The weather in the Catskills was forecast to be mixed precipitation while the weather in the Adirondacks was forecast to be cold but calm and cloudy. I agonized over what to hike on Monday, or whether to hike at all. My original plan for this Monday had been to hike Balsam Lake Fire Tower and Red Hill Fire Tower. I really didn't want Sunny hiking through all that wet. Then I wondered if I should just make an attempt at Giant.
I set my alarm and turned it off 10 minutes later. I really didn't feel like packing an entire Winter pack again.
I did wake up the next morning in a good mood and the weather was trending colder down South on the plateau. I decided to go hiking after all, but take a leisurely pace and just hike Balsam Lake Mt. I decided I could leave Red Hill Fire Tower for another day. I wouldn't normally just do a hike like Red Hill on its own, but I think I'll bring Quinn. Dude loves a fire tower.
There is a Northern approach and a Southern approach for Balsam Lake Mountain. The Southern approach is 4.2 miles while the Northern one is 5.9 miles, however the Southern trailhead promised to add 45 minutes to my trip either way. I would rather hike an extra mile and a half than drive another hour and a half, so I set my GPS for the Dry Brook Ridge Trailhead.
The drive was a little snowy, but not nearly treacherous. It was nice to drive through the Gilboa area again; it had been some time since I'd been there. The scenery is mainly little valleys full of farmland and little town, all flanked by wooded ridgelines which are clearly visible from the road.
We arrived at the parking area before 10am. Note: the Balsam Lake trail is across the road from the parking area.
A couple from Connecticut showed up as Sunny and I were making off and we comisserated a bit until I had to let Sunny do his business. I didn't see them again until we made the summit an hour and 40 minutes later.
We started at around 10:00am. There was fresh but wet snow on the ground and the temperature at the trailhead was a balmy 35F. I'd started the hike wearing my jacket, but it came off at the register. Notably, the trail register is a good distance up the hill from the road.
This trail started off as several had done in our Catskill Fire Tower side-quest: as a rutted gravel road. There were parts of the trail today where it seemed a vehicle had driven up here recently. There is an immediate incline from the trailhead. After a short horizontal rest, another 12% grade takes you to the top of the ridge.
This trail abuts a ton of private property. You don't cross onto public lands until you've reached the main junction over two miles from the trailhead.
Sunny was glad to get out his zoomies. The snow wasn't bothering his paws at all thanks to the wet and warm ground.
I am still intrigued by the limestone erratics in the Catskills. They're so cool.
This seemed weird, though. I couldn't decide if the gouges were natural, cut, or blasted.
Lots of ferns and some grass were coverered in the recent snow.
"My mountain now."
Reading the map and looking into the distnce, I realized our summit would be topped with a cloud hat. This didn't dissuade us, though. It was so quiet here. I don't generally need complete solitude in order to be happy with a hike. However, I must say I was happy that this hike didn't feature the road noise from 28 like last week. There were several moments that I stopped the hike just to stand and listen to the nothing. This kind of annoyed Sunny. He whined when we weren't moving, I believe because he was anxious that the other couple hiking the trail that day were up ahead.
The ridge walk is actually quite enjoyable. It bumped up and down a bit, but was largely flat. Immediately before the next junction, there's a bit of a bump, but it's not a big deal.
At the junction, you can choose to head South to the Balsam Lake parking lot or bend West to the fire tower. There are signs throughout the area warning hikers not to go to Graham Mountain to "protect the environment". The moutntain is on private property and it was closed to public use in 2021. According to several sources, the landowners had previously required hikers to ask permission to use the trails and that had its obvious conclusion.
I will reiterate how grateful I am that the State of New York has largely kept such things from occurring in the High Peaks (or they have been mitigated it with land purchases over the years). I know there are some mountains in the North which are on private land or normally accessible through private land, but for the most part nothing is stopping hikers from finding an alternate route or bushwhacking through public land to attain the summit.
No snowmobiles allowed past the junction to the fire tower. I do wonder how much snowmobiling gets done in the Catskills, especially in the recent decade. At any rate, the trail past this point was less like a road and more like a proper hiking trail.
More Catskills red shale and clay.
As of the previous hike, I brought my notebook with me. I recorded the ups and downs over the .8 mile between the junction and the summit. There are three separate climbs interspersed with flat spots to the fire tower. The flat areas are all quite wet and I'm sure they are muddy as hell at certain times of the year. I actually navigated around this mud pit. Sunny was unperturbed.
I think Sunny could hear and smell the couple ahead of us. He was very excited.
As we gained elevation, the snow was less patchy and the puddles were iced over. I checked my pack thermometer and it read 25F. The top of the moutnain is capped almost entirely with evergreens and it is absolutely lovely to walk through.
We came to the steward cabin and summit at about 11:50am.
I am impressed by the audacity to bring that many cinderblocks to the top of this mountain.
Apparently there's a lean-to half a mile past the fire tower.
As I expected, the mountain was wreathed in a cloud as we arrived at 11:30am, only an hour and a half after we started. Sunny was very excited to have caught up with the couple from before. He actually hopped up and posed with them for the summit photo I took for them on their phone.
I climbed a couple of flights to get service to message Wendy. I also caught the sweet view.
Sunny was upset that I disappeared, as usual.
We started back down at 11:50 after some water and snacks. On the way back, I tested the waterproofing on my boots. I'd bought Sno-Seal from
Saratoga Outdoors and applied it to my Winter boots to good effect. I'd waterproofed my 3-season boots before my last hike, but this was the first real test in standing water. It seems to have worked great.
On our way down, almost to the end of the trail, I realized my car keys were still hooked to my belt loop. Oops. I'm very glad my key fob didn't detach while we were descending.
Awesome.
We wrapped up the hike at around 1pm, a bit over an hour from when we started back from the summit. In the map above, you can see how most of the work is done early in the hike and it's a simple and fun ridge walk to the summit. The red trail veering to the left is the closed private trail to Graham.
On the way home, we stopped for lunch at the "
Stop 'N Go Grill" in Arkville for the few yards we were on 28. I got a grilled chicken wrap which was hella good. I ordered Sunny a hot dog and the proprieter not only cut it up for him but included a strip of bacon. If I pass through Arkville again, I'll stop by for a meal.
