Spencer, Correne, Bookah and I started out on a perfect, cold morning from the Pilot Knob trailhead.
We hiked the Buck Mt trail until our takeoff point for the whack. I'd been up this way before and knew that we'd be negotiating around some ledges and cliffs, but handy ramps and gullies were everywhere through the hemlocks. About 600' up we ran into the first open ledge with great views of the southern end of Lake George.
From here, the woods magically open as the trees change to small oaks and beeches, with rock slabs and grasses underfoot. The forest is so open on the remaining whack to the summit that walking with your hands outstretched is possible without hitting a tree. The views are over your shoulder at every step and when the first, large blueberry bald is reached the views are spectacular. The terrain is steep here, but open woods and fantastic footing makes you forget about it. After another stretch of hiking thru stunted oaks, another, larger bald is reached. It feels like a long ago burned over area that weather exposure has kept trees from growing. Essentially a large meadow where the grasses are gone but acres and acres of blueberry bushes remain.
There was little snow at the TH but it gradually picked up as we climbed, requiring care for foot placement on the rock slabs. At the top of the last bald we cut back over to the Buck Mt trails onto the rock slabs about 0.2 mi below the summit.
Long sleeved tshirts were the perfect garb for the day given the bright sun in the open forest. We were blessed with no breeze on the summit and after an nice break and lunch, we donned our spikes for the snowy and icy descent down the trail back to the car.
Fantastic day, great weather and sunny skies. Terrific company. Bookah ran 3 miles for every one we walked. No mice, chipmunks, squirrels or other mammals were harmed by her during the day.
We hiked the Buck Mt trail until our takeoff point for the whack. I'd been up this way before and knew that we'd be negotiating around some ledges and cliffs, but handy ramps and gullies were everywhere through the hemlocks. About 600' up we ran into the first open ledge with great views of the southern end of Lake George.
From here, the woods magically open as the trees change to small oaks and beeches, with rock slabs and grasses underfoot. The forest is so open on the remaining whack to the summit that walking with your hands outstretched is possible without hitting a tree. The views are over your shoulder at every step and when the first, large blueberry bald is reached the views are spectacular. The terrain is steep here, but open woods and fantastic footing makes you forget about it. After another stretch of hiking thru stunted oaks, another, larger bald is reached. It feels like a long ago burned over area that weather exposure has kept trees from growing. Essentially a large meadow where the grasses are gone but acres and acres of blueberry bushes remain.
There was little snow at the TH but it gradually picked up as we climbed, requiring care for foot placement on the rock slabs. At the top of the last bald we cut back over to the Buck Mt trails onto the rock slabs about 0.2 mi below the summit.
Long sleeved tshirts were the perfect garb for the day given the bright sun in the open forest. We were blessed with no breeze on the summit and after an nice break and lunch, we donned our spikes for the snowy and icy descent down the trail back to the car.
Fantastic day, great weather and sunny skies. Terrific company. Bookah ran 3 miles for every one we walked. No mice, chipmunks, squirrels or other mammals were harmed by her during the day.
