Walker Brook/ Three brothers mountain

[buddy]

After many years of hiking with max altitude as the goal I'm becoming more and more interested in the lower elevation areas of less travel. Have been thoroughly enjoying areas like West Mill Brook, East side of Spotted Mtn, the eastern watershed of Dix, Five Ponds. The whole West Mill Brook area is one of my favorites right now and after a few days of exploring Niagara brook , Camel Mtn and a whack up Macomb this past fall I'm interested in exploring this area more in a couple of weeks. I,m looking for any info on good places to visit in this general area. Places that look appealing to me on the map include Walker Brook approach to Camel Mtn, Three Brothers Mtn. area with a potential ridge climb to Sunrise, Lindsay brook approach to Wyman or a Moss pond approach to Wyman. If anybody is familiar with any of these areas I'd appreciate any comments or considerations relavent to trip planning. Of greater interest to me is any suggestions of areas I should consider for exploration (your favorite less used areas). Buddy

 

[Neil]

The neglected side of the Dix Wilderness.

Sounds like you're getting into some good stuff!

Westmill brook approach to Sunrise Mtn. is very nice. Stunning views up to Macomb on one side and Camel/Niagara on the other as you approach the turn.

Wyman-Grace-Spotted-ETown is one of the best loops in the range.

Check your map and look directly east of Spotted. There's a line of 3 little summits (the 3 gems) that run SW-NE. Supposed to be nothing but open rock on those ones.

Check also the 1052 meter peak to the east and just a bit North of Dix. Tons of open rock and stellar views of the Dix Range from there. Here's some pics from a combo that included the Beckhorn slide. #17 looks back onto it from the slide.

 

[TCD]

buddy,

This is a great area! I have been on the NE-most of the 3 gems, and it is open and beautiful. As you start to dig into the Boquet / Lindsay area, you'll find that almost every little high point has open rock and views (a gift from one of the last great forest fires about 100 years ago).

Here are a few other pointers:

Lindsay Brook approach is closed by beaver activity as of a couple years ago. I haven't heard of it being re-opened (not necessarily an issue in winter, of course).

Don't forget the Shingletree Pond approach from Courtney Pond by Route 9. (As of yesterday, the Courtney Pond parking was not plowed; closest safe parking is at West Mill pullout, about a mile away.) The Shingletree culvert drops you right at Shingletree Pond, good access for Buck, Bear, and Saunders.

Do NOT miss Wyman, one of the greatest summits in the area.

Walker Brook approach is a little tricky, involving a Schroon River crossing that might be a problem in winter/spring. Also, if you haven't been in there, you might benefit from some directions, it's not clear cut.

(Neil, isn't the Beckhorn slide a great trip? I really enjoyed that one!)

Tom

 

[Raymond]

The 2009 edition of “Discover the Northeastern Adirondacks” says there is no bridge across the Schroon River at the Walker Brook entry point, but what about this?

It was there last month, and didn’t look new. Is it not open to the public?

Is West Mill a better way in than Walker Brook? Walker Brook looks a lot closer to the mountains. Unfortunately, we didn’t check out West Mill, so I don’t know how drivable the stream crossing is with a Corolla.

 

[BlackSpruce]

Wyman, Old Far, Nippletop and all their neighboors are great climbs with extensive open ledges. I have found the Walker Brook access easier as there is a very good "road" along the South side of the brook once you have been under the Northway, gone left some and reach the brook. There is as well a good "road" to the right /norht side of the Brook that you can follow for a while if going to Old Far.

If you cross the Schroon via the river bed, the "road" going right at first will soon loop left to rejoin the "road" that goes left before looping right after crossing the Schroon on the metal suspension bridge. The bridge is only a few hundred feet South/downstream from the "fording". As I am not sure how private is the parking near the bridge I always park at the "wet" crossing (there is an old camp soon after crossing the bridge). Once the two roads rejoin, it will be another few minutes of walking before the "road" goes under the Northway.

