Allen Mountain
We chose to tackle Allen Mountain (26th highest at 4,340 ft.) in two days. Please note that at the time of planning this trip, I was following another hiker’s website who had recommended an old campsite at the base of Allen, at Skylight Brook. This sounded very ideally placed for our journey. When we got there, we didn’t encounter or see any “no camping” signs, and in fact, there were clearly flat areas and log benches indicating a campsite area, so we camped there. Years have now passed, and it is more clearly apparent that this area used to be a campsite, but is not to be used anymore. It has been removed from hiking maps now, and “no camping” signs have been placed on trees. So if you wish to make Allen a 2-day hike like we did, you may find that there really are no good campsites along the way, and that this may prove impossible. Consequently, you should really consider Allen a day trip only.
Now, back to how we attacked Allen: we did the long flat hike to the campsite at the base of the mountain the first day, a Saturday. Then at first light the next morning, (Sunday), we climbed to the summit with smaller day packs and and then back down to camp, ate a quick lunch, packed up tents and backpacks and hiked back out to the cars. So that was 6.7 miles on day one, and an exhausting 9.4 miles on day two.
The hike to get to Allen Mountain is long and difficult. While the first section, (in red in the map below), is generally pretty “flat”, it isn’t without some ups and downs, especially once it turns off the official DEC marked trail, 5.2 miles in. After that, you’re on a marked herd path, where you start climbing, then falling down into the Skylight Brook valley. This part gets more difficult with full packs on.
The terrain is extremely varied; ranging from cedar-lined dirt paths, to mud-holes, to beaver dam flooded bogs, to grassy Savanna, to a plank crossing across a lake. And that’s all just to get to the base of the mountain itself.
The trail then quickly ascends Allen, following Allen Brook. It is shown in dark blue on the map below, where you climb almost 2000 feet in a mere 1.35 miles to the summit. A majority of that is up a steep and slimy wet open rock slide. Yes, this ascent is dangerous, ladies and gentlemen.
Compounding things significantly was the ever-noticeable effects of Hurricane Irene, which hit a couple of months previous to our hike. We had to hike around, over, and under countless downed trees, which is inconvenient, to say the least. Worse yet, there were 2 river crossings which used to have footbridges, (the Hudson and the Opalescent), but we were forced to remove our socks and boots, and wade across.
The pictures below tell the story much better, so without any further ado, enjoy...
Topographic map courtesy of National Geographic
October 2011
TRAILHEAD
SUMMIT
The hiking crew. From left to right: Andy, Pete, Jonathan, me, Chris and Tanner.
The trailhead for the East River Trail, (which is marked with yellow markers)
Just a mere 0.1 miles in, and we have trouble. The footbridge that crosses the Hudson River was severely damaged during Hurricane Irene. We’re forced to cross upstream a bit, through the river.
Crossing the river, with boots in hand, pant legs rolled up, and cold toes!
This is the shattered remains of the former footbridge over the Hudson.
Ahh, with that nastiness out of the way, we can start progressing faster down the trail.
Saturday – Trailhead to Skylight Brook – 6.7 miles
Time: 4 hours and 15 minutes
(Part of my Original 46er quest)
CAMPSITE
(NO LONGER
IN USE!)
That is, until we reach Lake Jimmy, where a wooden plank causeway awaits. We have to cross a lake on this structure, where both ends are highly unstable. The middle section was thankfully solid as a rock.
Now it was my turn. Thankfully, I didn’t fall in, and neither did anyone else.
Approaching the former Mt. Adams caretaker cabins. The trail that leads up to Mt. Adams is just 0.1 miles farther.
From the abandoned cabins, Mt. Adams’ summit is 1.7 miles. The turn off a bit farther up the East River Trail shows it to be 1.6 miles to the summit.
The sometimes mud-hole filled trail along the side of Lake Sally.
There are gravel roads that this trail follows, with many turnoffs onto private property. It’s easy to stay on the trail, with all the markings.
A little rock cairn also helps mark the correct trail.
Walking down a gravel road, with our goal, Allen Mountain, in the distance.
The Opalescent River
Squeezing under some blowdown, courtesy of Hurricane Irene.
Going around a gate.
This road path walks parallel to the Opalescent River for what seems like a mile or two. The river is just off to the right, through the trees, (not visible here, unfortunately).
Then we turn off the road, and go through some trees, before crossing the Opalescent River without the benefit of a footbridge. Yep, you guessed it; it was washed away by Hurricane Irene, so we had to wade through it. We’ve gone 3.8 miles so far...
Chris and Tanner wading through the Opalescent River.
Walking through the “African Savanna” grasslands. This area was once forested, but Hurricane Floyd knocked down vast acres of trees in 1999. It is quite an unexpected type of terrain, but one that allows decent views of the peaks surrounding this area.
Chris crosses Lower Twin Brook.
The clearly-marked turn eastward, off the DEC-maintained trail, onto the herd path to Allen.
Hand-carved sign pointing the way.
10 minutes later, we stumble onto another gravel road. The cairn has us turn and walk to the other end of a gravel parking lot, where curiously enough, there’s another sign-in box!
Signing in (again)... it seems being redundant is also being safe this far out here.
Skipping forward quite a bit: here is Tanner crossing Skylight Brook, which we’re told can be impassable in high water. You can choose the boulder-hop method shown here, or...
or the precarious tight-rope-like walk across a slippery log, as Chris demonstrates here.
Sunday – Skylight Brook to Summit – 1.35 miles
1,950 feet of vertical! Depart 8:28 AM
The guys preparing to depart for the summit, on a wet and cold 40-degree morning.
Allen Brook cascades down the mountainside strewn with blowdown from Hurricane Irene.
A moist steep section sets the tone for the rest of the climb.
Most of the climb is like this; exposed, wet rock with leaves and/or algae on it.
We try to skirt around the bare rock, when possible.
Sometimes, there’s no easy way, so you just gotta duck your head down, and power through the blowdown.
The crevice is the only possible way up this section.
We took many hydration breaks. It was exhausting!
This is the most dangerous part. The pictures don’t do this justice at all. This part of the slide was very steep, and offered no way to ascend, other than to stay on the sides, and step on vegetation, and pull yourself up by tree branches and exposed roots.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I read that you should stay to the far left on this section, because there is a less life-threatening route. We did not find this route until AFTER we reached the top of this exposed section, (it wasn’t completely obvious to us at the time). If you choose to hike this mountain, I strongly encourage going far to the left of this picture, then into the woods, where you’ll find the trail. We used the trail on the way back down, and it felt much safer. DO NOT go to the right. There is no help for you there, for you’ll have to cross over the open section, as Andy found out in the next photo....
Andy psyching himself up to cross the slab from right to left. Again, not the safest route to go...
Looking down the mountain. The steepness of the mountain simply doesn’t translate well in these photos...
The super-steep, life-threatening slab was behind us, but there was still a lot more elevation to tackle...
We reached the summit at 10:10 AM. It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes, from our camp at Skylight Brook.
After consuming some much-needed food and rehydrating, we took the obligatory summit photo with our ChaseDesign Hiking Club banner. As you can see, there was no view that day; we were in the middle of a cloud.
Summit back down to Skylight Brook – 1.35 miles
Descent of 1,950 feet. Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
(no photos taken)
Skylight Brook to Trailhead – 6.7 miles
Time: 4 hours
After returning to camp, we packed up our tents, stowed our gear inside our packs, and ate lunch. Here, we’re preparing to depart.
On our way back to the cars. The packs on our backs are heavy, as we realize we still have 6.7 miles to go!
Boulder-hopping across an unknown brook that later feeds into Skylight Brook.
The sun graces us with its’ presence, as we walk through the forest floor strewn with colorful deceased foliage.
Sunlight raised everyone’s spirits in this charming section of woodland trail.
Signing out of the second box.
Getting ready to leave this strange, desolate and eerie parking lot in the middle of nowhere. I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure that is Mt. Adams in the distance, to our west.
Back down one of the many gravel road sections.
Goodbye, hand-carved sign!
Our last view of Allen Mountain. Notice how the clouds have cleared the summit, and that if we had been up there right now, we would have had a wonderful view? Dammit! What a difference 5 hours makes...
A nice view north, towards what I believe is Cliff mountain on the left, Redfield in the middle-left, and the shoulder of Allen on the far right.
The guys pose for a moment in the sun, with appropriately-named Cliff mountain in the distance.
Back on our way through the Savanna section.
Look ma, a beaver dam!
Back across the Opalescent River. MAN, that’s cold!
It was nice to have such a wide road path to walk. It allowed us to walk side-by-side and talk a bit more.
Crossing Lake Jimmy again. It wasn’t as nerve-wracking this time, knowing we were almost back to the cars...
Crossing the Hudson River. Being only 0.1 miles from the car, we all just walked right in with our boots on, knowing we had dry street shoes and clothes in the car for the ride home.
Taking a minute to splash some cold, refreshing water on ourselves to clean off the mud and sweat.
That felt SO GOOD!
Standing refreshed in the Hudson River. Notice the wake behind us, and the calm water in front of us. The current was pretty substantial...
Jonathan signs us out at 5:05 PM. Whew!
A few final words about this hike:
The books all say it is very strenuous, and I’d fully agree; I couldn’t imaging being able to do this mountain as a day hike, even if it was in the middle of summer, with all the daylight that’d provide. It isn’t so much a question of daylight, (which you’d absolutely need), but conditioning. It is absolutely grueling, at over 16 miles, round trip. I highly recommend breaking this trip into an overnight like we did, and even still, it is two very difficult days. You’d have to be a truly amazing athlete to be able to do this hike in just one day.
And then there is the slide climb portion of this trip. To be frank, it is dangerous. The majority of your hike up the actual mountain is spent on slimy, smooth rock. In the fall, those rocks are further sprinkled with wet leaves, making it that much worse. If you have a tough time with climbing open rock slides, then this is not one you’ll want to do. Let’s just say that as much fun as it was, with all the diverse scenery, I’m glad I’m finished with it, and I don’t think I need to ever hike it again...
