As I was traveling up to visit my oldest daughter in college, I had a little time for a short hike in an area of the ADKs that I've never explored, the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest. Leaving the Hamilton County Mosquito Preserve early in the morning, I drove north on Rt. 30 until I crossed into Franklin County. 100 yds past the county line was the trailhead to Coney Mt.
I was excited to do this short hike as I had never been in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest before. This was a perfect excuse for me to check it out. After signing into the well used register, I set off on the blue disked trail.
The trail corkscrewed up 500' in a mile to the summit. The grade was so mild and trail so well constructed that I didn't really think I was going up until the final few hundred feet near the summit.
I had been driving in and out of the fog since early in the morning and was pleasantly surprised that it was still hanging around as I reached the summit. The first views I had were to the south and were amazing. It reminded me of being at sea, but these were mountain tops peaking out of the sea of fog.
I worked my way up to the true summit and was excited to see a sumac "tree" in full color.
The summit had the obligatory balancing boulder, benchmarks and a bolt sunk into the bedrock.
I appologize for not knowing the names of the peaks I was looking at, but the large mountain to the north was crowned with many antennas and towers. Could it be Mt. Morris?
Before heading back down, I took one more look to the northwest and soaked in the warming sun.
A quick walk back down the well graded trail brought me back to the car in plenty of time to make my brunch rendezvous with my daughter. Now I'm looking for excuses to go visit her so I can try out a few more trails I noticed along the way. ;) She would expect nothing less from her old man.
I was excited to do this short hike as I had never been in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest before. This was a perfect excuse for me to check it out. After signing into the well used register, I set off on the blue disked trail.
The trail corkscrewed up 500' in a mile to the summit. The grade was so mild and trail so well constructed that I didn't really think I was going up until the final few hundred feet near the summit.
I had been driving in and out of the fog since early in the morning and was pleasantly surprised that it was still hanging around as I reached the summit. The first views I had were to the south and were amazing. It reminded me of being at sea, but these were mountain tops peaking out of the sea of fog.
I worked my way up to the true summit and was excited to see a sumac "tree" in full color.
The summit had the obligatory balancing boulder, benchmarks and a bolt sunk into the bedrock.
I appologize for not knowing the names of the peaks I was looking at, but the large mountain to the north was crowned with many antennas and towers. Could it be Mt. Morris?
Before heading back down, I took one more look to the northwest and soaked in the warming sun.
A quick walk back down the well graded trail brought me back to the car in plenty of time to make my brunch rendezvous with my daughter. Now I'm looking for excuses to go visit her so I can try out a few more trails I noticed along the way. ;) She would expect nothing less from her old man.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire