Ooms Conservation Area(Town of Chatham-Columbia County)

Enjoyed a peaceful late afternoon stroll around the Columbia Land Conservancy's Ooms Conservation Area, located off of Rock City Road in the town of Chatham.  Comfortable temperatures in the mid to upper 60's and low humidity made for pleasant conditions.  The only drawback was that the trails are still very wet and soggy in many areas, especially near Sutherland Pond.  It could not, however, detract from the views. 

 Heading up the grassy trail, I enjoyed seeing the nearby hillsides "springing" to life.

 Views of neighboring farms dot the countryside.

 Rolling trails through the rolling hills.

 Spring is a beautiful time of year to witness nature's reawakening.

Back down along the quiet shore of Sutherland Pond, where I saw a couple of fisherman enjoying the day as well.

Spring wildflowers are beginning to grace many of these trails, adding a nice touch to an already beautiful hike.

A perfect after work stroll for a total of 2 miles RT.

West Mountain Ridge(Wilcox Lake Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

Got an invite from my buddies Spencer and Jim to hike West Mountain's ridge in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, a long ridge which appeared to have a lot of potential view spots.  The ridge is better known by its northern neighbor, Hadley Mountain and its fire tower.
We met up bright and early and the sun was already out, quickly warming things up.  Our goal was to thru-hike the ridge, so we spotted a car at the Hadley Mountain trailhead, then drove back south to a small sliver of public access on Hadley Hill Road to get started.  Elevation was only about 1280 feet to begin.
Initially we hit some wet areas, but quickly left that behind with Spencer leading the way, heading up through wide open hardwoods.

One of the very best parts of bushwhacking this time of year, is that there are no leaves on the trees, and you can see almost everything through the bare woods.  As we quickly gained elevation, the valley floor literally dropped out below us.

As spring moves on, winter is much slower to recede in the north, as many areas of the Adirondacks are still draining out.

Spencer's dog Abbie accompanied us today, and took advantage of any water by cooling off her paws in it.

As the ridge continues NE, it remains gradual and open until about 1900 feet.  At that point, we almost hit a wall of fallen rock and calved off boulders.  We knew this would be fun.

After reaching the top of the first boulder filled wall, we found some peek a boo views and nice cliffs, before continuing on to the next set of boulder strewn slopes.

All of our attention quickly turned to the last, and most impressive area of rocky cliffs, which towered above us at nearly 2200 feet.

A fun rock scramble brought us to the top of the ledges.  From atop these cliffs, the views were outstanding.

This perch at just above 2200 feet, made for a great break spot to soak in the best views of the day.  A light southerly breeze and temps in the low 70's made for ideal conditions.  Throw in no bugs and low humidity and I don't think it gets better than this.

Looking SW back at the ridge we had just ascended.

The Great Sacandaga Lake is front and center from these ledges, and why not?? The view is incredible.

After enjoying a drink and snacks at the view spot, we continued on NE, circling along the top of a nice series of ledges, with even more open views.  This is the view towards Spruce Mountain(L), and Hadley Mountain(R).

West-northwest views towards Seneca Mountain and Spruce Mountain, with about a half dozen turkey vultures circling above the valley.

A nice and easy ridge walk brought us up to the high point on the ridge in a clearing at a little over 2300 feet.

 The big draw, however, was just a few yards away, with a neat look of Potash Mountain.

A small vernal pond is always a welcomed find in the woods.  This one literally sat just off the high point on the ridge.

To the north, Hadley Mountain and its fire tower are clearly visible from West Mountain's ridge.

We eventually wandered over to some nice ledges running along the SE edge of the ridge, where we found even more views.

From these ledges, we enjoyed views stretching across the southeastern Adirondacks all the way towards the Green Mountains of Vermont on the horizon.

A south view towards the north end of the Great Sacandaga.

A quick ascent through more open woods brought us back atop the ridge.

The top of ridge was amazingly open, with many clearings and open woods.

Just prior to dropping down to the marked trail for Hadley Mountain, we found one last clearing, with even more amazing views.  These views spread east towards Warrensburg and many of the Lake George peaks.

Nearby Roundtop Mountain, which sits just to the north of Hadley Mountain.

As mentioned earlier, spring lags a little behind in the north, so I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a yellow violet wildflower.

Once we dropped down to the marked trail, it was a nice and easy hike back down to our spotted car at the Hadley Mountain trailhead, for a 5 mile RT hike with 1300 feet of ascent. A perfect spring day!
On the drive home, I stopped momentarily to soak in this view of the West Mountain ridge we had just hiked from below.  This wetland is along the side of Hadley Hill Road and really captures much of the ridge.

Our route.

Siegel-Kline Kill Conservation Area(Town of Ghent, Columbia County)

Took a short walk at the Columbia Land Conservancy's Siegel-Kline Kill Conservation Area in the town of Ghent this afternoon.  It was a warm spring day and even a bit humid, with rain showers knocking on the doorstep when I arrived.  Bird calls and budding trees greeted me as I headed down towards the creek, filling the air with a spring vibe.

 Paused for a few minutes along the banks of the peaceful Kline Kill.

 Back on the trail, I took a moment to observe nature's rebirth.

