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Snowy Mountain – Lives up to its name

After seeing the snow covered High Peaks from the mid-station of Gore Mt, I decided to make another winter climb, and I thought why not climb Snowy Mountain while it is snowy?  So on the fantastic winter day of March 1 st 2006, I drove to the trailhead on route 30 south of the town of Indian Lake.   It is a walk of about 3.9 miles with a climb of about 2100 feet.   Maybe 15 minutes into the trip I was attracted to a view of this cliff through the trees.   The cliff on a shoulder of Squaw Mountain is clearly visible from the highway.   The first about 2.4 miles is a pleasant walk in the woods which traverses over to and then ascends a major drainage of the mountain. You cross the stream several times while climbing 700 feet in the process. The stream crossings on this trail would be no problem in the dry parts of summer and the fall, and it was no problem during the frozen part of winter, but it might be a problem during the runoff part of spring.   I had decided to use my smaller MSR snowshoes which, it turned out, were fine for this part of the trip. Fortunately I was lucky enough to hike on the very day that a backcountry skier chose to make the same trip. There was quite a bit of blow down across the trail, most of it small enough to be easily cleared by volunteers, but there were three major blockages that would require chainsaws to clear.   To avoid them, I simply followed the ski tracks.  

After the last stream crossing, the real climbing begins in earnest.   The final 1400 feet is ascended in about a mile and a half.   At this point I noticed that the skier had left the trail to ski the glades repeatedly.   I didn't know that further up he would rejoin the trail, so to continue on the trail I had to break trail for myself for maybe 300 yards until I ran into his ski tracks again.   After that the trail became progressively steeper, and it is very fortunate that the skier had preceded me since the snow was getting quite deep, at least for the snowshoes that I was wearing.   I met him about 15 minutes from the top when he was on his third trip down.   I don't know what the average snow depth was, but there were plenty of places that it was 3 feet deep.   As I remember it from a climb years ago in the summer, the last part of the trail is pretty much up a trench; what I call “trench warfare”.  

At last after 2 ½ hours on the trail, I staggered out onto the one great view point where everybody must stop to rest and eat lunch.   This is a picture of Indian Lake from that vantage point, not a cloud in the sky.   The fire tower is just a short walk on through the wooded summit.   It is in fine condition, and the view from its upper reaches was stunning.  

Among other things, the High Peaks were visible to the north east.   All in all, a great day to be in the mountains, a great memory.

NOTE: For a more complete description of the trail, please see ADK's guide to ADIRONDACK TRAILS - Central Region, pp 90-91.