Visited the Hammond Pond Wild Forest in the town of North Hudson with my dad and brother today, with the promise of nice weather. Our destination was Moose Mountain Pond Lean To, which sits 3.5 miles away from the trailhead on Ensign Pond Road. We arrived at about 8am under overcast conditions and with only one other car in the lot.
The trail begins nice and easy through mixed woods, following blue blazes on an old tote road. Temperatures were cool in the upper 40's.
About .4 of a mile into the hike, the old tote road arrives at a large beaver meadow. The trail turns right up the hill from here away from the beaver meadow for about .3 of a mile before returning to the tote road.
The trail closely follows Berrymill Brook, and soon arrives at a beautiful 5 foot waterfall at .9 miles.
After the falls, the trail leaves the brook and soon arrives at a trail junction.
Just past the trail junction there is an informal campsite with a view out across Berrymill Flow.
A footbridge crosses the outlet of the Flow. Here is a nice view of the outlet.
Looking back at the footbridge.
Fall colors across Berrymill Flow.
The trail winds through mostly evergreens on its way to Moose Mountain Pond. After 3.2 miles, there is a small path that leads to open views of the pond, with Moose Mountain rising beyond.
The trail continues for another .3 of a mile following the west side of the pond, before finally arriving at the Lean To.
Skies remained mostly cloudy muting the fall colors on the pond just a bit.
The Lean To sits a small distance up from the pond and made a perfect spot to rest and enjoy our lunch.
Still water reflections on Moose Mountain Pond as viewed from the Lean To.
Reflections on a cloudy morning. This spot was so quiet and peaceful that it makes a perfect spot to enjoy the solitude.
We relaxed for a while here before finally heading back.
As we arrived back at Berrymill Flow, the sun began to emerge, showing off some of the fall colors.
After 2.1 miles from the lean to, we got back to the trail junction and turned left onto the Bass Lake trail. The trail heads south, skirting the Flow, before turning to the west and arriving at Bass Lake after about 1 mile.
With the sun shining bright and skies clearing out, the view over Bass Lake was incredible.
We walked along the shoreline for a bit, enjoying the great views and reflections on the lake. We even spotted a small row boat along the way.
After leaving Bass Lake, we retraced our steps to the trail junction, this time turning left on our way back to the parking lot. Enjoyed a marvelous autumn day, hiking a total of 9 miles RT.
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