Cat and Thomas Mountains - Bolton, NY - 7/27/13

I've done this loop hike before, but often times I've just gone to Thomas Mountain when I'm looking for an hour long hike.  This time Leesa and I did the loop hike of Cat and Thomas Mountains.  We went clockwise hitting Cat Mountain first, then took the blue trail to Thomas. 

A re-route on the yellow trail to Cat

The hike to Cat Mountain is 3.4 miles and mostly follows an old jeep road.  The last steep section has been re-routed into the woods, which is a nice improvement.  It took as about an hour and twenty minutes to reach Cat. 

The Tongue Range and beyond from Cat

It felt quite a bit warmer on the open summit than it did in the shady woods.  There was a perfect breeze out and the day was really comfortable.  We lunched on the summit and did a little exploring.  We did notice a white blaze trail heading south from the summit, and a red blaze trail heading east.  I suspect these are older trails and may not be used any more, although the paint didn't look that old.  We didn't follow them to see where they went.

Cat probably provides the best view of Lake George from the west.  You can see the Tongue Range, the islands of the Narrows, and everything heading south from there.  It really is a great viewpoint.

Looking south.  Long Island on Lake George can be seen (and also Trout Lake) 

Leesa and Rev on the summit

USGS summit disc

Almost feeling a tinge of Fall in the air

Rev looking comfortable

When we left the summit of Cat Mountain, we took the blue trail that winds along the ridge back to Thomas Mountain.  This trail is pretty rugged and I would not recommend it to folks that don't do much hiking.  There is one small viewpoint along the way, but Cat Mountain is the best.

As we got to Thomas, there were a group of folks enjoying the view from the cabin.    We chatted with them for a few minutes before we left.  Thomas has a great view also (see my earlier post on Thomas). We stayed at the cabin a few minutes longer and then we took the blue trail the rest of the way down instead of the orange trail (jeep road).

Our route

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  8 miles

Hike Time:  4 hrs, 45 minutes including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2000'

Five Mile Mountain - Lake George Wild Forest - 7/26/13

Most people who go for a hike on the Tongue Mountain Range, in the Lake George Wild Forest, start at Clay Meadows trailhead on Route 9N in Bolton, and head for Fifth Peak.  There is a lean-to there, with perhaps the best view from any lean-to.  You can see Northwest Bay, the Narrows, and almost down to Lake George Village. 

From the same trailhead you can access the Tongue Mountain Range Trail and head north towards File Mile Mountain and beyond.  This section of the trail doesn't see as much use, but it is a beautiful trail.  Nice rock formations, soft pine needle trail, some views.

Leesa crossing the foot bridge over NW Bay Brook 

The route starts out from Clay Meadow on the Northwest Bay Trail leading you across Northwest Bay Brook.  After 1/2 mile, Northway Bay Trail turns right to head south and follow the shoreline of the Tongue Range with NW Bay. 

Nice water cascades

 If you continue straight instead, you begin Five Mile Point Trail which takes you 1.5 miles to the ridge of the Tongue Range.  From the intersection with the Tongue Mountain Range Trail we turned north to climb another 1.5 miles to Five Mile Mountain.  If we had turned south, we would have reached Ffrth Peak in .7 miles.

Junction with the Tongue Mountain Range Trail

We didn't see any hikers on the Tongue Mountain Range Trail, although we did see two tents set up as we got close to Five Mile Mountain.  When we reached the false summit before the top I saw a solid green snake which I had never seen before.  It was a bright green color.  The snake was about 18" long, and not much bigger around than a pencil.  I later looked it up, and it seems that it was a Smooth Green Snake.

a Smooth Green Snake 

Nearby, we saw a skin that had been shed from a timber rattlesnake.  It was probably 3 feet long, maybe 3-1/2 feet.  We kept our eyes open for further signs of snakes, but didn't see any.

 a rattlesnake skin

A false summit along the way

As the trail continues northward, it doesn't go up and over the actual summit of Five Mile Mountain.  It goes just east.  We left the trail to climb the final 50' to the summit.  There is some nice open rock, but views are limited with the leaves on the trees.

The USGS summit disc was somewhat hidden under a pine bough.

A hard to find summit disc

The weather was just about perfect and we stopped to have lunch on the summit.  Going down, we retraced our ascent route.  Overall the hike was about 3.5 hours, including lunch time on the summit.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  7 miles

Hike Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2100'

Elk Lake to Mount Colvin - 7/21/13

Pinnacle …B…B…B…Blake, Colvin

Maybe I’m stuttering, or maybe those B’s are just bumps along the route.  There are certainly not major cols between each bump, but there are enough bumps to slow you down.

