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| Misty dawn on Lake Sally |
Although I didn't plan on it until the last minute, I decided to do the super long hike to Allen Mountain based on the fact that the region had not seen much rain in the past few months and the forecast called for perfect autumn hiking conditions. I anticipated that the Opalescent River would be low enough to rock hop when it often runs so high that hikers need to lug Tevas or other water shoes and actually wade across. The trail to Allen Mountain is muddy, like all ADK High Peaks, so I figured on less mud due to the lack or rain. More importantly, I expected that the dreaded "red slime" on the rocky slabs up Allen migbt be slightly dried up, making that notoriously tough ascent a little bit easier. All of these elements of the hike that I had anticpated turned out to be true. The one thing that I didn't anticipate was having a hiking partner for almost all of the long, 11-hour, 18-mile day.
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| Frosty morning and autumn colors on East River Trail |
I never hike the High Peaks on Saturdays due to the trail traffic, but figured that I could make an exception on a challenging and remote peak like Allen since it is much less popular than almost any other High Peak. I still made sure to head out early and got one of the last spots in the East River Trail parking lot at around 5:45 a.m., well before sunrise. Several hiking parties looked to be waiting for first light to start out, but I put on my headlamp and hit the trail in the pitch black of pre-dawn at 6 a.m. sharp. The first part of the trail is flat and easy but you still need to watch carefully for rocks and roots. Head down with the light on the trail, I didn't see much of anything until reaching the shore of Lake Sally and took a few minutes to watch the mist rising above it by the dawn's early light. It was a peaceful, pleasant site.
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| In the middle of the low flow Opalescent River |
About 2 hours in, after the expected super-easy crossing of the dried up Opalescent River, I caught up to a hiker and greeted him with a comment of starting out in a headlamp. John was a friendly, gregarious fellow and we chatted for a few minutes before he hit the trail again. I needed to fix my boots and take a water break, but sure enough I caught up with him again about 20 minutes later. This time, he invited me to hike with him. What the hell, I thought. Allen is a long, grueling slog of a hike and it might be a nice change of pace to join a fellow hiker for a while. I figured that maybe we'd hike together for a few hours and then I'd break off and have my alone time later in the day. But in the end we spent the next 9 hours on the trail together. Good times.
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| John ascending the slabs, view west to Mt. Adams and the Santanoni Range |
Eventually, the East River Trail heads north towards the Great Range and one must find and turn due east on the unmaintained herd path to Allen. There's no sign, but if you've done your homework it is easy enough to locate. The herd path continues on the flat for a while, then drops down in elevation slightly before the ascent begins as a comfortable incline through pleasant woods followed by steep climbing after the Allen Brook waterfall. Here one finds the dreaded red slime slabs for which Allen is known, and often reviled. There were definitely some slippery spots and I took a hard fall when socializing and therefore not paying close enough attention, lamenting that such a thing never happened to me when hiking solo. But the red slime was not that bad and the slabs were very dry and easy to cross. At one point, the trail becomes unclear and the ideal route is to hug the treeline to the left. We followed another hiker to the right and found ourselves needing to traverse the slab in a very precarious spot with a steep drop at our backs. We made it, but John's comment "I don't feel good about this," spoken while we traversed the slab, became the hilarous catch phrase of the day.
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| View to Marcy, Skylight, Haystack and Little Haystack from Allen east lookout |
At the summit, we encounted a small group of 10 or so hikers strewn out at the summit sign and various lookout points. It was a very nice bunch of friendly, talkative folks and we took a quick lunch break together and conversed about our High Peak adventures. With blue skies, comfortable temps and no wind up top, I would have normally spent more time at the summit but my hiking buddy was rearing to go again in no time. This could have been my out to finish the day alone, but I was enjoying the companionship and we set out together to make a careful descent of the slabs and the long return to the parking lot, arriving back at the trail head at 5 p.m. All in all, Allen was a fun but grueling, 11 hour day covering 18+ miles. As we signed out at the trail register, John reminded me that this was his second trip up Allen, a peak that many 46ers lament as one of their least favorites but that he liked so much he wanted to pay another visit.
You know what? I would do it again, too.
Peak: Allen Mountain
Elevation: 4,340 feet (Gain: 3,740 feet)
Distance: 18 miles
Route: Out and back, East River Trail to Allen Mountain herd path
Conditions: Sunny, 40 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Hairy Woodpecker, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
