Spruce Mountain(Wilcox Lake Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

Took advantage of yet another PERFECT fall day by heading north to hike 2650 foot Spruce Mountain, which is the peak just west of Hadley Mountain.  Parked beneath a DEC sign in a small pull off on Lens Lake Road beside pretty Middle Flow and just had to stop and soak in the crystal clear reflections on the water!  What a start to the day!

There is no marked trail to the mountain so this would be a bushwhack hike, starting from 1850 feet elevation.  Crossed the road and headed east into the woods, where abundant beech trees are turning the woods ablaze in orange.

 What a great gift when bushwhacking is this pleasant!  Extremely colorful and vibrant!

I knew there would be water crossing over Paul Creek, so I was a bit worried and indeed it was running fast and high out of Middle Flow.

 

I stayed slightly north of where the creeks converge and found an easy rock hop across. From there, it was a nice ascent north up through a handsome hardwood forest, complete with sections of pretty fern glades and sedge grass.

High up on the SW flank below the summit ridge, I came to an amazing view point, stretching nearly 180 degrees(south-west-north)

Just beyond the viewpoint, I stumbled across a trail/path, which actually had blue and/ or red markings.  This made it a very easy final push up to the 2650 foot summit, which sits in another clearing, marked with a large cairn.

Continuing NE past the summit, I stayed on the beaten down path, which leads shortly to a very large clearing.  The clearing is chock full of blueberry bushes and open rock, with over the treetop views towards nearby mountains.

 Dropped down the open clearing to an incredible front row view east towards Hadley Mountain!

A zoom look towards Hadley Mountain and its fire tower.

What a nice look at West Mountain(composed of Hadley Mountain and its long southern ridge).

 A small sliver of the Great Sacandaga Lake can be seen from the clearing as well.

 Heading back around the summit area, instead of over, passing through a pretty golden fern glade.

Even at 2400 feet+, there is still some very nice color hanging on.

Picked up another trail/ path on the descent and made it down in good time.  Once back down low, I left the path and headed more directly towards the car, stumbling upon a pretty beaver meadow.

Once across the small creek crossing, I went over to take a last look at the  branch of Paul Creek which was running hastily out of Middle Flow.  Turned NW, following the pretty creek all the way back to Lens Lake Road and my waiting car.

A phenomenal day in the woods, with about 5 miles RT and 1100 feet of total ascent.
Red=Ascent    Blue=Descent