The last day of our brief vacation was a bluebird beauty and cried out for a view. Carol hung out in Lake Placid while I drove over to the Adirondak Loj trailhead for a morning snowshoe up little Mount Jo, a 2876-ft. summit with south-facing cliffs and a stellar view into the High Peaks. At less than three miles round trip, this hike is extremely popular - the Adirondack Mountain Club estimates that 14,000 hikers climb Mount Jo in a typical year.
Figuring that the shorter, steeper Short Trail could have icy and bare rocky sections, I opted for the more moderate Long Trail. The Adirondack Mountain Club trail crew began a major relocation on this trail last year, making for a more gradual ascent and sustainable footway on the lower half of the trail. The project is slated for completion this year. The upper part of the Long Trail still packs a punch, with most of the 700-ft. ascent coming in the last half-mile. Snowshoeing conditions were good on packed spring snow.
I hadn't hiked this mountain in decades, and didn't remember this final steep climb that necessitated a change from snowshoes to Hillsounds.
What a view from the sun-drenched, snow-packed ledge area at the top. The white cone of Mount Marcy, New York's highest, is on the left. Slide-scarred Mount Colden is in the middle, and lofty, snow-capped Algonquin Peak is on the right, with Wright Peak in front. Part of Heart Lake is seen below.
Marcy and Colden, quite a duo. Gray Peak in the middle.
Zoom on Colden, one of the most dramatic ADK peaks.
Big Slide Mountain and Yard Mountain are off to the east.
To the southwest, Wallface Mountain - which bears the largest cliff in the Adirondacks - overlooks Indian Pass, with Lost Pond Peak and Street Mountain to the right.
Far-off, snow-caked Santanoni Peak peers over behind Wallface.
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