Baker Mountain - A Family Sized Peak

On Wednesday August 25th Tammy and I took a hike up Baker Mt. It is a small but interesting mountain near Saranac Lake. The trailhead is off Route 3 north of the village. Turn right (southeast) onto Pine St then east on the East Pine St.

A short 0.9 mile hike on this hazy warm day, (temp. 80 degrees) had the sweat coming down our faces just 0.5 miles in. A relatively moderate mountain as far as steepness is concerned, but there are a few spots that do make you work.

Leaving the trailhead at 11:30 AM we worked our way up the trail at an easy pace experiencing only a few tough spots for the first 0.3 miles. The trail winds around trees and climbs over and around huge boulders and flat rock as we hit the 0.7 mile mark. We decided to take the longer trail to the right as the trail splits here and the views were excellent but the haze was so heavy that the pictures were scarce. ( Trail left is less steep )

We worked our way towards the summit, (top photo) and thought that only if the haze would fade that this would be a perfect little mountain to take many photos for ones collection. We met a friend at the summit as a chipmunk that was very people friendly kept us company. (photo)

An hour to climb the mountain (900 ft ascent) only took 45 minutes to decend as we headed back to the car. We checked off this little mountain for a trip back in late September for the fall colors as we hope that the next time we visit, the weather will cooperate.

NOTE: For a more complete description of the trail, please see ADK's (guide to) ADIRONDACK TRAILS - High Peaks Region 13th Edition, pp 180-181.

Happy hiking!!!
Rick and Tammy McCorry