It's been a long time since I've had an opportunity to get out hiking, but I finally found some time and just had to take advantage. Did a little exploring in the Hoffman Notch Wilderness in the heart of the Adirondacks on a beautiful, cool spring day and boy did it feel good to get out there. My goal was to hike to Bailey Pond via a marked trail, and then to bushwhack up to 2736 foot Hayes Mountain and an extensive area of cliffs on its SE slopes.
I parked at the end of Loch Muller Road, at the southern trailhead for Hoffman Notch(Elevation 1650 feet), and headed into the woods via the marked trail, quickly turning left onto the blue blazed Bailey Pond trail.
The trail is well marked and easy to follow as it heads NW in the footprint of an old town road, arriving at a crossing of the West Branch of Trout Brook in just over 8/10 of a mile.
The trail bends sharply left at the brook, and within moments arrives at the NE shore of Bailey Pond, with a great view. of Hayes Mountain across the water.
The marked trail ends at the pond, but I continued west along the marshy southeast end of Bailey Pond, soaking in more views.
At the southwest shoreline of the pond, the view northeast encompasses(left to right) Hayes Mtn, a portion of Bailey Hill and Washburn Ridge
From the south end of Bailey Pond, Hayes Mountain looms directly above to the west but is ringed with sheer cliffs in that area so I decided to continue my bushwhack further south into a deep draw between peaks, soon arriving at beaver meadow.
At the beaver pond, I turned west, climbing steeply up towards the mountain through open hardwoods.
I carefully weaved my way up the steep slopes, contouring my way over towards the extensive cliffs. My first up close views of the cliffs were quite impressive.
From a small perch at the edge of the cliffs, I enjoyed the first of many fine view points. This view takes in the cliffs of Hayes, as well as a sliver of Bailey Pond and sprawling Texas Ridge beyond.
From an open ledge, SE views across the deep draw where I had began my ascent, with the south end of Cobble Hill(left) and Bigsby Hill(right)
From the same ledge, looking more southerly towards the peaks around Irishtown.
As I continued my ascent, I clung to the edge of the cliffs, taking in the spectacular views along the way. The slopes of neighboring Cobble Hill are visible here with Texas Ridge in the nearby distance beyond.
After enjoying the exhilarating climb up along the cliffs, I headed back into the woods, making my way steeply up through increasing spruce stands towards the summit.
The summit cone of Hayes is a mix of spruce and beech with the 2736 foot true summit being a bit unspectacular.
After hitting the top of the mountain, I bushwhacked north, making my way steadily down towards Marion Pond. After a little over 3/4 of a mile, I arrived at the SW shore of Marion Pond.
Marion Pond is a high elevation pond(2300 feet) which can be only be reached by bushwhacking or a rough herd path, so it doesn't see the amount of hikers that many other ponds may see, although it does have a couple of decent informal campsites and row boats stashed nearby.
From Marion Pond I followed the rough herd path, which is flagged, but seems to meander incoherently north and east. I followed it for a while, before simply bushwhacking my way back down towards Bailey Pond.
Once back down to Bailey Pond, it was an easy hike out on the marked DEC trail to my car.
Covered about 7 miles total, with a good portion of the day being off trail. Elevation gain was a touch over 1200 feet.
Map below. Red P=Parking Red *-Hayes Mountain summit
