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| View to the Great Range from Noonmark Summit |
I call them "morning mountains." These are those lower-elevation, but equally-rewarding, peak hikes that you find all throughout the Adirondacks. You know the ones to which I am referring... Rooster Comb, Catamount, etc. These are attractive for many reasons. For one, you can get up and back in a relatively short span of time. Hence, they are perfect for a day when you just have a morning free for a hike but stuff to do in the afternoons. Morning mountains are also a great alternative when the National Weather Service Mountain Points Forecast calls for the highest summits being in the clouds. On days when the 46ers are socked in, I often choose to do a morning mountain hike instead since you still get a view at the end of the climb - a view that often involves looking up to the higher summits covered by the clouds.
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| Pleasant wooded climb on Stimson Trail to Noonmark |
On this particularly day, I decided on Noonmark. It's fairly well known and popular due to the fact that you can see it so clearly from the main street in Keene, rising pointedly into the sky and marking the hour of noon at midday. Noonmark, of course, is also the namesake of the town's famous diner. Despite its prominence and popularity, the peak does keep some folks away because it is quite rugged towards the top. You can access the peak from the north via the Round Pond parking area but the more popular route is from the south via the Stimson Trail out of the AMR.
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| Panorama from Noonmark |
I chose the latter. Fortunately, I was able to grab an online reservation on short notice. Usually, all those reservations get booked up weeks in advance. I really lucked out as someone must have put in a cancellation due to the iffy weather. Man, I really miss the old days before the reservation system. It should be first come, first serve. That's always been the rule of trail parking. Making an online reservation blows.
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| View up to Noonmark summit from lower ledges |
From the parking, I made my way up the paved round to the golf course, turned left through the AMR bungalows, and then started the pleasant, uphill climb accompanied by the sights of falling leaves and the sounds of Icy Brook, a tributary of the Ausable River. As you make your way up, this trail leads over a lot of open, rocky ledges with views in multiple directions. These make great alternative break points on days when the summit is overcrowded, but I decided to just push on to the peak. I made it to the top in one hour and fifteen minutes. Since it was still early, I had the summit all to myself and took a while to relax and admire the view across the valley to the 46ers of the Great Range and the cloud cover that enshrouded their summits.
A morning mountain was definitely the way to go.
Peaks: Noonmark Mountain
Elevation: 3,556 feet (Gain: 2,175 feet)
Distance: 4.2 miles roundtrip
Route: Out and Back: Stimson Trail
Conditions: Partly sunny, 35 degrees F
