Couchsachraga Peak

Couchsachraga Peak is an ADK 46er peak in Adirondack Park.
"Couchsachraga" is based on an Algonquin or Huron name for the area, meaning "dismal wilderness".
The mountain is part of the Santanoni Mountains of the Adirondacks.
Couchsachraga Peak is flanked to the east by Panther Peak.
There is no marked trail to the forested, viewless summit.
The peak was originally thought to be 4,000 feet and was included in the ADK's 46 High Peaks. When a newer survey found it and three other peaks to be lower, the ADK list was not changed.
Couchsachraga was often climbed from the Cold River area during the early days of the Forty Sixers. Now it is almost always climbed from herdpaths originating half a mile south of Panther's summit.

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"I don't understand why this little guy gets such a bad reputation. Sure its 180' short of 4k and out there, but it was a nice unique experience with a great outlook to the south and back at the Santanoni ridge. Will hike again." — Right-On • Sep 1, 2017

"A wet Saturday, a great Marine Corp day to march through the slop of the Santanoni Range. We took off around 6:30am headed out to Bradley Pond and up the herd path to Herald Square and out to Panther 1st. No views, rain and mud was the theme of the hole trip. After descending Panther we hit Time Square had a snack and went on to Couch. By the time we hit the Couch summit there was hints of sun and views above the clouds. Left Couch, went back up to Time Square and out to Santanoni! Finally some sun and the skies were clear for pictures. Views North, South and East were great, unfortunately low clouds West killed those views. Spent some time at the summit then exited via the Santanoni Express trail." — hbotc • Aug 19, 2017

"Solo-ish. Santanoni (33), Couchsachraga (34), Panther (35), clockwise. Started out my day with an interesting encounter in the dark as I pulled into the parking area around 0500 & roused Arran Duncan, who was sleeping in his van. I later spent about half of the hike out in his company, though we started out separately. After hitting the Y junction and going left to drop down into Times Square, I did encounter some more mud than I had on my way up to Santanoni on the Express Trail, but with weather having been dryer than usual, it wasn't too terrible. The drop down on this trail was fairly steep but over before I knew it, and I was at a large boulder, with a small cairn in the middle of the trail just beyond it. Straight/left heads to Couch, whereas to the right is a small clearing that then heads to "Herald Square." Keeping in mind that Arran-of-little-research wasn't far behind me, I took a stick and dug a "C" with an arrow denoting the direction of Couch into the dirt, and headed on my way. (A tree on the left side does have a C carved into with an arrow, but had I not been paying attention, it's easy to overlook.) The trail was much muddier from here, but overall I enjoyed it, ..." — kellieirene • Oct 7, 2016

"The second peak of the day. Met up with a couple of women and we went down together. Lots of ice pockets scattered around and traction needed for those. The mud pit was nasty. We managed to log hop across but my poles suck in a foot. Just below the summit is a 15 foot rock wall climb. Not that difficult. Views were so-so. " — newenglandwarrior • Apr 29, 2016

"Started out the day at Tahawus and we were on trail by 6:45. Headed in the well worn road to the Bradley Pond junction (~1.8 miles in). Followed Bradley Pond trail through to the Herald Sq herdpath and then to Panther, onto Couchsachraga and Santanoni. All trails through this point were in excellent shape - the trail to Couch is a bit tight and is a bit of a trek on the way back - it took us 1 hr 5m from TS on the way out and 1h15m on the way back to TS. Santa is a steep climb in parts and a tight trail in parts as well that opens to a nice open summit. We took the Santa Express down which was a mess at the top (many misleading tracks and a lot of deep spruce traps), the lower part is easier to navigate and was well broken out. We were back at the car at 5:45 - 10 hours of hiking and 11 hours on the trails/summits." — deb-and-rob • Mar 8, 2014

"Second time up this one. Not the greatest of views from the summit on this one as it is one of the lower summits in the high peaks region. Be prepared to get muddy. This one stays wet nearly year round with Boggs in the saddle. " — jouv236 • Jul 15, 2013

"After a 8-10 yr hiatus of not getting any new peaks for my W46 and only having 3 stragglers left it was definitely time to finish it. I joined Claudia and the Albany chapter of ADK for a quick romp in the Santas. Kind of a let down as I neared the little bastard and realized there was no longer a canister to find and record our visit but at least the Santas were now complete." — Nimblefoot • Feb 11, 2006

"Frank, Johnny and I climbed Couchshraga after summiting Panther Peak. Frank wasn't feeling well and it was getting late so we skipped Santanoni. MUDDY, swamp-like path to Couch." — barbaratraver • Jul 13, 1999

"Baggin the Santas with two friends working on their 46. We wanted to get Couch out of the way first and it ended up raining all day making for a truly pleasurable day. We were so wet when we got back to the leanto one friend went home leaving the other two peaks for another trip." — Nimblefoot • Jul 1, 1995