Blue Mountain - A Very Popular Climb

Blue Mountain rises almost 2000 feet above Blue Mountain Lake.  Below is the view of the mountain across Blue Mountain Lake.

 

Judging by the size of both the trailhead parking lot and the overflow lots on both sides of Route 30/28N it is one of the most popular hikes in the Adirondacks.  The traiIhead is located just up Route 30/28N from the excellent Adirondack Museum.  Since both are located up hill from Blue Mountain Lake, the climb is reduced to 1550 feet over 2 miles.  The summit of Blue Mountain is definitely not a wilderness area.  Not only does it have a fire tower, but it also has many assorted communication antennae. 

I decided to celebrate by 67th birthday by climbing it once again on a stunning October day (2007).  The drive from Indian Lake to Blue Mountain Lake was a leaf peeper’s paradise.  The first part of the trail traverses on a gentle grade up and across the mountain side.  Sections of this part of trail are stabilized both with rocks/boulders and rock steps.  Building rock steps is a time consuming process requiring expert knowledge and a great deal of dedication to the job.  All hikers who enjoy a well built trail should do what we can to support our trail crews.  After about a mile of traverse and a rise of around 500 feet, the trail turns distinctly more up hill after which much of rest of the trail has been worn down to bed rock.  This is fine during a dry spell like we had been having when I made this climb, but the footing could be much more difficult during wet weather.  Near the top the trail becomes much gentler and it seems like you must surely just about be there.  However actually you still have sever hundred yards and a couple of hundred feet to ascend.  The top has a large open area of rock to accommodate almost any sized crowd.  It was a sunny refuge from the wind on the tower the day I was there.  The views from the tower can be stunning.  This is a shot of Tirrell Pond next to which the Northville-Placid Trail runs.  The trailhead parking lot for Blue Mountain is also the parking lot for one of the trails to Tirrell Pond. 

Not long after I reached the summit, other hikers began to appear.  On the way down I encountered several other parties.  We all agreed that it was a fine day for a hike.

In fact it was such a nice day, that I decided to stop at Chimney Mountain on the way back.

NOTE: For a more complete description of the trail, please see ADK's guide to ADIRONDACK TRAILS - Central Region, pp 138-139.

Have a great hike!
Bob Goodwin