Hour Pond and the New Hour Pond Trail

Hour Pond is a southern Adirondack destination with majestic views of Bullhead and Hour Pond Mountain. But what draws me to the pond most is the new Hour Pond Trail from Thirteenth Lake.

Paddling Thirteenth Lake

Like many others, this adventure started on Thirteenth Lake. Along the northwestern shore, we paddled beyond Peaked Mountain Brook to the next inlet stream coming off Hour Pond Mountain. We beached our boat, found the red trail and started climbing.

This route is old and must have been a trail back in the day. It passes through a narrow slot on the height-of-land between the Thirteenth and Hour drainages. It was an unmarked hunter’s path and bushwhack when I first skied it.

new trail

One thing I remembered about this hike was how many big and widely spaced trees were sprinkled along the route.

For me, this is one of the most beautiful and pleasant forests in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness for a walk. The shot above was one of several attempts to capture my awe.

crossing the beaver dam

Hour has this way of seeming far away, even at 3 miles from the trailhead. When you are more than halfway there, you come to a beaver swamp. In winter you often see ski tracks that end here. It seems some either assume that the small body of water is the pond, or maybe they turn around because they’ve just gone far enough.

the outlet

Hour Pond is very attractive in it’s small size and exceptional simplicity. With my camera, I couldn’t capture all three peaks of Bullhead and the dual peaks of Hour Pond Mountain in a single image.

hiking the Hour Pond Trail

The hike back was really nice for tired legs, two long gradual downhills separated by a challenging climb. The destination is always one thing, and the getting there is something else.

9 comments on “Hour Pond and the New Hour Pond Trail

  1. Dang why did you have to get me all excited about back country skiing up and around garnet hill???? Anyhow found this great map that plots out those trails west of thirteenth lake. Hey has anyone skied from thirteenth lake all the way over to wilderness lodge? might be a lot to handle in one day.

  2. You really know how to get after it Harv! It’s great to read about all the different hikes you and the family go on.

  3. @Bob the ski through the draw from Thirteenth Lake to Hour Pond was one of my favorite ski routes in the northern Siamese Ponds Wilderness. I’ve extended that ski over to Kings Flow. Under the right conditions it’s a full day, but 100% doable.

    @Rochester Mark, it may look more impressive than it is. I don’t get into the woods nearly as much as I’d like too.

  4. @Bob, I don’t know your motivation or fitness level, but from your enthusiasm I would guess it is high. From the Old Farm Clearing to Puffer Pond and back is a fairly full day. Kings Flow is farther. Leave early, ski hard and take a short break for lunch and I’d say a fit person could do it. YMMV. That’s not a recommendation for anyone to try it, just an observation.

  5. yo harvey, fitness high, enthusiasm higher, exercising caution the highest. will work into this slowly or leave a car at kings flow. with this much early preseason chatter it must be a snowy winter a coming.

  6. yo harvey, you got it. i do not know what is more fun the skiing or the after skiing beer. i am fond of davidson brothers Dacker ale. cheers, bob

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