Chimney Mountain - Siamese Ponds Wilderness - 2/6/16

Chimney Mountain, near Indian Lake, has no comparables.  It has perhaps the most unique summit in the Adirondacks, and while the trail to the summit is steep, it is short; one mile each way.  It's a great family hike.

On this day, we got to spend a few hours with my son and daughter-in-law, and this mountain came to mind as a great place that they had not been to previously.  Winter is a good time to visit. Chimney Mountain gets crowded during the summer and fall months, but on this day we had the mountain to ourselves.  Make sure you've got two dollars with you to pay the small parking fee at the trailhead on private property.

Old barn near the trailhead 

Most of the trail is nothing special.  It is steep and there is lots of loose sand and gravel.  In the winter, on this day it was icy and we wore microspikes.  The payoff is at the end of the trail where the scenery changes to a spectacular rock spire and rock nooks and crannies.

Approaching the end of the trail

Nobody here on this cold winter day

The view looking West.

The spire

We did a little scrambling on the rocks, but stayed off the icy patches.  

Zack and Lulu

Zack, Hannah, Rev and Lulu

After exploring the area around the spire, we took the herd path off to the right, just prior to the spire, to head for the true summit.  The herd path immediately passes by a designated campsite, then climbs gradually to an open rock summit with 360 degree views.  The walk is only 10 minutes from the trail. The true summit shouldn't be missed.  

Zack, Hannah and Lulu on the summit.  King's Flow in the background.

Looking SW.  Puffer Mountain in the distance.

Looking back to the summit from a lower ledge.

Kings Flow (C), Round Pond (R); Kunjamuk Mountain behind Round Poond 

A ledge below the summit.

Puffer Mountain in the back right.

Returning to the cars was a little more difficult.  Descending the icy trail, even with microspikes was a little tricky.  We were in no hurry and just took it slow.  Overall a great place to spend a couple hours; certainly worthy of adding to your bucket list if you haven't been there.  If you want to make it a longer day, you can add a hike to the pretty Puffer Pond.

Hike Stats:
Hike Distance:  2.7 miles
Hike Time:  2 hours
Total Vertical Gain:  ~1000'

 

The route

The route on the NG topo map

Puffer Mountain (3472') and Bullhead Mountain (3432') - Siamese Ponds Wilderness - 11/16/14

 

Sunday wasn't a bluebird day near Indian Lake, but is was nice enough to get out a climb a pair of peaks on the ADK Hundred Highest list (102 highest).

 

My dog Rev and I traveled to the trailhead for Chimney Mountain, just east of Indian Lake to climb Puffer Mountain and Bullhead Mountain.  I wasn't sure I would have time for both, but I was hopeful.  We got started around 8:30.

 

I decided to tackle Puffer first, since that was the longer hike of the two.  If time permitted, we'd head for Bullhead. 

 

The start of the trail to Puffer Pond.

 

I followed the Puffer Pond trail for the first 2.4 miles to the Puffer Pond leanto.  Rev and I covered that section of trail in 50 minutes.   I noticed that there a few handtools in the lean-to:  a hatchet, an axe and a handsaw.   

 



Puffer Pond lean-to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the lean-to, I turned SW to hike past the southern end of Puffer Pond.  I saw a makeshift shelter along the way.

 

Doesn't look comfortable to me...

 

Once past the pond, I hopped over the outlet and  turned SE to begin the climb of Puffer.  I was fortunate, in that the route I chose ended up being quite pleasant with very little thick spruce of obstructions.  I did encounter a fortress of rock, 0.3 miles from the summit, but was able to skirt west a short distance and find a way up. 

 



Bullhead Mountain in the distance from the lower part of Puffer.

 



Part of the rock fortress...



 

 

 

 

 

The very top of Puffer is moderately thick and it took a little time to determine what I thought to be the true summit.  I spent 20 minutes making sure I hadn't missed it.  I poked around and took a few pictures where I could find an opening in the branches. 

 

 





Near the summit of Puffer

 

A zoom of the limited view that I found

 

 



Chimney Mountain







A zoom of Chimney Mountain

 

Puffer Pond

 

 

  

On the way up, I had encountered the snow line at about 2000'.  At the summit, there was perhaps an inch of snow.  It was just below freezing and there were occasional light snow flurries.

