Pharoah Mountain--the name itself has enough allure to make a hiker curious. This week the trail was as satisfying as expected. From the beginning of the day we knew we were in for a spectacular outing. We left the car that has lower clearance in the Crane Pond Road parking area and drove my vehicle somewhat further into the Goose Pond trailhead. Crane Pond Road is passable by higher clearance vehicles all the way into the Pond but I elected to spare my CR-V the rocks, ruts and puddles-of-unknown-depth. The hike to Crane Pond along Alder Pond is lovely anyway so we walked it.
Crane Pond is a great destination unto itself. It was quiet and we checked out the shoreline, finding lots of fresh water mussel shells, probably left by otters. We crossed the bridge at the west end of the pond and headed into the woods. The trail rolls gently along through hemlocks and then mixed hardwoods. There was loads of sunlight dancing around and even a very gentle breeze. This year there is hard mast everywhere I go and the Pharaoh trail was no exception--beech nuts crunched like gravel under foot in one section.
It's a short distance to Glidden Marsh where the sun on the open water lit up the forest. We got a nice view of our destination and kept up a quick pace with the help of the temperature, which was still in the 50's. Following the two mile trail we found the going mostly easy. The grade gets steep in a few places but not for long stretches. As you rise there are still pretty fall asters and goldenrod along the trail. The ferns are browning and curling but add texture. The incredible red color of the hobblebush leaves is stunning, especially with green highlights of veins that haven't surrendered all their chlorophyll yet this season.
Most of the canopy had already started turning color so we wound our way along from one pretty scene to the next. Both of us have a fondness for cedar waxwings and as we got closer to the top we heard them peeping all around us. The mountain ashes were covered with orange berries and we saw all sorts of flitting small birds flush as we approached.
One of the beauties of Pharoah is that there are views in every direction. We stopped on one outcrop to look back at Schroon Lake and Goose Pond. From there we continued to the long sloping ledge that looks 270 degrees, panning the Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest, Hoffman Notch Wilderness Area, Dix Mountain Wilderness Area, Hammond Pond Wild Forest and the stunning Champlain Valley to Lake Champlain and Lake George. On a clear sunny day this view rivals the High Peak vistas. It's expansive and wild but not so daunting as some views from higher elevationd.
We took a few more minutes to go over to a slightly different view from the sloping rocks at the top of the trail that comes from the south. You can see more of Pharoah Lake and lie on the warm rocks in the sun.
This is a very satisfying hike--perfect for nice views of fall color.
