Catamount Mountain

Catamount has been on my radar for a while, but we hadn't gotten to it before.  There are just so many hikes I long to do in the Adirondacks!  Anyway, I'm super glad we made it out there today -- it's such a fun climb.  This trail is located well north of the main part of the high peaks, north of Whiteface even, so it apparently sees less traffic than the busiest areas along the Route 73 corridor.  However, I noticed a sign at the Garden encouraging hikers to try different trails aside from the 46 high peaks (we have always done this) and Catamount was specifically mentioned as a good alternative.  If people listen, it may not stay an off-the-beaten-path destination for long.  We stayed up late last night, and got a slow start this morning, so it was almost 1 pm when we arrived at the parking lot.  Between our late arrival and it being a holiday weekend, the small lot was filled to capacity.  There were a few cars parked along the shoulder, so I joined the line up.  There were no signs prohibiting this and no traffic on the wide road, so it seemed low risk.  Off we went...

The first part of the trail is virtually flat, and completely lacking in mud.  It also was dry and sandy, a pleasant contrast to the typical muddy Adirondack trails. 

The forest soon transitions to hardwoods, crosses a footbridge, and begins climbing, gradually at first, and then more steeply.  We passed a Student Conservation Association crew working in the trail in the lower hardwoods section, where the trail was still soft underfoot.  It was good for Frankie to see the hard work that goes into building/maintaining trails. 

After a seemingly long climb (it's not, really) up a steep section with loose rocks, the forest transition again, to spruce and balsam, and more exposed bedrock appears.  We came out onto a ledge with views both out and up.  Here Erwin and Frankie and looking up at some hikers waving from the exposed rock at the false summit. 

After this viewpoint, the trail dips back in the conifers briefly, and then ascends steeply through a chimney of rock.  Frankie had no trouble ascending this, and in fact was able to squeeze handily through a second, higher narrow passage that Erwin and I had to go over/around. 

Frankie handled all the scrambling on this hike with ease, but I don't have pictures of the tricky stuff because it was hard enough keeping up with him.  Frankie was happy enough to let Erwin lead at the beginning of the hike, but he was energized by the chimney and charged into the lead after that.  Erwin, on the other hand, was discouraged by the sight of the true summit from the false summit.  I guess I had not adequately prepared him for the false summit phenomenon. 

looking up at the true summit from the false summit

However, after another half hour of scrambling, we all arrived at the summit together.  It was super humid and hazy, so my pictures don't show the full splendor of the place, but it is a pretty epic summit for such a little mountain.  There is a full view to the south of Whiteface and Esther, and the heart of the high peaks beyond.  To the west, the long fingers of Union Falls Pond and Franklin Falls Pond.  To the east, we squinted through the haze and spotted Lake Champlain, Burlington, and the Green Mountains beyond.  An advantage to our late start was that most parties passed us heading down while we were climbing up; we pretty much had the summit to ourselves. 

a bit of Taylor Pond is visible in the foreground to the north

looking down on the false summit

Frankie had been looking forward to beating Erwin back to the car for days now: he was talking about it on our climb of Saddleback two days ago.  I promised him we could race his Dad back to the car once we got down to the flats.  He was chomping at the bit and wanted to take off when we were still in the steeps.  We finally got to the flat sandy area and he was off like a rocket.  My knees were not all that happy to be running at this point, but I did my best to keep up.  We stopped at the register to sign out and still beat Erwin back to the car by more than 3 minutes.  Frankie was thrilled!  Poor Erwin. 

running to beat his Dad

view of Catamount Mountain from the road

The reported statistics for the hike vary pretty widely, but for a general estimate, it is about 4 miles round trip with about 1,500 feet elevation gain.  It is not easy (Erwin found it more challenging than Cascade) but it is oh so worth it!  The climb itself is very fun, with lots and lots of hand-and-foot scrambling, and the summit is truly fantastic.

In summary, this is a spectacular hike that I highly recommend.