BlazeToBlaze

  • Hoffman Notch Wilderness – Severance Mountain

    723 feet of elevation gain

    2.46 miles round trip

     

    I was supposed to go to the Catskills this weekend and bushwhack Lone and Rocky with the Catskill 3500 group.  The hike leader had a family emergency and had to cancel the trip.  It’s just as well.  A nor’easter was coming up the coast and weather for the Catskills was iffy.  I suspect we had to cross the Neversink river once or twice, which could have been dicey, and not a simple rock hop.  So, with the trip cancelled, I looked for something shorter that wasn’t too far away in case I got rains here.  Severance mountain is not on any challenge list, that I know of.

    Severance Mountain, (or Hill on some maps), is right off exit 28 of the Northway.  The parking lot is right off route 9, and I missed it as the lot is back off the road.  What makes this unique is you start on the east side of the Northway, and have to go through two tunnels.  The mountain is on the west side of the Northway, with the sign-in box between the two tunnels.

    The trail is pretty typical for the Adirondacks.  Roots in many places.  Some rocks.  There were a couple of steep(er) climbs, but nothing too difficult.  And nothing that didn’t have a flatter section to catch your breath.  It’s only 1.2 miles to the top.

    The view at the top is pretty awesome, overlooking Schroon Lake.  I hadn’t been in this area, so it was refreshing to see something totally new.  The leaves were just stating to turn at this point.  While I scouted the hike to lead, I suspect I will miss peak leaves when I actually lead this.  In the winter, spikes might be needed.  It should be an easy snowshoe.

    The view off Severance Mountain towards Schroon Lake.

  • Lake George Wild Forest – Buck Mountain

    Lake George Wild Forest

    6.26 miles round trip

    1978 feet elevation gain

    This hike started from the Pilot Knob trailhead, the longer steeper way to get to the top.  I’ve been to Buck Mountain many times, and the views from the top are amazing.  Early on there are a couple of stream crossings, which can be dicey at times.  The last time I was here, water was raging.  Not so much on this weekend.

    The views from the top were great, the weather was just right.

    Coming down was a piece of cake.

    This parking lot can get busy at times, be sure to get there earlyish on a Saturday, as lots of tourists know of this hike.

    Here’s a view looking north, up Lake George.

  • Giant Mountain Wilderness – Hopkins Mountain

    September 12, 2026

    5.27 Miles

    2124 feet elevation gain

    I returned to the Rooster Comb parking lot and was lucky enough to find a spot to park.  I was headed to Hopkins, though, everyone else went to Snow, Rooster Comb, or attempted a Great Range Traverse.

    To get to Hopkins, you had to cross 73, and walk to the right for two streets, turning on Ranny, which was all dirt, but did contain two bridges to cross.  Only the first bridge was really necessary, both are necessary for cars.  You will walk on a woods road for about a half mile or so, before veering off into the woods.  Climbing Hopkins reminded me a lot of climbing Moxham, though was taller and steeper.

    After 1.8 miles you will junction with the Mossy Cascade trail, turn left .9 miles to Hopkins.  After .7 miles you will come to another junction.  To the right is Giant Mount; at least three miles away.  I thought about it, but quickly dismissed it.  You’ll go left, .2 miles to the summit of Hopkins.  And climb you will.  This is the steepest part for sure.  It was here that encountered a group of about 6 with three dogs.  Only 1 leashed.  It’s not fun being on the business end of German Shepherds.  As I passed the group, I could feel the embarrassment from the people without dogs.  Not a good situation, and not a good look for a trip leader.

    There was only one other person at the top of the mountain.  The views were amazing, especially given that I didn’t think the clouds would lift until later.  Giant was easily visible to my left.  The view over the AMR is insane, and it was very hard to leave.  On the way down I ran into more people, with dogs.  I’ve had enough of dogs on trail.  The views made it worth it though.

    This would make a good hike for Adirondack Mountain Club.  Parking is the only issue.

    Wow!

