buddy
Member
First off, I’d like to thank to previous posters and message communications when I was planning this trip. Much of the info was relevant and use full.
Drove to Schroon Lake Friday evening and stayed at the Maple Leaf Motel. We rented a cabin for $89 a night. The cabin could have been a little cleaner but overall it was acceptable for the three of us. (We have stayed in their Motel rooms in the past and have always been very pleased with the accommodations and price)
On Saturday we went to the Walker Brook area and parked by the cable bridge. It was not posted and not a soul was around, so we decided to use the bridge and save ourselves a wade. The trail from the bridge passes a beautiful summer camp then a short way later a right turn at the first intersection brings you to the right of way under the highway. We worked our way up Walker Brook. The brook was flowing moderately well providing scenic beauty while still being easy to cross. We work our way up stream past many mini falls, flumes and pools. The crystal clear water, lush green moss and ferns accented by the luminous fall colors made for an enjoyable accent to the top of the watershed. After a short break we headed up the north east shoulder of Niagara Mt. It was a moderately steep, one hour climb up and over forested ledges and some open rock to the sub summit of Niagara. At this point we began to wish that we had climbed Nipple Top instead, due to its exceptionally large flat open bare rock summit. Nipple Top truly does have one of those summits that you could spend a day poking around on. We will definitely be back to the WB area to climb it. After exploring the ledges and outcrops that offered views in every direction, the view of Niagara valley and particularly the rock face of Camel’s Hump were outstanding; we headed back down to Walker Brook by way of the watershed between Niagara and Nipple Top. The going was moderately difficult in places due to blow down, ice damage and thick vegetation but mostly open enough to maintain ones sanity. Back to the brook at dusk, one painful and somewhat bloody encounter with a stream, rock, and log combination for one in our party that used the rest of our light up. Then, a mellow night walk back to our car. It is a very enjoyable, extremely low use area that I highly recommend a visit to.
On Sunday morning we arrived at the road into the West Mill Brook area. This is an area that I return to over and over in summer and winter. Its open forests, many accessible peaks, including East Dix, Macomb, Wyman and a variety of lower but no less rugged peaks make this a bush whackers paradise. Wyman is a gem that offers spectacular views of the Niagara valley and the eastern part of the Dix wilderness area. On this hike we decided to climb Buck mountains Lyman brook side after going through the valley between Saunders and Buck. The river crossing at the beginning of the approach road was just low enough to drive through with my medium clearance two wheel drive pickup truck. It’s nice to save that extra two miles of walking time for in the woods. We were able to drive all the way to the parking area at the gate.
Sunday was as nice a day as there ever was, clear skies, sixty degree temperatures, brilliant fall colors and no insects. We hiked about a mile on the road/path along the brook before we waded through the bone chilling water to make our way north. A conifer forest with an open understory carpeted with a thick layer of pine needles and giant size rock gardens led us to a short steep climb up to the elevation we choose to traverse Buck Mountain into the valley between Buck and Saunders. All along the way we would spot open ledges low on the mountain side that offered beautiful views of the local landscape.
Once we got into the valley the forest thickened with beech saplings until we reached the crease between Buck and Saunders. The crease started as a narrow wet land then gradually filled with boulder and tree debris with tall steep to vertical sides consisting of rock walls and ledge out cropping. The water flow became audible only, because it was flowing deep within the boulder fill. We were forced up the east side of the crease where we traversed the side of Saunders until we could cross over to the north side of Buck. The climb up buck through beech and pricker under growth was short and uneventful. The summit of Buck consists of many views to all directions from open slabs and outcrops but no 360’s. The trip down the south side was definitely the highlight of the weekend. The forest had a western forest feel to it. An open forest mixture of pitch pine (I think) white pine, white cedar, beech, birch and mountain ash was dispersed over and around rugged rock slabs and ledges varying in height from 3 to 80 feet. Much of the ground was covered in a variety of mosses and light grey moss like lichen. The climb down consisted of easy scrambles and walking down rock ramps, natural stairs and pine needle covered paths traversing from ledge to ledge. When we got back to the brook we were able to find a place to rock hop across then make our way back to the truck by dark. We spent about 8 hours hiking but our route could probably be done much faster. We spend a lot of time deliberating on such things as how long a particular rock has been at its present location and wouldn’t it be fun (if we didn’t know better) to roll that particularly large, precariously perched boulder over the edge of the cliff it sits on. Come on…… admit it…..you’ve considered such things as well. Maybe would be saving someone from harm sometime in the future. If you have advanced intermediate orienteering skills and enjoy off trail hiking and climbing this area is hard to beat. In one word…. Pristine. Buddy
