My buddy TBPDPTI and I parked at the “5-way” intersection in the Speculator Tree Farm Easement due south of Upper Pine Mountain and began our day right around 7:30am. It was a brisk 40F out but the day would soon warm up.
We began hiking along the old forest road that goes in between Cross Mountain and Upper Pine Mountain. The first mile or so was pretty unpleasant with huge trees strewn about and copious mud. It got better after a while and turned into more of a quiet footpath than an old road. We followed this until we hit the intersection due north of Cross Mountain. From there, we began angling our way toward Big Range, our main 3K target for the day. Old roads and trails got us to within a mile of the summit and from there it was open and easy (and steep) woods right up to the summit.
We were on top of Big Range around 9:30am and spent a good 30 minutes up there poking around at the various viewpoints. Nothing sweeping, but the huge cliffs just below the summit on the east side give a few opportunities for unique views. We could see Gore Mountain, South Pond Mountain, Eleventh Mountain and all of the small hills and valleys to the east. We actually found an old mason jar affixed to a tree on the summit - I’ve seen these all over the place on Vermont 3Ks, but never in the Adirondacks. There was no summit log, just two soggy business cards; one from a dude in Texas. Do people in Texas chase the ADK 3K list? Maybe. We contemplated the out-and-back to South Pond Mountain but it looked really far away…
We descended using the main west-facing ridge, which was pretty easy and straightforward. In the col between Big Range and Cross Mountain, the black flies were bad enough for us to pull the head nets out. Pretty meadow and pond in the col. Then it was a short but steep 500 foot climb up Cross Mountain, which we climbed because it’s on TBPDPTI’s 2K list and it was also physically between us and our car, so why not. The summit(s) were unremarkable but on the south side of the mountain we were treated to some open ledges with really nice views to the south/west. A nice surprise! From the ledges, we made our way down some cliffs and then eventually came upon an old logging road which would take us down to Pine Pointe Brook, which would in turn take us right back to our car. Door-to-door was just a hair over 4.5 hours.
Wildlife Report:
We saw a fisher run across the road on our drive in, along with a hawk carrying a freshly-caught rodent in it’s claws. Found some fairly fresh moose tracks in the mud on our way up Big Range.
Wildflower Report:
All the usual suspects were out today in big numbers. Red trillium, some painted trillium, trout lily, spring beauty, violets, yellow violets.
Bug Report:
Yup, they’re out. And swarming. No bites though. Soon...