Split Rock Mountain Wild Forest (3-25-2018)

We recently took a trip to Split Rock Mountain & Wild Forest on the shores of Lake Champlain.

I was pretty sick the last few weeks of Winter and missed out on some end of  season hikes as a result. 

Split Rock is fairly close to home. It offered us an Adirondack experience without too much exertion... I couldn't complain.

Remains of a bed.

Split Rock has a trove of trails for hikers, skiers, snowmobilers & campers alike. And, from the looks of it, they follow old logging roads. We passed the remains of some old cabins and an old metal bed headboard that someone had leaned up against a tree. I always like finding that sort of stuff while hiking.

The trails lead to a series of lookouts and actually just skirt the Summit. My plan was for us to make a short bushwhack to it.

At one lookout, Kailee pulled out a "Happy Birthday" poster that she made for my brother. She posed for a picture at an overlook with the Boquet Valley, Split Rock Wildway, and the High Peaks behind her.

Kailee with a special poster that she made.

I glanced at the GPS quickly and figured this was the approximate area to start our bushwhack to the top.

It was a quick and easy little climb and we followed deer tracks on our way up. We hit a spot that offered a great view of Lake Champlain to the South and the Adirondacks to the West. We walked to the highest point and could see Mount Mansfield, Camel's Hump and the Green Mountains through the trees to the East.

Looking towards Southern Lake Champlain.

Then I noticed that I had undershot our destination and that we were standing atop a false summit. The real Summit was maybe 20 feet higher, less than 2/10ths of a mile away with a small col separating us.

We had both gotten socked by some unseen runoff under the snow shortly before reaching the false summit. Kailee had backup socks in her backpack. My extras were accidentally left in the car.

"I'm having fun. But, I think we should head back to the car," Kailee said.

"I was just thinking the same thing," I replied.

Looking Northwest.

We ended up hiking 4.6 miles total... which is probably only a fraction of the trails at Split Rock Mountain. This is a place that I would like to do some further exploring. From everything I experienced, it seemed like Split Rock is a great place for novice and experienced hikers. Kailee gives it two thumbs up!