Santanoni Range

Our next venture into the High Peaks would require a backpack and two-night stay in the backwoods. Since we would be living on twigs and berries for the next few days, we wanted to consume a big meal before we left. A stop at the Port Henry Diner was exactly what we needed. Don Foote - the proprietor of said establishment always has some neat stories about his time working for the Department of Environmental Conservation too. It was quite a treat.

We waddled to our car and set forth to Tahawus, where we would ditch the car and pack into the Bradley Pond lean-to with our fingers crossed - hoping that it would not be occupied. After a couple hours of hiking in light rain, our wishes were granted. We set up our sleeping pads and tried to start a fire, but the rocks were so wet that the matches wouldn't even spark. We resigned ourselves to a game of pinochle before one of the quietest nights of sleep that we have ever had!

Fork in the Road?

The next day we awoke to chilly air playing lean-to chicken* but finally got out of bed and downed breakfast. We packed up and headed to the Panther Mountain herd path. It was muddy and we jumped rocks on Panther Brook until we came to an intersection where tree carvings directed us toward Panther Peak. After slogging through more mud - we found ourselves on the summit, eying the Seward Range, Ampersand Mountain, Long Lake, Couchsachraga Peak and imposing Santanoni Peak. We snacked on trail mix, basking in the sun!

We proceeded back through the mud onto the trail towards Couchsachraga Peak, trying to get the correct pronunciation all the way. It was a long, muddy, meandering route where we caught some good views along the trail but none when we got to the wooded peak. We ate our lunch there anyway before making the long trip back to the Santanoni Ridge.

After slogging back through the mud (did I mention that it was muddy?), we headed to our last and tallest peak for the day. Santanoni Peak had lookouts along the way towards the east and west. We could even spy Lake Placid (the lake, not the town) with Whiteface to the north at one point. The summit itself was wooded, but the views along the way were spectacular.

More mud and we made our way back to the lean-to for a slightly louder evening than the previous night. Since it was now Friday, a few campers had come in for the weekend and a friendly but noisy dog kept us awake longer than we otherwise would have been.

We hiked out the next morning with the promise of doughnuts in the car. We will be spending the night in Newcomb, resting our legs while we hope to get back into the High Peaks on Sunday.



*Lean-to chicken is the game when you first wake up camping and stare at the person that you are with to see who ends up getting out of bed first. Loser makes breakfast.