Cascade and Porter Mountain

Hiking Date: June 6th 2009: This is the second time I climbed Cascade and technically the first time I climbed Porter. I’ll explain the Porter comment later. When I first climbed these two mountains, it was back in Ninth Grade and I was with a group called The Explorers Club. It was an offset of the Boy Scouts that I got involved with from my High School. It was my first two high peaks I have climbed and got me excited about wanting to climb all 46 High Peaks. I decided to re-climb these mountains because of 2 reasons; 1) The first time I climbed them it was in the fog and 2) I was looking for an easier High Peak to climb to see how I would handle them.

Cascade Mountain
Elevation:  4,098 ft
Rank In Height: 36
View Rating (1926): 34
Distance: 2.4 Miles from trail head, .3 miles from Cascade/Porter Junction

Porter Mountain
Elevation: 4,059 ft
Rank In Height: 38
View Rating (1926): 40
Distance: 2.8 Miles from trail head, .7 miles from Cascade/Porter Junction

Total Round Trip: 6.2 Miles

The Hike: The morning started off at 6am which is quite unusual for me as I am more known for sleeping until 2pm by my friends and family. I wanted to get an early start because I new the High Peaks were popular and the roads were going to be busy during Americade weekend. After the hour and a half drive to the trail head, I arrived at the parking area with about four or five other cars in the parking lot before I got there. The hike started of  following a rocky trail but was more or less flat. Soon after it starts to head uphill . Its a constant uphill for the rest of the hike.  About 2/3rds the way up, the hike takes you on a rock face that gives you an extremely nice view and re-energizes you to keep going. At 2.1 miles you’ll come to a junction between Cascade and Porter.  I decided to go up Porter first.

Porter Mountain: Starting at the junction you’ll immediately start going downhill which in the back of my mind, I new I would have to go back up. After going down, you’ll start heading up hill again but its not to steep. Along the trail a fairly big boulder is in the way which I decided to climb and sit on top of. Thinking back at the first time I climbed Porter, I realized this is the spot we stopped at and assumed was the top of Porter. Since the day was clear, I could clearly see about 2/10ths of a mile that there was a taller area which was the top of the mountain. After taking a few pictures I moved on to the top of Porter. At the top I had an amazing view of Cascade and the surrounding mountains. I spent a lot of time enjoying the view and taking pictures. Afterwards I headed toward Cascade.

Cascade Mountain: After getting back to the junction, I headed to the .3 miles up Cascade.  After a little ways you’ll come to the tree line which is one of my favorite parts. I love hiking above the tree line, its one of the best parts about hiking. Hiking above the tree line you get great views of the surrounding area and it distracts you from the scramble up the rocks. Arriving at the top, I was greeted by Joanne Kennedy flying a kyte. This was the first time I have seen that but it makes a lot of sense since there is usually wind at the top of them. Joanne was a very nice lady who works for the Press Republican and was telling me about her adventures of becoming a winter 46. After she left I had the mountain to myself in which I enjoyed the view very much. It was a nearly 360 degrees. I would face one  way and watch the scenery and then turn to another angle and do the same. I spent quite a while at the top taking in the sights and enjoying breakfast. The weather was perfect that day compared to the fog that was there when I first climbed it.

Conclusion: Cascade and Porter are amazing hikes especially if your looking to start climbing the 46 High Peaks. Of course at the same time, its a starting place and tourist attraction for a lot of people. I had the mountain mostly to myself except for the way down the mountain. Nearly ever 5-10 minutes I was running into a group of hikers. I was completely surprised by the amount of people climbing the mountain and after a while I was wondering where they all parked. I highly suggest that everyone climbs these two mountains but just do it either on a week day or early in the morning on the weekend.

Pictures: I apologize for the quality of these pictures. My camera needs serious cleaning.