Drove to Schroon Lake Friday evening and stayed at the Maple Leaf Motel. We rented a cabin for $89 a night. The cabin could have been a little cleaner but overall it was acceptable for the three of us. (We have stayed in their Motel rooms in the past and have always been very pleased with the accommodations and price)
On Saturday we went to the Walker Brook area and parked by the cable bridge. It was not posted and not a soul was around, so we decided to use the bridge and save ourselves a wade. The trail from the bridge passes a beautiful summer camp then a short way later a right turn at the first intersection brings you to the right of way under the highway. We worked our way up Walker Brook. The brook was flowing moderately well providing scenic beauty while still being easy to cross. We work our way up stream past many mini falls, flumes and pools. The crystal clear water, lush green moss and ferns accented by the luminous fall colors made for an enjoyable accent to the top of the watershed. After a short break we headed up the north east shoulder of Niagara Mt. It was a moderately steep, one hour climb up and over forested ledges and some open rock to the sub summit of Niagara. At this point we began to wish that we had climbed Nipple Top instead, due to its exceptionally large flat open bare rock summit. Nipple Top truly does have one of those summits that you could spend a day poking around on. We will definitely be back to the WB area to climb it. After exploring the ledges and outcrops that offered views in every direction, the view of Niagara valley and particularly the rock face of Camel’s Hump were outstanding; we headed back down to Walker Brook by way of the watershed between Niagara and Nipple Top. The going was moderately difficult in places due to blow down, ice damage and thick vegetation but mostly open enough to maintain ones sanity. Back to the brook at dusk, one painful and somewhat bloody encounter with a stream, rock, and log combination for one in our party that used the rest of our light up. Then, a mellow night walk back to our car. It is a very enjoyable, extremely low use area that I highly recommend a visit to.
On Sunday morning we arrived at the road into the West Mill Brook area. This is an area that I return to over and over in summer and winter. Its open forests, many accessible peaks, including East Dix, Macomb, Wyman and a variety of lower but no less rugged peaks make this a bush whackers paradise. Wyman is a gem that offers spectacular views of the Niagara valley and the eastern part of the Dix wilderness area. On this hike we decided to climb Buck mountains Lyman brook side after going through the valley between Saunders and Buck. The river crossing at the beginning of the approach road was just low enough to drive through with my medium clearance two wheel drive pickup truck. It’s nice to save that extra two miles of walking time for in the woods. We were able to drive all the way to the parking area at the gate.
Sunday was as nice a day as there ever was, clear skies, sixty degree temperatures, brilliant fall colors and no insects. We hiked about a mile on the road/path along the brook before we waded through the bone chilling water to make our way north. A conifer forest with an open understory carpeted with a thick layer of pine needles and giant size rock gardens led us to a short steep climb up to the elevation we choose to traverse Buck Mountain into the valley between Buck and Saunders. All along the way we would spot open ledges low on the mountain side that offered beautiful views of the local landscape.
Once we got into the valley the forest thickened with beech saplings until we reached the crease between Buck and Saunders. The crease started as a narrow wet land then gradually filled with boulder and tree debris with tall steep to vertical sides consisting of rock walls and ledge out cropping. The water flow became audible only, because it was flowing deep within the boulder fill. We were forced up the east side of the crease where we traversed the side of Saunders until we could cross over to the north side of Buck. The climb up buck through beech and pricker under growth was short and uneventful. The summit of Buck consists of many views to all directions from open slabs and outcrops but no 360’s. The trip down the south side was definitely the highlight of the weekend. The forest had a western forest feel to it. An open forest mixture of pitch pine (I think) white pine, white cedar, beech, birch and mountain ash was dispersed over and around rugged rock slabs and ledges varying in height from 3 to 80 feet. Much of the ground was covered in a variety of mosses and light grey moss like lichen. The climb down consisted of easy scrambles and walking down rock ramps, natural stairs and pine needle covered paths traversing from ledge to ledge. When we got back to the brook we were able to find a place to rock hop across then make our way back to the truck by dark. We spent about 8 hours hiking but our route could probably be done much faster. We spend a lot of time deliberating on such things as how long a particular rock has been at its present location and wouldn’t it be fun (if we didn’t know better) to roll that particularly large, precariously perched boulder over the edge of the cliff it sits on. Come on…… admit it…..you’ve considered such things as well. Maybe would be saving someone from harm sometime in the future. If you have advanced intermediate orienteering skills and enjoy off trail hiking and climbing this area is hard to beat. In one word…. Pristine. Buddy
