Seward Range 9/11 Memorial Hike

Moon rising over the Sewards

Misty morning along Coreys Road

Standard fare in the Dacks

Waterfall over a downed tree

Ampersand Mt and Ampersand Lake. I want to go there.

Whiteface in the distance and Lake Placid below it

Cliff near summit of Seward

Did this tree really grow upside down?

Sawtooth Mts in foreground with whiteface in background

On the Summit of Big Bad Seward

Long Lake in between Emmons and Donaldson

Seward from Donaldson

Seymour from Donaldson

Wright, Algonquin, Iroqouis, with Marcy all the way to the right

Donaldson

Long Lake. Lives up to its name, Don't you think?

Tupper Lake

Last Summit of the day!

Multi-color moss

The Santanonis

Wildberries

Foam building up in brook. I saw this at Tivoli Bays

The brook herd path followed

Marsh viewed from Coreys Road

Nice & Sexy



This is the almost annual 9/11 Memorial Hike. Officially I started in 2005 when I hiked up Redfield. When I came home that night I found my beloved cat Sherman lifeless in a box. So 9/11 has two meanings for me. I now hike in memory of those who suffered from the attacks and in memory of Sherman.

After years of procrastination, I thought it was time for the Sewards. These mountains have been rather elusive for me. Many Adirondack trips I’ve taken started as plans to go to the Sewards. Usually because I was too lazy to wake up early enough or too lazy to pack my camping gear, I bailed out and settled for something else. After Hurricane Irene swept through town, I started to plan for something in the Whites. Although most trails were open, there were road closings to contend with. I then read a trip report to Seymour post Hurricane Irene. It was settled. This was my chance.

It was almost 7pm by the time I made my way down Coreys Road. It was a pretty ride past multi-color marshes on a gravel road. After crossing Stony Brook (the bridge survived Hurricane Irene) I passed some hikers camped along the side of the road with a raging fire. I thought, “shit, is that legal?” Apparently there are numerous camping spots along the three miles of road before the trailhead. I found one I liked and then proceeded to pitch my tent. Although I was uncomfortable (most likely because my back was bothering me), I had a good night of sleep.

The parking lot was packed but mostly with horse trailers. There were three others signed in before me. Not as many hikers out as I thought, especially since these four (Seymour, Seward, Donaldson, Emmons) were one of the only accessible 46ers due to Irene. The approach trail to the herd path was typical: lots of mud, marshes, stream crossings. It was about 4.5 miles to the herd path to the Sewards. There was another herd path to Seymour about a half mile up. My Keen trail runners held up well. Would they hold up for the Sewards? It is kind of crazy, but they did get me up last year’s hike up Allen.

The herd path like most herd paths in the Adirondacks was easy to follow. Having said that, I did briefly go off course. Early on I missed the stream crossing. I turned around and spotted a cairn on the other side. Dummy. After that, the route finding was easy. Now, the climbing wasn’t. It was relentless. The ascent from the beginning of the herd path would be a little over two thousand. It’s never easy. It continually got steeper the higher and higher it went. Outstanding views started popping up to the north. Ampersand Mountain, the Sawtooths and Whiteface were in sight. After negotiating around a cliff, I had made it to the summit. After raising my arms up having ascended Seward, I took a nice break enjoying the satisfaction of getting here.

It was time to get moving again. Some of the toughest hiking was going down Seward toward Donaldson. The herd path winded its way down bypassing the many cliffs. There were also a couple small ascents. And of course, plenty of mud. But, the mighty Keens were holding up! I eventually made it to Donaldson.

The views were surprisingly great. An up close view of the Santanonis can be seen. Seward and Seymour dominated to the north and east. Directly east the high peaks, Algonquin, Iroqouis and Marcy were in view. I also met a woman from Canada on the summit. Donaldson was her 40th. Like myself, she did the Santanonis without doing Coushashagra. She came up the Caulkins brook herd path. This could easily take over an hour to an hour and a half off the hike. I tried taking it down, but lost the trail, so I did these mountains as an out and back.

There was plenty of mud just below the summit of Donaldson. Some of the worst of the day. But Emmons did not live up to its dreadfulness as others had mentioned. It was definitely muddy, but not nearly as bad as Donaldson or the trail from Coreys Road. After the trek from Donaldson, Emmons had finally been reached. The Sewards had finally been done. I shouted, pumping my arms in the air with such gratification I just wanted to lay down in the mud and stare straight at the clear blue sky.

Now, it was all about making my way out. I got a bit careless and lost my balance a few times and stepping into ankle high mud. This caused me to lose my shoe on one occasion. I met a mother and son on my way out. I started out with them in the morning. They hiked to Seymour. I thought, “how cool is that? Mom taking her son out to the Adirondacks’ 46ers.” He looked like he was maybe 12,13 and he had just completed number 22. That’s pretty cool. He’s done more than he is years. Maybe in a year or two I’ll have more 46ers than years.

Some stats:

Approximately 15 miles

Coreys Road to Sewards herd path: 2 hours
Herd path to Seward: 2 hours
Seward to Donaldson: 1 hour
Donaldson to Emmons: 45min
Emmons to Donaldson: 45min
Donaldson to Seward: 1 hour
Seward to Blue berry foot path: 1 ½ hours
Trail to Coreys: 2 hours