Eagle Pond & Eagle Pond Ledges(Wilcox Lake Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

With low humidity and a much more comfortable day in the cards, I decided to head north to pay a visit to Eagle Pond, a smallish body of water as well as a set of nearby ledges on an unnamed peak in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest.  I parked in a small unmarked pull off along Route 8 near a stream crossing(just under a mile NE of the Shanty Brook Trailhead) and crossed the road heading SE into the woods on a rough, unmarked footpath.  Elevation to start the hike was 1390 feet and the unmarked path was easy to follow at first, passing through a typical Adk mixed forest.

The footpath quickly deteriorated  and became almost impossible to follow in spots, so I simply bushwhacked my way, closely following Eagle Pond's outlet brook to the top of a hill, where a sprawling beaver meadow and flow are found.  An impressive, large beaver dam sits in the middle of the flow, with a view of the unnamed ledges just beyond.

A zoom view towards the ledges, which can just barely be made out.

To avoid going through the mud and muck, I circled around the beaver meadow on another rough footpath before finally bushwhacking straight up towards the steep area of ledges.

At about 1975 feet, I arrived at the set of ledges I had been aiming for.  There are a couple of ledges next to each other with slightly different vantage points, but one ledge in particular offers the most impressive views of all.  The beaver meadow I had just been in can be seen below, with the multiple ridges of the Blue Hills beyond, as well as the open rock on the Shanty Cliffs to the right. 

From a slightly lower ledge, the view looks SW towards Moose(L) and Corner Mountains(R), as well as many other peaks. 

A nice ledge view towards the Shanty Cliffs once again.  Although these ledges are less than 600 feet above my starting point on Route 8, the sheer drop off from here is what provides these majestic views.

After enjoying the ledges, a nice and easy contour east brought me down to Eagle Pond in less than 10 minutes.  There was a lot of wet areas around the pond, but I managed to find some dry spots to explore the shoreline.

From a beaver dam looking NE, where the last of the blue skies was quickly disappearing.

Circling along the west edge of the pond on the unmarked footpath brought me to a small point, with a firepit and rowboat.  Looks like a really sweet spot!  The lower slopes of Harrington Mountain can be seen rising above the pond to the east.

After enjoying the pond, I decided to change it up on the way back, simply following the outlet brook all the way back to the car.  There were a couple of pretty cascading falls on the rugged, rock strewn brook. 

A nice 3.2 mile RT hike with about 800 feet of total ascent.  Although there is a footpath here, I certainly wouldn't rely solely on that if anyone plans to visit here.  Good navigational/ bushwhacking skills are a plus for sure.  On another positive note, the bugs didn't bother me at all today!!  Hooray!
Today's route.  Red=Hike in/ Ascent      Blue=Return Descent