DSettahr
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Spent last night at Moose Mountain Pond, north of the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness in the Hammond Pond Wild Forest. I'd been eying it on the map for a few years now, and decided to make it my next overnight as I work towards completing the Lean-to Challenge.
Started in on the trail around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. At first we thought we'd be ok without snowshoes, but after going a few hundred feet, made the decision to run back to the car and grab them. In places, the trail was free of snow, but in other spots, there was still at least 1 foot of old snow impeding our travel.
The trail in to Berrymill Pond is pretty straightforward for the most part. Most of the route is on an old road. There was one section near the beginning where the trail deviated uphill away from the old road bed, due to flooding on Berrymill Brook (presumably by beavers), but other than that, the going was flat and easy, if a little muddy in spots. About halfway to Berrymill Pond, we encountered a pretty little waterfall on Berrymill Brook.
The junction with the trail to Bass Pond was well marked, and Berrymill Pond is a little ways beyond the junction. There is a nice clearing at the outlet of the pond, illegal for camping but a nice spot to sit and eat lunch or hang out on a day hike. The pond itself really isn't a pond, but a wetland. It looks like there used to be a stone dam across the outlet. The 1857 USGS topo map shows it as a proper body of water, and also shows several buildings in the vicinity. More recent maps show it in it's present condition, which is really unworthy of being called a "pond" but is presumably still called one out of a sense of tradition and history.
After crossing the bridge over the outlet, the trail made its way south along the east shore of Berrymill Pond. The snow here was gone, so I chose to remove my snowshoes and strap them to my pack. Before long, I encountered snow again, probably enough to put my snowshoes back on, but not enough to necessitate it. The trail was fairly easy going, mostly moderate uphill grades, although there were one or two steep pitches. At times, I got the impression that the trail was following an old road, but it was hard to be sure.
The outlet of Moose Mountain Pond is a beaver's paradise. The entire distance between where the trail first starts following it and where it reaches the pond itself was taken up by beaver flows, and characterized by swampy wetlands and numerous standing dead trees. It appeared that the trail had been rerouted in several places to keep it out of the water!
We arrived at Moose Mountain Pond just as darkness was falling, with barely enough time to take in some of the views. It felt like a true wilderness pond- surrounded by the forest primeval, with peaks ringing the pond and keeping civilization far away.
The trail first reaches the pond on the south side, near the outlet; the lean-to is about two thirds of the way around the pond, on the northwest shore. The trail from the outlet was not as easy to follow, it seems that many people who visit the pond don't travel any further than the southern shore. It was dark by the time we got to the lean-to, but it didn't take long to set up camp and get a roaring fire going. The area around the lean-to was littered with dead branches that had been knocked down during the winter, and gathering firewood was a piece of cake. We spent a very relaxing evening in front of the fire, eating dinner, reading, and chatting, before heading to bead.
In contrast to the beautiful weather on Friday, we awoke Saturday to a cold, dreary day. Snow had fallen overnight, and had turned to sleet in the morning. With the cold wind and wet conditions, neither of us was anxious to get up and going quickly, and we spent a leisurely morning in our sleeping bags. It was 11 before I was up making breakfast for myself!
By the time we were packed up and ready to go, the sleet had turned to rain which had abated to a drizzle. Before leaving, I spent a few minutes walking around, checking out the area near the lean-to. A little ways north along the shore, I found a rock lookout, about 20 feet above the lake that gave an excellent view. I peered over the edge to see if it had good cliff jumping potential... the water looked deep enough, but several dead trees near the shore would make be wary about trying it- one would need to get a good running start before jumping to clear them! The forest in general near the lean-to was really nice- almost old growth if not quite there yet, and I encountered several really big white pines as I poked around. It seems like this may be a patch of land that escaped the loggers saw during the heyday of logging in the Adirondacks.
The hike out seemed to pass by more quickly than the hike in had. Despite the drizzle and general dampness, we kept moving at a good pace and stayed warm. When we arrived back at Berrymill Pond, I noticed what seemed to be a faint path continuing south along the east shore of the pond- I followed it a bit, and found an old campsite and some piles of trash (old bottles and such) before the path faded out. The water coming out of Berrymill Pond was definitely running a few inches higher than it had been the day before!
We did see fresh footprints in the snow when we got back to the junction with the Bass Lake trail. It seemed someone had been in to Bass Lake and out again earlier in the day. Interestingly enough, these tracks did not take the reroute around the flooded section near the trailhead, but rather followed a faint path down to the marsh. I followed them, and discovered that the old road wasn't completely submerged... there were a few wet spots, but more or less I was able to follow the old route and stay dry. It seems that locals and those "in the know" use this route rather than follow the reroute, which involves some uphill gain.
Made it back to the car in one piece, and were soon driving back to Saranac Lake. On the way, the clouds broke, and the sun came out... figures it would happen after we got out of the woods!
Overall, a nice hike and a great place to spend a night in the woods. I'll definitely be returning to this spot at some point to explore some more... I was to check out other ponds in the area that have trails to them, like Bass Lake, Challis Pond, Hammond Pond, and Bloody Pond, as well as climb Bald Pate (looks like there would be some great views from rock ledges on this peak!). The whole area in general was really neat- the forests felt quite fantastical. As I was hiking along Berrymill Brook, I kept thinking that I was hearing singing in the woods. The hike out from Moose Mountain Pond in the mists, with the patches of snow covering the ground, made me think that I was going to see an Ent striding through the woods at any minute! Definitely a spot worth visiting.
