Pitchoff Traverse

Pitchoff is one of those iconic Adirondack hikes I have been wanting to explore forever but hadn't ever gotten around to, only because said list is just so long.  The two trailheads are both located on Route 73, where parking is tough to come by, particularly at the western trailhead, which is directly across from the Cascade trail.  However, we decided to give it a shot on this trip because we could attempt it on a weekday, and we had two vehicles, which would allow us to hike a traverse rather than an out-an-back.  We dropped Erwin's car at the tiny, empty lot at Pitchoff East, and were fortunate to get one of the last designated spots down the road by Cascade.

After negotiating the sketchy crossing (high speed traffic and a curve in the road) and enduring a little side-eye from some confused Cascade hikers who seemed to think we were going the wrong way, we climbed the stairs up the highway embankment and started up the trail to Pitchoff West.  The trail climbs through hardwoods, then levels off briefly on a ridge with intermittent views over Route 73 toward Cascade. 

The trail continues on in this civilized fashion for a while, remaining parallel with Route 73, and repeating the pattern of climbing then leveling off, with intermittent views.  The summit of Cascade was in the clouds but we were feeling good about Pitchoff, since the elevation is lower. 

We then came to a steep eroded section where it was hard to tell exactly where the trail was.  This kind of stuff is the most exciting for kids and Frankie scampered right up.  We picked up the marked trail again at the top of the eroded area and continued on. 

I had some anxiety that we could have missed the turn for the spur trail to Balanced Rocks in the confusion of the eroded area so was very relieved to find an unofficial sign further up the trail.  What a thrill just walking out toward those rocks... the views are wide open and incredible!

Of course we had to climb up and play a little.  Frankie had been determined from the very first discussion of this hike that he would make the leap from boulder to boulder.  Not having been here before, we weren't sure that was reasonable, and I had been trying to prepare him for the possibility that the distance would be too great.   Erwin went up first, to scout it out.  He gave it the Dad-safety-seal and declared it was of a distance where the rest of us could safely jump.  And distance-wise, Frankie could easily have leaped the span... but the wind was fierce!  There were a few gusts when we were all up on the rock together where all three of us almost blew off.  It was definitely a little scary.  Frankie ultimately decided he could not make the jump after all, because of the wind.  I was SO proud of him for making such a good choice when every fiber of his being wanted to do this thing.  However, his sense of defeat was heartbreaking to see.   

We heaped praise upon him for listening to his instincts, and I offered to jump in tandem with him -- so he would still get a version of the experience.  It wasn't what he wanted, but it was better than nothing, apparently.  We jumped, then had a quick rocktop cuddle, then beat a hasty retreat.  Because that wind was whipping and we were cold. 

We had a quick snack on some more sheltered ledges then continued up.  The true summit of Pitchoff is wholly unremarkable, a boulder next to the trail, completely surrounded by trees. 

Frankie on the summit of Pitchoff

Luckily for us, we weren't turning back here: we had the rest of the ridgewalk to look forward to and would be treated to many more stunning views.  We kept going until we got to a ledge with wide open views and settled down for lunch.  The low clouds that had socked in some of the summits earlier had lifted and we could see the little ant people on Cascade.   

Eventually we moved on, continuing east along the ridge.  The trail up here is super charming, moving through small patches of forest and then popping out onto more rocky ledges with more sweeping views.  The ridgeline is not flat, but more variable, and the trails frequently dips down into small ravines, then climbs back up again. 

After climbing one such small knoll, we reached Middle Pitchoff.  Despite being at a lower elevation than the true summit boulder in the woods, Middle Pitchoff feels more like a summit experience -- it is rocky, has views, and the USGS topo map shows that it had a benchmark at one time.  Unfortunately someone had stolen it, but we found the spot where the benchmark used to be. 

This spot definitely warranted another stop to snack and goof and jump for joy (cover image).  Frankie broke out his summit Pringles. 

Finally we moved on again, and after several more ups and downs, we reached the rocky summit of the slightly lower East Pitchoff.  This area is very dramatic and was really fun to approach and climb over. 

East Pitchoff is the end of the ridgewalk; from here the trail takes a sharp turn and drops below the ridge, traveling southwest at first and then closer to due south.  This trail is very steep and we were glad to have completed the traverse in the eastward direction so as not to have climbed up this way.  I was paying attention to my footing and didn't take any pictures along this section.  Frankie of course wanted to run ahead to beat Erwin back to the car, but I wouldn't let him rush through the steeps.  It did eventually level out a bit close the road and I ran ahead with him once it was safe. 

MapMyRide tracked this hike at 6.5 miles with over 1,700 feet elevation gain.  This distance is higher than the official trail mileage, but includes the spur out to Balanced Rocks and back, which added about half a mile.  Some of the discrepancy also likely came from me just letting the tracker run all day without pausing, so that all my back and forths at stops were captured.  Anyway, I absolutely LOVED this hike!  The long ridgewalk is really fantastic so it is definitely worth waiting to have two vehicles to complete the traverse.  Simply going out-and-back to the wooded true summit would not have had the same magical feel.