Stissing Mountain Sunset

When I was in Europe last summer I thought about how neat it would be to watch the sunset over the Atlantic. Listening to Roxy Music and drinking a bottle of wine James (my friend from Australia) and I watched the sunset at a point that was thought to be the end of the world during the Middle Ages. I remember James telling these Irish girls that we met, "I had to go out there, because I'm a sunset kind of a person." I immediately thought to myself, "I am too."

Early this summer I made it a habit to bicycle the two miles from my apartment to the Rhinecliff boat launch along the Hudson River and watch the sunset. Some days it was too hazy, hot and humid to really enjoy it, but other days the beautiful colors and the cool breeze from the Hudson made the 2 mile ride one of the best bargains around.

The trip to Vermont made me realize that I hadn't been out to catch a sunset in awhile. So I decided to make the short drive to Pine Plains to hike up Stissing Mountain to watch the sun drop behind the Catskills.

The less than 2 mile hike with 900 feet elevation gain leads to a fire tower at the summit. One gets the impression from the summit that the people of Pine Plains don't do all that much besides farming. The immediate views are of rolling hills and quite a bit of farm land. To the east, the Taconics form a wall. To the west the Catskills rise up out of the Hudson Valley. Most prominent are Kaaterskill High Peak and Overlook Mountain. The southern Catskills (among them Slide) are also distinguishable. The sun would fall just north of Slide.

Ferncliff Forest

Right here in the small town of Rhinebeck, we have a small forest that has a fire tower. In high school, it was used as a party spot. The police eventually put an end to those days.

Ferncliff Forest is located about 2 miles north of the village. The fire tower was originally from South Carolina and was relocated here about 3 years ago. It's a quick walk up. About a half mile and 100 feet elevation later, there are commanding views of the Hudson River, the Catskill Mountains and the surrounding farm land.

The walk includes a pond and a couple shelters. Closer inspection reveals the remains of many foundations. My guess is that one hundred years ago this land was all farm land.

King of the Taconics

According to the peakbagger.com website Mt. Equinox is the highest point in the Taconics. I didn't think of the Taconics running into Vermont, but when crossing over from NY there was a familiarity to the mountains.

I decided to tackle this peak after the hike up Black Mt since they were relatively close together. The drive over passed through some beautiful farm land. And after New Hampshire, Vermont's all green license plates are my favorite.

The trailhead was easy enough to find. It reminded me of the one for Greylock in Massachusetts and also part of the Taconic range. The trail would run for 2.6 miles with 2700 feet elevation gain. In other words, it only went up. Relentlessly. But, it was enjoyable. With the 5:15 start, it was fairly cool. It met a couple people coming down and they were surprised to see me going in the direction towards the summit. It was a nice trail that was easy to keep your footing, so about an hour later I was on the summit. To my surprise there were others, too. Apparently there was a road that went up the mountain. I wish I would have known that!

The summit had a very large building called The Inn. Some years back it probably was. From here there were views to be had in all directions. I could make out the Catskills in the distance. There were mountains everywhere. The Green Mountains were north and west. The Taconics of MA were to the south. The Adirondacks were to the north and west. Awesome views.

I set back down just in time to make it back to the car before it was completely dark. I wasn't able to capture any pictures depicting the wonderful sunset. But, there's no way to capture it, regardless. The sound of the trees as the wind is sweeping through. The cracking of the trees. The subtle drop in temperature after the sun drops. All of this cannot be captured with the camera. So, in actuality, I'm glad I walked up as opposed to taking the car!

Black Mountain Fire Tower

Nestled near the Vermont border is Black Mt, which rises sharply out of Lake George offering spectacular views of the northern section of the lake.

I took the Black Mt trail to the summit. The approach taken rose from the opposite side of Lake George, so views of the lake were first seen on the summit. The climb was a little more than 1,000 feet and 2.5 miles. It was not the easiest of trails as there were quite a few brook crossings and footing was often a problem, so it was difficult at times to maintain a steady pace.

The parking lot was full of cars, which was not surprising since the weather was beautiful and the hike was of moderate length and ascent. When I reached the summit I would have been surprised to see the tower gated off if not for the VPo man letting me know the tower was closed. I could have easily hopped the fence and climbed the tower as it appeared to have it's steps, but I decided against this. It would have been nice since the southern portion of the lake would come into view. But, the view of the high peaks of the Adirondacks and the upper portion of Lake George were amazing.

Black Mountain was also my kind of mountain in another way. It generated its own energy. There was a windmill on top and the tower had solar panels decorating it. It was pretty cool and a nice surprise. I also met a group of senior hikers on the summit that I chatted with. One of them was a 46er and they were happy to know I was in pursuit of that goal. One of these days!

The Great Range 101

After reading some trail reports on the Sewards, I wimped out and decided I'd rather walk on maintained trails as opposed to frustrating myself trying to figure out which herd path will not peter out. This turned out to be a great decision as I got my first taste of the Great Range Trail and I met quite a few people along the way.

