Catamount Mountain 9-17-2017

Camount is a popular local hike and for good reason. At 3,169 feet tall, Catamount is a great mid-size day hiking mountain with stellar views. It also has some intimidating stretches that make for a rewarding climb.

We hit the trail in the early afternoon at a good pace. The first part is relatively flat and borders private property owned by a logging company. It's pretty obvious that the initial part of the trail was once itself a logging road.

Soon, we were at the base of the mountain and we followed it's meandering path upward. It doesn't take long to get decent peeks through the trees. Every time we turned around on this trip we could see the massive Whiteface looming over us.

Whiteface and Esther, among other peaks
viewed from Catamount's Summit.

Catamount has really good isolation and it's proximity to Whiteface gives it what many call "the best view of Esther and Whiteface" in the Adirondacks.

The Chimney.

As we continued to gain more elevation the trail became more challenging. Soon we were at Catamount's chimney: a big crack in the open boulder that we had to use all of our limbs to climb. I got a little spell of vertigo as I reached the top of the chimney. However, Kailee did great and the steep ledge didn't faze her.

Looking back down
At the Chimney.

After climbing the chimney, we were at the nubble - aka the false summit. The real summit was within our sight but it looked pretty far away. However, much of the final leg is on open rock and we made it to the bumpy Summit pretty quickly.

On the nubble. Summit
In the background.

We recognized a number of familiar landmarks from the peak of Catamount including: Taylor Pond, Silver Lake Mountain, Lake Champlain, the Whiteface highway, and the Saranac River. It was also the beginning of leaf peeping season and we were surrounded by a swath of red and green.

The bumpy Summit.

After Kailee had a quick lunch we made our descent. She kept complimenting the condition of the trail, which has obviously been taken care of recently by DEC. Brand new and easy to spot trail markers guided us up and down the mountain. The cairns look like they were freshly installed and parts of the trail even looked like they were just raked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if DEC was here this week working on the trail," I said.

 After getting back to the base of the mountain, Kailee ran the trail all the way back to the car.

A mushroom at Silver
Lake Bog.

We then made a quick side trip to the Silver Lake Bog and checked out it's boardwalk and I demonstrated how quick sand works by sticking a long stick into the bog. The sun was setting and we hopped in the car for the drive home... With a stop at McDonald's along the way!

Catamount is a really fun mountain and I highly recommend it to day hikers looking for some interesting scrambles and challenges! Additionally... If you start early, you might want to consider pairing up climbs of Catamount and Silver Lake Mountain in the same day!

Kailee descending the Chimney.

Catamount Mountain is on Forestdale Road in Wilmington.