Eagle Pond & Eagle Pond Ledges(Wilcox Lake Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

With low humidity and a much more comfortable day in the cards, I decided to head north to pay a visit to Eagle Pond, a smallish body of water as well as a set of nearby ledges on an unnamed peak in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest.  I parked in a small unmarked pull off along Route 8 near a stream crossing(just under a mile NE of the Shanty Brook Trailhead) and crossed the road heading SE into the woods on a rough, unmarked footpath.  Elevation to start the hike was 1390 feet and the unmarked path was easy to follow at first, passing through a typical Adk mixed forest.

The footpath quickly deteriorated  and became almost impossible to follow in spots, so I simply bushwhacked my way, closely following Eagle Pond's outlet brook to the top of a hill, where a sprawling beaver meadow and flow are found.  An impressive, large beaver dam sits in the middle of the flow, with a view of the unnamed ledges just beyond.

A zoom view towards the ledges, which can just barely be made out.

To avoid going through the mud and muck, I circled around the beaver meadow on another rough footpath before finally bushwhacking straight up towards the steep area of ledges.

At about 1975 feet, I arrived at the set of ledges I had been aiming for.  There are a couple of ledges next to each other with slightly different vantage points, but one ledge in particular offers the most impressive views of all.  The beaver meadow I had just been in can be seen below, with the multiple ridges of the Blue Hills beyond, as well as the open rock on the Shanty Cliffs to the right. 

From a slightly lower ledge, the view looks SW towards Moose(L) and Corner Mountains(R), as well as many other peaks. 

A nice ledge view towards the Shanty Cliffs once again.  Although these ledges are less than 600 feet above my starting point on Route 8, the sheer drop off from here is what provides these majestic views.

After enjoying the ledges, a nice and easy contour east brought me down to Eagle Pond in less than 10 minutes.  There was a lot of wet areas around the pond, but I managed to find some dry spots to explore the shoreline.

From a beaver dam looking NE, where the last of the blue skies was quickly disappearing.

Circling along the west edge of the pond on the unmarked footpath brought me to a small point, with a firepit and rowboat.  Looks like a really sweet spot!  The lower slopes of Harrington Mountain can be seen rising above the pond to the east.

After enjoying the pond, I decided to change it up on the way back, simply following the outlet brook all the way back to the car.  There were a couple of pretty cascading falls on the rugged, rock strewn brook. 

A nice 3.2 mile RT hike with about 800 feet of total ascent.  Although there is a footpath here, I certainly wouldn't rely solely on that if anyone plans to visit here.  Good navigational/ bushwhacking skills are a plus for sure.  On another positive note, the bugs didn't bother me at all today!!  Hooray!
Today's route.  Red=Hike in/ Ascent      Blue=Return Descent

Cole Hill State Forest(Albany County Helderbergs)

Headed out to Cole Hill State Forest in the Helderbergs for a short little adventure in between thunderstorms this afternoon.  On my drive there, the nearby Albany County hills were getting slammed with severe weather, so I waited it out for a bit before getting started.

As soon as it cleared, I got started where the Long Path meets Cole Hill Road in the town of Berne.  Unfortunately, while the storms did knock the temps back a few degrees, it was still oppressively humid as I set out on the Long Path heading west, through damp woods.

After a little over 1/3 of a mile, the Long Path drops down to sprawling beaver pond and a foot bridge crossing.  Skies had already began clearing out by this time, spiking the humidity through the roof again. 

On the other side of the bridge, the Long Path turns sharply right, while a blue marked trail continues straight.  I turned with the aqua blazed Long Path, which also hugs the other side of the beaver pond, which is much more swamp like on this side. 

The trail follows the beaver pond for a while before swinging back to the left(SW), and dropping to another foot bridge crossing.  Yet again, the trail crosses a highly scenic beaver pond.

A beaver dam just upstream from the foot bridge.

Continuing west, the trail crosses over paved Willsie Road before beginning a slow climb into a hardwood forest.  Here, just a few yards off the Long Path sits an old, picturesque cemetery, hemmed in by stone walls.

After checking out the cemetery, I decided to follow a cross country ski trail that ended up petering out to nothing.  From there, I decided to just bushwhack my way back east across the road and towards the Long Path again.  Along the way, I stumbled across this small drainage area, where a couple of frogs jumping into the water surprised me.  Guess I surprised them too.

A little further along, I came to yet another beaver pond, this one the smallest of all.  The weeds around it were pretty wet, so I kept back a bit.

In one section of the woods, I came to a neat little area of dense pink lady slippers.  A very odd location, and the only ones I saw all day.

Back on the Long Path and heading for the car, strolling through the Avenue of the Pines.

Nearing the car once again, I took a last look up at the sky where the skies remained clear.  Within just a few minutes back on the road, however, the next wave of storms was already rolling in.

