Seneca and Spruce Mountains - Wilcox Lake Wild Forest - 1/5/19

My idea for a first hike in the new year was to find something new that I hadn't climbed before.  I pulled out my map and studied it for a bit and my eyes settled on the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest.  I haven't done much exploring there so I had lot of possibilities.  I decided to drive up past Stony Creek to Lens Lake Road and see if there was a place to park to hike one of the surrounding peaks.

The road was plowed past Lens Lake and almost to Middle Flow.  There was a parking lot at that location and the State Land boundary was right there.  I studied the map and opted to head for Seneca Mountain first.  

The end of the plowed road.

The followed the unplowed road until I reached the private property boundary.  I skirted left to stay on state land.  The woods were open hardwoods and a the bushwhack was easy.  It really wasn't much of a climb to reach the summit, perhaps 500-600' vertical.   Just as I was reaching the true summit, a large snowshoe hare leapt out from behind a rock and bounded off.  Rev took off in hot pursuit.   The hare quickly disappeared and Rev came trotting back.

The summit of Seneca Mountain.

From Seneca Lake, Great Sacandaga Lake in the distance.

I took a hot chocolate break and then opted to head for Spruce Mountain.   Rev and I bounded down the mountain until we reached Paul Creek.  The creek was larger than I expected and there was no way for us to cross and keep our feet dry.  We followed the creek a bit and then headed back towards the car.  At Middle Flow, I found a nice warm spot in the sun and took a break, soaking up some rays.  It felt so good I lingered for a bit.     

Middle Flow

Middle Flow

My warm sitting spot

While basking in the sun, I took another look at the map and determined I could climb Spruce Mountain by starting at the car and hiking straight East.  Paul Creek was no longer a factor.

Five minutes into this 2nd hike, I came to a small creek and saw a cairn in the water.  Looking around, I saw small orange paint blazes on the trees.  Someone had illegally cleared and marked a trail. Shortly afterwards, I saw a sign pointing back to the parking lot.   

Pointing back to where I started...

The orange blaze trail turned northward briefly before turning back eastward.  No doubt this trail was going to the summit.  Next I came to a junction... orange blaze and red blaze.  The orange continued eastward and upward, the red blaze were heading south traversing the slope of Spruce Mountain.  

I continued along the orange blaze path and soon reached a prominent viewpoint where I could see Lens Lake, Middle Flow, Livingston Lake and Great Sacandaga Lake.     

A nice viewpoint

Supplementing the orange blazes were cairns placed along the way.  The trail was not only blazed, but trees had been cut and trees had been de-limbed.  Someone had spent quite a bit of time making this trail.

One of many cairns

And even a few signs

This summit cairn was Leesa's height.

The illegal trail did not end at the summit, it continued northward down the north flank and towards  the unnamed peak a mile north of Spruce.  We followed the trail and ended up on the summit of the northern peak.

Summit of the unnamed peak north of Spruce Mountain.

Rather than return the way we came, we side-hilled he west slope of Spruce Mountain until we regained the orange blaze trail down low, not too far from the car.

Hike Stats:

Seneca Mountain & Return:  5.5 miles

Spruce Mountain & unnamed peak to the north and return:  5.8 miles

Total time  7.5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2000'  

The route

Cherry Ridge and Wolf Pond Mountain - Wilcox Lake Wild Forest - 5/29/16

On this 90 degree day, I chose a bushwhack hike of a couple small peaks, Cherry Ridge and Wolf Pond Mountain, just south of Crane Mountain in the Town of Thurman.  My starting point was Mud Pond.  I had explored Mud Pond and Round Pond in April, but had not ventured to the surrounding hills on that trip.

My loose plan was to skirt around the north side of Mud Pond and climb Cherry Ridge first.  I would then head SW to Wolf Pond Mountain.  A distant possibility was to continue to Bearpen Peak.

Mud Pond

The woods were moderately thick in the beginning and there was some blowdown as well.  I crossed the inlet creek for Mud Pond and began to climb.  The woods began to thin out somewhat as I clim  bed.  It was already 80 degrees as I neared the summit of Cherry Ridge around 10 AM.  I carried 4 liters of drinks for myself and a couple liters for my dog Rev.  She drank quite a bit on Cherry Ridge.

I didn't expect to have any views on the hike and there really weren't any.  If I had made the trip before the trees leafed out, there probobly would have been some views.

A small view near the summit of Cherry Ridge

Cherry Ridge

It was quite open on top of Cherry Ridge.  I could occasionally see a faint track of an ATV.   I headed SW from Cherry Ridge to head for Wolf Pond Mountain  There were no obstacles on the descent.  As I recane to climb again, I could tell Rev was going to need the rest of her water to climb Wolf Pond Mountain.  There was no water to be found to refill her bottle.  Since it was cointinuing to bet warmer, I knew this would be our last peak of the day.    

Some rock near the summit of Wolf Pond Mountain.

Wolf Pond Mountain was also fairly open but the canopy of leaves from the hardwood summit blocked any possible views 

The summit of Wolf Pond Mountain.

