Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Overnight Trip

Two Day Adirondack Backpack Trip

My next backpacking adventure was an overnight trip in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness in the Adirondacks. I wanted an overnight trip in the Adirondacks but not in the overly popular High Peaks region. Although the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness is popular in certain areas, it's not as popular as the over crowded High Peaks area, so I picked it for my adventure.

I started at the trailhead shown below. This was off a side road to state route 8 so I was not worried about vandalism to my vehicle.

Trailhead

Two trails start here which allows for a loop type hike that was my preference. I started out on the trail to the left (basically the southern/western side of the loop) towards Spring Hill Pond. The weather was nice so the walking was comfortable. After some steady uphill walking the trail eventually leveled off and became quite pleasant. It was obvious though that there was not an abundance of foot traffic on the trail due to the amount of small blow-down on the trail.

 I saw no one until I reached the vicinity of the first Pharaoh Lake lean-to. Pharaoh Lake is a popular destination for people to camp at so it was no surprise that there were young people hanging out there, apparently camping there. This did make me think about whether I would have trouble finding an unoccupied camping spot later in the day. Continuing on I stopped for a break at the below spot.

A Nice Spot for a Break

 After resuming my hike, I met two hikers, apparently on their way out, at the junction of the trail around the lake and the trail to the trailhead near Brant Lake.

Where the Lake meets Pharaoh Lake Brook

I continued my way around the lake, passing yet another lean-to site, until I reached the junction with the trail over Pharaoh Mountain, At first the trail was moderate steep at worst but eventually went into steep mode with at least one scramble to gain elevation (I hate scrambles btw). I had to take a couple of breaks on the way up but eventually I got near the summit and the trail moderated quite a bit. As with many summits, I would think I was approaching the top to find out I was not there. Plus, on this summit, there were plenty of trees, i.e., its not above tree line and is actually about the same elevation as many of my climbs in Pennsylvania. I could tell when I was actually close to the top when I could hear voices nearby. There was a small group of young guys just off the trail talking. I don;t think they ever saw me and I mainly just heard them and only caught a glimpse of one of them. I continued to the actual summit and took the below shots.

Views from Pharaoh Mountain

As you can see, the views are impeded a bit by the trees, but as they look towards the High Peaks area it makes them worthwhile. After taking these pictures I continued north, down the mountain. For the most part, this part of trail seemed milder than the part I ascended. And it took less time to reach the bottom of the mountain than it took to get up. This is probably why most people climb it from the north rather than the south as I had done.

At this point it was getting late in the afternoon and I was thinking ahead to my eventual campsite which I decided I would try for Oxshoe Pond and hope there wasn't anyone already there. The photo below is where the trail skirts Glidden Marsh on the way to Oxshoe Pond.

Glidden Marsh

It was not far from here to the trail to Oxshoe Pond. And after making the turn towards the pond I soon reached the lean-to by the pond. At first, I thought I would camp at the lean-to but after walking around noticed a nice prepared camping spot about 100 yards north, but still near the pond that I preferred, So, I set-up camp there and had my dinner away from the site (to not attract wildlife with any food smells to the camp site itself), I had uncooked white rice that was soaked in cold water (cold soaking) mixed with tuna. I find I prefer this type of meal to some I've had in the past as it is easy, filling and adds water to my dinner to fend off dehydration. After dinner, I gathered up firewood by the waning light of the day, it was well after 7pm at that point. and got my fire going.

My Campfire

Although there is something to be said for finding a stealth campsite, it is much nicer to find an already established one where the fire-ring is already built and not having to mess with any of that effort. Anyway, while I was sitting by my fore I start hearing noise from the lean-to site. Walking around just a bit, it was getting quite dark, I could discern there were a couple of people there and they were having a fire (I think it was a dad and son but as I couldn't see them was never completely sure). I kept quiet and didn't make myself known. I did my usual campfire vigil until I was tired/the fire died down and then got in my hammock. Not to long after that it start raining fairly steadily (good timing on my part again, apparently - see my blog post on the Mid-State trail hike earlier in the summer). I slept okay, but not great but at least I was dry.