  • Giant Mountain Wilderness – Blueberry Cobbles

    September 6, 2026

    6.28 miles

    2206 feet of elevation gain

    I first stopped at the Rooster Comb parking lot thinking I might go to Hopkins mountain.  This parking lot (and all of 73 and the Adirondacks) was a zoo.  Cars were all over.  I took off and headed to the lot in New Russia where I got the second to last legal parking space.  Note to self, stay away from the high peaks on holiday weekends when it would be really crowded.

    I took off for Blueberry Cobbles on the trail that went all the way to Giant, and included Rocky Peak Ridge.  The thought entered my mind to go to RPR, but I quickly dismissed it.  On the way to the cobbles there are a couple of lookouts which I stopped at to look at the views.  From the Cobbles I took the shortcut trail back in order to make a sort of loop.  On the way back is when I saw most of the people.  Lots of mushrooms grew all over the place, I missed all the blueberries.  I bet the area was saturated earlier.

    Getting back to the parking lot greeted me with cars all over the place.  It was all I could do to just get out of there.

    A look off one of the viewpoints on the way to Blueberry Cobbles

  • Lake George Wild Forest / Haris Land Preserve – Potash Mountain

    September 5, 2026

    3.39 Miles

    1023 feet elevation gain

    I returned to a mountain I last tried on January 3rd.  I wasn’t successful then, due to the amount of ice right near the top.

    This time was different.  Temperatures were in the 70s and it was a relatively easy walk up.  The first overlook has nice views.  Just below the loop at the top is big rock wall you’ll walk by.  This was all ice in January, and even if I had made it by the ice, I wasn’t sure how I would make it back.  There was no ice on this day.  The rocks in this area were the hardest part of the mountain.  Once you make to the top of the rocks you will be at the loop on top.

    I went to the right and did the loop counter-clockwise.  This way climbs quite a bit and ends up at the summit.  Continuing the loop, you will head down to the rocks of the more famous overlook.  This is where I stopped and stayed for a bit.

    On the way down I took the nature trail which branched off of the main trail.  On this trail were a couple of nice interpretive signs, and by one, a nice bench with a nice view out.

    View off of Potash

  • August 29 – Rooster Comb

    High Peaks Wilderness

    4.82 miles

    11768 feet elevation gain

     

    Rooster Comb is on the alternate list of ADK 29 mountains.

    Today was a gorgeous day, not like the last time I tried this.  Although it was chilly, for August; I saw 45 on the drive up, it was 48 at the trailhead.  I got the last, legal, parking space in the lot.  When I got back down it was a small circus in the parking lot; there were cars all over the place.

    It was a pleasant walk up; I didn’t see anyone.  And with all those cars in the lot I was a little surprised.  The sign-in book had a couple of groups attempting a great range traverse.  I didn’t see anyone on the trail until I started down.  Many people take this route, the trail is pretty straight forward.   My first challenge started with the ladder near the top.

    Ladder near the top

     

    I went straight to the top.  There is a junction to some views, which I saved until after the top.  Here are some pictures from the top:

     

  • August 15 – Moxham Mountain

    Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest

    5.2 Miles

    1179 feet elevation gain

     

    Moxham mountain, named for surveyor Robert Moxham.  According to local legend and history, the mountain was named because he slipped off on of he viewpoints to his death.  We would not be renaming the mountain on this date.  And check out the benchmark.  It has a funny spelling of the mountain.  While the mountain has a connection to Colvin, he didn’t climb it; there was a signal tower there at one time.

    I was back at Moxham leading a hike for the Glens Falls Saratoga chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club.  Six hikers braved the climb with me.  I say “braved” but it was kind of easy.  A gorgeous day in the mid-70s found us at the trailhead.  And the mosquitoes were not going to carry me away.  The trail to the top was a breeze, we stopped at each of the overlooks; there was some debate on the actual number of overlooks.  It’s more than eight.  The last overlook is looking directly at the cliffs of the mountain, and the mountain seems so far away.  Yet, we were at the summit in no time with the trail wrapping around the backside of the mountain.

    The views.  Oh my, the views.

    An easy trail with no scrambling.

