Seward, Donaldson, and Emmons Mtns

We Bare-booted to herd path, then to base of climb. First 500' of climb are easier with micro-spikes than bare-boots. Next 500' is a toss up between micros and snowshoes. I noticed a down-bound snowshoe track from yesterday so put mine on. Above 3000' elevation I'd strongly suggest snowshoes.

I didn't encounter the ice issues that folks on the 27th found. I believe the reason is because a light coating of snow overnight soaked into the wet ice surface and made it crusty on top. Good traction in snowshoes.

Due to differential melting of the snow pack (denser snow in track melts slower than loose snow on sides of track) there are many areas where there is no trench whatsoever, so even a light coating of snow will erase the track and route finding will be required.

Calkins Brook rock hop-able. (is that a word?)

Coreys Road is glare ice in the vicinity of the gate, but it's flat there. After you get out of the pine grove the road becomes mostly gravel, with some icy spots mixed with gravel. Should be passable by any 4wd/awd vehicle, as well as most front wheel drive vehicles. Just don't send me the towing bill!

Start Time: 7:37AM Start Elevation: 1764ft
End Time: 7:02PM Max Elevation: 4381ft
Duration: 11h35m Distance: 15.83 miles

Hurricane Mountain

A nice mountain with a fire tower that is starting to be restored. At an elevation of 3,694-foot near Keene north of the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. The trail from route 9N was drastically rerouted since I last hiked this.

This is an open peak which now has some pretty awesome views with the new re-route of the trail, whereas before the re-route you were in the trees until you scuttled up the rocks just before the summit. During the summer and fall of 2014 the trail was almost completely relocated to avoid all of the steepest and most eroded sections. The hike to the summit is now 3.4 miles, 0.8 mile longer than before, a much more enjoyable hike.

The trail leaves the north side of Route 9N 3.5 miles east of the junction of Route 9N/73. and climbs via new switchbacks to a first view at 0.4 miles, levels out, crosses a series of bridges across beaver swamps, an then resumes climbing, soon going left from the old trail. At 2.8 miles the trail comes to a ledge with a view ahead of the tower on the summit. The tower looks further away than it actually is, and after a second ledge at 2.9 miles the grade eases to a junction with the trail from Crow Clearing, coming in from the left at 3.2 miles. On the descent make sure everyone in the group makes the left turn at this junction. Past this junction, the trail is levels briefly before beginning the final rocky scramble to the summit at 3.4 miles.

Round trip 5.2 miles
Elevation gain: 2,000'