A nice mountain with a fire tower that is starting to be restored. At
an elevation of 3,694-foot near Keene north of the High Peaks region of
the Adirondacks. The trail from route 9N was drastically rerouted since I
last hiked this.
This is an open peak which now has some pretty awesome views with the new re-route of the trail, whereas before the re-route you were in the trees until you scuttled up the rocks just before the summit. During the summer and fall of 2014 the trail was almost completely relocated to avoid all of the steepest and most eroded sections. The hike to the summit is now 3.4 miles, 0.8 mile longer than before, a much more enjoyable hike.
The trail leaves the north side of Route 9N 3.5 miles east of the junction of Route 9N/73. and climbs via new switchbacks to a first view at 0.4 miles, levels out, crosses a series of bridges across beaver swamps, an then resumes climbing, soon going left from the old trail. At 2.8 miles the trail comes to a ledge with a view ahead of the tower on the summit. The tower looks further away than it actually is, and after a second ledge at 2.9 miles the grade eases to a junction with the trail from Crow Clearing, coming in from the left at 3.2 miles. On the descent make sure everyone in the group makes the left turn at this junction. Past this junction, the trail is levels briefly before beginning the final rocky scramble to the summit at 3.4 miles.
Round trip 5.2 miles
Elevation gain: 2,000'
