With a beautiful day in the forecast, I decided to head north to check out some fall foliage in the southern Adirondacks. While looking at google maps, I had noticed a good amount of open rock on the south side of 2343 foot Corner Mountain's summit area and thought it would offer up some good views. I parked at a small pull off on the north side of Route 8 and got all geared up with a cool morning temperature of only 37 degrees. Elevation at the car was a bit over 1300 feet, meaning I'd be climbing about 1000 feet to the top. Dropped down the steep embankment to the East Branch Sacandaga River and looked for a spot to cross. Unfortunately, I couldn't rock hop across and ended up getting wet boots.
Once across the river, I began a steady ascent up through a very open hardwood forest.
After a couple of small bumps, I picked up a drainage area and followed up into a draw.
I headed north then east, hitting the west ridge of Corner Mountain, following it through a very open forest.
Arrived at the base of the summit area, with a steep push up to the cliffs ahead of me. I found a nice route, utilizing trees and rocks to pull myself up. A quick turn over my shoulder and wow, the views were really opening up. The large mass of the Buckhorn range stretches out to west.
One final push got me up to the wooded 2343 foot summit. A few steps away, however, I found the open rock I was looking for. My first view was dominated by Moose Mountain to the south.
The sprawling valley of the East Branch can be seen to west.
A zoom view with many of the southern Adirondack peaks visible in the distance.
I flanked the open rock cliffs all along the south side of the summit, enjoying different views along the way. Moose Mountain's steep north slopes tower above the Route 8 corridor.
East facing views with tinges of color on the open cliffs.
Recent cool nights have finally pushed some of the foliage forward, but the colors are still lagging.
A large swath of the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest spreads out to the south and east. This made a perfect spot to stop and eat lunch.
The open rock was much broader than I had realized, and I had a great time exploring it.
One last look west to the valley of the East Branch before I finally left the cliffs.
On the descent I found a band of smaller cliffs that I had missed on the way up. Here is yet another view of Moose Mountain from a much lower elevation on the mountain.
I headed back down off the mountain in the same general direction I came up, soon arriving back at the East Branch crossing. I was greeted by much warmer temperatures, however, than the early morning crossing.
Once safely across the river(wet boots and all), it was a quick climb back up the embankment to the car. 4 miles RT with over 1000 feet elevation gain.
After enjoying Corner Mountain's incredible views, I still had some time to explore, so I drove a couple miles west on Route 8 to the Georgia Creek Trail parking lot to hike up to a spot known as the Moose's Hoof. The Hoof is actually one of two "hooves" or sub peaks of the larger Moose Mountain to its northeast. I left the car and crossed Route 8, picking up the barely noticeable DEC trail heading east, just a few yards above Cotter Brook.
Just under a half mile in, I left the trail heading up into the draw between the two Moose's Hooves. A short distance in I passed a rail of some sort, marked with orange flagging.
The ascent is pretty straightforward, heading north from the col, being sure to miss the steep west cliffs.
I dropped down to some very nice views from above the cliffs, with the Buckhorn peaks to the north dominating the vista.
The Buckhorn range.
West views above the valley.
After enjoying the cliff top views, I wandered over to the open 1660 foot summit of the "Moose's Hoof".
I opted to drop down the southeast side of the peak, heading towards Georgia Creek. The descent was pretty easy, until I hit some scratchy conifers and a small wetland. The lay of the land pushed me a bit southwest, where I came out near the confluence of Georgia Creek and Cotter Brook.
A short distance beyond, I found my way over to the snowmobile trail, which is very overgrown. A bridge crossing looks very unsafe, and not really sure how much use this are gets.
Followed the overgrown snowmobile trail to a trail junction with a DEC foot trail. Followed the foot trail out the last half mile to the car for a total of about 3 miles RT.
7+ miles total for the day, with about 1400 feet elevation gain.
I love the Moose's Hoof hike. It's such a great reward for very little effort.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that old snowmobile bridge over the Georgia Creek is still there. I heard that the local snowmobile clubs abandoned that route a couple years ago. Too bad, it's a nice walk up to the falls on Cotter Brook and Cotter Swamp is good for snowshoeing.