2-24 Rogers Rock and Mount Defiance

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peak_bgr

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Wilmington Peak
To start off Maddi and I went back-country skiing of Friday and rented the gear. I rented a pair of boot one size to big and when going into Marcy Dam the toe kept bending over my foot and rubbed all ten toes raw on the top. To say the least I was in pain and didn’t turn around until I hit the dam; damn. I was suppose to join another group on a great bushwhack up a Adirondack 100 Highest peak but I had to bag the trip-I didn’t think my feet could do it, and you see how I am about turning back. I really missed getting out with you guys, and the fact is I could have done it-my feet ended up feeling fine under a thick layer of Moleskin. But, Maddi and I had a nice day out hiking a couple really small peaks in Ticonderoga.

First we went for Rogers Rock from the Rogers Rock Park, technically in Hague. We followed a well beaten and skied road through the campsite to the back side. At this point we were close to the base of the rocks to the West. There is a road to the South of Rogers Rock but this side is killer steep, as we could see from the top. There is a small loop to the West of the rock. From there we bushwhacked off the road to the base of the mountain and started a steep arduous climb-400’ in just over 1/10th of a mile, for this one section.

On the way up we did see a few ribbons on trees, this must be the trail to the top I’ve heard about. Well the ribbons went to a nice lookout, but not to the top. The woods were open, and the snow was deep, but we made the top in relatively slow fashion. My legs were a little stiff from using different muscles skiing the day before. The views along the ridge were amazing and non-stop. The summit was nice, open woods with views down the lake and across the lake to Vermont.

The descent was a blast coming down that steep slope-but that’s all the fun in winter anyhow.

From here we decided to test our road walking skills and walk the Toll Road up Mount Defiance on the other side of town. It’s a 1 mile walk up a hard packed road. It gets skied, sledded, ran, hiked, snow shoed, and walked daily by the way it looks. We were way over dressed for this one. There we people in sneakers, Carhart jackets, and sweat shirts up here today. We were in gore-tex and windstopper with gaiters on, kind of funny-at least no one laughed in our face. We met a sledding party of 8, 4 dogs, 3 skiers, 2 runners, and couple lone hikers. More were pulling in as we left. The summit is a little busy equipped with a flag and flag pole, a pavilion, some radio/electrical building and fence, and four cannons. It’s quite a historical site, but I was looking for a coffee shop. There we more excellent views toward Vermont and the High Peaks, as well as a bird’s eye view of Fort Ticonderoga. The hike down was very fast, but all in all I liked this little summit-even with all the man made memorabilia.
 
I think some of the land around the north side of Rogers Rock is private. It might be nice to ask permission at the fruit stand on 9N before entering. (The place where I stayed had a standing agreement with them.) Don't know about the Baldwin Rd trailheads.

The trails from the northwest are a nice mellow way up.

Doug
 
The North side is private, hense the reason we came in from the South from the park.

Denise I took quite a few pictures, I'm kind of in the process of building a picture gallery-it will be a while.
 
We went up just west of south, as soon as the cliffs would let us. The headed East from the lower bump to the Higher one.
 
Nice TR, sounds like you two had a great weekend. The weather sure was swell.

I'll be in the Daks tommorrow peakbagging, hope the clouds stay away until tuesday!

(still moping about having to work this weekend)
 
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