Hurricane Mountain from Route 9N - 3/17/15

Wild, Windy & Wonderful described Hurricane Mountain in the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area today.  I got out of work at 4 PM and told some folks I was going to do a quick climb of Hurricane. They looked at me like I had two heads. 

For certain it was windy (30-40 mph), but the temperature was in the high 20's and the sun was coming out.  I had the feeling I might see some interesting skies (and I was right)!

I changed clothes and was at the Route 9N trailhead and on the trail at 4:30 PM.  I had until about 7 PM before it would start getting dark.  I had multiple headlamps in my pack just in case.  I had microspikes on my feet and carried my snowshoes in case the trail was soft.  I never put the snowshoes on.  The trail was hard pack with about a half an inch of snow on top; just perfect conditions.

Look at the blue skies I saw on the way up!

I was moving on the way up.  I wanted to catch the good skies before anything changed.  Along the way, I reminded myself how much I like this trail.  It makes my top ten list for short trail of the 3 mile variety.

Additionally, for those that don't know, the firetower on the summit will soon be restored!  See the Friends of Hurricane Mountain website.  I hope to help with that effort when it gets underway this spring.

First views to the SE

... and first clear look at the summit

When I approached tree-line, I was getting hit with some strong gusts of wind so I put my facemask on (a rare event), and took my pack off so the wind wouldn't be hitting me and the pack.  It had taken me an hour and 15 minutes to reach the summit.  The sign at the kiosk says the trail is 2.6 miles long, but it is now 3.1 miles long after some trail re-routing that was done last year.

The scene that was before my eyes was amazing.  I took 150 pictures and forgot about the wind chill.
I love the combination of blue skies and dark clouds; and then to add to it, the sun was starting set, making it that much more interesting.

I pared my pictures down a bit for this blog post (as I always do), but I really got a bunch of great ones.  I'll let them tell some of the story.  I included more than I usually do here, but when I get a lot of good shots, I post a few extra.

The summit of Hurricane Mountain and the firetower

Whiteface Mountain

Lake Champlain

...on the way out

A zoom view of Big Slide Mountain

New boards on the boardwalk 

Big Slide on the left, Blueberry Mountain and the ridge to Porter Mountain on the right 

Big Slide again

Blueberry and Porter

After all the nice pictures, a selfie of me in disguise...

If you've never hiked Hurricane Mountain, do it!  It will be crowded on summer weekends, but there are 3 different trails leading to the summit, and with good reason!

I've got more pictures on a Picasa Web Album if you want to see more.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  6.2 miles

Hike Time:  2 hours, 20 minutes (at a quick pace)

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 2000'

The trail from Route 9N to Hurricane Mountain

The trail on the National Geographic map

Dix Mountain (Attempt) - Keene, NY 4/14/12

I'm starting to sound like a broken record.  This past weekend was another failed attempt to climb an Adirondack High Peak - Dix Mountain.  It was not for lack of trying.  I knew the hike was 6.8 miles, one way, and I knew there was a foot of fresh snow to contend with up high.  What I didn't know, was that my dog would decide it had had enough once it got to the steep section at around 3600 feet.

I parked at the trailhead for Round Pond on Route 73 in Keene.  We started on the trail at 8:30 and reached Round Pond in 15 minutes.  We made good progress traveling the 4.2 miles to the Boquet Leanto in 2 hours.  We crossed the river at that point, following the trail.

Parking Lot sign

Arriving at Round Pond

Rev surveying the pond

Trail junction for Noonmark, Round and Dix Mountains

A group of 5 had settled into the Boquet Leanto

 

The snow line was at 2800 feet.  We continued on, crossing the slide on the north slope of Dix.  About 30 minutes later we reached a steep incline where the push to the summit began in earnest.  The snow was about a foot deep at that point and Rev began to object to continuing our journey.  After a couple more minutes, she made her intentions known by sitting down in the snow facing back down the hill.   She refused to budge in an uphill direction.  We were at 3600 feet.  There wasn't much distance left to cover, but it was another 1200 feet to ascend.

Lots of fresh snow, but a tough path for the dog

With no cooperation from Rev, we turned around.  She was more than eager to retrace our path back down the mountain.  We passed another man climbing with a small dog and I wished him luck.  I was thankful for the nice weather and the nice day in the woods, but I really want to start grabbing some of these peaks!

She was not bashful about heading back down

Hike Stats:

(from my shortened trip)

Hike Distance:  11.8 miles

Hike Time:  6 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  2440 feet

Trailhead Elevation:  1620 feet

Turn Around Elevation:  3600 feet



Dix Mountain (Attempt) at EveryTrail

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in New York

The blue line on Google Earth shows my path (and turnaround point) 

TableTop Mountain - Keene, NY - 3/31/12

The weather forecast for Saturday in the Adirondack High Peaks was questionable with scattered rain, but we were ready to get into the woods. Our choice was TableTop Mountain in Keene, NY.  Leesa and I had not climbed it before.

We parked our car on the Adirondack Loj Road at the intersection with the South Meadow Road.  In the summer months, you can drive the South Meadow Road to the Marcy Dam Truck Trail and save yourself  an extra mile or so of walking.

There was a fresh inch on snow on the ground, but it was expected to get into the mid 40's F.   

Remains of Marcy Dam

The trip to Marcy Dam relatively flat and quick.  The foot bridge at the dam was washed out on 8/28/11 in Hurricane Irene and has not been rebuilt.

The remains of the foot bridge are roped off

Still a great view, but little water

Bear are becoming more common in the High Peaks

I like this shot, looking back at the dam

We left the dam and climbed the Van Hoevenburg trail towards Mount Marcy and past the Phelps trail.

You eventually see the sign (pictured below) which denotes the start of the herd path to Table Top.  Although it is a herd path, it is quite easy to follow.  The entire hike is actually relatively easy, with no extremely difficult sections.

Beginning of the Herd Path from the Van Hoevenburg Trail

On the Table Top summit plateau

As we started to get near the summit plateau, it began to look like winter.  There was a little snow and rime ice in the trees.  We wore micro spikes for traction.  No snowshoes or crampons were necessary.

Still a little bit like winter

    

Leesa and Rev on the summit next to the sign

Mike and Rev

It looks colder than it felt

 

 

You can see a little of the blue sky and sun trying to break through

 

 

Table Top Mountain at EveryTrail

Our GPX route

We enjoyed the hike.   There are limited views from Table Top, but as you can see in the above pictures it's still nice.  I felt like this was one of the easier high peaks to climb since there were no sections of the trail that posed any great difficulty.  

Trip Stats:

Hike Distance:  13 miles round trip

Hike Time:  7 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  2550'

Trailhead Elevation:  2050'

Summit Elevation:  4427'

Our route shown in blue