Buck and Bear Mountains - Dix Mountain Wilderness - 9/4/17

On Labor Day, Leesa and I were pondering where we wanted to go for an enjoyable hike.  I thought about Buck and Bear Mountains in the Dix Wilderness.  I described the hike to Leesa and she said perfect, let's do it.  Last time I went, it was on the verge of winter and it was a blustery cold day with a little snow up high.  This time, it was still blustery, but it felt nice on such a warm day.

Perhaps the easiest way to access these two is via the West Mill Brook access.  We had our jeep with us and we were easily able to drive in the 1.1 miles to the gate.  The water depth at the Schroon River crossing was only a couple inches deep.

After we got started, we only walked on the West Mill Brook woods road for less than a half mile before we exited the trail on the right.  Rather than climb in the draw to a col, we sidestepped the unnamed hill to the southeast of Buck.  It has quite a stone face (as seen in the picture below.

    

Leesa contouring the unnamed hill and massive rock wall SE of Bear.

The woods throughout most of this entire area is light density for the most part and moderate density at worst, mingled with slabs of rock. 

An early view

We poked around and climbed steadily towards Buck Mountain watching Rev zig and zag towards things that caught the interest of her nose.  When we topped out on Buck, Leesa was quite impressed with the view of the Dix Range, Giant & Rocky Peak as well as lower peaks in the area.

Rev observing part of the Dix Range (Macomb, South Dix and Wyman) from Buck Mountain. 

Wyman in the center with Grace on the right and South Dix on the left.

Some "lesser" Dix Wilderness peaks

Me... looking at familiar territory.

Giant Mountain in the back right.

Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge

Leesa was game for more so after some time on Buck, we continued on to Bear Mountain.

Ah yes, some early fall colors

Buck from Bear

Views from Bear

Buck from Bear again

We got to Bear and it wasn't quite as open as I remembered it, but still a nice peak.  I gazed at the "igloo", the stone wart on the east side of Wyman, but we didn't head that direction on this day.  Leesa was content with our 2 peaks so we meandered about before dropping off Bear to return to the West Mill Brook woods road.

a foot bridge leading to a camp

Rev was OK using this bridge.

We made a short stop at a watering hole.  It was too cold to swim, but we stuck our feet in.

The start of the West Mill Brook woods road at the gate.

The sign at the entrance to the West Mill Brook Access

This area is full of great peaks.  Even at 2000'-3000' they offer great views and nice terrain.  We're do for another trip to the igloo, so we'll be back.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  5.6 miles

Hike Time:  5 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1700'

The route...

The route on the Nat Geo map

Noonmark Mountain - Dix Mountain Wilderness - 3/18/15

Certainly anyone that likes a good bang for the buck hiking workout can appreciate the hike up Noonmark Mountain in the Dix Mountain Wilderness.  The "easy" way up is from the Ausable Club Road via the Henry L. Stimson trail.  The trail is only 2.1 miles long, but the vertical gain is around 2300'.  The other option is to come in from Round Pond which adds 1.2 miles to the one way distance.  A still longer option is to do a loop hike with Round Mountain and Noonmark of come through the draw between the two and make a loop. 

I was doing another after work hike, son once again I was hitting the trail at 4:30 PM.  This doesn't give me any wiggle room in capturing the last of the daylight hours.  I signed in at the register and set off at a brisk pace.

I was hoping to get the same fantastic skies that I had the previous night on Hurricane Mountain.  It wasn't to be.  Today, while there was a mix of blue sky and clouds, it wasn't as clear as yesterday and my camera couldn't work wonders again today.

It was even colder and windier than yesterday.  It didn't feel like mid-March!  The temperature was 20 degrees at the base and winds were strong.

Trail conditions were generally good, but there were a few small icy patches.  I easily got around them.

The first views are those to the east.  Giant Mountain dominates the view and Round Mountain is also visible.

A look at Giant Mountain 

Climbing ever higher

Noonmark is a great test hike for someone who is thinking they'd like to try hiking some high peaks.  If a hiker can climb Noonmark, they will most likely have the strength and endurance to do some longer hikes.

About halfway up, the rewards begin.  The Great Range lies to the immediate west looks like a fortress that can guard against the fiercest enemy.

    

What's not to like about a panoramz of the Great Range?

There were some low clouds blowing through that shielded the ge from a clear view, but the didn't lesson the impressiveness of the mountains.  

Dix, Dial and Nippletop Mountains also make themselves known 

Once again I dropped my pack at treeline and put on my facemask.  I stepped out on the rock above the trees and tried to take a video.  The camera wouldn't do it in the cold and wind.  It would take pictures, but the movie function kept shutting off.

I was getting buffeted around by the wind, which was every bit as strong as it had been on Hurricane Mountain the previous night.  I reached the summit after an hour and 10 minutes of brisk hiking.  The lenses on my glasses started to frost up, making it hard to see what I was taking pictures of.

