Averill Peak (3810') - Town of Lyon Mountain - 7/3/15

Friday was spent doing a wonderful combination hike.  Leesa called it dinner with a side and a dessert.  The dinner was Averill Peak, another stop on my ADK hundred highest list.  We came close with no cigar back in the end of March.  On that trip, the snow proved to be to deep.  We were falling in spruce traps with our snowshoes on and had to turn back about a third of a mile from the summit.

This time around, we started a little closer to our intended route.  From the Town of Lyon Mountain, we drove on Power House Road to the end at a large municipal water tank.  The road turns into  rough road at this point which is mostly used by ATV's.

We followed the rough road up to the saddle on the ridge where there lies a communications tower and a building.  This 2 mile walk took us an hour and 15 minutes.

Looking down the access road... it almost looks like a slide

The tower at the col on the ridge at around 3700'

From the tower, there is a herd path to the summit that starts near the tie down from the first guy wire that you see on your left as you approach the tower.  The herd path start is markd by a small rock cairn and 3 red dots painted on a tree.  The length of the herd path is marked by red paint dots and orange ribbon and is only 0.3 miles long.

Looking down the guy wire towards the start of the herd path

The cairn marking the start of the herd path is within sight of the building.

The herd path is in the middle of the picture. 

Not many summit signs on ADK Hundred Highest Peaks, but there is one here.

The view from Averill Peak

Another look at the herd path (and red paint)  

After we reached the summit and spent some relax time there, we went back to the communications tower and wandered around the other side, behind the helicopter platform.  There was a clearing for another guy wire and again there was a herd path marked by ribbons and red dots.  It was on our left as we walked in.

This herd path took us to an open ledge NW of the communications tower that offered a nice view of Lower and Upper Chateaugay Lakes.  Our topo map showed the elevation at this unnamed bump to be 3703'.  This view was even better than the view from Averill Park. While Leesa considered Averill Peak "dinner"; this ledge she considered a "side".  It was indeed a nice side dish.

We followed the ded dots further and it turned out to complete a triangle hike in the vicinity of the tower (see the map at the bottom).  

View from the ledge NW of the Communications Tower.

Upper and Lower Chateaugay Lake

We were now back on the access road maybe a quarter mile below the tower.  Earlier when we had been at the tower, I had noticed a large open rock hill to the north of the tower wasn't too far from the access road.   We now decided to go back down the access road until we could turn into the woods and bushwhakc to this open un-named hilltop that our topo map showed an elevation of 3388'.

We cut into the woods and followed a drainage almost all the way up to the open rock.  Once on the summit of this hill, we had found Leesa's "dessert".  This is a spectacular hill with a 360 degree view full of mountains and lakes.    

A zoom view of Hill 3388' from the tower on Averill Mountain.  This would be our "dessert".

The drainage we followed to Hill 3388

Ferns kept us company on the way up.

Leesa and Rev enjoying Hill 3388

 We really enjoyed this spot and we spent quite a while here.  While we poked aroound, Leesa noticed that there was another herd path with red paint dots descending from the base of the rock. We was betting that it went back to the access road, so we took it and followed it down.  It ran parallel to our ascent route for a ways then it turned a little more westerly.  It came out on the access road about a mile from the water tower where we had started.  There were 3 red dots on a tree at the access road marking where the herd path started.

This view from Hill 3388 reminded me of similar views in Acadia National Park in Maine. 

Lyon Mountain in the distance.

Averill Peak in the distance.

Someone had built a cairn at the top.  A tattered cloth summit banner was found. 

What a view!

Another cairn on Hill 3388

Looking towards the summit.

More ferns and birches on the way down the red dot herd path.

Birches!

There was even a nice little bridge across the drainage.

3 red dots on the tree at the access road marked the base of the herd path to Hill 3388'.

This trip turned out the be a pleasant trip with dinner, a side and a dessert; each being better than the last.  It turned out to be much more than a repeat of our winter attempt.  Hill 3388 was an amazing bonus to our day.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  6.5 miles

Hike Time:  6 hours, including stops

total Vertical Gain:  ~2200'  

  

The blue was the driving portion from town.  The red was our hike.

The Nat Geo topo with our route.

Averill Peak (3803') Summit Attempt - Chazy Highlands State Forest - 3/29/15

In all my infinite wisdom, I thought Averill Peak would be a peak I could summit even with a deep snowpack, since a communications tower access road leads to within about a quarter mile of the summit.  Wrong once again.

After spending a lovely morning XC skiing at the New Land Trust, Leesa and I headed over to the hamlet of Lyon Mountain to do an afternoon climb of Averill Peak via the access road.  First we parked at the wrong spot, adding about a half mile walk each way to our trip, no big deal.  We had parked at the end of School Hill Street, when we could have driven up Power House Road to the beginning of the access road.  From where we parked, we got to walk past the huge abandoned Power House building.

Old Power House Building

From the Power House building looking back at the car

Power House Road is up ahead where the telephone pole is

After a short walk, we gained the Power House Road and followed it up to the power building a water storage facility.  Here we saw 3 cars parked and talked with a man there who said that others were up on the access road skiing.

We began climbing and I was immediately saddened that I had not thought to bring my skis and climbing skins for this trip.  While occasional snowmobiles use this access road (we saw two), it is great for spring skiing or powder skiing.  We were following the ski tracks of several persons who had skinned up ahead of us.

From where we had parked we climbed a mere 800' in the first 1.75 miles.  The elevation at the start was 1900' and there was lots of snow even at the base.  At 2700' there was a distinct change in grade and we climbed 1000' in the next 0.9 miles to the tower on the sub-summit at 3703'.     

Recent snow still in the trees

While we were climbing I could tell that there was close to 2' of snow on the ground in the woods.  Still, I expected I could trudge through a couple feet of powder for 0.25 miles to get from the sub-summit to the true summit.  Perhaps it would even be broken out by previous snowshoers.  

The tower building at 3700'

I started scouting around at the tower looking for a track or a seam in the trees heading SE,  I had no such luck.  The spruces were tight and full of snow.  While still within sight of the tower, Leesa fell in a spruce trap to her waist.  I helped get her out.  That was enough for her to decide she was done.

I still hoped I could find a way through the trees, but the minefield of spruce traps was too great a risk to take.  If I were alone, and fell in a spruce trap and got stuck, it would not be a good scene.  It's one thing to fight deep powder, but it's another to not know whether the floor will fall out below you.  Decision made... I would turn back.

    

Looking SE from the tower towards the true summit

I don't mind having to hike this mountain again.  The only snag is the long drive to get here for me.  I'll return in a different season for the hike, and maybe, I'll return in the winter to ski this route.   This was certainly a beautiful weather day and we had great views from the sub-summit.  It would have been a fun run down on the skis with these spring conditions.  We saw 2 guys skiing down and they were having a blast.  

Lake Champlain in the distance

Heading back down

  A dam near the start

Another look at the old Power House building

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  5.25 miles

Hike Time:  3 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  1800'