I parked at the Hogtown parking lot and didn't take a chance on driving the Dacy Clearing Road. I could have done it with my car if I drove slow and carefully, but I hadn't seen the road in a while and didn't want to take a chance. The road is 1.5 miles each way, so it added 30 minutes each way to my hike.
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| The road to Dacy Clearing. Look at all the leaves still on the trees. |
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| Rev in orange. Lots of hunters were out. |
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| I wish I could find out the history on this foundation that is just before Dacy Clearing. |
I signed in at the register at Dacy Clearing and there were a group of 21 cub scouts on the trail ahead of me. It didn't take long to catch up to them. I walked carefully since the old road has many "roller" rocks that were covered by leaves.
The trail from Dacy Clearing to the summit is 1.8 miles but it always seems less than that to me. The first 0.6 miles is a slight grade before the junction with the Bumps Pond trail. After you branch off onto the Sleeping Beauty trail, it soon begins to climb in earnest. The trail was wet from last nights rain, but it wasn't muddy. As I was climbing, one of the hunters in the area fired about 10 shots. It scared Rev and she hung more closer to my side for awhile after that.
I reached the top and as always, I was reminded just how good the view is. I was also treated to interested clouds moving across the landscape. The pictures below can do the talking.
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| Fun clouds! |
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| Heading to the lower viewpoint. |
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| Someone cut most of the branches off this live tree so they could try and have a fire! |
I had the summit to myself for 15 minutes and then I decided to continue on to Bumps Pond. The scouts hadn't caught up with me yet, so I moved on before they reached the top.
Bumps Pond is an additional 0.8 miles from Sleeping Beauty. The trail is fairly rugged and this portion feels like more than 0.8. The pond was quiet and I didn't see anyone after I left the summit of Sleeping Beauty.
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| Sign at Bumps Pond. |
I scooted around Bumps and made my way back to Dacy Clearing. The mixed sun and clouds and turned to all clouds. It was nice to visit this area again and I'm sure I'll do it again next year.
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| The old chimney on the west side of Bumps Pond. |
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 7.5 miles (including Dacy Road)
Hike Timea; 2.5 hours
Total Vertical Gain: ~1300'
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| The route |
The old foundation is among several artifacts of the Jack Dacy farm. You can also see the ruins of a small dam nearby. Sleeping Beauty used to be called Jack's Pinnacle. At one time several thousand bushels of potatoes were grown and there were cows, sheep and hogs. The farm supplied the shoreline hotels and the Knapp Estate. After Jack retired, Jesse Stiles operated the farm till lightning struck a wire fence, traveling along it and jumping to the barn, burning it to the ground. The farm became part of the Knapp Estate which was sold to the State to become forest preserve and a great place for our explorations.
ReplyDeleteI used to lead hikes for the Adirondack Mountain Club where we would climb Sleeping Beauty and sit on the summit reading passages from "Sweet Peas and a White Bridge" by Elsa Kny Steinback and "From Then Till Now" and "Old Days - Old Ways", both by Fred Tracy Stiles. All three books are fascinating accounts of the way it used to be over on the east side.
Wow, thanks for all the excellent information and thanks for sharing! Thanks also for reading.
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