First and foremost, this hike's intention was to nab a few more 46ers. What originally was planned to only take a little more than a year has now amounted to a decade long quest to become a 46er. The 46ers are America's oldest peakbagging club, second only to the Munros of Scotland. To become a 46er you must ascend (and most importantly, descend) the 46 summits in the Adirondacks that are over 4,000 feet. Although, technically there are only 42 that are over 4 thousand feet. The four that are not were thought to be when the first 46ers completed the list.

Today's goal was to top Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong, Upper Wolf Jaw, and Lower Wolf Jaw. I previously hiked up Sawteeth, so I would add four more to the list. Reality struck the instant I opened my car door. IT WAS COLD!!! It has been such a hot and humid summer, the almost freezing temperature shocked me. It shouldn't have since this is quite normal for the Adirondacks in late August. The only clothing that I had that was warm was a cotton sweatshirt. Which is pretty stupid. COTTON KILLS!!! I was careful I did not over heat. The walk through the Ausable Club was spectacular as usual. The golf course must have one of the best views of any in the country with Giant rising out of the valley and straight to the sky.

The hike up the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR) Road was pleasant. I never did get warm enough to take off my sweatshirt. The two mile road brings you to one of the great spots in the Dacks, Lower Ausable Lake with Colvin rising sharply to the East with its prominent slides. To the west, Sawteeth also rises out of the lake.

This would be my first destination, via the "scenic trail." It lives up to its name. The AMR does an excellent job maintaining this trail. The trail first follows along the coast of the lake, offering splendid views. I was able to see a group, taking advantage of their membership, out in their boat. Only self-propelled boats are allowed. The lake sits at about 2,000 feet. The trail then rises steeply and relentlessly. So steeply, that in some sections there are ladders to negotiate the cliffs. Along the way, while ascending ever higher, there are amazing views of the lake below. Eventually, there are views toward the Upper Ausable Lake and Elk Lake.

With quite a bit of huffing and puffing and climbs over some false summits (its teeth), I managed to reach the true summit and awarded with what the Marshall brothers called, "the single greatest view in the Adirondacks." You will not get an argument from me. From here you get an up close view of the great slides of Gothics and Basin. These mountains, along with the Wolf Jaws, Armstrong and Saddleback form what is called the Great Range.

On the summit I met a girl from an educational camp called Pok-O-Mac Cready. She was part of a group raising money for the camp. In a 24 hour period, this group would have someone on each of the 46ers. Luckily, she was climbing Sawteeth, easily one of the great hikes in the Adirondacks. This camp attracts students from all over the world and they do all sorts of outdoor activities and they recently completed an indoor rock climbing gym that includes a bouldering section! I would love to have her job.

The climb down entailed lots of use of the hands. This would be a major theme of the day. These trails were no joke. The trail up Pyramid (a sub peak of Gothics)went up part of the slide. Thankfully, it's been dry. Awesome views were had on Pyramid. It was windy as hell, but there were great views of Basin, Marcy, Haystack and Algonquin could be seen further in the distance. I met a man with his young children, aged 9,11,13. The boy found a "cave" in the vegetation to get out of the wind. He's practicing for winter. I was surprised to see them on a hike this long. I told him it was great that you had them out. He said, "yes it is." I wish the school I work at would exercise the shit out of them. If they did, they would have far fewer behavioral problems. Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

There was quite a bit of scrambling going down Pyramid and then up Gothics. I met a few guys who were taking on the entire Great Range (I was envious, maybe later this year). Going up one of the scrambles, I could here, "you're almost there!" I turned around, and saw the kids waving to me. I waved backed and shouted, "pizza!", which they were eating while taking a break. When they started down, I got excellent footage of them scrambling down with the video camera I have.

When I reached the summit of Gothics, I was amazed at how many were up there. And again the views were unreal. Now the views expanded to the north, with Big Slide, Cascade, Whiteface and Lake Placid all visible. On top of that the views of Marcy were much better.

For a little while, I was hiking with these three guys from the Albany area. One of the guys was bitching about the trail and its steepness and that he'd rather bushwack. This other guy and I laughed at that. More than once while bushwacking, I have descended cliffs only to have to turn around and go back up because I couldn't negotiate my way down. No thanks. I'll take the trail with ladders and having to constantly use my hands.

The Great Range trail led to Armstrong and both the Wolf Jaws. Only Lower Wolf Jaw disappointed, with barely any views to be had. The summit of Armstrong afforded views of the north side of Gothics with what appeared to be fresh new slides going straight down the mountain. Upper Wolf Jaw provided a nice place to lunch and had great views to the south, where Noonmark, Dial, Nippletop and the Dixes were visible.

On the hike out and down Lower Wolf Jaw I met Ralph who was a Dean at one of the colleges near Albany. He was fascinated with some of the stories I had at work and asked me, "How I got up in the morning?" I told him I actually liked my job although it goes by slowly. We also talked about hikes in the Catskills and I gave him what I consider my Top 5.

Mileage: 13 Elevation gain: About 6,000 ft Time: 11 hrs

31 down and 15 to go!!!