Jenkins Mountain

2,513-foot Jenkins Mountain rises in the northern Adirondacks near Paul Smiths College. The unassuming mountain stands as the high point of the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) trail system. With nearly no snow on the ground January 2nd, I wanted to get in a hike since cross country skiing was out of the question. I wanted to take Choya along but and wasn't looking for a terribly long or difficult hike. Although I have hiked Jenkins before, it seemed like it a good hike for the day.

Two trailheads can be used to reach the trail up Jenkins. Probably the more common route accesses the mountain from the VIC. Usually in the winter, the VIC trails are groomed for cross country skiing and require a trail fee (no fee out of the ski season). Even though it was January, the trails were probably lacking enough snow for skiing or snowshoeing after rain and warm temperatures in late December. 

A second trailhead along Keese Mills Road provides another route to Jenkins via the Black Pond Trail. Although still on the VIC property, these trails aren't groomed and avoid the busier, main VIC area. I used this route to start my hike both times I have been to Jenkins.

 

Although the forecast called for clearing skies, low clouds covered the sky on the morning January 2nd. When I left my house, only a fine dusting of snow covered the ground. By the time I reached the trailhead, about an inch covered the ground with bare ground under the canopy of the coniferous trees. A previous hiker, tracked down the little bit of snow that covered the ground.

Black Pond Outlet near the trailhead

The route follows close to water for the first part of the hike. Initially along the outlet of Black Pond,  the trail soon reaches Black Pond. A lean to sits on the shore of Black Pond less than a half-mile from the trailhead. (all lean tos on the VIC property require a reservation to use) The outlet still remained unfrozen, but the pond itself was covered in ice.

Open water on Black Pond Outlet

The lean to by Black Pond

Black Pond from the lean to

Choya enjoying the view over Black Pond on
a previous hike when it wasn't frozen

The trail often travels just a few feet from Black Pond. At the north end of the pond, the Black Pond Trail turns right and continues around the pond and passes another lean to. I continued straight on the Long Pond Trail. Just beyond the junction, I soon reached the southern end of Long Pond.

Choya on a bog bridge

Choya following the shore of Black Pond

The Long Pond trail follows its namesake body of water. Another lean sits on the shore of Long Pond.

As its name implies, Long Pond is a skinny pond that is much longer than it is wide. The Long Pond Trail travels just over a half-mile before reaching its northern end at a junction on a wider woods road.

View from the south end of Long Pond

From the right, the woods road comes in from the main VIC trailhead and cross country trails. Turning left, the trail heads toward Jenkins Mountain. The woods road quickly fades into a trail as it travels between a beaver bog at the base of Jenkins and a large esker.

View over Long Pond by the lean to

Hiking along the woods road

Part of Jenkins visible above the beaver bog

View across the beaver bog

After passing the last remnants of the beaver bog, the trail turns toward Jenkins. The trail takes an indirect route winding around the south side of Jenkins. A light snow began to fall as I made my way up the trail. The snow on the ground grew deeper as I gained elevation. The last remnants of foot prints from previous hikers disappeared part way up the mountain. By the time I reached the summit, 3-4 inches covered the trail. Although the trail was generally pretty easy to follow, I had to pay attention a few spots to make sure I stayed on track. This isn't a problem when the ground is snowless however. 

Despite gaining around 900' from the trailhead, the climbing never seems to steep. The trail even loses some elevation when it departs from the beaver bog. The few inches of snow provided a greater challenge than the actual elevation gain. The snow was just deep enough to hide the rocks, roots, and ice; but not deep enough to pass over the obstacles. You never knew what you would trip or slip on just under the fine snow. 

The trail ends at a rock outcropping with open 180-degree views to the south. Unfortunately, low clouds and snow left me with pretty limited views. I could still see some of the lakes and ponds nearby in the valley, but the mountains in the area hid behind clouds. 

Besides a few ponds, not much to see from Jenkins
on this day

I traveled most of the hike in the cover of the woods with pretty tranquil conditions. At the summit clearing, wind blasted the mountain, making for an uncomfortable windchill. It was close to 30F, but the wind definitely felt unpleasant. With little to see I began my hike back down after just a few minutes. 

