Snowshoeing & Cross Country Skiing

Pharaoh Mountain

Spectacular Views in the Eastern Adirondacks

by Bill Ingersoll

When New York State set aside money for Adirondack land acquisitions in the 1890s and 1900s, it often found itself in competition with entrepreneurs, lumbermen, and wealthy private clubs for choice tracts of land. In several cases, an individual bought a parcel in which the state was interested and then sold it to the Forest Preserve for double the original cost. When the state was negotiating with the Pickard estate for a large tract of land east of Schroon Lake, a man by the name of George Ostrander was able to acquire the tract first. He then sold most of it to the state himself, for a total profit of $70,000. The separate sale of the shoreline property to private individuals essentially doubled his profit.

The property that the state thus acquired — the nucleus of today’s Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area — was not pristine in the strictest sense. The area’s rich reserve of pines had been cut by the middle of the nineteenth century, and there had been two prominent tanneries located very close by that depended upon hemlock harvested from the interior. To supply the tanneries, tanbarkers felled large numbers of trees merely to extract tannin from the bark, which was then used to treat hides shipped from as far away as South America. Forest fires swept through the area from the years 1903 to 1913. When you also consider the broader effects of the iron ore and graphite industries on the eastern Adirondacks, it is surprising that any significant forest acreage survived at all in this region.

In today’s Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area, a century of natural recovery has brought forth successional stands of hardwoods and conifers, representing a transition between the affects of man and the “climax” forest that will eventually reclaim the land. The wilderness consists of several forest types, including pine-oak-northern hardwoods, mixed pine, spruce-fir, and eastern hemlock. During the winter season, the area’s coniferous forests impart the most beauty, with tall hemlocks shading the trails, and red and white pines rimming the icy ponds.

Pharaoh Mountain, with an elevation of 2,556 feet, is the tallest peak in the wilderness, and its sharp profile is conspicuous from every angle. Cliffs face the fault block on the western slopes of this mountain, which is a typically truncated cone of gneissic rock. The views from its bare summit are spectacular. Even though the DEC removed the fire tower in the 1990s, there are few points on the compass that you cannot see from the summit knobs. Two trails approach the summit, and the route from the north — from Crane Pond — makes for a very rewarding winter snowshoe hike. On a cold winter’s day, when the area is nestled under a mantle of fresh snow, come and see for yourself.

All of the trails in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness are especially suited to winter travel, but Pharaoh Mountain does present a few special challenges. First, the round trip to the summit and back from the nearest trailhead is 9.4 miles, with a nearly 1,500-foot vertical rise. Second, the profile of the mountain subjects the exposed summit to strong, chilling winds, with the only shelter being a slight cleft between the summit knobs. Nevertheless, winter climbers routinely make the ascent on snowshoes, and Pharaoh is certainly a good, but strenuous, winter climb. Cross country skiers will find the trip to the base of the mountain from the parking area to be an intermediate-level route.

How to Get There
From Exit 28 on the Northway (I-87), head south on US Route 9 for 0.6-mile to Alder Meadow Road, and follow it east for 2.1 miles to a fork. To the right is Adirondack Road, which appears as East Shore Road on most maps. Crane Pond Road is the left fork. Turn left and follow the road for 1.4 miles to the winter parking area.

The Trail
The trek starts with the 1.9-mile walk or ski to Crane Pond’s outlet via the continuing old roadway, which passes through lovely hemlock forests and around the north side of Alder Pond. At 1.9 miles you reach Crane Pond, and all further mileages are given from here.

Head south on the red-marked trail across the outlet of Crane Pond on the narrow bridge. The trail immediately plunges into a deep hemlock and pine forest. This shady route contours south around Meadow Hill to a trail intersection at 0.7-mile. The mountain trail is a right fork still marked with red. You cross a small brook and come so close to Glidden Marsh that you really should leave the trail for the view of Pharaoh Mountain above the frozen surface of this long, thin pond.

After 0.9-mile you begin a gentle ascent, and shortly the cover turns from deep evergreens to the smaller hardwood forests. At this point, you have reached the limits of the fires that ravaged Pharaoh’s summit. As you continue up more steeply, you should notice a straighter route, which was the course of the telephone line leading up to the tower. The red trail cuts back and forth across it several times on the climb.

At 1.5 miles, less than an hour’s walk from Crane Pond, you notice you are climbing much more steeply. In summer, the trail is often on smooth bedrock, the results of the fires that burned most of the topsoil away. The climb continues steeply for 0.5-mile, following a course toward the south. At 2 miles, a stream crosses the trail and often spills along it. You continue even more steeply, with only scrub spruce and birch to shelter you from the wind. The end of the trail is very steep, with a 200-foot climb in a little more than 200 yards.

You emerge in a cleft between the summit’s twin knobs. The old observer’s cabin was once located here, and the tower stood on the southern (right) knob, where today you will still find the best view.

Views from the south overlook Pharaoh Lake with Whortleberry Pond beyond. The distant mountains seen over the ponds are the ranges that border Lake George. In the distant southwest you can see Crane Mountain 24 miles away, with Eleventh and Gore ranging to the west. Only part of Schroon Lake’s ten-mile length is visible. To the right of Gore you can spot Moxham Ridge, Blue Mountain on the distant northwest, with Vanderwhacker over the northern end of Schroon Lake. Hoffman Mountain is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Range, which points north to the High Peaks.

Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge lie almost due north, separated from the rest of the High Peaks by the valley of NY Route 73. In order, to the left of the valley, you can name Dix, Macomb, Nippletop, Gothics, Saddleback, Basin, and the cones of Haystack, Marcy and Skylight. The cliffs of Panther Gorge are plainly visible at the foot of Marcy.

From a southeastern outcrop, you overlook Treadway Mountain. The distinctive slide of Knob Hill is east of north. The panorama of the Green Mountains of Vermont fills the eastern horizon.

A trail does continue down the southeast side of the mountain to Pharaoh Lake, but few people actually make the loop over the mountain to the lake and back. The hike to the summit from Pharaoh Lake is even steeper than the climb from Crane Pond.

The Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area is a prime destination for winter backpackers, and all of its trails and bushwhacks are covered further in our guidebook, Discover the Eastern Adirondacks.

Bill Ingersoll (hikerbill30@msn.com) lives in Barneveld. He has joined Barbara McMartin in revising the Discover series and is co-author of several books. For more information, consult Discover the West Central Adirondacks and Discover the Southwestern Adirondacks (Lake View Press).

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