Panther Peak

"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 leaving the summit of Couchsachraga with Arran leading the way, we passed about 5 other hikers. I successfully navigated the bog this time, and we made short work of arriving at Times Square again. We hung a left into the small clearing, and sat and took a break for a few minutes. After passing through the clearing we were in "Herald Square", and I knew that taking a right would lead us back down to Bradley Pond, and continuing straight/left would take us out to Panther. There are a lot of scribbly directions marked on trees and rocks in this area. We scooted out to the summit in about ten minutes. Lots of mud! Like. A lot of mud. Wow! As we topped out at the viewpoint rocks, we realized the true summit was in the trees just beyond a huge open mud pit (how does it stay so wet when it is in direct sunlight?). We navigated through that mostly successfully and to..." — kellieirene • Oct 7, 2016

"Sunny day, left Bradley Pond lean to area camp at 0730. When up to Panther from Bradley Pond trail. Summited Panther, moved onto Couchsachraga, and then back to Santanoni itself. Returning to the camp down the Santanoni express trail, and back to the lean to around 1630." — Kazmuglin • Aug 20, 2016

"Damn. That was quick. Panther was quickly reached after Times Square. There was a slightly muddy stretch at the end going up the side of a rock wall. Great views near the summit. Headed back down the other trail, dealing with mostly snow. A personal worst time I think. Supposedly 14.5 miles round trip and I did it in 11 hr, 40 min. Ouch." — 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

"Frank, Johnny and I endured terrible mud on the Bradley Pond Trail and went slowly to Four Corners because Frank was feeling ill, but we managed 16 miles and 14 1/2 hours to climb Panther and Couchshraga. (Ppd. Santanoni and I still haven't reclimbed it.)" — barbaratraver • Jul 13, 1999

"Packed into Bradley Pond leanto on the 26th. Another day of following the herdpath then losing it then finding it again and so forth. Managed to get to the canister on Panther with strong winds and freezing rain adding to the mix." — Nimblefoot • Jan 27, 1996

"After doing Couch in the rain yesterday tagging Panther and Santanoni today with clearing skies and sun is much more enjoyable. We could actually sit and read the log books from the canisters. " — Nimblefoot • Jul 2, 1995