|
Ampersand Mountain, February, 2003 |
|
|
| I've viewed Ampersand from
below each fall while on my Saranac Lake trip and have always
wondered how awesome the lakes would look from up there. I still
want to do it in the fall but this snowshoe adventure was all I
could hope for. |
| I went with Roger, Dan, and
Brian... we started from the trailhead on route 3 and the first mile
was mostly flat. The weather was perfect, 25-30 degrees, partly
sunny and NO WIND! In contrast, the weeks leading up to this trip
were the coldest in a long time. Just a week ago, it was minus 35
degrees in the village of Saranac Lake. Since Christmas it has been
snowing and very cold all over the northeast. The trail was in great
condition as if someone came up over the weekend and groomed it for
us. Everything had a fine layer of ice crystals on it, there were
some huge icicles hanging off some of the boulders along the way.
The summit offered an awesome view of the Saranac Lake chain as well
as the surrounding mountains. We could see Whiteface and Algonquin
very clearly. Fine frozen clouds hovered below us and a circular
rainbow surrounded the sun as it's rays were filtered by ice
crystals in the atmosphere. Brian took over 60 pic's with his
digital and I only wish I could post them all. Check out some of
these. |
Self portrait of the gang
An interesting cave near the summit
A few of the many icicles we encountered on the trail
I think I see land captain !
A view of the bare summit on the south side facing east
The
awesome view of the frozen crystal clouds from the summit
| Well, I got to visit this
great "little" mountain again this year. As you know, the winter has
been extremely mild this year, at least until we decided to hike a
mountain. Winter had returned to the Saranac Lake area a day before
we arrived to climb Ampersand. We had up to 8 inches of fresh powder
on the mountain and it snowed most of the day. Not a problem except
that the previously thawing mountain had refrozen and we had plenty
of "hidden" ice to contend with. I also forgot just how steep this
mountain is. We had a few hairy moments when we didn't know how we
were going to ascend any further without falling. Twice we had to
find short bushwhacks around some serious ice. Both times the
alternate path was steeper of course. Needless to say, we both got
some well needed exercise. There were no views from the top, for a
moment we could see Ampersand Lake from the summit and on the way
down we could see Middle Saranac through the tress and snow squalls.
I wanted Jon to see "our" Lake from the summit but it was not to be.
I guess we'll just have to come back. |
| We did experience a bonus on
the way up. I think we were near Wells and we saw a Bald eagle
standing on the side of the road. That's right, standing there. He
was off the paved section and I assume he was sitting and feeding on
some carrion or maybe he caught a fish from the Sacandaga River. He
was only about 20 feet from the vehicle as we went by. Very Cool! |
|
|
On the way in, it's apparent we are the first visitors since the new snow.
The weather went from this >
to this >
all day long.
Boulders that probably came off of the summit dome many years ago.
Even without any views, this is an
awesome place
September 2018
As I was closing in on completing the 46ers, I started thinking about what was next. I know I'll still climb the high peaks as Brendan looks to finish, but I thought I would add the Saranac 6ers to my list and get the opportunity to hike a few smaller peaks in this region as well as visit a few favorites from the past, namely McKenzie and Ampersand.
I decided to hike Ampersand last minute as the weather forecast was calling for a perfect day to be in the mountains and I just could not resist.
Route 3, very empty and quiet.I arrived at the trailhead fairly early, probably 6:45 or so. That's early considering the 2 1/2 hour drive to get there. There was one other car in the lot, the air was crisp (about 31 degrees) and clean and the sun was just starting to ascend the sky.
I started out with an extra layer and a light knit cap because I was certainly not acclimated to sub freezing temps yet, fall had just arrived and these were the first really cool days we've had. It would only be about 5 minutes in when I decided to shed the extra layer and trade the knit cap for a baseball hat.
The trail is nice and easy going initially, this long plank walkway made for easy walking. The woods were so quiet and peaceful, it was very enjoyable.
I had only ever been up Ampersand in Winter conditions so this trail was all new to me. I knew that it had a steep ending in store for me however.
This tree growing basically in the trail was really bizarre looking, I've seen this effect when a tree will grow on top of a boulder, but it didn't appear that anything was ever underneath this tree and yet the roots were quite a few feet off the ground. Neat! You can see the trails transformation as well as it goes from relatively flat and smooth to steeper and rocky. I appreciated the nice workmanship on the steps by the trail maintenance crew.
This little mountain definitely gets steep rather quickly as the trail is only 2.7 miles to the summit. In many places, you need to scramble over large boulders and short but steep rock faces.
After the initial steep ascent, the trail levels for a bit and I started getting the first views of the day as the suns rays filtered down through the forest canopy.
As I walked along the relatively flat section near the top, the sunlight was shining on one spot on the forest floor like a spotlight, it was really cool, the picture doesn't do it justice.
I do recall this large boulder leaning over the trail from my winter trips up here however.
Not long after that, a few more rock face scrambles and I would be on the top. I was all alone, the sky was really clear and the fog from the cool morning was still hanging in many of the valleys way down below, it was awesome!
So naturally I took a selfie since no one was there. The sun was so bright.
A very enjoyable day for sure.
Back to Top