Vibrant trees across the meadow are swelling with buds as well, ready to burst forth with life.

Fields and lawns alike seem to color a bit unevenly to start the spring.  Along the mowed path, green grass is already taking over, surrounded by lagging fields.

Climbing up the hill, taking a look at the upper field.  Even a short climb like this got me sweating in the humidity, but a stiff south breeze kept it comfortable.

Sure feels good to see some green in a gray and brown world.  Within a few short weeks, green will be the predominant color all around.

As I arrived back at the car, the first rain drops hit my windshield followed by a steadier light rain for  my drive home.  Walked a little over 1 mile total.

Number 8 Mountain & Stevens Mountain(Pharoah Lake Wilderness-Adirondacks)

Stevens Mountain may only rise to 2174 feet, but its bare, mostly open summit has left me wanting to climb it for quite a while now.  With warmer weather finally melting winter's ice and snow, I talked my buddy Jim into heading north to check out this gorgeous section of the Pharoah Lake Wilderness. To get to the mountain on state land, we had to get started from the north end of driveable Pharoah Lake Road(off of Beaver Pond Road) at the large DEC parking area.  Only one other truck was there when we started, at a low elevation of 940 feet.  The old road sits at the foot of Park Mountain on the west and Number 8 Mountain on the east, meaning it was extremely wet and muddy from all of winter's remnants melting down the slopes on each side.

With the old road being so wet, we opted to quickly leave it and head off into the woods to begin our bushwhack. 

The west slopes of Number 8 Mountain are steep, but open and very easy to navigate.

Soon we could see a clearing to our right(south), a little before the summit.  We headed towards the clearing and voila...

The spectacular cliffs on Number 8 Mountain, looking SW over Brant Lake.

The view is nearly 180, encompassing a good portion of the southern Adks.  To the west, over neighboring Park Mountain's shoulder are the unmistakable ski slopes of Gore Mountain, with Eleventh Mountain's long ridge just south of that.

SE views towards The Brothers, a trio of nearby peaks.

A steady descent east brought us off Number 8's summit and towards Little Stevens Mountain.  For such little mountains(relatively speaking), the drop is quite significant.  We decided to head slightly south of Little Stevens to a small 1660 foot knob we dubbed Baby Stevens.  From a ledge on the way up, we caught a cool glimpse back to Number 8 Mountain.

Baby Stevens appeared to have quite a bit of open rock near the summit, so we headed up to it.

Once we hit the bare rock just off the summit, the views were great!  Number 8 Mountain and the view west.

Another view of Brant Lake, from a slightly lower and different angle on Baby Stevens.

One of the best finds of the day was a small vernal pond on the summit of Baby Stevens which seemed so out of place.

We wandered around exploring the open rock and checking out the views for a few minutes, eventually finding an amazing view north all the way towards the snow capped High Peaks.  Mount Marcy stands front and center.

Approaching the true summit of Baby Stevens.  This small knob was definitely worth the visit.

 

One last view from the amazing little summit of Baby Stevens. 

A very small, almost unnoticeable drop off Baby Stevens lead us north about 1/3 of a mile to Little Stevens.  A fun climb brought us up to the summit area.

Jim, arriving at the open rock atop 1730 foot Little Stevens Mountain.  While it was open at the top of Little Stevens, the views weren't anything close to those of Baby Stevens.  We looked around for a little bit, before heading over towards Stevens, which was still one mile away to the east.

A fairly uneventful drop and reclimb through mostly hardwoods brought us over to Stevens Mountain's summit.  The wide open blue skies on the final approach promised big things. 

Once atop the summit, the views did not disappoint.  The 2174 foot summit was our high point for the day, and provided a neat look back west towards the summit's that we had just climbed over.  Number 8 Mountain is center back, with Baby Stevens(left-front) and Little Stevens(Right front).

Several enormous glacial erratics grace the wide open east summit area.  An early 1900's fire left extensive damage on this summit, we is still noticeable today.

To the east the views stretch all the way towards the Green Mountain's of Vermont.  The impressive Barton High Cliffs are easily spotted in the center of the photo as well.

I wandered all around the open rock on the east side of the summit.  What a spectacular summit area!  That little speck at the top is Jim, soaking in the views.

The Brothers look close enough to touch from these open slopes.(Third Brother-left), Second Brother-right)

The summit of Stevens Mountain is one of the best that I have been on in the southern Adirondacks.  It is a real gem.

Simply incredible!  A bit windy, but otherwise perfect.  Crane Mountain is the high mountain in the distance to the right of Brant Lake.

After enjoying the summit for nearly 45 minutes, we finally turned back, heading back off Stevens and Little Stevens.  Recent snowmelt meant we were treated to several pretty waterfalls on the drainages on the slopes of Little Stevens.

Instead of reclimbing Number 8 Mountain, we side hilled the lower slopes of the peak, heading west back to Pharoah Lake Road.

An fun and amazing day in the Adks!  8.5 miles RT(mostly bushwhack) with nearly 2500 feet of ascent.  We were not able to secure permission to park a car at the Scout Camp at the base of Stevens Mountain, which would have made this a much shorter hike.