 

The route up had been pleasant so I decided to just follow my tracks back down (why tempt fate).  When I returned to the Puffer lean-to, it had only been 3.5 hours since the start, so I made the decision to head for Bullhead Mountain.

 

To access Bullhead, I backtracked further to the John Pond trail, turned north, followed the trail for a little less than half a mile, then turned east to go straight up the western slope.

  

 

Climbing Bullhead at about 2500'.  Soon after, I entered the spruce and it got a little bit thick. 

 

The first half of the slope was hardwoods, then it turned to spruce.  I encountered some moderately thick spruce on and off as I climbed.  The summit of Bullhead was much more obvious than Puffer, as it was a well defined cone summit.  There was a orange ribbon on a tree at the location. 



 



Filtered water view

 



I believe this is Barton Mine in the distance and Gore Mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

A zoom of the mine

 

Bullhead had a few more views than Puffer, but still not a lot. 

 

 

Another opening!

 

The true summit of Bullhead Mountain

 

 A fine place to walk

 

To return to the car, I took a slightly different route down the west slope, but it wasn't much different from the route I used for the ascent.  I regained the John Pond trail and retraced the trail back out. 

 



A beaver dam visible from the Puffer Pond trail

 

 

 

The trailhead register 

 

A successful return to the parking area.

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  11 miles

Hike Time:  6 hours, 40 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 3600'



 

The route (click image to enlarge)

Mount Katahdin! - Baxter State Park - 9/15/13

Sunday, September 15th appeared to be shaping up as our perfect weather day to strike out for Mount Katahdin.  We had patiently waited during a couple days of foggy, drizzly weather... but no more!  Being camped at Nesawadnehunk Campground, we knew we had to get an early start if we wanted to park at Roaring Brook Campground to ascend the Chimney Pond trail.  We left the campground at 4:50 AM for our 1 hour drive on the gravel tote road to get to the other side of the park.

In case you don't know, the Togue Pond Gate southern entrance to the park opens at 6 AM.  If we didn't get past the gate before it opened to folks waiting to get in the park, we'd be sunk.  We passed the gate ataround 5:30 and saw that there were already cars lined up waiting to get in.  Since we were already in the park, we didn't have to wait at the gate, we just had to move about the park to get to where we wanted to be.  There are lots of rules in this park so be sure to read them when making your plans so you aren't disappointed.  One big rule is that no dogs are allowed in the park.  There are also many rules about camping and day use parking.

We arrived at the Roaring Brook Campground at about 5:50 AM.  We got our gear out of the car and sat down at a picnic table to eat breakfast.  Soon the cars began streaming in and the parking lot was nearly full by the time we signed in at the Ranger Station to begin our hike.  It was 6:45 AM.

The sun was already coming up and it promised to be a great day.  Lots of folks were heading towards Chimney Pond.  Some were only heading to the pond, while others intended to climb Katahdin.  Some people were well prepared, and others didn't have a clue.  The ranger was doing her best to stress how difficult the climb would be, and what gear was essential.

We headed out on the Chimney Pond Trail.  It's about a 3.5 mile hike to Chimney Pond with a steady moderate uphill grade.  We reached the pond and the nearby ranger station after about 1.75 hours.  The ranger asked us our plans and he had some good advice.

A first look at the Katahdin ridge from just before Chimney Pond

Leesa didn't want to climb the knife edge so we discussed our options.  The ranger suggested that I climb the Dudley Trail and Leesa climb the Saddle Trail and we could meet on or near the summit of Baxter Peak.  It was a plan that worked well.

I set off on the Dudley Trail and almost immediately hit the large boulders that one has to climb over.  It was pretty cool but Leesa wouldn't have liked it.  The grade was steep for the first 2/3 of the trail and then became easier near the top.  I lost my favorite baseball cap on the way up.  A gust of wind caught it, and it was gone.  I looked for it for a couple minutes, but it must have sailed quite a ways. 