Choya on Jenkins

View on a previous hike with better visibility
toward the High Peaks

Another view from the summit on a better day

Whiteface on the left on a previous hike to Jenkins

Back in the cover of the woods, I enjoyed the forest scenery. It's hard not to appreciate the forest under snow cover, especially when it’s untouched and you have it to yourself. I broke from the trail at one point to get a closer look at a large ice flow on a cliffside. The short diversion was well worth it to get a close up look at the 20-foot tall ice flow.

Enjoying the snowy forest

Ice flow on a cliff

Choya waiting patiently 

As I returned back to the end of the beaver bog, I left the trail. Long Pond lies just a few hundred yards from the beaver bog on the other side of a steep esker. I bushwhacked to the top of the esker. The west side of the esker isn't too steep, but the side closer to Long Pond is quite steep and overgrown. Once I reached the top of the esker, I followed the crest of the esker, which travels parallel to the pond. A herd path or old trail travels along the esker, allowing for pretty easy travel apart from a cluster of blowdowns that I had to bypass. Sticking to the crest of the esker, I reached the south end of Long Pond at a point where the esker drops off to the pond on a very shallow pitch. The little detour cuts off more than a mile of trail that I already hiked. Following the esker provided a more interesting route.

Hiking along the top of the esker

At the southern end of Long Pond, I was back on trail. I soon reached the shore of Black Pond and hiked out the last stretch back to the trailhead. I stopped a few times to appreciate the view over Black Pond which had some interesting patterns on the ice. 

Interesting patterns on the ice of Black Pond

My route to Jenkins Mountain traveled just shy of 7.5 miles roundtrip. Without the bushwhack over the esker, the hike would approach 9 miles. Hiking from the main VIC trailhead would also make for about a 9 mile hike. Although not overly difficult, I'd consider the hike to be moderate, given the distance. Hiking with snow on the ground makes the hike a little more difficult, but on snow free trails, the hike isn't too difficult if you're comfortable hiking 9 miles.  Although I struck out on the summit visibility on my most recent hike to Jenkins, the summit offers pretty views. Lakes and ponds dot the valley with the High Peaks lining the horizon in the distance. 

Choya on the edge of Black Pond

Choya enjoying the view on Jenkins on a 
day with better visibility

Click Map to see a trail map and description of the trails in the area. 

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Peaked Mountain

Peaked Mountain stands in the central Adirondacks in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness not too far from Indian Lake and North Creek. Although not as well known as many of the higher mountains in the Adirondacks, photos of the mountain caught my interest. At a modest 2,919’ in elevation, it’s more than 2,000 feet lower than the highest peaks in the Adirondacks. The rocky, exposed summit rises above a couple of ponds and it looked like a fun and pretty mountain to climb. 

By early October, the foliage color reached its peak and I wanted to catch the colors on a hike before an incoming storm blew the remaining leaves down. I headed to Peaked October 6th. The forecast called  for a relatively warm day, but I anticipated at least some showers on the hike. 

The hike begins at the north end of Thirteenth Lake. You reach the lake a couple minutes from the trailhead. The trail follows the lakeshore for just under a mile. At times, the trail travels immediately along the lake, allowing for nice views of the lake itself. Across the lake, Balm of Gilead Mountain serves as a backdrop. Although the foliage was just past peak, plenty of color still covered the trees. I always appreciate a shoreline hike, and Thirteenth Lake doesn't disappoint.

Thirteenth Lake

Balm of Gilead Mountain

Looking along the shoreline

The trail near the lake

Choya waiting patiently

A closeup of the foliage color

The trail leaves the lake and gradually climbs along Peaked Mountain Brook. I expected a fairly easy hike along the brook through the forest as I climbed toward Peaked Mountain Pond. I didn't expect to find a beautiful mountain stream with numerous waterfalls. When reading about this hike, I didn't really see much mention of the brook or it’s waterfalls.

Hiking through a rocky cleft

Looking up at the tree canopy

A carpet of leaves

The first little waterfall

A closeup of the first drop

The waterfalls continued one after another. Many of the falls are rather small cascades, but still quite scenic in the rocky brook. The water level wasn't particularly high, but it had enough volume to keep the falls flowing nicely. In high water, this stream must be a real treat. The colorful leaves in the water added to the scene. I stopped to photograph at least half a dozen different slides, cascades, and drops. The final waterfall that I passed featured the largest drop. 

