Friday, July 25, 2014

Lucky number 13

Climbed some more small, trail-less peaks in the central Adirondacks. Parked at the trailhead for Thirteenth Lake. Followed the trail along the west side of the lake for about a mile to the intersection with the Peaked mountain trail. Then, I went off trail and headed north up the southern ridge of Little Thirteenth Lake mountain. Within 10 minutes, I started getting views from the patches of open rock. I continued along the ridge losing only 100 feet before the final climb up Big Thirteenth Lake mountain. There was a nice view from a rock promontory about 1/10 mile west of the summit. Had a close up view of Peaked and Slide mountains. The top of mountain was covered with raspberry plants, but I found only a couple worth eating. The bear must have gotten them all. He did leave me lots of paths to follow all over the mountain side. After a snack, I headed down southeast toward the trail. I then drove over to the Old Farm Clearing trailhead. Followed the easy trail along the east side of the Thirteenth Lake for a short ways to Elizabeth point. There were a couple of camp sites here and sort of a sandy beach. While sitting on a big rock by the water, I watched a kayak lazily paddle by. Felt nice with the warm breezes and no bugs. Waded my feet in the water before heading back.

Summit Elevation: Big Thirteenth Lake Mountain 2778 ft, Little Thirteenth Lake Mountain 2516 ft
Round-trip Distance: 4.0 mi (+ 2.0 mi )
Elevation Change: 1220 ft
Thirteenth Lake

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Final Farewell

I went out today to spread Howie's ashes in the woods. I chose Howard mountain in the northern Adirondacks as the spot - since we both had climbed it before (2012 trip report), and of course the name. Parked at the trailhead on Tracy Road in North Hudson. Followed the trail to Crowfoot pond for about 0.6 miles. Then, went off trail and headed SW toward the summit. Passed a small beaver meadow. Stopped at the summit to spread Howie's ashes and say a final farewell. Goodbye, Howie my little beagle buddy ... You belong to the mountains now. Afterward, I headed back down. Went past Little Howard Pond on the way.

Summit Elevation: Howard 1710 ft
Round-trip Distance: 3.5 mi
Elevation Change: 660 ft

After returning to the car, I literally went across the street and climbed Feeder mountain. This is another small trail-less peak. I traveled in a northerly direction climbing the ridge, and then turned more westerly as I got higher up. There were views from the patches of open rock along the way. Reached the top and then went down a more direct route. It was steep in spots with small cliffs to negotiate around, but made it back to the road about 1/3 mile away from the car.

Summit Elevation: Feeder 1653 ft
Round-trip Distance: 2.5 mi
Elevation Change: 590 ft
Howard

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Whip it!

Did some more trail work today. Just concentrated on the beginning section of the trail - it grows fast since it is more in the open. I purchased a weed whip at HD that I used for the first time. It's kind of like swinging a golf club - except that you have to repeat about a hundred times. But, it works better than using pruning shears.


Friday, July 11, 2014

Ross

Needed to clear my head after a long week - so what better way to do that than to go hiking. Climbed a small trail-less peak in the southern Adirondacks today - Ross mountain near Garnet Lake. Parked on Armstrong road at a small pull-off near where the snowmobile trail comes in from the east. Headed back down the road a bit and then into the woods. Cross a small creek and then within five minutes, hooked up with and followed an old road (shown on old topo maps). It was obvious at first, but I almost lost it after about 3/4 mile in an open area that was a sea of ferns. Luckily, I was able to find it again. There were overgrown areas on the road, but the road bed itself was obvious in most places. Seemed to get some use, but not a lot. The road ended after about two miles on the north side of Ross mountain. There were not too many signs left of the settlement that was once here. I found an old cellar hole and a rusty barrel in a clearing. At this point, I bush-whacked up the north side of the mountain. It was mostly open with the usual witch hazel, open areas with ferns, stinging nettles and thorny brush. Saw lots of deer scat, some bear scat, and also bear prints in a muddy spot. I reached the summit and checked the views from open areas along the south side of the summit which was covered with blueberry plants.  Unfortunately, there were not too many blueberries ... maybe the bear ate them all. The views were surprisingly good from this small peak. Mount Blue was prominent to the west with Garnet Lake below. Could also see Crane and other neighboring mountains. Had a nice sunny day for this short adventure. Bugs were not too bad - at the top it seemed to be  mostly house flies. On the drive back, stopped at Stewarts and got some Adirondack Bear Paw ice cream that was on sale ... seemed appropriate.

Summit Elevation: Ross 2677 ft
Round-trip Distance: 6.0 mi
Elevation Change: 1400 ft
Ross