With Rev's water almost gone, I chose a direct route NE to head back to the car.  Once again, there were no issues on the descent.  Some rumbles of thunder were heard as we were near the car.  Rev took the opportunity to drink some water in Mud Pond.  In spite of the heat, the bugs were not that bad; a pleasant surprise.

Bearpen Peak will be save for another trip.  

Ah, water.  Wolf Pond Mountain in the background,

Cherry Ridge in the background.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  4.8 miles

Hike Time:  4 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~1500'

The route 

The route on the National Geographio map.

Round Pond and Mud Pond - Wilcox Lake Wild Forest - 2/24/16

Just south of the wildly popular Crane Mountain lie two quiet ponds that are easily reached by short walks.  Round Pond is a 0.6 mile walk and Mud Pond is a 0.25 mile walk.  Access to the trailheads to these ponds is from Mud Pond Road (which is called Mud Pond Trail on some maps).  Most visitors to these ponds are probably intent on fishing.  

Crane Mountain from Little Pond on the drive in.

Mud Pond Road has no street sign, but it's the only road in the area.  It terminates at the site of an old farmhouse, long since removed.  A keen eye will find evidence of an old homestead:  remnants of foundations, a well house, rhododendrons, daffodils, apple trees.  This area boasts nice possible campsites that would be greater than the required 150' distance from trail, parking or water.

A remaining wellhouse.

Blue skies constrast nicely with the white birch.

A great spot for a campsite.  

Hey now....

Site of the old farmhouse.

Apple tree from the old dooryard....

Rev checking out the beaver dam en route to Round Pond.

Leesa enhancing the little beaver dam so she could cross. 

Making her way...

Once at Round Pond, we were determined to get to the peninsula on the east side of the pond known as Stony Point.  We had to cross a marsh and a couple beaver dams but we made it.  The Discover the dirondacks  - Southern Adirondacks talks about the history of this penisnsula. 

 

Wolf Pond Mountain from Stony Point.  WPM will be a future exploration.

Clouds were moving in as predicted and it gave some interesting skies on the way out.

Stony Point on Round Pond with Bearpen Peak in the background.

Back at the car, we drove partially back out Mud Pond Road to the Mud Pond trailhead and followed the trail downhill a quarter mile to Mud Pond where we saw 4 loons swimming near a beaver lodge in the pond.   

In the future, I'll be coming back to this area to climb some of the surrounding mountains, Cherry Ridge, Wolf Pond Mountain and Bearpen  Peak. 

Mud Pond.

A rowboat at Mud Pond.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  1.8 miles (both hikes combined)

Hike Time:  1.5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~250'

The routes

The route and surrounding area on the Nat Geo map.

Crane Mountain - Wilcox Lake Wild Forest - 4/14/13

Crane Mountain is one of those special places.  Where else in the Adirondacks can you find a high plateau that boasts a mountain pond and a rugged peak both on top of the plateau?  The area is contained within the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest and lies minutes northwest of Warrensburg, NY.  Don’t be fooled though.  You’ll need a map to find the area and the road to access the trailhead, Sky Hi Road, turns to gravel and climbs to 2000 before ending.  The last .4 miles is not plowed in winter and is often suitable for 4 wheel drive only.

From the trailhead, a loop hike is possible.  Counterclockwise is the shortest route to the summit.  To access the pond, you can either follow the summit route to the plateau where the trails splits left to the pond or right to the summit, or take the clockwise loop by following the old jeep road trail along Putnam Brook before climbing to the plateau and the pond.  Either route involves a steep climb to the plateau, which lies at approximately 2600’.

A bit of an ice storm had been in the area

If you wish to take the shortest route to the summit, you have to negotiate 2 ladders.  A small ladder of about 6 rungs, and a much taller 25 rung ladder on the last incline before the summit.  The tall ladder is held in place by a steel cable, but it can still be scary for those  afraid of heights, or if the ladder and surrounding rock are iced up.

The steep ladder just prior to the summit

We took the counterclockwise loop choosing to hike to the summit first.  We had a mix of sun and clouds with temps in the high 30's.  There was snow, even at the trailhead.  We put on our Microspikes right away, and they stayed on the entire hike.  The snow was soft on the south side, but firm and still deep on the north side.

View from Crane Mountain

The summit provides great views to the south from a rocky ledge.  From the summit you can continue the loop and go to the pond, or return.  We went to the pond, which was still frozen and covered in snow.  We didn't test the ice to see how thick it was!

Leesa negotiating the trail with her Microspikes and a tree hold

At the pond, we had a mix of sun bursts and dark clouds.  This was my 2nd time to Crane Mountain and Pond, but Leesa's first.  I still haven't been here in summertime, but I intend to come back to see the pretty pond, perhaps in the fall.

Crane pond

Crane Mountain from Crane Pond

Interesting skies

From the pond, we took the blue trail which quickly turns into a steep descent to Putnam Brook.  You pass a nice long water slide on the way down.  Once down at Putnam Brook it is an easy mile walk on a slight uphilll back to the trailhead.

A steep descent

I find this whole area to be quite impressive and well worth a look.  We'll be back.

Still some ice floes

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance: ~ 4 miles

Hike Time:  3 hours

Total Vertical Gain: ~ 1200'

A general map of the area

Our route (Click Image to Enlarge)