With the good weather yesterday, I knew the trails (and parking areas) would be crowded.  I decided to do a hike from Elk Lake.  I arrived at 6:15 and grabbed the next to last spot at the parking area.

Everyone was headed for the Dixes; nobody had signed in on the Elk Lake-Marcy trail register.  I had thought about going up Haystack’s “back” side, but everybody’s been doing that too.  EEK.  Besides, I don’t think it’s allowed to take a dog thru the Marcy Swamp since it is AMR property.



1st sign at the Trailhead

I chose to head for Pinnacle and then up the ridge to Blake and Colvin.   The first five miles of the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail are nothing special in my mind.   A portion of it is a jeep road, followed be the up and over of the ridge between Pinnacle and Boreas.   I was surprised that the mosquitoes were bad and had to stop to put on some bug repellant.



Bridge over the outlet of Elk Lake

Junction of Elk Lake-Marcy Trail with Pinnacle Trail

I reached the trail to Pinnacle Ridge after an hour and a half.  I quickly passed an illegal campsite on the left adjacent to the trail.  At the next brook, I saw a couple camped on the left about 75 feet off the trail.I stopped to talk to them for a bit. They were nice.  There was no disc at that spot either, but it had a fire ring and appears to get moderate use.  The ADK map shows a campsite on the right of the trail, but I didn’t go looking for it.  There was some flagging in the area though going to the right.  After this point, there was no water on the trail.I had 6 liters with me for myself and the dog.

The Pinnacle Trail is really nice.It doesn’t get a lot of use, so the trail is soft pine needles/leafs/grass/moss; very little mud and very nice to walk on.  Also – a trail crew has recently been through there eliminating all blowdown.

Upon reaching the spur trail for Pinnacle, I turned to climb the .2 miles to the summit and immediately came to a steep ladder.  Rev wanted to go up this, but she needed some assistance.  After the ladder, I came to the point on the ridge.  There were great views of Elk Lake and the Dixes.Back at the ladder, Rev didn’t want to go down and wouldn’t let me help her.  Our work around was a nearby steep mossy cleft with just enough handholds to secure the descent.She was satisfied with this route and easily made it down.



Junction with spur trail to Pinnacle

  

Managed to get Rev up this ladder to Pinnacle

This is how we came down, instead of the ladder

Once back on the trail, I began climbing the 3 bump roller coaster.  At the 2^nd bump I took the “72 step” spur to reach the viewpoint.  This point provided a view similar to Pinnacle, but perhaps even a little better.  Just past the 2^nd bump, was a brushed out herd path to the left; probably leading last Cy Beedes Ledge to private land at Upper Ausable Lake.

After one more bump, I reached the summit of Blake.  Soon it was time to run into people again.  I made my way down the muddy, rooty, rocky mess on Blake and ran into 4 different groups near the Blake/Colvin col.  All were headed for Blake.

From the col I started climbing Colvin.I negotiated the 2 ladders with the dog.  There were a little easier, although still a challenge.  As I reached Colvin, I was surprised to find I had the summit to myself.  Rev and I stopped to have our lunch there.It was just past noon.  It had taken almost 5-3/4 hours to travel the 10.8 miles to Colvin.

I was surprised that it had been partly cloudy all morning.  On the way down, the sun and blue sky started to prevail.  A nice breeze also picked up.Once I got past Blake Peak again, the mud was gone, and the nice trail returned.  The roller coaster down felt easier since I was losing elevation overall.

Back at the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail, it was just a slog up and over the ridge and out the jeep road. Overall the trip was 20.6 miles with about 6200 vertical.  Total time was 11.25 hrs.    

A first glimse of Ausable Lake

Elk Lake from Pinnacle

   

Once back on the trail, I began climbing the 3 bump roller coaster.At the 2^nd bump I took the “72 step” spur to reach the viewpoint. This point provided a view similar to Pinnacle, but perhaps even a little better.Just past the 2^ndbump, was a brushed out herd path to the left; probably leading last Cy Beedes Ledge to private land at Upper Ausable Lake.

After one more bump, I reached the summit of Blake.Soon it was time to run into people again.I made my way down the muddy, rooty, rocky mess on Blake and ran into 4 different groups near the Blake/Colvin col.All were headed for Blake.

Nice bed of pine needles on the trail

Who's counting?  The sign at the 2nd bump.

Elk Lake from the 2nd bump

Elk Lake left, Hoffman Ridge right

Sign in the col between Blake and Colvin

From the col I started climbing Colvin.  negotiated the 2 ladders with the dog.There were a little easier, although still a challenge.  As I reached Colvin, I was surprised to find I had the summit to myself.  Rev and I stopped to have our lunch there.  It was just past noon.  It had taken almost 5-3/4 hours to travel the 10.8 miles to Colvin.

