Gull Pond & Carey Hill - Pharaoh Lake Wild Forest - 9/29/13



On the September 29th, I had a few hours to wander and chose to do a little exploration in the vicinity of  Gull Pond, on the east side of Schroon Lake.  The area lies in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area.  The marked trail goes a short half mile to the pond where it ends at a rock promontory, which would make a great picnic spot.  

On the far side of the pond(east side) lies a cliff face at the waters edge rising several hundred feet above the water. To make my way over there, I followed the shore clockwise.  A foot path leads a short distance to a fine designated campsite beside the pond.  It was one of the cleanest campsites I've seen.

I continued to make my way around the north side.  The woods were pretty pines interspersed with large boulders.   

Campsite at the NE corner of Gull Pond

As I approached the eastern ledge a herd path was soon visible.  Not surprising that the cliffs attract adventurers to their summit.  The walk is not difficult, and the view is well worth the short bushwhack.   

View of Gull Pond from the east ledge

In the distance, Schroon Lake was shrouded beneath a layer of fog.

Schroon Lake lies beneath the distant fog 

Northeast of Gull Pond lies Carey Hill which rises almost 500 feet above the surrounding ground to an approximate elevation of 1675'.  I headed that direction to see what views the hill might offer.  The peak has a double summit.  I reached the western summit first, but just prior to that, I had a view of Schroon Lake behind me.

Schroon Lake from Carey Hill

I could also see Pharaoh Mountain and its cliff face on the west face.

Pharaoh Mountain from Carey Hill

Some nice fall color

The summit and surrounding areas all provided generally easy bushwhacking. 

There were several of these rock slabs near the summit

After visiting the eastern summit, I headed back to Gull Pond  making a figure 8 path from the direction I came in.

The rock ledge on the east side of Gull POnd

The fog was finally lifting from Schroon Lake as I got back to Gull Pond.  The loop took about 3 hours to hike at a leisurely exploratory pace.

Hiking Stats:

Hike Distance:  4.2 miles

Hike Time:  3 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1000'

My route for the day