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