The view looking south

Bear Den, Dial, Nippletop on the left; a portion of the Great Range on the right 

Looking at Giant Mountain from the summit of Noonmark 

With the sun going down, and the wind howling I didn't stay long.  Going down was cerainly much easier than going up.  This isn't one of my favorite trails, but there is nothing wrong with it.  The summit is certainly one of the better ones;  better on fact than many of the high peaks.

A last look back

I got back to the car at 7 PM; same time as last night.  Neighboring Round Mountain also has a great summit view, but I didn't have time to do the loop.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  4.6 miles (including Ausable Club Road)

Hike Time:  2 hours (at a quick sunset pace)!

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 2300'

The Henry L. Stimson Trail (click image to enlarge)

The Nat Geo map

Dix Wilderness Waterwall Ramble - 8/23/14

This hike ended up being somewhat of a re-run of a hike I did last October.  I'm not complaining, since that hike was fantastic.  This is the Dix Mountain Wilderness area, and the hike is a hike from the West Mill Brook trailhead to a waterfall SE of Macomb Mountain, plus a visit to an un-named hill 1068 (3550').   

 

This time I wanted to re-visit the waterfall (a fantastic place), and then continue on to Sunrise Mountain.  I made several mistakes however.  The 1st - I didn't start until 9:45;  the 2nd - I stayed at the waterfall too long; the 3rd - I just didn't have the steam to day to push all the way to Sunrise.

 

I made it up to the Hill 1066 and it was 2 PM.  I knew it was only another mile to Sunrise, but it was a tough mile and I would have been heading further from the car.  I decided to save Sunrise for another day.

 

So back to the beginning...

 

I parked on Route 9 at the sign for West Mill Brook.  You can drive in the first mile if you have a high clearance vehicle.  You then come to a gate with two barrels affixed to it.  From there it's foot traffic only.  An old jeep continues on, following West Mill Brook for a total distance from the car of 3.25 miles.  The trail peters out at that point.  This is a great spot to begin a bushwhack to Camel's Hump, but that wasn't my trip for today.  

 



 

A fall giant alongside the West Mill Brook path 

 

I crossed to the west side of the brook as soon as the path ended.  I skirted west then south path a beaver pond and continued southward until I needed to begin the climb to the waterfall.  The climb is fairly open until you get near the falls.  I find it easiest to get close to the falls from the south side, but it is tough walking there due to blowdown and slippery moss covered rock.

 

The falls has 2 large tiers, followed by a 3rd cascade a little lower down.  When I was here last fall, the water volume coming over the falls was a bit less than it was today.  The added water made the falls even more impressive, but it also made it harder to walk out on the ledge between the upper and middle falls. 

 

The 3rd cascade

 

I made it to the falls in 2 hours, 15 minutes from the car on my 4.4 mile bushwhack route.

Upper and Middle falls 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After spending an enjoyable about of time at the falls, I continued my climb towards Hill 1068.  The view there is nothing, but if you grope around and head south-southeast a short distance you come to a fantastic ledge and viewpoint that offers views east and south.

 

I reached this point at 2 PM and it was decision time.  I sat at this great viewpoint and looked over as Sunrise Mountain, a mere mile away.  It was a rugged mile and would probably take at least an hour and put me further from the car.  I didn't had it in me to push hard to get out there, so with that decision made, I was able to sit and enjoy the view from right where I was.

 

 

Rev out on the great open rock below Hill 1068 

 

Wyman Mountain

 

Wyman and the "Igloo" 

 

Hoffman and Blue Ridge Mountains from the ledge south of Hill 1066

 

 

 

Lots of dry dead wood everywhere 

After eating my late lunch, I decided to loop around to the north to check out some more open rock that would be new to me.  The last time, I had gone south, then southeast following an open rock ridge down.

 

The push northward was thicker than what I had experienced climbing up.  I was on a relatively level plateau north of Hill 1068, but the tree density was thicker.  At last I reached the open rock I was searching for and got to enjoy views to the north and east.  I was also starting to finally get some blue skies and sunshine as well.  That was ok with me.

 



 

 

Camel's Hump, Niagara, Nippletop (Dix Wldns) and Marsh Pond Mtns 

 

 

Camel's Hump

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grace and Wyman

 

 

the "igloo" east of Wyman

 

 

Grace

 

Wyman

 

 

 

 

 

From here it was just a straight shot east down the slope back to the West Mill Brook path.  Descending wasn't much faster than climbing due to a terrain that demanded a little caution.   

 

Eventually I made it down to the brook.  It's always a relief to be back on a foot path after spending most of the day bushwhacking.

 

 

 

a hard life

 

some leave are staring to turn!

 

 

A last look back...

I ended up getting a lot of good pictures from this trip.  If you want to see more, you can find them on my Picasa Web Album.   I also took a couple videos of the waterfall, which you can find here on YouTube.

 

I didn't make it to Sunrise Mountain on this day, but I had a full and rewarding day.  No complaints! 

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  12.6 miles

Hike Time:  9.5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 2950'

 

The route (click image to enlarge)