Donaldson Mountain

Donaldson Mountain is an ADK 46er in the High Peaks Wilderness Area of Adirondack State Park.
The mountain is part of the Seward Mountains of the Adirondacks.
Donaldson is flanked to the northeast by Seward Mountain and to the south by Mount Emmons.

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"Not a great day, cloudy, windy and drizzling at times. The weather report was totally wrong but we figured we will take on Donaldson and Emmons and depending on the time, shoot up Seward. We did not want to get home too late being it is Sunday and we need to get things done prepping for work on Monday. So we headed out a little late (7:30am) we started! Conditions we a bit muddy but we found the calkins brook trail really nice. We made good timing getting up to the cole between Seward and Donaldson, shot to Donaldson by 11am. and Emmons by 12. Views were no good but the sky was clearing, made our way back to Donaldson and finally got some clear skies for some good pictures. Got back to the Cole by 1:15PM. At this point we figured 2 hours out and back to Seward and then 3 hours out to the car. We have 1 1/2 hour trip home so in our eyes it was too late to hit Seward, we will come back. All in all a nice hike up these 2 mountains #38 and 39!" — hbotc • Aug 6, 2017

"Solo. Donaldson, Emmons, Seward. All 3 of these summits were terrible, unfortunately. I started out from Corey's Rd (gate is still open, road was dry!) at around 05:45. The first portion of the hike leading to the Calkins Brook herd path was largely uneventful, mud with a thin layer of icy snow on top of it, but bare boots were enough. There was a phenomenal amount of blowdown across this trail though WOW. It all looked relatively new, so I'm guessing this past weekends storm had something to do with it, maybe 20 trees laying across the path? After hitting the bucket cairn I hooked a left and started on the herd path. There were bare boot trails on the herd path, from a few people as well as a dog. The Calkins Brook initial crossing was extremely sketchy. The water was very high and moving fast - I just barely made it across with dry feet & it took some acrobatics to do so. At around 2000' I'm guessing, I stopped to put on my snowshoes, and shortly thereafter the bare boots tracks ended. Not sure if the folks turned around or what, but I didn't see their tracks anywhere in the rest of the range. The conditions were obnoxious today- large mud pits, deep sloppy snow, tight rock space..." — kellieirene • Oct 25, 2016

"Journey across Seward - Donaldson - Emmons, with Jay and Nolan. The weather started nice, but began to look ominous at the summit of Emmons. Thankfully we were able to make the trip back over Seward and down the rockiest sections before we lost daylight, and the rain began to fall. The last few miles in solid rain and darkness made the return to the tents. " — Kazmuglin • Sep 19, 2015

"The 2nd mtn of the day. Great views from 2 different spots, one east, the other west. The blackflies on the summit looking east were bad, which was a shame since that was the viewpoint looking at the 46ers. Went on to Emmons, then back to here to leave the Sewards." — newenglandwarrior • Aug 7, 2015

"Enjoyed a nice winter hike to climb Don, Emmons and Seward today. Temps were brisk in the am with a forecast of mid-teens and then a storm coming in late in the day. As it turned out the winds would pick up by mid morning and the storm would be upon us by noon which made for some tough conditions. Headed in via the horse trail to Caulkins Brook HP (roughly 3 miles) then up to Donaldson (~ 6 miles in), over to Emmons( ~7 miles in) back to Don and over to Seward (~ 8.5 miles in) and down to Ward Brook and out (~ 5 miles once at Ward Brook junction). All trails were broken out except Seward which was windblown due to the storm. CB trail up to Don is a nice easy trail, Don to Emmons and back has a few dips which are fun and some nice views, small boundary peak in between Don and Seward and a short steep section which was well iced in when we were there. Trail down Seward to Ward Brook was tight with branches and blow down and has never been a favorite for us but the Ward Brook trail out was nicely trenched and is a long flat trip to the car. Movign a bit slower than typical, roughly 16.3 miles to summer trailhead (luckily still open and passable with 4WD for us this late) in ~11..." — deb-and-rob • Feb 21, 2015

"Hiked ~ 17 miles - Corey Rd Seward entrance to Calkins Brook to Donaldson, Emmons, Donaldson and Seward. Down the north side of Seward to the Ward Brook trail and back out. Great hike - wet conditions on Emmons and lower trails, snow on some of the Seward descent." — deb-and-rob • May 25, 2014

"Part of a three peak trip ascending from the steep herd path up Seward, over Donaldson to Emmons and back to Donaldson where we took Caulkins Brook herd path back to Corey's Road" — johngilligan • Jun 22, 2013

"Finally getting to Donaldson & Emmons after all the years of playing in the HPs. First time using the Caulkins Brook herdpath and unfortunately not enough daylight to get over to E and back." — Nimblefoot • Feb 26, 2006

"Met Joan Collins and her 8 year old son, William Yellot at the Seward parking lot. Started up the herd path and lost it. Bushwacked our way up to the top while receiving several bee stings. T+ran over to Emmons and then decide to get Seward to, knowing that we would be descending in the dark." — hoche46er • Sep 3, 2000

"Frank, George, Johnny, and I traversed Seward, Donaldson, Emmons from Ward Brook Leanto, then bushwhacked down toward Oulaska Leanto because it was getting dark and wanted to be off summit ridge. I took a terrible fall landing on my backpack, but we continued. Frank took a fall in the stream and it was 11 p.m., so we bivouacked through a long, chilly night using space blankets. Next day, we proceeded to Oulaska Leanto, then back to Ward Brook where our cozy sleeping bags had gone empty all night!" — barbaratraver • Sep 8, 1999

"From Ward Brook Leanto Long day including backpack in from Corey's. Banged my head, knocked dizzy by tree trunk stretched across herdpath at eye level. Frank was ahead and oblivious to what happened. Went on to both Donaldson and Emmons. Very nice views on Donaldson." — barbaratraver • Jul 4, 1986