We left Ottawa around 10:30 on Friday, crossing at Ogdensburg (no line!). We drove to Tupper Lake for sandwiches at Larkin’s Deli, a decent little takeout counter in a gas station. After lunch, it was straight on to the Santanoni trailhead where there was only one other car in the lot.

Full packs

Signing the register

We hit the trail with our overnight packs at 3:40, starting along a gravel road. The large chunks of new gravel were quite uncomfortable to walk on, but fortunately that only lasted about 5 minutes. We walked 2.5km along the road before turning right onto the blue-marked Bradley Pond Trail. It was easy going for a bit, then after about an hour of hiking it became rougher, wetter and steeper. Lots of precarious rock-hopping with heavy packs. The trail infrastructure was in pretty rough shape, with rotting logs. We spent another hour on this more technical climb through mud pits, following the Santanoni Brook.

Navigating some slippery rocks

Bradley Pond herd path turn-off. We’ve nearly reached the campsite

Just as we were approaching the campsite, we caught up with the one group ahead of us: a dad, two teenaged sons, and their dog Oreo. We arrived at camp together, but they were technically first and beelined for the lean-to. This was no real issue for us because we had a tent.

Our tiny nylon home

Broccoli for dinner

Our campsite was a bit further along the trail and was wrapped around by a babbling, little stream, with plenty of little pools. We chose the site with the biggest space for a tent. It had a good mix of shady and sunny areas and was nicely mossy. The downside was that it was far from the thunderbox and the path there was wet and marshy. It was especially wet due to the remnants of hurricane Beryl that passed through on Wednesday.

Dinner was angel hair pasta alfredo with broccoli and bacon. Alas, we forgot the parmesan cheese along with our can of Pringles and Allie’s hiking pants. Not our best performance. We were in bed just after 10.

On Saturday, we set a 6:10 alarm for our big day of hiking, knowing we would be slow to get going. We left camp at 8:10, quietly sneaking past the occupants of the lean-to who were still asleep. We spent 30 minutes retracing our steps to the the junction with Santanoni Express, marked with a big rock cairn.

Cairn marking the Santanoni Express

The trail started moderately through a flat, marshy area then the climbing started over rough trail with lots of blowdown. It was hard work but manageable. There was one notable 50’ cliff, but we found there were multiple ways up using trees.

At 10:30 we reached a clearing with great views of high peaks. We continued on and reached the summit by 10:50. Approaching the summit, we crossed paths with two nice women who were leaving. We found out later that the younger woman was a 46er working as hiking guide for the other. At the summit we chatted with another young woman from Hudson, NY.

After a snack break we continued along the traverse to “Times Square.” We were surprised at how steeply and technically the trail descended and then climbed back to Times Square where the turnoff to Couchsachraga is marked by a cairn.

Looking along the ridge toward Panther

Descending

We paused at 12:15 for lunch, just after the first shower had cleared. After lunch, views opened up again as clouds blew past and we started the descent towards Couch and the famous bog. Some parts were technical and scrambly, but others were lovely, flat-ish paths through pine forest.

The infamous Couchsachraga bog

Treading carefully

The infamous bog was not as terrible as described. There were plenty of logs to keep us out trouble. Once through the bog, there was a little bit of climbing, followed by a scramble that arrived directly at the small, treed summit of Couch. When we arrived at 2:15pm, our friends from the lean-to were there, which was slightly concerning because they had started with Panther and had a lot more hiking ahead of them.

Peak #43: Couchsachraga

After some gummies for sustenance we promptly turned around to head back up to Times Square. All told, Couch was a three hour round trip. It was steep back up, but we told ourselves that it was really just the start of the Panther climb, which felt encouraging.

Just past Times Square is “Herald Square,” where the trail to Panther and the herd path down to Bradley Pond meet. From there, it was less than 20 minutes to the summit of Panther. The trail was super muddy. Why does no one talk about the Panther bogs!? The final scramble to the summit was quite steep. There were great views just before the summit, looking back at Santanoni and Couch.

Taking in the view

We chatted with all our friends from the day and took some photos before descending to Herald Square and back down the Panther Brook herd path. The trail went straight through the boulders and water of the brook itself. It was hard going! Not easier than the Santa Express in our opinion. We worried about our lean-to neighbours descending in the dark. We definitely think doing a loop in the direction we took is best. It front loads the distance and the climbing and saves the best peak for last.

Steep descents

Hiking through the brook

We arrived back at camp at 7:00 pm. We had offered to filter water for a couple we met on the trail, but they must have been helped by other hikers because they never showed up. We were very happy to wash off all the day’s sweat and mud in the babbling stream. Anna’s cold beer was not stolen by duckholes.

Dinner was pouches of Indian food. We had a nice relaxing evening. It was great to have such long hours of daylight!

Time for bed

We had a sleep in the next morning and left around 1pm. It took us 2 hours to return to the parking lot. We treated ourselves to the most delicious burgers and fries and tots at The Park in Long Lake. An amazing spot!! Met a shoeless man and learned about a certain political assassination attempt. An eventful lunch time.