Crane Mountain: the Mini High Peak in the Southern Adirondacks

 

Our family had a rough week. After discussing it with Wendy, I decided to take a day off from work to get my head straight. I left Wendy with supplies for the day, dropped Quinn off at school a little later than usual, then headed North with Sunny.

My plan was to hike Crane Mountian in Johnsburg, then possibly hike Hadley on the way home. I'd been told by Joel, who I'd met at Dwaaskill a few weeks ago, that Crane hiked quite like a High Peak. Looking at pictures and trail reports, that seemed very beleivable.

The road to the trailhead is narrow and develops some fairly deep ruts towards the end. The drive up this road affords views of the mountain and some verdant marshland. It's pretty country even though Spring is still in its nascent stages there at this time of year.

Sunny was raring to go. 

The climb up the South side of the mountain began in earnest.

This side of the mountain features several impressively steep sections. Sunny mountain goated most of these with ease. After a short time, I slowly realized I should slow down. I was out here to clear my head, not dominate this mountain. I slowed down, took more pictures, and took in the sights, sounds, and smells around me. I completely gave up the idea of hiking Hadley. I wanted to relax.

In addition to a desire to relax, I also slowed down when shoulder season reared its ugly head. Wet rocks in the sun were just wet with water while millimeters away, wet rocks in the shade were frozen with ice. I had to avoid stepping on any rock that looked wet or risk a very dangerous fall. This was made even more critical by the fact that the trail register looked very unbusy. If I hurt myself, I figured I'd be on my own.

The ascent afforded lovely views of the sleeping wilderness.

Goat Dog conquered every ascent. I wasn't doing too bad either.

More stacked shelves of rock greeted us up the mountain.

As is his usual M.O., Sunny tried to skip the ladder, but the rock was icy. I followed him up the ladder to help him find the rungs.  I knew there was a bigger one coming, so it was good for him to get a little practice.

After the inital steepness, there's a short reprive. The trail bends East through some verdant, happy conifers. It was cool and shady here, and winter clung greedily. There was an unmarked bushwhack further East. I wondered if there were views of Lake George to be had that way, but I stayed to the trail.

Sunny enjoyed some rotten snow.

The only caption I can think of for this one is that the mountain is pretty and so is Sunny.

Sunny was dubious, and for good reason. The rock formations at the bottom weren't fit for mountin goating, so we'd have to use the ladder itself. Sunny kept trying to climb under  the rungs of the ladder which was frustrating. He was eventually able to step aside on the upper left ledges to make the rest of the way up.  This ladder was much more rickety than most High Peaks ladders, so I'm not sure more than one body climbing was really a great idea. Next time, I will carry my pack up to the top, then come back down to get Sunny. I think that'll provide a much safer center of gravity. 

The summit came shortly after the ladder. The wind wasn't too bad. I added a layer, then we sat, ate our sandwich, and enjoyed the sun.

It was a gorgeous bluebird day. The exposed Southern and obstructed Western views are pretty, but nothing quite like Black Mt. on the other side of Lake George. I'm sure the views were far more exciting when there was a fire tower here, of course. With all that said, it was a peaceful day and I was quite at peace.

The trail moves across the summit through sturdy foliage.

We were rewarded with more views along the ridge.

Crane even features several High Peaks-style summit mud pits.

It was a steep and unsurprisingly icy descent down the North side of the mountain towards Crane Mt. Pond. I walked beside the frozen stream rather than amidst it. I must admit that this was largely due to laziness, but the entire trail was quite well-worn, so I felt no guilt. I also felt no guilt at removing Sunny's leash during the descent.

Drooling trees.

The pond is very lovely to look upon, especially on this beautiful day.

This part of the trail is oddly marked blue from here down to the junction at the bottom of the ultimate descent where it picks up red again. I'm not sure why.

Rock formations provide some handy access to the pond on the West side.

There's a somewhat disgusting campsite on the lee of this rock formation.

Sunny enjoyed the water a bit, then we headed off.

The pond is situated at a fairly high elevation, only about half the desccent from the summit. The ultimate descent which follows reminds me the most of a High Peaks descent. There are some fun slabs, streams, steep shelves, and boulder wastes all held together with conifer roots.

Steep!

Bigger conifers take over shortly into this section. I was forced to butt slide down the slippery needles in many spots.

The trail descended steadily across the face of the mountain. It was a lot of fun. I actually found myself smiling and saying "wow" out loud a few times. Sunny was having a blast, too. I hadn't forgotten the terrible week we'd had, but I think I was able to compartmentalize it. It helped a lot.

We had views the whole way down.

As I mentioned earlier, the Blue Trail ended and the Red picked up again for some reason. I still don't get it. 

I usually don't like the flat(ish) walk back to the car, but this was a really enjoyable hike. There were numerous impressive rock formations and streams along the way. One stream actually disappears underground never to be seen again.

The woodpeckers were hard at work throughout the forest and kept us company the whole way with their charming racket. Despite stopping to enjoy the woods several times, we ate up ground quite quickly.

The last junction before the car! Turn left for the hiking trail and straight for the bike/ski trail.

I let Sunny into the car, then went to check out the campsite.

It's fairly spacious, with room for several tents. 

The site needs a little TLC. 

The potty is in rough shape, so that's an obvious detractor.

I must admit, although the hike had been lauded as trifficult, I was expecting Crane alone to not be quite worth spending more than 2 hours on the road; hence why I'd originally planned to hit Hadley as well. However, the technical nature of the hike and its many unique features (at least for this region), I think, makes Crane well worth the drive. 

This day was exactly what I needed. The path up to the mountain was tough, but exhillarating. The summit and the pond were tranquil. However, I really think it was the fun descent from the Pond and the hike back among the woodpeckers' territory really helped get my brain right. I still won't be excited to get back to work tomorrow, but I think the batteries are recharged.

I will try to get over to Ampersand before too long. Recent trail reports recommend microspikes to contend with ample ice near the summit, as well as warm layers. These are all sensible precautions this time of year.