Sentinel Wilderness Exploration and Clements Mountain - 4/16/16

We had thought of camping in the Moose River Plains Wild Forest but we found out that the Limekiln Lake - Cedar River Road will not be open until mid-late May.  Plan B was to camp in Wilmington.  We found a great spot on Bartlett Road and set up camp on Saturday morning.

Our morning hike was an exploration of the "Cape Cod"  of the Sentinel Range Wilderness.   If you look at the shape of the Sentinel Wilderness you will see what we mean.  There is a section between Bartlett Road and the Ausable River that caught our attention.   We wanted to make a loop of this section by going east to the river, then north along the riverbank in the morning sun, followed by climbing the unnamed hill near the north end, the down the ridge back to the start.   

Our delightful campsite.  The Cobble Mountain in the background.

We followed an old jeep road shown on the topo map to get to the river.  Along the way we passed an old abandoned vehicle, a foundation and some old farming tools.

A car that hasn't moved in some time. 

Old farm tools

Soon enough we reached river where we discovered portions of an old jeep road and a herd path.

We played at the waters edge for a bit, enjoying the warm sun.  The water of course was still frigid.

   

Looking south along the Ausable River.

The walk north along the river was easy and pleasant.  A little unusual for us since Route 9N was just across the river.  We are usually far from civilization.  When we drew abreast of the hill to our left, we turned and climbed the hardwood slope to the summit where we were offered views of Whiteface, Ebenezer, Pokomoonshine, Jay, Arnold and more.  These views will be gone once the trees leaf out.

The summit.  Whiteface is barely visible in the center right.

Looking north from the unnamed hill.  Ebenezer Mountain in Upper Jay is on the left.

Zoom view showing Pokomoonshine Mountain on the right.

Jay Mountain on the right, Arnold Mountain is just to the left of the col.

From the oak treed summit, we worked our way down the ridge and near the bottom we came to an open clearing with a great view of Sentinel Mountain, the Cobble Mountain, Whiteface, Pitchoff, Cascade and the Porter ridge.  

Viewpoint low on the ridge.

Whiteface Mountain

Looking up at the viewpoint.

An impressive old foundation near our campsite.

We returned to our campsite and Leesa chose to spend the afternoon there relaxing while Rev and I headed for Clements Mountain for an afternoon hike.

We headed over to Styles Brook Road and parked at the trailhead for Clements Pond.  We only went a short ways on the trail before it was time to head northeast to climb Clements via the SW flank. Once we got above around 2100' we broke into a beautiful red pine forest that lasted all the way to the summit.   

It was amazing to me that the southern part of the summit was a nice red pine forest, but as soon as I walked a little north on the summit, it turned into a thick spruce forest.  I was glad I climbed from the SW!

We returned the way we came to complete the afternoon portion of our hike.  We fed Rev at our camp spot and she snoozed while Leesa and I enjoyed a campfire on the warm spring evening.

Climbing Clements from the SW. 

Looking south to Highland Farms and some high peaks in the back right.

Looking east.  Jay Mountain is on the left.

A viewpoint high on the SW flank of Clements.

Looking west to Whiteface.

Pretty rock and red pine.

Hike Stats:

Morning Hike off Bartlett Road:
Hike Distance:  5.4 miles
Hike Time:  3.5 hours
Total Vertical Gain:  ~800'

Clements Mountain:
Hike Distance:  2.5 miles
Hike Time:  2 hours
Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1400'

Route for Bartlett Road Hike

Approx. route for Clements Mountain