Severance Mountain

Hiking Date: April 17th 2011: First hike for 2011 and it felt great to be able to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Being that it was a long Winter and I didn’t get out as much as I would have liked, I decided to go up Severance Mountain (Hill) as it is a relatively easy hike and its not one of the ones I visit often. I dragged two friends along, Gavin and Vicky, to keep me company and to torture them a little bit by dragging them through mud, snow, water and ice. Welcome to Spring hiking in the Adirondacks.

Elevation: 1,693 ft
Vertical Ascent: 813 ft
Trip Length: 2.4 miles (Round Trip)

The Hike: The day started by arriving at the trail head just off of Northway Exit 28 (Schroon Lake) at around Noon. The parking lot was empty with a little bit of snow covering the shady areas. We quickly gathered our equipment and started the hike. The hike starts off by walking under two tunnels which run underneath the Northway. Coming out the other side and signing the sign in sheet,  we ran into our first obstacle in the form of a flooded trail. This time of year I was expecting lots of water so I was prepared with my new water proof boots.

Hiking on the trail was a mix of water, mud, snow and ice which made going up a slower than usual but being that it was the first trip of the season I wasn’t in any rush. One thing that really impressed me with this trail is the amount of trail work done. There are many small wooden platforms crossing streams, some stairs and even some benches on the way up. Its nice to see someone / some group is taking the time to make the hike enjoyable and to preserve the trail. Especially since there was several pieces of trash on the trail which I carried out. On that note, who brings Long John Silvers on a hike? It seemed kind of odd to find a container on the trail.

An interesting note on the way up, we came up on a make shift shelter on the side of the trail. It wasn’t something someone through together in ten minutes, it was intricately built and would have taken some time. Both myself and my friends pondered a lot about why it was built right next to the trail and taken that it was less than 1/2 a mile from the trail head. This is the type of shelter you would see someone like Survivorman build, pictures of it are bellow.

The climb itself isn’t to steep. It does go up hill a bit but only being 1.2 miles in length, its not so bad. As we approached the top, I quickly glimpsed a deer and a hill just off the trail but it ran to quickly for me to get a picture of it. Arriving at the top, the Sun was out and we had a beautiful view of the still partially frozen Schroon Lake. The temperature was probably in the 50s and the wind was blowing more than normal however it was still enjoyable. A brief walk on the trail from the top, their is a view of Paradox Lake through the trees. Their was another interesting make shift shelter at the top but this one wasn’t as nice as the one on the trail. Again we were curious as to why they were there and who built them.

While I was taking in the view, I began to ponder the hiking season ahead of me and all the trips I would like to go on. I have a New Years Resolution to climb 5 High Peak Mountains this Summer and one of them I would like to be Mt. Marcy. I’m hoping I reach this goal as last year I didn’t get to any High Peaks.

After spending a decent amount of time at the top, we finally packed up our equipment and headed down. Going down was also slow as it was slippery and we were trying to not to fall. We did pretty well except for one incident which involved falling into some water and then a barrel roll to get out.

Conclusion: A great first climb for the year. Severance Mountain is a fun climb and not difficult for those of us who are not in the best of shape. I’m sure I’ll climb it again someday in the future and will tell my friends who are looking for a quick/easy climb a place to go. Its easy to get to from the Eastern side of the Adirondacks as its right off the Northway. If your looking for a hike, put this one on your list and when your finished, stop by Schroon Lake for a bite to eat and support local town.

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