Jessup River Wild Forest

The Jessup River Wild Forest (JRWF) area consists of 47,350 acres of State Forest Preserve lands in the towns of Arietta, Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant, and Wells in Hamilton County. The unit is bounded by Route 28 to the north and Route 30 in the southeast, as well as three wilderness areas: West Canada Lakes Wilderness to the west; Siamese Ponds Wilderness to the east, and Silver Lake Wilderness to the south. The state lands in this unit border, or are in close proximity to, the communities of Indian Lake, Piseco, Speculator and Wells. Route 30 bisects the unit and serves as the main access corridor. Many people enjoy hiking to the fire towers on Pillsbury and Snowy mountains, snowmobiling between Piseco Lake and Indian Lake, canoeing on Fall Stream, or camping on Mason Lake. Hunting, fishing, and trapping are also popular activities throughout the unit but particularly in and around Perkins Clearing, the Jessup River and the Miami River.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/22599.html

August 31, 2019 Afternoon

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I decided to hike Pillsbury Mountain It’s a fairly decent afternoon but cool even by late August standards in the mountains. Partly sunny and 57 degrees on Pillsbury Mountain. There is a northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 43 degrees.

It’s actually a bit cool on the firetower but warm enough sitting out in the sun ☀ . The firetower continues to be in rough shape as is Old Military Road 🚙 but it is passable and the tower open. 🗼 Pretty good views of the West Canada Wilderness and Perkins Clearing and the Jessup River area from here.

At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 56 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 5 mph.

I may try next to hike back to Pillsbury Lake 🐡 but it depends on the time. That’s 3.5 miles each way with a 300 climb up there so not a long or difficult trip but time is tight ⌚ with the earlier sunset around 7:30. 🌇 Well I’m going to climb the tower one more time with my other camera and then head back down the mountain. 📷

Lake