Times Square. The attached photo is the view from Panther at sunset on that weekend. -Bob
 
Hi Tom!
I plan to join your group Santanoni raid on Feb. 25th. However I won't be able to arrive before midnight or one in the morning. I will therefore sleep in my car at the trailhead to get the most number of hours of sleep. Weather permitting, will try to get all 3 peaks, if Pinpin can snowplow the trails ahead of us slow pows.

Would like to do Allen or Marshall on Sunday the 26th Feb. Any takers? My 1st choice would be for Allen. BTW Alain, do you think your rabbit would be interested, unless his paws were too sore from the previous day's Santanoni raid.
Pierre (Oncoman)
 
Allen on feb. 26th

Hi Alistair
Ref. new thread for Allen trip.
Consider it done & to the pleasure of meeting you!
Pierre
 
AlG said:
"I think the corresponding weekend two years ago (plus or minus a couple of days) was also a mega-Santa party. Anybody remember that?"

I remember! I was camped adjacent to Panther Brook at maybe 3500 feet, and saw the groups passing by. That was the weekend of Feb. 28-29, 2004.

By the way, for those first-timers, Panther is a mere 15 minutes or so from Times Square. The attached photo is the view from Panther at sunset on that weekend. -Bob
Click to expand...

I was in that group, and managed to summit Couch.
 
Room for Two More Hikers?

Just checking to see if you have room for 2 more in the group and still keep the group size to 15. We would meet at the trail head and do not need overnight quarters. We have been to the Santanonis about 1 1/2 years ago in summer. We are working on our Winter 46 and need these peaks. Do you have a total group size?

I have a GPS and can bring radios. Let me know what is needed.
 
adksteve said:
Just checking to see if you have room for 2 more in the group and still keep the group size to 15. We would meet at the trail head and do not need overnight quarters. We have been to the Santanonis about 1 1/2 years ago in summer. We are working on our Winter 46 and need these peaks. Do you have a total group size?

I have a GPS and can bring radios. Let me know what is needed.
Click to expand...

Hmmmmmmmm. I really wasn't keeping track of everyone who was going. I was keeping track of the people in the B&B. It seems this is a popular hike, but a lot of folks just want to meet up with us at the trailhead. If I scour the boards, and my PMs, I have:

In the B&B:

Tom / Laurie / SplitRock / Rik / Rik's friend / Slamdog / Rejean - That's 7

Not in the B&B:

Pinpin / AlG / Crazymama / Adksteve (2) / Oncoman / shin murnane - 7 more

Whitelief - Camping but still part of the group I guess

So that's 15. I guess we're full unless my list is wrong or people cancel.

Edit: There is still room for one more in the B&B for non-Santanoni hiking.
 
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