    I highly recommend the hike.  In my book it has one of the best views for the least amount of work

    The view from the top of Moxham

  • August 8 – Snow Mountain

    Eastern High Peaks Wilderness

    4.64 miles

    1342 feet – elevation gain

     

    I was going to pair Rooster Comb with Snow mountain and get them both done.  The weather was iffy, so I knew I was taking a chance.  All the pull out parking lots on 73 were full, I didn’t have much hope. Getting to the Rooster Comb lot, I got the last (dry) space in the lot.  Anyone who came after me, parked in a puddled.  Narrator:  No one came after me.

    It was a pleasant hike.  There wasn’t much to it.  When I got to the top, there was a typical Adirondack scramble up some slab rock to the summit.  And a great view was to be had.  I started around 8, and by 9:00 the fog had burned off and the clouds were significantly lifting.  I thought I might get lucky even though the humidity was high.  You could look south, south west into AMR and easily see the high peaks.   And if you looked in the right location, you could see the big old hotel on AMR property.  I could see the road I walked on my way to Indian Head.  It looked pretty long, even from far away.  It felt long, walking it.

    After sitting for a while, I felt a drop.  Then another.  Even though there were bright skies in front of me, I didn’t realize there were dark black clouds behind me.  A snap decision was made that I would go for Rooster Comb another day.  Even though I was so close.

    I almost ran down the mountain.  I could hear the rain on the tree canopy above me though I didn’t get too wet.  It felt like the humidity had gone up.  When I got back down to the lot, it was full on raining and I figured I was glad I didn’t extend the day.

    The view looking off Snow Mountain

    All that was left was to head to the Noonmark Diner and get some pie.  When I came out, the sun was out.

  • August 1 – Goodnow mountain

    Huntington Wildlife Forest

    4.03 miles

    1012 feet of elevation gain

     

    I set out as a goal for the year to finish the Adirondack Fire Tower challenge.  This was the last one!  I’m done, and I plan on visiting the other fire towers at some point.  But there is no more rush.

    This day started off really foggy, in fact, I didn’t think I was going to have any views at all.  I was the first car in the parking lot; I had heard that this trail and parking lot can get busy, especially on the summer weekends.  At the time, being the only car in the parking lot had its advantages.

    The trail was rather easy.  There was mud in a couple of spots, more than I would have liked,  But, it wouldn’t be the Adirondacks without mud somewhere.  I kept telling myself that.  In all fairness, there was a ton of rain this week, and it could have been a lot worst.  Much worse.  Since I was the first one going up, I had to break through all of the spider webs – I felt a little like Indiana Jones in the first scene of the first movie.

    After a little more than an hour, I reached the top; and had it to myself.  There was a great view to the south. Not one for going up the tower, I went up to the first landing so I could get an even better view.  As I was the only one, I stuck around for a bit before heading down.  That’s when I saw how many people were coming up.  The trip down took me about 40 minutes or so and I returned to a parking lot that was full of cars.

    The Octopus Tree

     

     

    The view south from the first landing

  • July 25 2026 – Bald Mountain/Rondaxe and Stillwater fire towers

    Two down, one more to go.  That’s it, and the ADK Fire Tower Challenge will be complete.  I drove up to Old Forge for the day to bang out two (relatively) easy fire towers.  Bald Mountain/Rondaxe was the first to be done, at around 8:30 in the morning.  The parking lot, on Rondaxe Road, was only about halfway full when I got there.  By the time I finished, it was packed.  I mean, zoo-like.  The trail to the tower is about a mile. The first couple of hundred yards is a typical Adirondack trail.  Once you go up rocks, you’ll be on rocks the entire time.  It was a lot of fun, and not very long.  At the top, you can climb the tower, but there are great views of the lake without even climbing.  It was a little more than a half hour to the top, less than a half hour on the way down.

    Upon reaching my car, I drove to the Stillwater mountain trailhead, down Big Moose Road.  After a hard right turn, the road becomes dirt and gravel.  At least it wasn’t rutted with potholes.  However, it was almost eight miles from the point of the turn onto dirt to the trailhead.  Again, the trail was about a mile long, the steward up top said 1.2 miles.  My GPS said it was less than that.  This was a typical Adirondack trail, nothing to write home about.  There are no views at the top without climbing the tower.  I didn’t.  A quick uneventful descent ended my day.  There was nothing left but the ride home.

    Here’s a view of the lakes while going up Bald Mountain: