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| Summit Marker on Mount Esther |
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By coincidence, my brother (and recurring peak bagging partner) and his family were staying in the ADK at the same time as us. Once a year, they visit a pond-side house on the edge of the St. Regis Canoe Wilderness. I had visited before and knew it was a pretty neat place. On the property, a rustic outdoor sauna sits near a long dock leading out into the lake. The normal relaxation routine, for hours on end, is to heat up and jump in.
My brother and I decided to meet up in the early AM, grab a 4,000 footer, and then get everyone together for a full afternoon of relaxing by the pond. We tackled Mount Esther, one of two lone peaks near Wilmington, NY, away from the weekend madness of Heart Lake. We picked it for two reasons. One, the hopes of seeing fewer people. More importantly, we wanted to be sure to get up and back before afternoon thunderstorms ruined our chances for the sauna-pond routine. At about 9 miles round trip, we figured we would be up and back by noon.
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| Wilmington Trail Head |
We started out at 6:40 AM sharp, and happily found ourselves to be the first to arrive in the parking area at the Wilmington Reservoir trail head. The Wilmington Trail starts out as a gradual climb through fairly dense woods and then starts up via switchbacks to the summit of Marble Mountain. Next, the trail steepens as it ascends Lookout Mountain, past an interesting old rectangular structure that was apparently once used to store toboggans. Soon afterwards, a cairn and sign points west to a 1.2 mile long unmaintained spur trail up to the viewless summit of Mount Esther. The only peak of the 48er list to be named for a female, the mountain's namesake is 15-year-old Esther McComb. She got lost in 1859 during an ascent of nearby Whiteface Mountain and was the first to reach its summit.
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| Final Approach to Mount Esther |
We ate an early lunch at the top and then headed down. At the cairn, we thought about going up Whiteface as well - another peak on the 48er list. We had already made most of the elevation and chatted about the potential future frustration of leaving a peak behind only to one day have to do it again.
Forget it. The pond is calling.
Peak: Mount Esther
Elevation: 4,240 feet
Distance: Up and back, 9.2 miles round trip
Conditions: Partly sunny, 80 degrees F
Notable Fauna: White-throated sparrow
