On the second day of spring I went hiking up Vromans Nose. A short little hike, it’s a favorite in Schoharie County for it’s sweeping views of the agricultural lands below. Below is a picture of Vromans Nose, as seen from Middleburgh Cliff.
Sign for the trailhead.
Hiking up the mountain on a very brown-grey winter day.
NY 30.
A farm off the edge of Vromans Nose.
West Off Vromans Nose looking towards Towpath Mountain.
With all of the snow melt, the Schoharie Creek was fairly swollen.
Looking from the Tip of Vromans Nose towards Middleburgh, with Middleburgh Cliff in the background.
Directly to the East of Middleburgh there is a long narrow landform known as “The Cliff”. It’s a 500 foot high hill, with about 40 feet high cliffs, overlooking Middleburgh and Schoharie to the west. Cotton Hill sits above it to the east. While privately owned by the owners of the dairy farms in the valley below, the Long Path crosses it and you can use it to explore the cliffs.
As you climb the hill on the Long Path, looking backyards there are broken views.
When your almost to the top of the Cliffs, there is a quick scramble over this ridge. This is a section that is very much hand and knees, you’ll probably toss your pack up and then climb up to retrieve it.
After you get to the top, you have some views to the south, including Vromans Nose.
Further along the trail you get some broken and then improving views of the Schoharie Valley just north of the Middleburgh. In the background is Middleburgh Roundtop Valley, and where NY 145 climbs the ridge to get over to East Cobelskill.
The agricultural flat lands south of Middleburgh.
The new more suburban section of Middleburgh, with the older village in the background. I never understood why people would live out in the sticks, but also live in a suburban subdivision in a classic small village.
A dairy farm along NY 30 north of Middleburgh.
All and all, this hike doesn’t provide amazing remote lands, but still has some interesting agricultural views of the fertile Schoharie Valley. Taking no longer then a total of a 45 minutes round trip, it’s a nice hike to do with Vromans Nose or take the trail farther west to Cotton Hill Lean-To.
The Adirondack Northway (I-87) routing through the Adirondacks was a wonder of mapping. It provided a full-interstate quality route through a mountainous route, while only requiring a 254 acre taking of forest preserve lands in 1959.
The Northway runs through three state forest preserve lands that had to be condemned to run the Adirondack Northway. Planners avoided this except where absolutely necessary to avoid having to level entire mountains.
Taylor Pond Wilderness /
Pok-O-Moonshine Mountain.
The Northway parallels Route 9 as it starts climbing into the Adirondacks, taking about 10 acres of the preserve.
It follows along Lincoln Pond Road to a flat section known as Five Mile Meadows, probably originally cleared by logging. This probably is a 5-15 acres of taking.
Severence Hill, mis-signed by the NYSDEC as Severence Mountain is located just North of Schroon Lake on US 9. It is a short hike, taking 45-minutes or so to go up, and is right off the Ticonderoga Exit of Adirondack Northway.
I’ve been up it a couple of times back when I was in college — if you have hour and a half to use up and your driving on the Northway near Saranac Lake it’s a must do.
The first part of the trail goes under the two carriageways of the the Northway in a series of tunnels.
The next 1/4 mile of the trail is relatively flat until you cross a brook and head up a series of stairs, followed by a 1/4 mile ascent, some flat areas, then a quick ascent to the top.
As you reach towards the top, you have broken views of Schroon Lake to the South.
Reaching the top of the mountain, you have some beautiful views of Schroon Lake. Unfortunately the village is too close to see from the mountain and trees block the partial view.
On the top of Severence Mountain, overlook Schroon Lake is this cute little lean-to shelter hand-made out of branches.
On the top of the mountain, the trail proceeds for another 1/4 mile, with broken views of Pharaoh Mountain.
As you continue along the trail to it’s end, you left with a good view of Paradox Lake with Skiff Mountain in the background. Blocked by that mountain range, after a significant descent, is Ticonderoga and Lake Champlain.
You come back the same way you came up the mountain. This is looking towards the southern-most portion of Schroon Lake at the mountains at the southern portion of the Adirondacks.
Black Mountain is the tallest peak between Lake George and Lake Champlain and contains an old fire tower that is currently used by the DEC Forest Rangers for communications equipment. It’s elevation is 2,640 feet, however accessing it from Pike Brook Road Parking area, your already at over 1,700 feet after driving up the very scenic Huletts Landing Road from NY 22.
In the winter, the old woods road up Black Mountain is also a low-speed and narrow snowmobile trail that has occassional snowmobiles on it. At 3 miles, it’s a relatively short hike with an elevation gain of about 900 feet.
The first 1.2 miles up the mountain the trail is relatively flat. After the split between the valley trail to Black Mountain Pond and other lakes running down towards Lake George, and the trail up Black Mountain Fire Tower. The next 1.6 miles is much steeper, as the trail winds up the mountain following a Jeep Trail with many switchbacks.
As you start climbing, you get a broken view of the fire tower on top of Black Mountain.
The snowmobile / old woods trail is narrow and steep as it winds up to the top of the mountain.
Reaching the top of the mountain, you can see the DEC Forest Ranger Communication Tower, with wind turbine, solar panel, and fire tower converted to communications tower. It’s disappointing that they had to convert the tower to a communications tower, because it would have otherwise provided nice views to the south.
Looking across Lake George towards Five Mile Mountain and the Adirondack Mountain in the distance.
North on Lake George. In the foreground is Hague, farther in the distance is Elphant Mountain, the end of Lake George and the La Chute River down pass Ticonderoga.
Looking to the North-West off Black Mountain. In the foreground is Sugar Loaf Mountain, and just beyond that is the “Drowned Lands”, the marshy farm lands surrounding the southern portion of Lake Champlain. Even further beyond that is the Green Mountains in Vermont.
One of my favorite activities is the evening walk. I go out almost every night for a 2.5 mile walk, to spend about 45 minutes clearing my mind, looking at the stars, and just observing nature. It’s a chance for my legs to get out and stretch, and to enjoy some fresh air after a day stuck in a stuffy office.
I go out nearly every night regardless of the weather. Sometimes it’s hot out. Other times it’s frigid and the cold winds are blowing snow in my face. Sometimes it’s raining. Other nights, it’s totally pleasant, and I see half a dozen different people walking dogs or going down to the local convenience mart.
I really dislike missing my evening walk. I’ve been doing it for almost 6-years every night, and when I miss it I feel as though I am missing something important. My legs don’t feel right just heading home. I think something important is missing in my day if I miss the evening walk.
The Commerce Department announced last week that 38% of Americans choose to live without high speed internet in their houses. I am within that group.
The biggest problem with high speed internet is it’s quite expensive. Most of the plans I see advertised in Delmar are about $80 a month. That equals $960 per year, or probably in the range of $1000-$1100 a year with taxes and fees. That’s a lot of money that I could be saving or using for other purposes.
My parents are quite happy with their $5/month dial up Internet Connection. Dial up might not be fast, but it gets the job done for all the basics. Getting High Speed Internet out where they live would be even more expensive.
Internet access is not an essential, that one particularly needs. While it is nice to be able to check one’s email or do certain other tasks online, there is always the local public library that provides high speed internet access.
