Got an invite from my buddies Spencer and Jim to hike West Mountain's ridge in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, a long ridge which appeared to have a lot of potential view spots. The ridge is better known by its northern neighbor, Hadley Mountain and its fire tower.
We met up bright and early and the sun was already out, quickly warming things up. Our goal was to thru-hike the ridge, so we spotted a car at the Hadley Mountain trailhead, then drove back south to a small sliver of public access on Hadley Hill Road to get started. Elevation was only about 1280 feet to begin.
Initially we hit some wet areas, but quickly left that behind with Spencer leading the way, heading up through wide open hardwoods.
One of the very best parts of bushwhacking this time of year, is that there are no leaves on the trees, and you can see almost everything through the bare woods. As we quickly gained elevation, the valley floor literally dropped out below us.
As spring moves on, winter is much slower to recede in the north, as many areas of the Adirondacks are still draining out.
Spencer's dog Abbie accompanied us today, and took advantage of any water by cooling off her paws in it.
As the ridge continues NE, it remains gradual and open until about 1900 feet. At that point, we almost hit a wall of fallen rock and calved off boulders. We knew this would be fun.
After reaching the top of the first boulder filled wall, we found some peek a boo views and nice cliffs, before continuing on to the next set of boulder strewn slopes.
All of our attention quickly turned to the last, and most impressive area of rocky cliffs, which towered above us at nearly 2200 feet.
A fun rock scramble brought us to the top of the ledges. From atop these cliffs, the views were outstanding.
This perch at just above 2200 feet, made for a great break spot to soak in the best views of the day. A light southerly breeze and temps in the low 70's made for ideal conditions. Throw in no bugs and low humidity and I don't think it gets better than this.
Looking SW back at the ridge we had just ascended.
The Great Sacandaga Lake is front and center from these ledges, and why not?? The view is incredible.
After enjoying a drink and snacks at the view spot, we continued on NE, circling along the top of a nice series of ledges, with even more open views. This is the view towards Spruce Mountain(L), and Hadley Mountain(R).
West-northwest views towards Seneca Mountain and Spruce Mountain, with about a half dozen turkey vultures circling above the valley.
A nice and easy ridge walk brought us up to the high point on the ridge in a clearing at a little over 2300 feet.
The big draw, however, was just a few yards away, with a neat look of Potash Mountain.
A small vernal pond is always a welcomed find in the woods. This one literally sat just off the high point on the ridge.
To the north, Hadley Mountain and its fire tower are clearly visible from West Mountain's ridge.
We eventually wandered over to some nice ledges running along the SE edge of the ridge, where we found even more views.
From these ledges, we enjoyed views stretching across the southeastern Adirondacks all the way towards the Green Mountains of Vermont on the horizon.
A south view towards the north end of the Great Sacandaga.
A quick ascent through more open woods brought us back atop the ridge.
The top of ridge was amazingly open, with many clearings and open woods.
Just prior to dropping down to the marked trail for Hadley Mountain, we found one last clearing, with even more amazing views. These views spread east towards Warrensburg and many of the Lake George peaks.
Nearby Roundtop Mountain, which sits just to the north of Hadley Mountain.
As mentioned earlier, spring lags a little behind in the north, so I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a yellow violet wildflower.
Once we dropped down to the marked trail, it was a nice and easy hike back down to our spotted car at the Hadley Mountain trailhead, for a 5 mile RT hike with 1300 feet of ascent. A perfect spring day!
On the drive home, I stopped momentarily to soak in this view of the West Mountain ridge we had just hiked from below. This wetland is along the side of Hadley Hill Road and really captures much of the ridge.
Our route.
No comments:
Post a Comment