Loon Lake Mountain

This mountain was just opened up this season. It was previously inaccessible to the public. When my father read about it in the local paper, he suggested it to my brother, who asked me if I wanted to come along. Much to his surprise, I agreed.

Well, the hike itself was 3 miles long, and quite varied in terrain. For the first 2 miles, the trail was more of a road, wide enough for two or three men to walk abreast, and fairly level. There was a slight uphill ascent. As we got further in on this section of the trail, the trail became increasingly muddy. Fairly soon after the muddy section, we crossed a bridge, and the trail became more of a standard hiking trail, just wide enough for us to hike single file.

Despite being a new trail, it was fairly well worn, as it followed a dry streambed. I imagine that in wet weather the trail flows with water yet again. For the first bit of the regular part of the trail, it was more uphill than before, but nothing I couldn't handle easily. It was not bad at all. It was only later on in the trail that the going got tough.

We soon arrived at the final ascent, which was a portion made entirely of boulders and large rocks that we had to climb over and up, in order to reach the top. This portion was quite steep, and I had to take a break a few times, although the whole section could not have been even a mile in length. Once we finally got past this portion of the trail though, we did reach flatter ground. At this point, the trail leads on a seemingly pointless meandering path, twisting this way and that through a wood made of thin, young looking trees. This meandering path was a little comical after the arduous boulder section we had just come off of.

Although the trail may have been hard for a bit, the view was worth it. The view was spectacular. Upon reaching the top, you can see about a 160 or 170 degree view right away, mostly to the southwest and and west.

BUT

There is a firetower at the top of this mountain, though it's in disrepair and looks quite decrepit, with some planks of the steps missing, broken out windows at the top and things like that. The bottom section of the stairs is not even connected to the rest of the staircase. In order to go up the firetower, it is necessary to climb up the stairs as they lean on the corner of the structure, and from there it is possible to lift yourself up onto the first landing. Upon climbing the firetower, reaching the top, you are embraced by a beautiful, unparalleled 360 degree view. From this magnificent vantage point, you can see the high peaks region of the Adirondacks, Whiteface prominently standing out among the others in the field of view. This mountain was absolutely phenomenal.