Waterfall two

A small double drop

A panned out view of the double drop

Another closeup of a small drop

A leaf covered slide

The most impressive of the waterfalls

The trail traveled further away from the stream after the last waterfall. Although many of the leaves have fallen from the trees, the trail wasn't too difficult to follow. Where the leaves hid the trail, they were often full of color. I passed a few sections where the trail was covered in bright red or yellow.

A red carpet of leaves

Eventually, the trail crosses the brook and leaves its banks. Although generally in the woods, the trail occasionally travels near boggy stretches of the brook and passes a meadow or two. The first look of Peaked Mountain comes at a beaver pond. From the beaver pond you get a nice look at the mountain's rocky summit. 

Passing an open meadow

The first good look of Peaked Mountain from
the beaver dam

Zoomed in look at Peaked

Colorful foliage

A few minutes after leaving the beaver pond, I reached Peaked Mountain Pond. From the trail, you can just barely see a sliver of Peaked Mountain. I stopped for a short break to talk to a couple of hikers at the pond. A drizzle began to fall. I hoped to climb to the summit and back down before serious rain fell since the trail climbs over sections of rocky slabs.

The shore of Peaked Mountain Pond

From the pond, the trail starts off easy enough as it passes some interesting large rocks. Over the last .4 miles, the serious climbing begins with the trail gaining about 670'. The route travels over steep pitches of slabby rock with roots. The mist continued as I made my way to the summit.

Choya near Peaked Mountain Pond

Trailside boulders

Large rock along the trail

Climbing slabby rock

Large patch of open rock

The trail ends at the summit benchmark. Several open outcroppings around the summit provide nice views of the surrounding terrain. Although mist and  low clouds obscured the distant mountains, the scenery was still impressive. Peaked Mountain Pond, surrounded by low mountains and fall color, was quite pretty. Looking down the Peaked Mountain Pond Brook drainage, covered with bright foliage, was rather eye-catching. The low clouds passing over the nearby mountains enhanced the scenery. 

Looking down at Peaked Mountain Pond

Choya seeed to enjoy the view too

Looking down at the forest color

Mist obscured the distant mountains

Looking across open rock near the summit

While the precipitation was never more than a mist, I wanted to descend before the rocky path became too slippery on the slabs. The clouds moving in looked like they may contain heavier rain. I made it back to Peaked Mountain Pond with no issues. I took a few minutes to explore along the shoreline of the pond to get a better look back at the peak. A short bushwhack gave me the views I was seeking.

Peaked Mountain from Peaked Mountain Pond

A closeup of the mist on the summit

Satisfied with a few photos from the pond. I continued back toward Thirteenth Lake. The trail returns on the same route that I hiked in on. As expected, the rain picked up as I made my way along the brook. The rain never was more than a light steady rain, but enough to make everything wet. The footing became a little tricky as the ground became wetter with wet leaves covering slippery rocks and roots. I didn't want to linger in the rain any longer than I had to and picked up the pace back to the trailhead. Despite a fairly warm start to the hike, the air cooled quite a bit as the rain picked up. I was somewhat surprised to see several groups of backpackers had set up camp near the lake as I neared the end of my hike.

Passing a large rock near the beaver pond

Balm of Gilead Mountain over Thirteenth Lake 

I'm sure the hike to Peaked Mountain is an enjoyable experience any time of year, but the colorful foliage really added to the hike. While the peak itself is the main draw of the hike, the entire route really makes this trip shine. I enjoy bodies of water and the pleasant, lakeside stroll along Thirteenth Lake to start this trip takes in a nice view of the lake. I always enjoy mountain streams, so the stretch of small waterfalls along the trail was really a pleasant surprise. The views from the beaver pond and Peaked Mountain Pond of Peaked Mountain certainly don't disappoint. And who doesn't enjoy an open rocky summit? Even the dreary conditions along the second half of the hike seemed to enhance the scenery. 

A gloomy, but pretty day

I definitely recommend making the trip to Peaked Mountain. At just over 7 miles in length, the distance is fairly manageable for most hikers. Although the last half-mile to the summit climbs steeply over somewhat challenging terrain, most of the route sees only gradual elevation changes. With a large lake, waterfalls, ponds, and an open summit; you get to enjoy a little bit of everything the Adirondacks has to offer on this hike.

Choya posing on Peaked Mountain

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