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The Hike: I arrived at the trail head around 2:00pm where only one other car was in the parking lot. I thought it was odd being that it was July and thought more people would be camping, fishing or hiking in this area. Gathering my gear, I signed in at the trail head which is just a short walk down the road from the parking area. A couple people had already checked out for the day and the other group was climbing up Buck Mtn. It’s not the ideal spot to start a trip up Buck Mountain as their are two other better trail heads but it works.

Following the trail is easy as it’s well maintained and wide. Roughly 1/3rd the way there, the trail meets up with Bishop Brook and the junction for Buck Mtn. Taking the right to Inman Pond starts the very gradual up hill. Arriving just before the pond, there is a junction to decide which side of the pond you want to travel on. The right hand side goes to the better camping spot but the left hand side will bring you to to the other camping spot and the easiest way to get up to the top of the rock outcropping. Following the left trail I swerved away from the pond for a moment only to come back and meet up with the pond at the camping area. I’ve camped in this spot before and its not bad but if you can get the one on the other side of the pond, its better.

Past the camp, I followed along the pond for a short ways until the trail splits into several different directions. This part gets a little difficult as there is not one single trail that goes up to the top of the cliff. You can try to follow any of the trails but I suggest sticking close to the pond until you reach the bottom of the cliff. I followed along he side of the cliff as it steeply climbed around the back side and up on top of the hill. Along the way, part of the cliff creates an overhang and I found some old fire pits below it where people have camped. It’s not a designated camping spot.

Arriving at the top, there is a beautiful view of the pond and surrounding forest. Being a short quick hike, the view makes the hike a little more enjoyable instead of having lunch at the side of the pond.  Not that I normally do not site and enjoy being outside in Nature, but this time I caught myself doing nothing but listening to the birds for ten minutes. I wish I could have identified them by their sound but I am not that knowledgeable. It was great to just sit and listen. I live in a very technological room. In fact in front of me right now is two computers, a 46″ HDTV, PS3, and an X-Box 360. My job is programming websites so I do not get outside that often. Since I haven’t gotten out as much as I like this season, that’s probably why I was memorized with the sounds.  No humming of computers, air conditioner units or cell phone ringing. There is a sense of peace and calm.

After spending some time up at the top taking pictures, eating  lunch and just enjoying myself, I headed back down the hill the same way I came up. I am sure there is a way to make a loop around the pond but the far side of the pond looks like a wet area. I’m sure there is a make shift trail through it but I have never checked. On the way back,  there is a trail that leads off the to the left. I didn’t follow it this time but one of the other times I followed it and it brings you right to the parking lot. The main trail sort of makes an L shape where as the other side trail goes a more direct route. For safety concerns I have to recommend following the official DEC trail, especially if you are hiking alone.

Conclusion: Inman Pond hike is a good hike if you live close to it. I wouldn’t say its something where you would drive long distance to but if you live in the South East Adirondacks (Glens Falls, Lake George, Fort Ann) its a great quick hike to do.

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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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The company I work for, Mannix Marketing, has recently developed and events API for web administrators to put events from Adirondack.net onto their website.

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I guess using a guide book from 1998 didn’t work out to well for me. Perhaps next time I will check the DEC website. However at Lapland Lake I got brochure about some other hikes and went to Rock Lake instead. I’ll be posting about it later on and sharing photos. Just thought I would inform anyone in case they come across this.

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Elevation: 3,694ft
Vertical Ascent: Approx. 1,982ft
Trip Length: 2.6 Miles (1 way)

The Hike: My day started off at 5:00am with about 1.5 hour drive up past Keene Valley to the trail head. The trail head is located between Keene Valley and Elizabeth Town on Route 9N. After signing in with the log book, the hike immediately starts climbing in elevation. I was on little sleep and had done a lot of leg work the previous day so my legs were not happy going up hill at the start of the climb but at least it go me prepared for what was ahead.

The trail eventually levels off when you come to Spruce Hill Brook (I’m not positive if this is the name of the brook). Even though its a brook, it looks more like a pond as it looks like a beaver got a hold of the wetland area and built a couple of damns. The trail goes right over it but thanks to the great people who maintain the trails, their is a foot bridge that goes right over it. Unfortunately this is also where the mud started but hiking with the Adirondacks you get used to it.

After the wetland area, there is a steady incline the rest of the way to top. One thing that I noticed and really enjoyed was the type of forest that I was in. I don’t know the name of the type of forest but their is not a lot of trees around so you see the tops of the surrounding mountains and the forest  does not feel so constrained. At the higher elevations I actually ran into about 4 inches of snow on the ground. I had been seeing snow all the way up the mountain but it has always been off to the side, but now it was covering the trail and mixing with the mud which made for some tricky leg work at some points. And by tricky leg work I mean my legs flawing all around to make sure I didn’t fall on my butt.

Most of the way up I could see the top which is actually something I did not like as it made my progress seem slow. But in about 2 hours from when I first started hiking, I reached the trail junction to the top. From here it was only about 0.1 miles to the top which scooted up a rock face to an open top. Their is nothing like arriving at the top of a mountain that has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.

The top of Hurricane is amazing. Great views of the surrounding area make the 2+ hour hike up the mountain well worth all the sore muscles. To the East is Lake Champlain, to the South is Giant and Rocky, and to the Northwest is Whiteface Mountain. Not to mention getting to check out the fire tower. Unfortunately the tower is closed and the first 3 stories of the stairs have been removed. It definitely has seen better days and I understand why the APA recommended taking it down. Its a shame that a piece of Adirondack history needs to be taken down but the condition that it is in, it’s probably wise before something bad happens to it and possibly injure someone in the process.

I spent quite a bit of time at the top, taking pictures and just enjoying it all. Their is something about being on top of a mountain in the early morning that gives a sense of peace about everything in the world. No matter what troubles or drama may be going on in your life, you can step away from it and just enjoy the moment. I find that being up their early in the morning brings a little bit of extra peace as its kind of like the calm before the storm. Before the day gets busy with the business of life, their is a moment to just breath and take it all in.

The way down was actually a little bit dangerous as the snow covered up the mud and when you think you were stepping on just a piece of snow, it hid a mud slide that caused me to do some tricky foot work to keep my foot hold. I actually did end up falling once which I wasn’t to proud of. Luckily I didn’t have any more incidents on the way down and made it back to the car in one piece and injury free.

Conclusion: Hurricane Mountain is a great mountain to climb. Beautiful views at the top make this hike a must for anybody who enjoys hiking in the Adirondacks. I would not recommend it if you haven’t hiked a lot and are not in relatively okay shape. It is demanding on the legs and lungs just like some of the high peaks. Its part of the Fire Tower Challenge which makes is a check mark for anybody doing that but even if your not, I still highly recommend this mountain be put on your list of mountains to climb. I’m sure I will be climbing this mountain again sometime in the future.

Photos: I went a little bit picture crazy with this one but they are worth it. Their are some landscape photos toward the bottom.

Landscape Photos:

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