What goes well with the season’s first considerably measurable snow in the Adirondacks? A challenge of course, in the form of off-trail travel to obscure points on the map. To the northeast of Moose Mountain near Lake Placid, a ridge in the neighborhood of 3200’ exists, unrecognized by most, but naturally has been ever-present for many thousands of years. This was my target on a snowy and cloudy 30° Wednesday, getting going after a late 9:30 start. On Whiteface Inn Lane I was the only car parked at the Jackrabbit Trailhead and set off towards the Shore Owners Association network of trails to get in the right direction. My intended plan of attack would involve first making it to Loch Bonnie, a small lake that I hadn’t visited the first time I climbed Moose Mountain in June. The Two Brooks trail would apparently be the only option for access, the portion of the Lake Trail after the Bartlett Pond/Two Brooks junction was marked closed to the public by a seemingly new sign. Therefore the Minnow Brook trail that directly leads to Loch Bonnie was unfortunately off the table, which proved to make for a more complicated endeavor.
After carefully negotiating the stream crossing once headed up Moose, I cruised up until the blowdown field I had recalled from summertime, several good bunches of trees with hearty branches block the trail. A few powdery hurdles prompted putting on the mittens and insulated Gortex shell, which would be especially needed for the next section of the trip. At this point I was 3 miles in, it was still snowing and at least 4’’ had fallen, microspikes were doing me fine so far. Once upon a time there used to be a 0.3 mile connector trail from Two Brooks dropping down to Loch Bonnie, being long abandoned I was unsure of how badly grown-in and blowdown infested it'd gotten. The SOA trail arrow sign remains at the junction but that’s as just about the only indicator I got considering what came thereafter. With everything around me blanketed in white, the usual landscape clues on the ground were far less noticeable, and it doesn’t help that the small, faded SOA marker discs are white as well! I gave up trying to prioritize keeping the scent of this thorn-in-my-side cutoff path, and switched gears to ‘shwacking through the snowy spruce. There was plenty of it at first with lots of downed trees intermixed, and I got mentally accustomed to the repetition of accumulated snow releasing on top of my head. I realized that if I preemptively shook off the branches with my trekking pole it’d keep things somewhat dryer, but most of the time I was able to swim through narrow passages and bare it. Luckily it was only a short ways down to Loch Bonnie, which was partially frozen and felt desolate in the November whirlwinds.
The summit of Northeast Moose Peak was 1.5 miles away but a bump was in the road, a 3,400’ bump that would in fact be the highest point I’d reach all day. I decided against contouring around this feature to the E of Moose Mountain and followed the course of a drainage up and over. The woods were not necessarily terrible, but I found that even shorter patches of the thicket were definitely more time consuming thanks to the conditions. Once the snowpack properly sets up I’ll be in for a different/improved experience off-trail. At last my objective could be seen on the way downslope now, as things began to open up. The terrain for the most part was kind to me, I didn’t have any big bad cliff bands to contend with throughout the hike. From the col it was a pretty straightforward and short ascent to the highest point which I found to be on the wooded western summit bump. Along the way I did notice a couple attractive potential lookouts that perhaps on a clearer day would offer some neat perspectives to the S. Returning to the col was smooth following my tracks, and up and over “the bump in the road” again I went, this time choosing a better line back to Loch Bonnie. Originally I had flirted with the idea of climbing another peak next to the lake but this would not be so, it was nearing 16:00, dark was fast approaching and I hadn’t yet made it to the “maintained” Two Brooks trail. Headed the opposite way on the cutoff now was slightly easier initially, markers were much more apparent than before. They soon dissappeared and the headlamp was on as I fought my way upslope to meet my way out of the shifty snarly snowscape, taking care to move smart and safe amidst a fast-diminishing line of sight. The frequent onslaught of treefuls of snow to the upper body was getting very old, but at least it wasn’t the wet, heavy, instant-soak snow that ‘shwackers loathe. Eventually I retraced my steps and popped onto the faster and forgiving way back down Two Brooks just as night fell. A squall kicked up and was blowing into my face as I made a rapid descent out, thinking of the warm slices of pizza that awaited! Winter hiking in my book has begun, once 12/21 rolls around I’ll be venturing above 4,000’ territory again. Felt great to kick off the month with another tough one behind me, 10 miles covered in 8.5 hours, gaining 2,800’. As always thank you folks for reading and contributing to this fine community, safe travels…