Hiking - Steep Scramble to a Rocky Summit

Catamount stands alone north of Whiteface Mountain and the Wilmington Range, and at 3173 feet, it's a most impressive view from the road approaching the trailhead. The trail starts out flat, and then climbs from right to left in the picture below, crossing the two smaller bumps before the steep climb to the open summit.



Getting over the first bump was no worse than any other Adirondack hike, but getting to the second bump was a little more of a challenge. The first of two "lemon squeezers" got us close, and then there were several more steep pitches before this minor summit.



From this intermediate summit, the actual summit still towered several hundred feet above us with its steep rocky slabs.



Reaching the real summit, we looked back down to see other hikers coming up over the bump we had just climbed.



The view to the north included many other mountains and lakes, in a distant area of the Adirondacks that we rarely visit.



The trip back down was almost as slow as the trip up, as we were being very cautious descending the steep rocks. This was really a mountain to remember.