This is a low, wind-blown  mountain in the southern Adirondacks with gorgeous views of nearby Pharoah Mtn and Pharoah Lake.  Hiking to the 2248 foot summit is a long 3.9 mile trek, but there are water sources en route for thirsty doggies.
     Bruce first climbed this mountain on 8/20/94 with Carol, Erica and his Skye terrier Skipper.  (Compare the photo of Erica on the summit in 1994 to the same view today in the photo gallery). En route they saw red efts, toads, frogs, and two green snakes.   Today Bruce climbed the mountain with me, Dickens, and my brother Fenster. 
     We started out at 11:05 AM and took a side trail to catch a view of Putnam Pond.  You can save a lot of hiking if you have a canoe, but we didn't and had to hoof it.  Despite a dry August and early September there was one refreshing stream running pretty well.  Once the  trail gets away from Putnam Pond it runs past two large swamps.  We saw  a chicken mushroom and two frogs.
     After that the trail climbs for awhile and eventually goes up and over two rocky knobs.  Here the trail is marked with many artistic small cairns.  There is a small rockface which we leaped and scrambled up.  By 1:38 PM we arrived at the summit where there was a very delighful wind to cool us off.  We had lunch and Bruce gave us both a container of water which was very welcome. 
     The view on top makes the long trip here worthwhile.  There are many interesting rocky knobs to explore.  You can see Pharoah Mtn and Lake and other remote bodies of water such as Crab Pond, Glidden Marsh, and parts of the secluded Whortleberry Pond.    We also saw some very high peaks far off to the north.   I don't know how Erica balanced standing on that boulder in 1994.  Even us sure-footed doggies wouldn't attempt that.  We left the top at 2:20 PM.
     Not too far down from the last rocky knob, our superior noses detected a small pool of water in a mostly dried-up stream.  What a relief on a hot day!  After that, it was a long way (past two swamps) before the next non-muddy water appeared, the stream that comes out of Grizzle Ocean. 
     By the way, we were happy to find that the many gnats present in this area on our spring trip to Grizzle Ocean have all gone away at this late point in the season. 
     On the way back, we took another side trail to look at Putnam Pond.  After getting back to the main trail, we heard the call of a loon.  With the two side trails and other wanderings our trip was about 8 miles total.  We were back out at 5:07 PM. 
     The summit is so enjoyable that it makes the long hike worthwhile, but they really ought to trim some of the trees which have grown up since 1994 and which increasingly  hinder the expansive vistas that are still available.
    

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