Porter Mountain, Sunday, April 28, 2013, Adirondack Park

Porter Mountain Summit, with Cascade Peak in Distance

Most people who climb Cascade Mountain take the short, 7/10th of a mile trail over to Porter Mountain, thus allowing them to bag a couple peaks in one trip. I decided to do it the hard way. It turned out to be a wise decision, since it gave me the chance to experience a pretty cool - and seemingly lesser-used trail - to Porter from the "Garden" in Keene Valley. I encountered not a single hiker the whole day. What a difference a day makes.

I set out extra early and arrived at the Garden at 6:15 AM sharp. Only a couple cars in the parking lot... always a good sign. By 6:30, I was off on trail 16 to Little Porter and Porter Mountain. Recently rerouted away from private lands, the trail heads up over a small ridge and then down to a very picturesque crossing of Slide Brook. From there, it is uphill via long gradual switchbacks, past an old sugar shack, and up to Little Porter. A hand over hand scramble up a large boulder affords a great lunch spot for the day trekker with amazing views into the Keene Valley.

Summit Rocks, Little Porter

No time for that. I continued on and found the next stretch, which runs through new growth that came up following a forest fire, to be pretty confusing. Due to the snow melt, the trail became a stream for much of this section. Plenty of blow downs, including several trees with trail markers, made it hard to follow the trail at points. Snow bridges over streams also posed a problem, and signs of people post-holing into them were frequent.

Once arriving at the ridge trail leading to the summit, I found snow and ice and needed the spikes for added stability. I arrived at the summit at 8:45 AM, and enjoyed a full 1/2 hour in the warm morning sunshine. The peak offers 360 views, including a direct sightline northwest to the summit of Cascade, where we had been the day before.

Back to the Garden by 11:00 AM, leaving plenty of time for an afternoon hike with K at the Silver Lake Bog Preserve and Bluff Trail.

Peak: Porter Mountain
Elevation: 4,059 feet (Gain: 2,700)
Distance: 7.6 miles, up and back
Conditions: Sunny, 60 degrees F