Jay range (NY)

[rhihn]

Tuesday’s Catskill weather went south at the last minute, and so did our hiking plans for Lone and Rocky Mountains, so Joanne and I went north to meet up with Joe Cedar for a hike of the Jay range. Clearly the Adirondacks were the place to be yesterday! I’ve been up Jay before, in conjunction with a bushwhack from Saddleback, but that time the fog had us totally socked in, and there were zero views. Yesterday was a different story. Mostly clear sky, cool fall temperatures, some wind but not too breezy. Clearly near the top, if not at the top of my ‘knock your socks off’ view list! On this day, views were had of all of the surrounding valleys, a good number of the high peaks, the more northern peaks, Lake Champlain, and north as far as Montreal!

The hike is a little over six miles, and climbs c. 1800 feet, mostly steeply, to the beginning of the c. 1.5-mile ridge. From there, there is another 1000 feet of accumulative ascent (out and back) as the ridgeline goes up and down, in and out of the woods, for more and more views, all the way out to the true summit. Because of the twists and turns the ridge makes, one can’t see its entire length. Along the way there is a wide variety of interesting rocks to be seen, and we enjoyed learning from Joe’s geological knowledge of the area. A nice meadow added to our enjoyment. All day we saw only one solo hiker (who quickly passed us) and one couple at the beginning of the climb down.

Dick

 

[prino]

That Jay Ridge is one of the nicest hikes in the Daks. I've been up there 3 times and I'll be back for sure.You picked a nice day to do it Dick.

 

[Edelweiss]

Jay Range Pics

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesh...de=fromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

I was truly in seventh heaven as we hiked across the ridge. The sky and clouds made a wonderful backdrop for my pics. I experimented with different camera settings as you will see. Dick and Joe were tolerant of my many pauses. We need to go back in the Fall. I imagine that Jay Range would be magical in Winter as well.

 

[Gandalf]

WOW, lovely pictures! I will have to hike Jay sometime.

 

[Adk_dib]

One of my favorite hikes. all open on the ridge. Save this trip for a sunny day so you don't waste the view. What, you didn't take a picture of that huge cairne?

 

[rhihn]

One of my favorite hikes. all open on the ridge. Save this trip for a sunny day so you don't waste the view. What, you didn't take a picture of that huge cairne?

There was a huge cairn? Wow, we must have missed it!

Indeed, the two large cairns, and a couple of smaller ones, as well as some rock seats, were made by someone with time on their hands (we had little!), but were certainly impressive. Joanne must have been so busy shooting vistas she missed it!

Off topic, but Dibble's Quarry in the Catskills puts these structures to shame!

 

[prino]

Here it is....

Cairn,man and dog

 

[Jay H]

WOW, lovely pictures! I will have to hike Jay sometime.

Wow, all these years of driving all over the NE, and I could of simply hiked myself. sigh.



Jay

 

[Adk_dib]

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/adkdib/album/576460762365355068/photo/294928803908332212/3

 

[rhihn]

Wow, all these years of driving all over the NE, and I could of simply hiked myself. sigh.



Jay

So...how does that hike rank with, say, the highest hundred?

 

[Edelweiss]

One of my favorite hikes. all open on the ridge. Save this trip for a sunny day so you don't waste the view. What, you didn't take a picture of that huge cairne?

I remember seeing the cairn but, as Dick said, was too busy snapping other views. Unforgivable!!!!! Guess we'll just have to go back again

 

[spaddock]

The Jay range is simply awesome. I had a clear day as well and the views spectacular. It's nice to be able to walk a ridge and appreciate all the elevation you've worked hard to gain instead of just summiting and heading right back down.

After hiking Jay I started thinking that lists were really silly. How many people have hiked Blake or Nye but missed this gem. I thought the same thing after coming down Noonmark and most recently the Calamity Slide.


-Shayne

 

[prino]

I think we should include Pitchoff and the Nun da gao ridge among the better "Lesser" peaks too.

 

[spaddock]

I think we should include Pitchoff and the Nun da gao ridge among the better "Lesser" peaks too.

Funny you should mention Pitchoff. I hiked Pitchoff with my wife the day before I did Jay. We got socked in by fog and I just knew I should have picked a clear day for it.

Of course I'm being a little hypocritical here, as silly as I think lists are sometimes I discovered these other places by chasing down another list (ADK 100 )


-Shayne