Moose Mountain(Wilcox Lake Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

1840 foot Moose Mountain in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest has been on my bucket list for quite a while and today would prove to be the day that I finally would pay it a visit.  Just to clarify, there are many "Moose Mountains" in the Adirondacks, but this is the one that sits just off Route 30 near the Sacandaga Campground in the town of Wells.  Some folks like to approach this peak directly from Route 30, but I decided to hike in from Pumpkin Hollow Road, where a snowmobile trail crosses the road near Willis Lake.  I followed the trail for about 1/10 of a mile to the outlet of Willis Lake before beginning my bushwhack.

Once off the trail, I followed the south side of the outlet stream where fallen pine needles cushioned each step.

As I followed the outlet, the ravine became very steep, but I simply stayed the course, staying high above the steep slopes.

While almost a staple of Catskill hikes, I rarely stumble upon stone walls up in the Adirondacks, so it was a nice find when I saw this moss covered stone wall near the outlet.

After about 6/10 of a mile, I dropped down to an easy rock crossing of Coulumbe Creek.

I took a moment to soak in the tranquility along this peaceful creek.

A short distance beyond the creek  crossing, I ran into another drainage and an old woods road, that was in surprisingly good condition.  It appeared that some sort of old camp must have been here many years ago.  A few yards off the woods road, I found this very old, rusted car.

Old tires were strewn about near the car, as well as other rusted camp tools and parts.

The woods road gained me some elevation as it climbed the eastern slopes of Moose Mountain.

After gaining about 250 feet from the drainage, I left the woods road and headed straight up the open hardwood forest, aiming at the set of cliffs along the south side of the peak.  At about 1500 feet, I began to encounter the first of the open ledges that ring the summit ridge.  The view was south, towards Route 30 and the Sacanadaga valley.

From an area of open rock on the eastern summit of Moose, I caught this glimpse NW towards Dugway, Swart and Hamilton Mountains.

As I neared the eastern summit, the views only got better.  This is the south facing view from up high.

Grassy slopes along the summit ridge made for a pleasant spot to relax and take a break.

Continuing on short distance beyond the summit, I found another open rock slab, with more outstanding views.  The SW views here take in Three Ponds and Wallace Mountains.

The true summit sits about 3/10 of a mile west so I continued over there, making it in less than 10 minutes. The summit is wooded, but dropping down about 1/10 of mile, I found a gorgeous set of western ledges with views towards the West Branch valley.  A couple of birds of prey flew away when I approached the ledges and I was even able to capture one of them in this shot.

I quickly moved on from the ledges to allow the birds to go back to their perch.  As I headed back towards the eastern summit I stayed slightly lower on the slopes, to see the rocky ledges from below.  This was a very fun exploration, with more open rock than I had first thought.

As I headed back up and over the eastern summit, clouds began to move in, so I picked up my pace, quickly heading back to the car.

Luckily the rain held off and I made it back to the car as the sun began to come out.  About 5 miles RT, with 1300 plus feet of ascent on this fun day.