Arnold Pond and Skiff Mountain - Pharaoh Lakes Wilderness - 6/2/13

On Sunday, June 2^nd, I was in the vicinity of Eagle Lake, off Route 74 in the Pharaoh Lakes Wilderness of the Adirondack Park.  My destination was a short little trail to a pond named Arnold Pond.  This short .3 mile trail is about as short as trails get.

The trail is on the north side of the road just west of Eagle Lake, but parking is on the south side of the road about a 100 yards east.  The National Geographic map shows the trail ending at the pond.  On the map, it looked like the pond was surrounded by a horseshoe shaped cliff (Skiff Mountain). 

There is a trail register a short ways in on the trail.  I looked over the pages, and it looked like most people that have signed in recently are locals.  It makes sense since the trail is so short.  About half the people who had signed the register put Arnold Pond as their destination, while the other half put Skiff Mountain as their destination.  That made me think that there must be a view from the summit of Skiff Mountain and there must be some kind of a trail.  I’d keep my eyes open and see.

The trail to Arnold Pond is steep right from the start.  The trailhead elevation is 950 feet and the trail climbs 340 feet (rising to 1290’) by the time you reach Arnold Pond.  There is supposedly a designated camping location at Arnold Pond, although the fire ring I saw was right at the terminus of the trail.  I did not see any obvious camping spot.  My dog Rev took the opportunity to get a drink and a swim in the pond. 

 

Arnold Pond

 

Firering at the end of the marked trail

As I looked around and saw a herd path bearing left from the fire ring. It was pretty obvious. Soon I came to a posted sign.   It was not directly I front, but on the right hand side of the herd path (looking towards the pond).   I continued on, and there began to be a lot of rock in the landscape.   At that point I began to see established rock cairns alongside the herd path.   The route was clearly hooking around the west side of Arnold Pond and climbing Skiff Mountain.

The hardwoods gave way to a mix of hardwoods and scrub pine. In no time at all I was beginning to crest the summit ridge.   There were great views to the south.   I could see Arnold Pond down below and had a good view of Pharaoh Mountain.

 

If you look at the map, Skiff Mountain has a double summit.  The true summit lies on the eastern flank.   It appeared to be mostly wooded.  I only went to the top of the western flank.  A breeze was picking up and a rain storm was coming in.  The breeze felt nice, and it kept the bugs away.

 

 

Approaching the Ridge





 

Rev enjoyed the grassy shady areas on the ridge, while I poked around.I can see why many people had signed in with Skiff Mountain as their destination.  It appears that this is private property, but I only saw one sign off to the side, and the herd path and cairns were obvious.  If it is private, the owner has not made an attempt to discourage hikers from enjoying the fine summit.  The distance from the trailhead to the western summit is almost exactly one mile.  The elevation was 1775’.  The true summit on the eastern summit is just above 1800’.

 

 

Pharaon Mountain in the distance

 

 

Once it became obvious that rain was imminent, I made my way quickly back to the car.It was a nice little workout, with about 800 vertical in a 1.6 mile roundtrip hike and the views from the top were a pleasant surprise.

 

Rev in Arnold Pond

 

 

 

The short, but nice route

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:1.6 miles round trip

Hike Time:1 25 hours (including stops)

Total Vertical Gain: ~750’

Iroquois Peak - High Peaks Wilderness - 5/31/13

I had a 3 day weekend ahead of me.  Friday looked like it was going to be the only rain free day.  The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was calling for intermittent thunderstorms.  The whole weekend was supposed to be hot; close to 90°.

I made plans for Friday to be my big hiking day.   The rest of the weekend could be short filler hikes as the weather permitted.  I know, I know, real hikers hike in the rain.  Don’t be fooled; I’ve done my share of hiking in the rain, but sometimes I try to work around it; at least the majority of it.

My plan was to start from the trail head at Upper Works (near Newcomb, NY), and hike to Flowed Lands, to check on my adopted lean-to (Herbert Brook Lean-to).  That hike is 10 miles roundtrip via the Calamity Brook Trail.  Once at Flowed Lands, I would decide where to go.  My top two contenders were Hanging Spear Falls or Sheperd’s Tooth.  I’ve haven’t been to either one.  Hanging Spear Falls would be the easier of the two.

I started out at 9:30.  It was already 75° and warming rapidly.  The trail had some sloppy mud sections, but not too bad considering all the snow and rain of the last week.  I made it to the Herbert Brook Lean-to at 11:30.  Things there looked good.  I placed a new broom there, took some pictures and inspected the general vicinity.  My dog Rev was with me.  I gave her a snack and then she wanted to move on.  She has no patience for sitting around.



The Herbert Brook Lean-to with the Macintyre Range in the background

I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to sit at the lean-to without being bothered by any bugs.  Certain spots this time of year are horrible, especially when it is hot and humid.

Since it wasn’t even noon yet, I decided I would try to head for Sheperd’s tooth, a small bump off the end of Iroquois Peak (between Iroquois Peak and Mount Marshall).  The shortest option would be to take the Cold Brook Trail to Cold Brook Pass, then bushwhack to Sheperd’s Tooth by skirting right of a band of cliffs and climbing through a chimney at the end of the cliffs.  I didn’t know how this would be with the dog, so I chose the longer option of taking the trail from Lake Colden up to the col between Algonquin Peak and Boundary Peak.  From there I could go to Iroquois, then have a short bushwhack to the Tooth and back.

I knew that the trail from Lake Colden was steep, but I had forgotten how rugged it was.  There is quite a bit of rock and boulder in the trail.  It was pretty, since it followed a brook, and the water was high, but it didn’t cause any problems even though in some spots it was flowing in the trail. 



The start of the trail from Lake Colden to the Algonquin-boundary Col

Some of the tiered waterfalls alongthe way

and a water slide

I did notice that I was climbing a bit slower than usual due to the heat and humidity. It was the first really hot climb of the season.  By the time I got to the summit of Iroquois, I think it was around 3 PM.  I assessed my options.  It was going to take another 45 minutes or more to go to Sheperd’s Tooth and back to Iroquois; at which time I would still have a nine mile walk back to the car.  I decided to head back.

Sheperd’s Tooth isn’t going anywhere.  I’ll go back to get it when I don’t have the dog with me.  Iroquois in and of itself is a great peak.  The views from the tooth are just more of the same.

A look at Sheperd's Tooth from the summit of Iroquois

Algonquin in the background

Mount Colden from Iroquois



Flowed Lands from Iroquois

Rev on Iroquois

On my way back over Boundary Peak I stopped to talk to some trail crew who had a bundle of wood all banded together on the summit.  They said it was going to be used to build some bog bridges in the cols on either side of Boundary.  Those will be welcomed.  The bog between Algonquin and Boundary had one especially bad spot.

Going down, as expected, was much quicker than going up; tough on the legs, but faster.  I got back to the car at 10 minutes before 8.  A group of four persons were just heading in; two men and two teenage boys.  I don’t know if they planned to hike by headlamp or not, but they didn’t have much daylight remaining.



Looking east to Mount Colden from near the Algonquin/Boundary Peak col

My route for the day (Click image to enlarge)

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  18.6 miles

Hike Time:  10 hours, 20 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 4600'