Bald Mountain (Adirondack Park)
Distance: 1.87 miles
Elevation: 420 feet
Time: 46 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Fulton Chain Trifecta, ADK Jr. 29er, Adirondack Firetowers
The Hike
Finally getting around to writing this! It's been about a week and a half since my inaugural trip to the Adirondacks - I had hoped to journal about these next few hikes before I had to teach band camp, but life happens and here we are now! Just to clearly paint the picture, I'm currently laying in bed, exhausted, hiding from my landlord and the plummer.
I had a long drive after my morning hike up Balsam Lake Mountain in the Catskills, so by the time I entered the Adirondack Park for the first time I was ready to get moving again. My first impressions were that it was much more tourist-y than the Whites, but I realized that was only because I drove through Old Forge, which reminded me more of Gatlinburg, TN. I remembered listening to the 46 of 46 Podcast in the past and there was an episode dedicated to the Fulton Chain Trifecta, so I put that on to get a preview of the day which I loved. The rest of the drive was very scenic and before I knew it I was pulling into the Bald Mountain parking lot, which to my dismay was extremely busy. I had my classic inner battle of "f this" versus "just go climb the mountain you'll be fine," and thankfully I got over myself and got hiking!
There were a lot of people on this hike, but it was equally my favorite trail of the six ADK hikes I ended up doing. It starts off steeply climbing up rooty slabs, but always with good footing. The rest of the hike is at a gradual incline over smooth rock with a good amount of viewpoints for a rest, especially for being such a short hike. My favorite view was of Fourth Lake with the high(er) peaks in the distance.
At the summit area there is the firetower and another great view of the Fulton Chain Lakes. I decided to not wait to climb the firetower because there were families everywhere and I was feeling satisfied with the view already. I'm sure it was nice up there - maybe another time! The return trip was very quick and fun - I found myself whispering "parkour" to myself as I quickly hopped down the sloping rocks. There were two clean porta-potties at the trailhead, so I did my quick change and got ready for hike #2 - Rocky Mountain!
Fulton Chain Wild Forest (NYDEC)
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