This hike was a bushwhack loop hike over four small but nice summits located just east of the Jay Mountain Wilderness Area in the Adirondacks of New York. To access this area, we took I-87 north to Exit 32, then went west on Routes 12 and 20 to Seventy Road. We turned right to follow Seventy Road north to the dead end. A couple miles prior to the dead end, the pavement ends and the road turns into a seasonal road that is not maintained in the winter. We were fortunate that there was only about three inches of snow on the road, so we were able to drive to the end.
We hiked eastward in a clockwise loop hitting Mt. Fay first, followed by Blueberry Mountain, Carson Mountain and Little Fay Mountain. Fay has some nice open rock on the summit providing views to the east and south (on a clear day). We were socked in while on the summit. From Fay, we back tracked to the col between Fay and Blueberry, then continued east to Blueberry.
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| Leesa nearing the top of Mt. Fay |
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| The summit of Mt. Fay. Bluff Mountain in the background |
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| Not much of a view on this day |
The summit of Blueberry Mountain lies in some thick spruce, but there is an open spot at the eastern edge of the summit that provides a view of Carson Mountain. We skirted south of the deep eastern face of Blueberry Mountain, then ascended Carson. Carson has great views south and east from some open rock.
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| View of Carson Mountain from Blueberry Mountain |
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| Blueberry Mountain from Carson Mountain |
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| The summit of Carson |
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| Rev, always on the alert |
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| Little Fay and Mount Fay from Carson Mountain |
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| The eastern edge of the Carson summit |
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| Bluff Mountain in the distance catching a moment of sunshine |
From Carson, we looped south below Blueberry and headed for Little Fay Mountain. Little Fay doesn't have much in the way of views except of the rock on the southern flank of Mt. Fay.
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| The south face of Mt. Fay from Little Fay |
We completed our loop by heading SW to descend Little Fay, then we looped northward to pick up our beginning trail just east of the car.
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| Mt. Fay from Seventy Road |
This was a nice loop to reach some smaller open rock summits. For the most part the walking was easy. There was about 3" of snow at the base and 4-5" on the summit.
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 4.6 miles
Hike Time 4 hours
Total Vertical Gain: 1735'
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| Our approximate route (Click image to enlarge) |
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| Our route as displayed at CalTopo.com (Click image to enlarge) |
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteWe bought a house in Etown a little while back and spend about 1/2 of our time here and the rest in Syracuse. I am out exploring some of the smaller peaks and actually went up Seventy Road in Lewis to the start of the seasonal road the leads to Jay Mountain Wilderness. I snowshoed up the road to see if there is a parking area once the road is clear. When I got back home I did a little digging around and found your entry from 2012. Do you remember if there is a parking area up the seasonal road? As far as I could see, it looks like there is only roadside parking, but then again, maybe I did not go far enough up. According the map and compass bearing I was just about due west of Mt. Fay on the road, but maybe the parking is beyond that?
If you happen to remember, I would be happy to hear anything you may know.
Thanks.
Tom Bebee
Syracuse/Elizabethtown