The Three Sisters - Warrensburg, NY - 4/3/16

Sunday was cold and windy everywhere with the wind chill factor probably near zero.  It felt like it each time I was on a summit.  I ventured over to Warrensburg to tackle the Three Sisters.  I drove past Hickory Mountain Ski Area, at which point the road turns to gravel (and becomes Katts Corner Road).  The road only continues for a quarter mile before dead-ending at a small turn around area in front of a gate from which you can access this area.  I parked out of the way and set off south down the trail that hugs the Hudson River. 

After less than a mile I passed an abandoned fallen down shed on the right.  At 1.1 miles, I turned left to follow an old woods road that takes you into the pass between Middle Mountain and Bald Mountain.  You get great views of the cliffs on the south face of Middle Mountain from this woods road.  Dropping down into the valley between Middle and Pine the woods road starts to branch in separate directions and I chose to just walk through the woods at this point.

I passed an old abandoned house that looked like it might have been a nice house in its day.  It climbed Pine Mountain on a steep slope with lots of cobble stone.  I picked my way slowly to the summit.  The SW corner is where the views are and a little cairn has been built on top of an old wood stove.

Looking towards Bald Mountain from Pine Mountain

Looking towards the summit of Pine Mountain

A zoom view of Middle Mountain from Pine Mountain

Bald Mountain from Pine Mountain 

I went back down looking for a better line down the mountain but I still found lots of loose stone.  I then picked up my tracks and went back over the col between Bald and Middle.  I circled around Middle until I reached the point on the SW face where I was past the line of cliffs.  I climbed a moderate grade through white pine and hemlock before reaching the summit of Middle Mountain which also had its best viewpoint on the SW ledges.  The true summit is in the trees.

Next I backtracked again to the col for the 3rd time.  From there it was just a gentle 0.6 miles ascent through mostly hardwoods to the summit of Bald Mountain, which was also hardwoods. 

An old waterwheel

A house lost in time.

Looking up at Middle Mountain from the south.

In the col between Middle and Bald.

State land property corner to the south of Middle Mountain

The SW ledge on Middle Mountain.

Bald Mountain from Middle Mountain.

I passed over the summit to the ledges on the SW side.  I found the bolt holes from an old survey station on a rock just above the ledges.

Below are a bunch of pictures from the ledges on Bald Mountain.  This was an awesome spot; unfortunately I was there in extreme winds and wind chill.  It was not a time to sit sunning on a rock. I'll come back here on a nice warm day and bring Leesa to show her the spot.   

Looking down from the lower ledge. 

 From Bald, it was back down to the col and back down the pleasant woods road to the jeep road by the river and out.  A nice hike would be just Bald Mountain via this route.  It would be perhaps 5 miles round trip.

 

The woods path between the river and the Middle/Bald col.  

The collapsed shed.

The 2nd gate from the parking spot.

The parking spot and 1st gate.

Hike Stats:
Hike Distance:  7.2 miles
Hike Time:  5 hours
Total Vertical Gain:  ~2500'