I've climbed Pilot Knob Mountain from the Buck Mountain trailhead on Pilot Knob Road, via the ridge and also from the West, starting at Echo Bay Lane. Another fun route, which I did today, was to start at the Buck Mountain trailhead on Pilot Knob Road and take the trail towards Inman Pond.
I followed this trail for 1.6 miles, climbing to an elevation of 1100' before branching right off the trail onto an old woods road which climbs up to a col on Pilot Knob, following a drainage on the way up. The climb is moderately steep, but it is not rugged and I found myself on the shoulder of Pilot Knob Mountain after an hour of hiking and 2.3 miles traveled.
This would be a fantastic backcountry ski route to ski down in some deeper powder conditions! I stayed on the shoulder of the mountain for a little while and took some pictures. It was a nice morning with full sun and no wind.
Eventually I went back down the same way to the Inman Pond trail, then continued along the Inman Pond trail to the height of land before looping around and going back to Pilot Knob Road.
The Inman Pond Trail had lots of ice flows in the trail so I wore microspikes the entire time.
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| Ice is building on the rock faces |
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| Approaching the shoulder of Pilot Knob Mountain, |
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| Very nice today with no wind. |
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| Long Island, Assembly Point, Cleverdale and Elizabeth Island. |
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| Strange to see the lake without ice in January! |
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| Looking North to Buck Mountain. |
Hike Stats:
Hike Distance: 6.6 miles
Hike Time: 2.75 hours
Total Vertical Gain: ~2000'
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The route (click image to enlarge).
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