The next morning it was dark from the storm clouds, it was still raining off and on. It stayed dry while I got ready but just as I was ready to walk away from the campsite it started pouring. This was the opposite of my good timing on going to bed. I did walk by the lean-to on my way out, there was one young boy in the lean-to and he looked at me but neither of us said anything. I wanted to see where the trail went from the lean-to towards Crab Pond but didn't see it. It was actually hard to see anything so I took the same trail I came in on knowing it was only a slight diversion. It was truly pouring at this point, but I found my way back to the junction worth the trail between Glidden Marsh and Crab Pond, i.e., the less direct route. I turned left at the trail junction.

I don't know if you have ever hiked in a downpour, l;et me tell you its not fun. The rocks are slick, the water is dripping off of everything and you really can't see very far in front of you. Add to that the fact that it was still morning and not a lot if sunlight anyway, it was almost like night hiking (which I don't do). I got myself on the trail to Crab Pond, the rain would let up for a bit and then start up with occasional lightening in the distance. Now, I know there is advice to stop and protect yourself when lightening is in the vicinity, but frankly, while in the woods, stopping provides no more protection than continuing on. Although my metal trekking poles made me wonder about that, I kept walking and hoping for the best. BTW I don;t think I have ever heard of anyone being hit by lightening below treeline while moving, its always when they are staying on one place.


Below is a trail junction near Crab Pond where the rain let up enough for me to take this photo.

Trail Junction Near Crab Pond

I walked along Crab Pond, eventually reaching the junction with trails shown below,

Another Trail Junction

It was near here I stopped for my actual breakfast, the rain having let up enough that I wouldn't get too wet by eating.From here the rain was not as a much as an issue, although it was threatening for awhile yet.

Along thew way I encountered a bunch of orange newts. I've often seen them in wet locations on other hikes, usually only one at a time but here there were at least a dozen over a small area. I took pictures of some of them, below. I really could not get them all.

Orange Newts

There was many that I had to be careful where I stepped, I did not want to kill one accidentally. They sometimes blend in with fallen leaves so it can be a challenge.

After I reached Rock Pond I started heading south.The trail junction is shown below. The one thing about the area I was hiking through was that all the different trails broke up the trip in to nice segments that made it easy to keep track of where I was.

Yet Another Trail Junction

Near here I also took the picture below.

Near Rock Pond

I soon reached Clear Pond, seen below, and as can be seen the clouds were parting enough to see some blue sky, a welcome sight.

Clear Pond

From here I then quickly got to the junction with the trail to Treadway Mountain (see below).

Junction with Trail to Treadway Mountain?

It was here the trail became confusing because the map made it look like the trail to Putnam Pond was here too. But it wasn't, it was further down the trail so that when I reached it I thought it was the turn toward the Berrymill Trail. So when I quickly reached Putnam Pond I had to back track and figure out what was going on. It turns out I needed to go on what looked like the Treadway Mountain trail (the sign above was indicating mileage to the actual Treadway Mt trail, not the mountain itself). Then, I reached the junction of the trail going towards Berrymill Pond.

Actual Trail Junction with Trail to Treadway Mt

I really don't like confusing maps and trail junctions! Anyway, I recovered from my missteps and kept walking until time to stop for lunch near Putnam Pond.

After a nice lunch, I headed down the trail towards the campground trailhead, this was also a junction with trail south towards Berrymill Pond. When I got close to that trailhead I met three older guys and stopped briefly to chat. It turned out they were part of a trail work crew but had not been given clear directions on where to go so they decided do trail work here. They asked about what I had seen and I mentioned some large blow-downs near Crab Pond (I suspected they would not want to hike so far but said nothing). Their immediate concern was some small blow-down near where we were standing, so I said my good-bye.

I soon reached the campground trailhead, seen below.

Trailhead near Putnam Pond State Campground

I walked along the parking area for a minute, reached the trail south and continued on. This was about five miles of hiking that skirted the edge of Berrymill Pond (sorry no picture). the trail going away from the pond was so similar to that approaching the pond I thought I might have turned myself around and  stopped to convince myself I had not indeed done that. After that brief feeling of confusion I walked on through pleasant woods, eventually reaching the trailhead I had started out from at about 3:30 pm.

This was, overall, a good overnight backpacking trip and would have been near ideal if it weren't for the morning rain storms.