Hand Hollow Hill(Hand Hollow State Forest-Town of New Lebanon, Columbia County)

Got out for a very short, but steep Sunday morning stroll at the Hand Hollow State Forest in northern Columbia County under beautiful early fall conditions.  Parked at the marked DEC parking lot off of Route 20(Elevation 685 feet) and then hiked past the gate and headed south up a rough access road.

The road walk was mostly uneventful, but steep and ablaze in early fall colors.

After a short but relentless climb up the road, a short drop then brought me to a cell tower in a small clearing.

From the cell tower, I turned back on the road, quickly leaving it and heading into the woods to bushwhack up to the nondescript 1364 foot summit.

After leaving the summit, it was a steep descent back to the road and the car, covering 2.2 miles RT and 700 feet of ascent.

Map Below.   Blue P=Parking   Blue X=Summit    Red X=Cell Tower

 

 

Bear Cubby Hill(High Peaks Wilderness-Adirondacks)

A few years ago, while looking over a map of the High Peaks, I noticed a spot labeled Bear Cubby sitting just north of Cascade Mountain and knew I wanted to check it out someday.  Although there are no formal trails on this obscure 2757 foot peak, there did appear there was some open rock up high.  I parked at the trailhead for Pitchoff Mountain East off of Route 73(Elevation 1840 feet) and headed south into the woods, closely following a drainage as I slowly gained elevation.

 

Most of the bushwhacking was pleasant, SW through through deciduous woods, interspersed with some patches of scratchy spruce.

I first angled my way to the north slopes of Bear Cubby, finding some good views NW across Route 73 towards Pitchoff Mountain.

From the same area of steep ledges, the view north towards Pitchoff Mountain East.

Higher up, the woods grew tighter and the hardwoods were mostly replaced with larger patches of spruce.  Thankfully, there is a decent amount of open rock to explore, with steep ledges dropping off to the south and east, providing views towards neighboring Laramore Mountain's ridge.

  

Small stretches of mossy rock slab made for easy bushwhacking.

Stellar views opened up to the NE, where nearby Owls Head and its open rock stood front and center.  Early fall foliage only enhanced the vista.

NE views, with Owls Head left and Laramore's long ridge on the right. The Hurricane Mountain Wilderness rises just beyond.

I continued my ascent SW, hugging the bare rock ledges facing SE towards the summit, with many grand views.  Perhaps the best view of all was the amazing up close and unique perspective of Cascade Mountain, rising over 1300 feet above to the south.

After hitting the top, I began to descend the north slopes, carefully weaving my way down towards one more large area of open rock.  Once on the open rock, I captured this shot back at Bear Cubby's slopes that I had just descended.

This area of open rock provided even more killer views, such as this look north at Pitchoff Mountain's long ridge.

Wandering the area of open rock at just over 2400 feet.

SW views across Cascade Pass.

What followed these views was a steep, boulder laden descent back to Route 73 and my waiting car. Didn't cover a lot of miles, but did feel good to get back out and do some exploring.  3.3 miles RT, with 930 feet of ascent.

Map below.   Blue P=Parking   Red X=Summit    Black X's=Views