Pine Mountain-"Hickory Hill Ski Center"(Warrensburg-Adirondacks)

 Decided last minute to do a small hike late this afternoon to the summit of 1790 foot Pine Mountain at the old Hickory Hill Ski Center in the town of Warrensburg.  Pine Mountain is one of the notable "Three Sisters" peaks that rise just west of the hamlet of Warrensburg and is open to hikers.  I parked on the shoulder of the ski center access road, being sure not to block the gate and headed out(elevation 685 feet).  I walked up the access road for a moment before angling over towards the ski slopes, with bright blue skies above.

 

 I decided to go straight for the steepest slopes and began breaking into a good sweat in no time.

Within just a few minutes of very steep climbing, I was already getting very good over the shoulder views to the north with the Hudson River visible down below threading through the mountains.

 

Just a bit further up, I stopped to catch my breath and noticed that many more peaks to the north were becoming visible, as well as more of the Hudson River below.  This zoom view takes in a farm along Rive Road near the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain, as well as a multitude of mountains.

As I hit some shaded areas around 1400 feet, I began to see some small spots of snow lingering from the past couple of winter like days.  Today's temps in the low to mid 50's here has melted away nearly any snow at this elevation.

These ski slopes are no joke, as I gained 1100 feet in less than one mile.  It helps that there are awesome views like this one of Sugarloaf Mountain  to enjoy.

Just below the summit, a large clearing opens up and provides far reaching NW views with Crane Mountain being the highest peak on the horizon.

One last push brought me up to the 1790 foot summit.  There are some trees sparsely spaced about here, so it feels more open than it is.

Just a few yards away from the summit is a spectacular view SW towards Bald Mountain, known as the Third Sister, on the right.  Several of the peaks along the Hudson River just south of Bald are also visible.

From the same vantage point looking south, the view encompasses a large swath of peaks stretching down towards Lake Luzerne.

I wandered the summit area taking in the great views, such as this look towards the Hudson River and more mountains than I can count stretching out to the north.

After enjoying the open summit area, I dropped down another steep slope with views of neighboring Middle Mountain(Second Sister).

Just before one of the last steep drops, I stopped to soak in one more view of Sugarloaf and the Hudson.  A bit of a cool breeze was the only negative on this otherwise perfect spring afternoon.

Got back to the car and was surprised that I had hiked just a bit over 2 miles RT, with over 1100 feet feet of ascent.  Even with many stops, it was a very quick but highly rewarding hike.  Next time I may walk more of the access road to stretch the hike out a bit longer.  No matter what you choose to do, there are many great views to be had.