 

[TCD]

Huh?

I always park at the ford, and cross at the ford. I've never seen a bridge. If there is indeed a bridge a few hundred feet south, I'm not sure of how you are legally accessing it. The road forks just before the ford parking; the fork that goes south is clearly posted as private land...

 

[BlackSpruce]

It wasn't posted from either direction the last time I went.

 

[TCD]

I haven't been in there this year...maybe the sign is down? I was through there twice in 08 and maybe once in 07, and the sign was very clear. Leaning on a large tree right at the road fork, there was a good sized wooden sign with an arrow to the right labeled in small text "Hiking access" or something like that, and an arrow to the left labeled "Private" in very large text.

 

[BlackSpruce]

I know if you keep going to the left that there are several camps at the end but the bridge is almost immediately to the right. Maybe the sign was down, last time I went was ealy spring of this year and the previous Walker Brook visit was three years ago. I need to look at the map to verify if the land is private everywhere. Sometimes people put signs not to have traffic, for example at the end of Averyvile Road, there is a road leading to Cameras Pond to the right of the parking area that says private but indeed all the way to the shore it's State Land on either sides and only private land a small portion of the shoreline.

 

[Raymond]

I’m afraid that I interpreted that as meaning that it was all private property, but that the N.Y. State right-of-way went left and the way to the Northway underpass went right. There was a sign right across from the ford indicating that that was Private Land, Keep Out, or words to that effect. There were a lot of construction vehicles over there, too, so I don’t know if I would want to leave stuff behind.

There were no signs at the bridge, but there was parking right there for a couple vehicles, which otherwise jibed with the description in the book.

I didn’t go any further than this last month, but this is what the other side of the underpass looked like:

The book says the road continues for more than a mile, then becomes a foot path. The routes to the mountains are bushwhacks, but are marked with cairns.

 

[BlackSpruce]

This spring that big sign on the picture wasn't there for sure! Once on the other side of the property the old logging roads are clear and wide for quite a way on either side of the brook(s), to get to the various summits there are no herdpaths or cairns marking the way but I have seen cairns here and there on the summits ridges. This spring we could tell that there are ample ATV traffic in there even though I am not sure it's legal...

 

[Raymond]

Hm. Yeah, I think it’s supposed to be Wilderness.

 

[tgoodwin]

I can see how that sign might be confusing, but its clear intent is to let hikers know that they must use the ford and not the private bridge. I was there in July, and it appears that someone is planning on building a vehicular bridge across the Schroon River to access not just the existing camp but several newly-created home sites. I don't know exactly what effect that will have on future access, but I do know that the State has a legal right of way to the underpass that they bought when the Northway was first built.

 

[Raymond]

Thanks, Tony.

Is there yet another underpass a little to the south of the Walker Brook one? It looks as if there is on the topographic map.

By the way, Tony, my son and I met your son and another fellow doing some work on Roaring Brook Trail while we were climbing Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge. He was very friendly. He was wearing a t-shirt with ‘‘Senator Goodwin’’ on its back, so I asked if that was Senator Tony Goodwin. He said no, but that you were his dad, so we stopped and chatted a few minutes.

I asked him a question, but he didn’t really know the answer. It would have been way before his time anyway. The question was, when I first climbed Giant in 1983, I was sure the trail went fairly close by the top of Roaring Brook Falls, and there was a spur that went back to the top of the falls on the ‘‘uphill’’ side of the falls. Now, the trail doesn’t go nearly as close to the falls, and the spur trail approaches the downhill side of the stream, and from a much lower angle. I’d say the spur trail now leaves the main trail at about a two o’clock angle to approach the top of the waterfall, while it used to go back at five o’clock.

Your son said he thought there may have been signs of an old trail in the woods, but when my son, Cameron, and I looked at the top of the falls from the spur trail, the other side of the falls looked completely grown in, while I remember it as being quite open, so maybe my memory is all wrong.