Spent last night at Moose Mountain Pond, north of the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness in the Hammond Pond Wild Forest. I'd been eying it on the map for a few years now, and decided to make it my next overnight as I work towards completing the Lean-to Challenge.
Started in on the trail around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. At first we thought we'd be ok without snowshoes, but after going a few hundred feet, made the decision to run back to the car and grab them. In places, the trail was free of snow, but in other spots, there was still at least 1 foot of old snow impeding our travel.
The trail in to Berrymill Pond is pretty straightforward for the most part. Most of the route is on an old road. There was one section near the beginning where the trail deviated uphill away from the old road bed, due to flooding on Berrymill Brook (presumably by beavers), but other than that, the going was flat and easy, if a little muddy in spots. About halfway to Berrymill Pond, we encountered a pretty little waterfall on Berrymill Brook.
The junction with the trail to Bass Pond was well marked, and Berrymill Pond is a little ways beyond the junction. There is a nice clearing at the outlet of the pond, illegal for camping but a nice spot to sit and eat lunch or hang out on a day hike. The pond itself really isn't a pond, but a wetland. It looks like there used to be a stone dam across the outlet. The 1857 USGS topo map shows it as a proper body of water, and also shows several buildings in the vicinity. More recent maps show it in it's present condition, which is really unworthy of being called a "pond" but is presumably still called one out of a sense of tradition and history.
After crossing the bridge over the outlet, the trail made its way south along the east shore of Berrymill Pond. The snow here was gone, so I chose to remove my snowshoes and strap them to my pack. Before long, I encountered snow again, probably enough to put my snowshoes back on, but not enough to necessitate it. The trail was fairly easy going, mostly moderate uphill grades, although there were one or two steep pitches. At times, I got the impression that the trail was following an old road, but it was hard to be sure.
The outlet of Moose Mountain Pond is a beaver's paradise. The entire distance between where the trail first starts following it and where it reaches the pond itself was taken up by beaver flows, and characterized by swampy wetlands and numerous standing dead trees. It appeared that the trail had been rerouted in several places to keep it out of the water!
We arrived at Moose Mountain Pond just as darkness was falling, with barely enough time to take in some of the views. It felt like a true wilderness pond- surrounded by the forest primeval, with peaks ringing the pond and keeping civilization far away.
The trail first reaches the pond on the south side, near the outlet; the lean-to is about two thirds of the way around the pond, on the northwest shore. The trail from the outlet was not as easy to follow, it seems that many people who visit the pond don't travel any further than the southern shore. It was dark by the time we got to the lean-to, but it didn't take long to set up camp and get a roaring fire going. The area around the lean-to was littered with dead branches that had been knocked down during the winter, and gathering firewood was a piece of cake. We spent a very relaxing evening in front of the fire, eating dinner, reading, and chatting, before heading to bead.
In contrast to the beautiful weather on Friday, we awoke Saturday to a cold, dreary day. Snow had fallen overnight, and had turned to sleet in the morning. With the cold wind and wet conditions, neither of us was anxious to get up and going quickly, and we spent a leisurely morning in our sleeping bags. It was 11 before I was up making breakfast for myself!
By the time we were packed up and ready to go, the sleet had turned to rain which had abated to a drizzle. Before leaving, I spent a few minutes walking around, checking out the area near the lean-to. A little ways north along the shore, I found a rock lookout, about 20 feet above the lake that gave an excellent view. I peered over the edge to see if it had good cliff jumping potential... the water looked deep enough, but several dead trees near the shore would make be wary about trying it- one would need to get a good running start before jumping to clear them! The forest in general near the lean-to was really nice- almost old growth if not quite there yet, and I encountered several really big white pines as I poked around. It seems like this may be a patch of land that escaped the loggers saw during the heyday of logging in the Adirondacks.
The hike out seemed to pass by more quickly than the hike in had. Despite the drizzle and general dampness, we kept moving at a good pace and stayed warm. When we arrived back at Berrymill Pond, I noticed what seemed to be a faint path continuing south along the east shore of the pond- I followed it a bit, and found an old campsite and some piles of trash (old bottles and such) before the path faded out. The water coming out of Berrymill Pond was definitely running a few inches higher than it had been the day before!
We did see fresh footprints in the snow when we got back to the junction with the Bass Lake trail. It seemed someone had been in to Bass Lake and out again earlier in the day. Interestingly enough, these tracks did not take the reroute around the flooded section near the trailhead, but rather followed a faint path down to the marsh. I followed them, and discovered that the old road wasn't completely submerged... there were a few wet spots, but more or less I was able to follow the old route and stay dry. It seems that locals and those "in the know" use this route rather than follow the reroute, which involves some uphill gain.
Made it back to the car in one piece, and were soon driving back to Saranac Lake. On the way, the clouds broke, and the sun came out... figures it would happen after we got out of the woods!
Overall, a nice hike and a great place to spend a night in the woods. I'll definitely be returning to this spot at some point to explore some more... I was to check out other ponds in the area that have trails to them, like Bass Lake, Challis Pond, Hammond Pond, and Bloody Pond, as well as climb Bald Pate (looks like there would be some great views from rock ledges on this peak!). The whole area in general was really neat- the forests felt quite fantastical. As I was hiking along Berrymill Brook, I kept thinking that I was hearing singing in the woods. The hike out from Moose Mountain Pond in the mists, with the patches of snow covering the ground, made me think that I was going to see an Ent striding through the woods at any minute! Definitely a spot worth visiting.
