What's first, Allen or Couchy?

[masshysteria]

Next week, July 19-25th,I plan on taking on both Allen and Couchsachraga. I'm not sure which days, that will depend on the weather.
My question is this, to those who are familiar with these routes; Which of these plans makes more sense;
Plan 1) Day One, drive to Upper Works, hike to Allen Brook and set up camp.
Day Two, hike Allen, return to site and break camp,hike back to UW, hike to Bradley Pond and set camp.
Day three, hike to Couchy, return to camp and break camp,hike back to vehicle.

Plan 2) Day one, drive to UW, hike to Bradley pond, set camp.
Day 2, hike Couchy, break camp, hike to UW, hike to Allen Brook and set camp.
Day 3, hike Allen, return and break camp, hike back to vehicle.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Tom

 

[maineguy]

"Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated"

Yeah, I'm glad I'm not going with you.

Both options sound just awful to me, but then, I'm one of those hikers that once they see their vehicle at the end of a hard day(s) of hiking have no desire to head back into the woods. And these destinations you have picked greatly reinforce that feeling.

But...I'm sure that someone will chime in with more useful information than I have just given.

 

[ronandjon]

Alternate Proposal

Day 1 Hike to the brook at the base of Allen, set up camp, hike Allen, return and camp for the night.

Day 2 Hike from camp to Bradley Pond LT and set up camp.

Day 3 Hike Couchie, break camp, return to car and head home.


Jon and his friend Cody, who are much stronger hikers than I, did the day 1 hike, no problem Their time from the base to the summit of Allen was 2hrs, 20 minutes up, 1 hour 40 minutes down. Cody complained that it was the first time it had taken him more than two hours to summit from the base of a peak.

If I remember right, it's about 7.5 miles from the base of Allen back to the Upper Works, and a little over 4 miles to the LT (The sign near the Bradley Pond LT says 4.8 miles, but I don't believe it.

Good luck and good hiking.

 

[SherpaKroto]

Tom,
I plan to be hiking the Santas on 7/20-22. Might stay at Bradley Pond, might stay up toward Panther Brook. I'll sign in at the register shwoing the day I went in - look for it. The weather does not look real promising, so I could be delayed a day (or just plain sucked in by the mud!)

 

[Silverback]

ronandjon's strategy seems to be the most efficient. It will probably take four hours to hike from UW to Skylight Brook. Most of that is flat. The last 2 miles or so gains about 600 feet in elevation. Plan on four hours total up and down Allen. (hint: The final approach herd path is to the left of the final slide about fifty feet from the top of that slide. Look for it as it is not immediately evident and you will be following the right side of Allen Brook most of the way up).

The next day will take about four hours to hike out, scoot over to the Bradley Pond trailhead and take 2 hours or so to hike to the Bradley Pond lean-to.

The third day should be a round trip from the lean-to of about six hours (if only doing Couchie), then two hours out to the car.

 

[Raymond]

Both times I've climbed Allen and Couchie I've done Allen first, then Couchsachraga two days later, but both times they were done as day hikes, with a couple nights at the Maple Leaf Motel in Schroon Lake in-between.

If you're determined to camp, I suppose you could figure out some kind of bushwhack past Redfield or Cliff to make a loop. It seems to me that Tom H. bagged Allen from the Santanoni trailhead — and the Santanonis from the Allen trailhead — last year.

 

[masshysteria]

I knew someone would have a better idea! My origional idea was to leave MA. in the late morning,arrive in the early afternoon, and be setup for camp at dinner time. However, ronandjon's idea makes more sense, I'll just have to start driving first thing in the morning. This option has a lot less hiking on the second day. Thanks for all of the great suggestions!

 

[Rick]

If you do Couchie on your last day , and break camp after climbing it, you might have a wonderful evening hike out to your car.
In my case, It got dark about an hour after I left Bradley pond LT and the stars were out in force as I headed down the old road to my car (Course I was doing a loop and left it at UW) but it was still a great evening hike to top off the Santanoni's. I think it was around 2 hours to hike to the trailhead and an extra 20 mins to get to UW.

 

[Doc McPeak]

I think you're on the right track now.

Rick's story reminded me of returning from Santanoni this past New Year's Day. We were just about to adorn the headlamps when we left the trail and entered the road section. With a nice gibbous moon and all those planets being up in the sky it was a glorious walk out under starlight. It made the limping much more bearable. But, hopefully you'll be seeing the moon and stars on your way home in the car!