Hiked about 3 miles total in this quiet little section of the Helderbergs.  Didn't see another soul the entire time.  A fun little area to poke around in.

Pakatakan Mountain(Dry Brook Ridge Wild Forest-Catskills)

Decided to do a short afternoon hike up to 2430 foot Pakatakan Mountain, which is actually just a shoulder of Dry Brook Ridge, but hovers imposingly over the village of Margaretville.  I knew it wouldn't be a terribly long hike, but I did want to scout out some other peaks in the area, so I would make the most of my time.  I parked on the shoulder of the road at the trailhead located on South Spur Road just south of Margaretville, elevation of 1380 feet.  I was the only car there when I arrived at this trailed mountain.  We have been blessed with some really nice weather recently, but today temps were pushing 80 and it was getting quite warm and even a bit humid.
Right out of the gate, the trail begins to climb steeply up through rugged terrain.  I really love the rock formations on the first segment of this hike.

 I'm not always so good with my flower identification.  Spring beauties perhaps? 

 The woods are really starting to green up, and luckily there weren't really many bugs.

The steep climbing got me sweating pretty good on this warm day, but the spring time woods are just so refreshingly beautiful.

The trail doesn't actually go up to Pakatakan's "high point", but the highlight of this hike isn't even on trail anyways.  A herd path, marked with a rock cairn leads south to a nice little clearing and a set of ledges with framed views SW towards the Pepacton Reservoir.

 

 A zoom view towards the Pepacton.

Looking south across Cold Spring Hollow towards the unnamed ridge that is part of the Huckleberry Loop Trail.

Classic Catskills.

With more time I would've continued on, but I did want to check out some other off trail spots in the area for future hikes.  A nice and easy descent brought me back to the car in no time.  3.7 miles RT with about 1050 feet of climbing.

Dutton Mountain(Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

Headed north today to check out 2314 foot Dutton Mountain, which sits almost directly at the edge of the Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest, where it meets the Hudson Gorge Wilderness.  There are no trails on Dutton, so the entire hike would be a bushwhack.  Parked in a small pull off on 14th Road, where it crosses Deer Creek and started out following a fisherman path along the creek, heading NE at elevation of 1380 feet.

Followed the path for a short distance, quickly arriving at a pretty waterfall crashing down into a nice pool on the creek.

A little further upstream from the falls, I found a nice and easy place to rock hop across.

A couple small ups and downs brought me over to Dutton's steep south facing slopes.  The woods are literally greening up more and more every day.  Spring has sprung(even in the Adks!)

Heading up to the first imposing set of ledges at just about 1900 feet.

A carefully made my way up to the top of the cliffs, where there was a clearing but no real open views. 

About 1/4 of a mile further up the mountain, and a couple hundred feet higher, I found a real nice area of open ledges, facing south-southeast.

The best views were almost due south, where Gore Mountain stands impressively in the middle.  A hint of snow remains on the highest ski slopes.

SE views across the Deer Creek valley, towards Moxham Mountain.

After enjoying the ledge views, I continued up to the 2314 foot summit, which was fully wooded in spruce.

From the summit area, I decided to head towards the NW part of the mountain, where there is an extremely steep escarpment that drops down towards the Hudson River.

After dropping down to just below 1700 feet, I found a first open view down towards the Hudson.  What a steep drop off it is from here!

Looking into the heart of the Hudson Gorge Wilderness, where the river can be seen snaking its way through the mountains. 

I really took my time exploring the escarpment heading north.  The sheer drop off and views are quite impressive.

After arriving at the base of the NW knob of Dutton, I weaved my way up and around the steep ledges, soon arriving at my last destination.  A small firepit let me know I was in the right spot, a ledge known as Clear View Rock to locals, or Gun-Sight Rock.

The view lines up almost perfectly with the Hudson running west, hemmed in by the steep slopes of Fox Hill and Harris Rift Mountain on the left and Pine and Forks Mountain on the right.

A bit of a closer look at the old D and H Railroad bridge crossing the Hudson.

The open rock on Forks Mountain is quite a sight, and looks like it would make an excellent destination in itself.  Although tough to see, a careful eye may be able to pick out the Boreas River flowing into the Hudson at the foot of Forks Mountain.

Before dropping off the viewpoint, I caught one last look south towards the Hudson, meandering its way down into Warren County.

On my return, heading back SE, I found this old sign that  looks like it had been used for target practice.

 

Crossing back over Deer Creek just before getting back to the car.  Cleaned up briefly in the refreshingly cool water, enjoying the solitude of the woods.

Hiked about 5.5 miles RT(all bushwhack) with over 1600 feet of total ascent.  Didn't see another soul all day.
Today's route seen below.