Into the Sky!

Sorry for the fail on Friday, I was at Six Flags and totally didn't get home in time to post.

Last week was great, I didn't get to go hiking with Irene on the 9th, but I did get to keep my hike with Lauren on the 10th. We headed up to Thirteenth Lake and took the trail to Peaked Mt and Peaked Mt. Pond on the west side of the lake. Since I knew that there were supposed to be campsites there, we brought along our swimsuits in hopes of nice, refreshing water after the hike.

I would like to say that I can now get to these trails with my eyes closed. The Thirteenth Lake Rd. is very easy to find off of the Northway (I 87); if you can follow the signs to find Gore Mt. Ski area, then you can find Thirteenth Lake. After parking, we signed the trail register and wandered around looking for the trail.

Walking toward the lake from the parking lot there are two outhouses to the right (I wasn't expecting these, so it was a nice surprise that we were able to change into our swimsuits in privacy) and some campsites closer to the lake. Down on the left are some campsites and a nice, open beach for launching canoes and kayaks. After looking around we walked (what would be) straight ahead from the parking lot towards a small beach area for swimming, around there we took a right onto a footpath with red trail markers.

This path followed the lakeshore in a SW direction, rising and dipping back down to the water. The weather was wonderful and I took a shot across the lake.

To give you a little perspective, the left of the two central rises in this picture is Gilead Mt.. Robinson and I hiked up the lefthand side to the top on the steeper right side. I kept looking for a view that would show us the rocks on top, but we never got far enough South.

After a ways we met up with Peaked Mt. Brook. There, the trail turned right and began to follow the river uphill. We met and passed an older couple looking at a map not too far up this part of the trail. On the left side of the trail was a bridge that led to the Hour Pond trail, I was unaware that this would be here and apparently so was this couple. They were looking at a topographic trail map (probably the same one I got from the ADK Central Region trail guide) where the intersecting trail was not pictured. They asked us if the trail ahead of them (not to the left) was to Peaked Mt. Pond and I responded with an assumed 'Yup.' as we smiled and passed them.

The trail then proceeded to lace around three vleis. I read this in the trail guide as we came to them and we turned to the Glossary - 'Vlei: a low marshy area (pronounced "vly").' As the trail wrapped around the edge of the second vlei, we got adventurous and made our way out into the damp earth.

It was really rather entertaining to see the Peaked Mt. Brook cutting through the land like it was a warm knife to butter. The best thing was that you couldn't even tell the brook was there; looking at the vlei from a distance you would assume it was just a pretty swamp. But as we ventured out, we could hear the running water and would have walked right into the brook, had it been silent.
There is also a good amount of beaver activity along this trail. There are quite a few little dams; but we didn't get to see any of the family members, let alone sit down to a dinner with them (I feel like reading Narnia, can you tell?).

We got our first glimpse of Peaked Mt. through the last clearing on the right. Dead trees reached up to the sky like a skeleton's fingers with the rocky summit of Peaked Mt. as a backdrop.

Shortly after this, we reached the pond (yay!). There was a family already there eating lunch, so we skirted to the left of them and had our own on a rock lying low to the water. Where the trail opens up is actually at a small inlet of the pond where the water is shallow and swampier (we made friends with a little water snake there). Following the trail to the right that leads to the summit of Peaked Mt. we found a trail leading to more campsites and a view of the whole pond. This panoramic is just of the inlet where we had our lunch; you can see Peaked Mt. on the right.

While we relaxed, the family headed out to the summit, the couple we passed came up to the pond (they said they weren't going to summit that day) and another couple made their way out of the trail. After lunch we followed the trail around the right side of the pond and we could immediately tell the gradient change. The trail to the pond was easy and relaxing while the hike to the summit was extremely steep. Fortunately it was less than a mile and it was well worth it.

As we reached the summit, the family was just beginning to descend (kudos to them for carrying a child up that steep climb) and a few minutes later the second couple from the pond reached the summit. They were kind enough to take our picture and chat for a while; in turn, we defined 'vlei' for them and pointed out below where the trail was.

This is the view facing more or less South, I don't think this really does the altitude much justice, but we really are a good way into the sky for such a short ascent. The large body of water is Peaked Mt. Pond, the little blip on the upper left of it is the inlet where we ate lunch. If you look to the left of that, you can see a kind of line that is formed at the base of the mountains. This is where Peaked Mt. Brook and the trail run; you can also see the three vleis (the middle one was the one we walked around in) and a small piece of Thirteenth Lake can be made out just past the largest vlei.

Unfortunately I didn't get to do any geocaching this trip, but I did stumble across some benchmarks that marked the peak. I found these while mountain goatin' and looking for views in different directions. I think this would be off to the Northeast.

We rested and snacked in the shade for a while then took to the decent (not without a few falls). On our way back we passed the couple that took our picture at the pond and again passed the family about halfway down the trail.

Despite the fact that it was 4:10 and Lauren wanted to be home by 5:00 (this would be an impossible feat), we changed into our swimsuits and waded into the beach back near the campsites. The ground was covered with small rocks that eventually became sand as you went deeper and the water was the perfect temperature. We swam around a bit, talking to the campers, then headed home for hearty dinners and heavy sleep.

I honestly don't think this hike could have been any better! The day wasn't too hot, the visibility was better than great, and the water was just a perfect ending. I'm going to have to look for more hikes to lakes.

Speaking of which, on Sunday MD and I are heading up to Avalanche Pass. I am now prepared with a hiking pole (yay for old ski poles) and I'll have to look into Avalanche Lake. I've been there before, but I can't remember much.

Any favorite Adirondack hikes you want to suggest?

Also, I will be getting up pictures from the Gilead Mt. hike soon. :)
G