Mount Alton is approximately 3200 above sea level and is a few kilometers (ie. a couple of miles) north of Lake Placid.
I learned of this peak through reading a trip report on ADKHP. I also learned that this peak is on the 3k list so I decided with that I would visit it. The biggest clincher was that I could combine the bushwhack with a paddle of Lake Placid, which was quite the highlight. Especially passing under Mt. Whitney’s cliffs. Whitney rises 800 above the lake.
Nanga Parbat and I launched the canoe from the public boat launch just off Mirror Lake Drive into glass-calm water and enjoyed an easy view-rich paddle to the northern extremity of Echo Bay. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. Besides enjoying views of Whiteface, which totally dominates the northeast, we could see Moose, McKenzie, the Great Range and MacIntyres and of course the Sawtooths.
Once at the north end of Echo Bay we hauled the canoe up and left it overturned in the woods, changed into bushwhacking garb, checked the map and took off. We decided to ascend the lesser summit of a lesser peak to the SE of Alton. (roughly 2800-2900 feet elev.) so we pointed our compass more or less north and worked our way up onto a moderately steep N-S ridge. The entire top of this lesser peak’s lesser summit is a mess of blowdown and thick scrubby coniferous growth. We deviated way around it all and then crossed the highest point. The plan was to follow a bearing for Alton, which would entail an elevation loss of 250 feet as we dropped into a tiny col.
The woods were pretty bad so we deviated way south and ended up side-hilling into this col where we stopped for a well-deserved rest. Alton’s summit was only 500 meters and 600 vertical feet away. Chicken-feed.
Our trajectory had plenty of cliffs and a high gnarliness factor and it took us an hour to reach what we surmised to be the summit. We agreed that Mt. Alton probably doesn’t see much in the way of human visitation. Maybe a dozen people have actually converged over geological time upon its summit. (I may be exaggerating) Our descent began with a wide detour to the north and a much better descent route that cut diagonally across our line of ascent, which had some really bad sod holes (vicious trap doors). We got back down in just a hair over half the time.
Our exit to Lake Placid was inspired by the aforementioned report of open swampy fields. We found the woods to be scrappy due to bad footing (there is always something to complain about on a bushwhack). However, we had nothing to moan about when we broke out into the open field and crossed through the waving yellowed grasses while the sunshine poured down like honey and the warm breezes blew. The view up to mighty Alton (subtle color changes beginning) across the grassy field was stunning. However, our feet got wet which totally ruined the experience for both of us.
Just before L. Placid there was a final open field, which we crossed along its dryer edge. The map shows a trail from the swamp to LP and we figured it would be faint and difficult to discern. The orange flagging and old SOA discs were easy to discern but we lost all traces about half-way so we headed SE until we saw the lake and found the canoe.
The paddle back was longer against the wind but the views were spectacular. Especially of pointy Haystack. We took the western arm back.
Regarding blowdown. If you take a 10x10x1 meter cube of space from the ground up to 1 meter you have 100 cubic meters of space. The blowdown index (BI) would be a number between 0 and 1 and represents the fraction of that space which is occupied by blowdown. Then you factor in the degree of parallelism of the blowdown to your direction of travel and come up with a number that faithfully indicates the degree to which blowdown impedes forward progress.
As for the standing imedimental factor (SIF) you take a vertical slice 2 meters high and 2 meters wide and determine the fraction of that surface area which is occupied by trees and their branches. Once again you have a number between 0 and 1 that you must modify according to the resilience and interlockedness of the branches. These blowdown factors and standing impedimental factors together will indicate the caloric expenditure and time requirement for each unit of progress. BI (paralleled) x SIF (resilience corrected) = minutes/kilometer multiplied by an unknown constant, which varies considerably.
Next up: same MO for Moose Northeast and Loch Bonnie peak.:thumbs:
I learned of this peak through reading a trip report on ADKHP. I also learned that this peak is on the 3k list so I decided with that I would visit it. The biggest clincher was that I could combine the bushwhack with a paddle of Lake Placid, which was quite the highlight. Especially passing under Mt. Whitney’s cliffs. Whitney rises 800 above the lake.
Nanga Parbat and I launched the canoe from the public boat launch just off Mirror Lake Drive into glass-calm water and enjoyed an easy view-rich paddle to the northern extremity of Echo Bay. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get there. Besides enjoying views of Whiteface, which totally dominates the northeast, we could see Moose, McKenzie, the Great Range and MacIntyres and of course the Sawtooths.
Once at the north end of Echo Bay we hauled the canoe up and left it overturned in the woods, changed into bushwhacking garb, checked the map and took off. We decided to ascend the lesser summit of a lesser peak to the SE of Alton. (roughly 2800-2900 feet elev.) so we pointed our compass more or less north and worked our way up onto a moderately steep N-S ridge. The entire top of this lesser peak’s lesser summit is a mess of blowdown and thick scrubby coniferous growth. We deviated way around it all and then crossed the highest point. The plan was to follow a bearing for Alton, which would entail an elevation loss of 250 feet as we dropped into a tiny col.
The woods were pretty bad so we deviated way south and ended up side-hilling into this col where we stopped for a well-deserved rest. Alton’s summit was only 500 meters and 600 vertical feet away. Chicken-feed.
Our trajectory had plenty of cliffs and a high gnarliness factor and it took us an hour to reach what we surmised to be the summit. We agreed that Mt. Alton probably doesn’t see much in the way of human visitation. Maybe a dozen people have actually converged over geological time upon its summit. (I may be exaggerating) Our descent began with a wide detour to the north and a much better descent route that cut diagonally across our line of ascent, which had some really bad sod holes (vicious trap doors). We got back down in just a hair over half the time.
Our exit to Lake Placid was inspired by the aforementioned report of open swampy fields. We found the woods to be scrappy due to bad footing (there is always something to complain about on a bushwhack). However, we had nothing to moan about when we broke out into the open field and crossed through the waving yellowed grasses while the sunshine poured down like honey and the warm breezes blew. The view up to mighty Alton (subtle color changes beginning) across the grassy field was stunning. However, our feet got wet which totally ruined the experience for both of us.
Just before L. Placid there was a final open field, which we crossed along its dryer edge. The map shows a trail from the swamp to LP and we figured it would be faint and difficult to discern. The orange flagging and old SOA discs were easy to discern but we lost all traces about half-way so we headed SE until we saw the lake and found the canoe.
The paddle back was longer against the wind but the views were spectacular. Especially of pointy Haystack. We took the western arm back.
Regarding blowdown. If you take a 10x10x1 meter cube of space from the ground up to 1 meter you have 100 cubic meters of space. The blowdown index (BI) would be a number between 0 and 1 and represents the fraction of that space which is occupied by blowdown. Then you factor in the degree of parallelism of the blowdown to your direction of travel and come up with a number that faithfully indicates the degree to which blowdown impedes forward progress.
As for the standing imedimental factor (SIF) you take a vertical slice 2 meters high and 2 meters wide and determine the fraction of that surface area which is occupied by trees and their branches. Once again you have a number between 0 and 1 that you must modify according to the resilience and interlockedness of the branches. These blowdown factors and standing impedimental factors together will indicate the caloric expenditure and time requirement for each unit of progress. BI (paralleled) x SIF (resilience corrected) = minutes/kilometer multiplied by an unknown constant, which varies considerably.
Next up: same MO for Moose Northeast and Loch Bonnie peak.:thumbs:
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