DSettahr
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- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
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Went up to check out the woodsmens competition at Paul Smith's College, and decided to accompany my friends Danie and Meg for the first night of their 3 day trip into the High Peaks. The trail in from the garden is very dry and in excellent shape. We spent the night with them in the William G. Harding memorial lean-to just north of John's Brook Lodge, which we shared with another hiker who'd earlier that day done the Great Range. He reported that there was "a lot" of snow up high still.
Sunday morning, we got up, and said goodbye to Danie and Meg (they were headed up to do Basin and Saddleback). My friend Anna and I decided to check out the JBL area (it was her first trip into the High Peaks) and climb to the Short Job Lookout, which I'd never visited before despite visiting the JBL area many times.
I had not yet crossed on the new bridge at the ranger station, and they did a nice job on it. The trail on the far side of the bridge was a bit muddy and wet, especially in comparison to the trail in to JBL from the Garden. The trail up to the Short Job Lookout was in excellent shape, although it looks like it gets very little use (it's even still marked with ADK trail markers!). Just below the lookout, there's a somewhat confusing spot where the trail makes a sharp turn left up over a rock face, and a herd path continues straight thanks to hikers missing this turn.
Short Job lookout is a bit of a gem in the JBL area that I don't think too many people ever visit. The marked trail ends on a rock outcrop with nice views of Upper and Lower Wolfjaw, Pyramid, Saddleback, and Basin, from a vantage point that you can't get anywhere else. The lookout is so close to the range that the mountains seem to tower overhead. Beyond the lookout, a herd path leads to a couple of other vantage points. These aren't as nice, although a somewhat decent view of Big Slide across the valley can be found. I definitely recommend checking out the Short Job Lookout when in the area, as it's only a half a mile side trip to the top from the Orebed Brook Trail, and worth it for the view.
We returned to the trail and crossed Orebed Brook and John's Brook to go check out JBL. The water is still running a little bit high, but has dropped enough so that the crossings are possible without too much difficulty. JBL was still closed up for the season, and the new bridge to the ADK property on the east shore of John's Brook is still not yet finished. On the way out to the garden, we passed several JBL staff hiking in to start getting the lodge ready for the summer season.
We had excellent weather, and the rain/storms that were predicted for Sunday never materialized. We did see mosquitoes, although they were few in numbers and not yet very interested in biting.
On a side note, if I've counted in my head correctly, the Wm. G. Howard lean-to is the 74th I've stayed in.
Sunday morning, we got up, and said goodbye to Danie and Meg (they were headed up to do Basin and Saddleback). My friend Anna and I decided to check out the JBL area (it was her first trip into the High Peaks) and climb to the Short Job Lookout, which I'd never visited before despite visiting the JBL area many times.
I had not yet crossed on the new bridge at the ranger station, and they did a nice job on it. The trail on the far side of the bridge was a bit muddy and wet, especially in comparison to the trail in to JBL from the Garden. The trail up to the Short Job Lookout was in excellent shape, although it looks like it gets very little use (it's even still marked with ADK trail markers!). Just below the lookout, there's a somewhat confusing spot where the trail makes a sharp turn left up over a rock face, and a herd path continues straight thanks to hikers missing this turn.
Short Job lookout is a bit of a gem in the JBL area that I don't think too many people ever visit. The marked trail ends on a rock outcrop with nice views of Upper and Lower Wolfjaw, Pyramid, Saddleback, and Basin, from a vantage point that you can't get anywhere else. The lookout is so close to the range that the mountains seem to tower overhead. Beyond the lookout, a herd path leads to a couple of other vantage points. These aren't as nice, although a somewhat decent view of Big Slide across the valley can be found. I definitely recommend checking out the Short Job Lookout when in the area, as it's only a half a mile side trip to the top from the Orebed Brook Trail, and worth it for the view.
We returned to the trail and crossed Orebed Brook and John's Brook to go check out JBL. The water is still running a little bit high, but has dropped enough so that the crossings are possible without too much difficulty. JBL was still closed up for the season, and the new bridge to the ADK property on the east shore of John's Brook is still not yet finished. On the way out to the garden, we passed several JBL staff hiking in to start getting the lodge ready for the summer season.
We had excellent weather, and the rain/storms that were predicted for Sunday never materialized. We did see mosquitoes, although they were few in numbers and not yet very interested in biting.
On a side note, if I've counted in my head correctly, the Wm. G. Howard lean-to is the 74th I've stayed in.
