XC Ski - Short Swing Trail to Horseshoe Pond - Pharaoh Lake Wilderness - 2/15/15

It was another cold day in the north country on Sunday 2/15, but I find that if you choose the right activity, and location, you can be comfortably warm.  Cross country skiing is a physical activity that I can do, even in the coldest temperatures if I stay out of the wind.

The route I chose Sunday was the Short Swing Trail in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness.   The first quarter mile is tough on skis.  Once you cross Paragon Brook on a little foot bridge the trail widens out on an old road and although you begin to climb, it is easier.

I found it to be a joy to ski the first 2.4 miles to the Tubmill Marsh lean-to, although two downed trees at the bottom of a pair of downhill glides provided for a little excitement.  0,3 miles past the lean-to, the trail begins to climb again, this time 380' in a mile.  I was able to climb this without skins, but I did a couple herringbones and relied on my arms and poles to help get me up this section. 

Tubmill Marsh lean-to

Tubmill Marsh

At 3.4 miles, I reached the trail junction with the Tubmill Marsh trail and I turned right to head SW towards Horseshoe Pond.  I was still following an old set of snowshoe tracks which provided a nice consolidated base that was now covered with a couple inches of powder. 

The old snowshoes tracks provided a welcome base for my skis

Very quickly after my turn on the Tubmill Marsh Trail, the grade turned steep enough that I stopped to put on my climbing skins.  At the top of the grade, there was a short downhill stretch before Horsehoe Pond, but i left the skins on the skis because it was too cold to fool with taking them on and off.   

Honey Pond

Potter Mountain from Honey Pond

I passed Honey Pond along the way and enjoyed the view of Potter Mountain which is a nice open summit that I bushwhacked to last year. 

A zoom view of Potter Mountain

Rev and I reached Horseshoe Pond and I skied out on the frozen lake to the point located inside the horseshoe.

Horseshoe Pond

Leaving Horseshoe Pond

Horseshoe Pond was my turnaround point on this day so I did an about face and enjoyed following my ski track back the way I had come.  I removed my skins at the place I had put them on.  There were several nice downhill glides that took me back to the Tubmill Marsh lean-to.  The uphill grade after that was steeper than it seemed while going down, but I managed to climb it without skins.  

Even though the windchill was below zero all day, I had my gloves off quite often.  It's amazing how warm I stay while backcountry skiing.  I just don't stop for long because within a couple minutes that warm feeling can disappear.

Ski Stats:

Ski Distance:  8.5 miles

Ski Time:  4 hours, 15 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1300'  

The out and back profile (9x exaggeration)

The route on the Nat Geo map

XC Ski - Moose Pond - McKenzie Mountain Wilderness - 2/14/15

After skiing at Henry's Woods in the morning, Leesa and I traveled to Saranac Lake and north towards Bloomingdale on Route 3 to try another XC ski trail; the Moose Pond trail.  This trail follows an old roadbed which provides an easy traverse to a beautiful pond.

The trail is 1.5 miles long on a gentle uphill grade, gaining 70' in 1.5 miles.  Moose Pond has a bit of history (which always adds to the interest factor for me).  The pond is bordered by the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness on the east and south, and by the Debar Wild Forest on the north and west.  The pond is also accessible via a boat launch (hand launch) at the north end.  There is parking at the boat launch for 28 cars and the pond has 9 designated campsites.  On a clear day there are fine views of Moose, McKenzie, Whiteface and Esther mountains.

For us, we didn't get the full effect of the view and the lake since it was snowing and the lake was, of course, covered in ice and snow.  The trailhead is especially obscure in the winter, however there were 2 cars parked along route 3 at the location where the trail starts.

Not an obvious trailhead from the road in winter 

The trailhead is on the east side of Route 3, immediately north of a transer station.  We parked behind the 2 cars already there and headed in on our skis.

A nice bridge provides a painless crossing point on the Saranac River  

We followed the old road past two different paths that led to the pond, but eventually downed trees discouraged us from continuing all the way to the boat launch at the north end.  We backtracked and took a path down to the ponds where we found the remains of a house chimney which I had read about.     

A reminder that homes used to exist here

We skied out onto the frozen snow covered lake; suddenly exposed to the swirling snow coming down.  There was a very limited view, but we had our choice of which direction to ski; eventually we decided to go north to the boat launch area.
 

Overcast snowy day that gave us an eerie shroud of stillness on the pond 

Leesa and Rev heading north to the boatlaunch 

Staying close to the western edge of the pond, we skied north past several designated campsites. There was also piece of a foundation; providing a reminder of time gone by.

Rev atop an old foundation

Reaching the boat launch, we found a relatively large parking lot and noticed that snowmobiles had been running in on the access road, although they had not gone out on the lake (perhaps because of the wilderness boundary)?

Heading south to return to the car, we swung past the peninsula at the north end and noticed a nice campsite there.  Nine designated sites have been established on the pond, which is understandable since the pond can be reached by car.

Off the pond and back on the trail we had a nice kick and glide back to the car.  This trail though short provides a nice novice ski tour or relaxing 2 hour ski to a pond with a view.  We'll have to return in the summertime to see what the area feels like when the snow is gone.

Ski Stats:

Ski Distance: 6.0 miles

Ski Time:  2 hours, 45 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 500'   

  

Our Route (Click image to enlarge)