A view from the Dudley Trail

Hamlin Peak from the Dudley Trail

The Dudley trail ends on the summit of Pamola Peak.  The views everywhere were incredible from pretty early on in the Dudley Trail for most of the rest of the day.  I stopped on Pamola for a few minutes to enjoy the scenery, but I was excited to be heading for the Chimney and the Knife Edge.

Pamola summit with the Knife Edge in the background

I had to wait behind a pair of other hikers who were having a little trouble negotiating the Chimney.  Once around them I climbed the Chimney and headed out onto the Knife Edge.  I only found there to be one or 2 spots that were a little scary, but then again, I was there on a dry day with no wind.

Baxter Peak

I would not attempt the Knife Edge in anything less than near perfect conditions.  Also if you are afraid of heights or exposure, this is not the trail for you.  At one point you are on the side of the crest on a narrow ledge and have to lean into the rock and not look down.  There is also a couple points where the ridge is only a couple feet wide and it drops steeply on both sides.

Tablelands and Hamlin Peak

There were quite a few people out on this fine weather day and I probably passed 20 people between Pamola and the Knife Edge.  The Knife Edge gets easier as you continue to head towards South Peak.  

The Knife Edge

It took me an hour to climb the Dudley Trail to Pamola and then another hour to cross the Knife Edge and get over South Peak to the summit of Baxter.

Pamola Peak from Chimney

The Knife Edge

Looking west to the Abol Trail

Lakes everywhere below

I sat on Baxter Peak for about 10 minutes and didn't see Leesa coming up from the Saddle so I started down Baxter towards the Saddle.  I only hiked for a couple minutes before I saw her coming.  We returned to the summit of Baxter so she could claim the peak also.

Baxter Peak summit

Mike & Leesa on Baxter Peak 

We sat on the summit for awhile and watched as a large group was reaching the summit as they were completing the Appalachian Trail.  What a climax!  They were whooping it up and rightfully so.

We then headed towards the Tablelands.  We were both feeling good so we decided to continue on towards Hamlin Peak where we could then descend the Hamlin Ridge Trail.  The Tablelands is a beautiful spot.  Its basically a high plateau but I can't think of another place that feels like it does.

Hamlin Peak and the Tablelands

From the Tablelands, we had a good view of the mountains we had climbed the day before:  North and South Brother and Mount Coe.  We passed the junction with the Saddle Trail and continued on.  The climb up Hamlin Peak was easy, with only an elevation gain of 400-500 feet.

Mount Coe, South Brother and North Brother

Looking towards Baxter from the top of the Saddle

We had a few clouds pass by as we were climbing Hamlin, but they went away and the sun remained for the balance of the day.  You can tell from the photographs.  It was just a perfect day to be outside.

Hamlin Peak

We summited Hamlin at about 1:30 PM.  We stopped and had some more food before starting the descent.

Hamlin Peak

The Hamlin Ridge Trail is rugged, and Leesa was slow negotiating the down climb, but we weren't in a hurry and it is a trail with beautiful views into 2 ravines.  The Knife Edge and Baxter Peak remain in view as well.  It took us 2 hours to get down this trail 

Leesa going down Hamlin Ridge

Once off the Hamlin Ridge Trail, we expected a typical trek out through the forest on the Chimney Pond Trail.  We were in for a surprise.  As we get to Basin Ponds, there was a bull moose and a cow moose on the shore eating grass beside the pond.

We took some pictures, then Leesa went around the other side and walked to the water's edge to get closer pictures.  She didn't see the moose and she then turned around and it was about 20 feet from her with it's back to her.  She took a couple pics and slowly backed out!

the bull moose

and the cow moose

Leesa's closeup of the bull moose from behind

What a way to cap a perfect day!  I must say that this is one of may favorite trips of all time.  The combination of the scenery, the weather, the moose and having this great hike with Leesa was just perfect.

If you get the chance to go to Katahdin, don't miss it.  Hopefully you'll get to see it in the clear weather like we did.  It's an awesome place.

If you want to see more pictures from this trip, the link to my Picasa web album is here.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  11.8 miles

Hike Time:  11 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~4500'

My route (clockwise once at Chimney Pond)