Upper Ausable lake from colvin

Lower Ausable Lake from Colvin

Original Verplank Colvin survey marker on Colvin 

Summit of Colvin

Ladder on the slope of Colvin heading towards Blake

A second ladder in the same area

The Great Range

Ferns and moss along the path

I was surprised that it had been partly cloudy all morning. On the way down, the sun and blue sky started to prevail. A nice breeze also picked up. Once I got past Blake Peak again, the mud was gone, and the nice trail returned. The roller coaster down felt easier since I was losing elevation overall.

Back at the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail, it was just a slog up and over the ridge and out the jeep road. Overall the trip was 20.6 miles with about 6200 vertical. Total time was 11.25 hrs. 

The route (Click image to enlarge)

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance: 20.8 miles roundtrip

Hike Time:  11 hours, 15 minutes (including stops)

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 6200'

Bennies Brook Slide to Lower Wolfjaw - 7/15/13

Bennies Brook Slide on the northwest face of Lower Wolfjaw Mountain was choice for a hike on Monday.  The slide has been around for awhile, but it got enlarged and wiped clean by Hurricane Irene.  I'd heard great things about it, so it moved to the top of my list of places to go.

Leesa took part of the day off from work and we got a pretty early start from the Garden in Keene Valley.  We were on the trail by 6:30.  Knowing that it was going to be a really hot day, we wanted to get up the slide before the heat of the day.

We went in on the Phelps trail, past the second register near the ranger's cabin.  We didn't take the suspension bridge there.  I wanted to show Leesa the ADK leantos near Johns Brook Lodge.  We crossed the wooden bridge leading to Grace Camp and camp Peggy O'Brien and soon went by the leantos.  We may stay there at some point for a future trip.

We looped up to 5 corners, then headed north on the Southside trail.  The first slide on the right was Wolfjaw Brook.  We continued past that to the next brook, Bennies Brook, marked with a big 5' cairn. 

New warning signs at either end of the South Side Trail.



We turned at the cairn to begin our way up Bennies Brook slide.  In all the pictures I've seen, the slide looks to be rather dry.  It really doesn't feel that way when you are climbing; escpecially down low.  There are lots of nice water shoots and water holes.  They are easy to step around, but they make the slide more interesting.



Near the start of the slide.

We made sure to day on the dry rock, although the wet rock still seemed to be grippy and not slippery in most spots.



As we made our way up the slide, the sun came up over the Great Range.  The right hand side of the slide was in the sun, while the left hand side stayed in the shade.  We stayed on the left to be cooler.



An early look back down

Some grasses are beginning to grow in the slide om some spots

The landscape of the slide seemed to be ever changing.  That was one of the neat features of the slide.  Some portions were all smooth rock, some areas were rubble, other areas had carved rock.



 

In the middle of the slide, it levels out a little before beginning the steeper portion on the upper half.  Leesa is not too keen on exposure.  This slide didn't bother her at all except one little spot near the top of the slide, just below the headwall.  I had no problem with the slide.  

Fascinating layers of rock

A good look at the middle half of the slide

An interesting feature

 As we made our way up, the water began to wind down to a trickle.  Big Slide and Yard Mountains were visible behind us.

 

Once near the top portion of the slide, some rubble replaced much of the smooth slab of rock.  We chose to avoid the headwall at the top right of the slide.  We exited left near the top onto a newly forming head path.  

Looking down from about 2/3 of the way up

The headwall on the right.  An exit to a newly forming herd path on the left.

  

Near the top looking back down



A closer look at the headwall



  

The herd path was only a 2 minute walk before coming out on the Range Trail.  At the Range Trail we turned right and climbed the steep final stretch to the top.  Visibility was good.  We had some snacks before heading for the Wolfjaw col.  We took the Lower Wolfjaw Trail down to the Southside Trail. 

Wolfjaw Lean-to

Once back to the Southside Trail, we followed it to where it got washed out by Hurricane Irene.  We crossed John's Brook near that point and bushwhacked the short distance back to the Phelps Trail; where we then had an easy 30 minute walk back to the car at the Garden.

I wished I hadn't put off this hike for so long.  Bennies Brook Slide is amazing.  Don't miss it.  You don't have to be a technical slide climber to enjoy it.  There are even nice level spots to sit and relax.  Kids would love it.  It's not a dangerous climb in my opinion.  I'm sure I'll be back again soon. 



Our route (Cick to enlarge)

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  11.8 miles for our route

Hike Time:  7 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 3500'