Everything’s on wind hold at Gore. And it’s colder than a bear. Problem? No. Solution? Spend a little time in the woods.
The ski to William Blake Pond is a traditional route that has been maintained by the locals for many decades. It’s on state land, but still marked in the old fashioned way. With plastic squares, spray paint and blazes.
Leave from the unofficial trail head at Garnet Hill, and ski up to the old Hooper Garnet Mine. Take in the view of 13th Lake…
(Note the way up to this spot in the lower left of the picture. With today’s wind exposed crust, it was definitely do not fall territory, above a sixty foot drop.)
Check out the old magazine where they kept dynamite for blasting.
Ski along a high ridge (2500′) that skirts Harvey Mountain. On a day when you only have a few hours … you can only dream about the wide open hardwoods along Harvey’s summit ridge.
Ski up to the beaver pond that feeds into and is more photogenic than Billy Blake Pond, with the Harvey Mtn summit approach in the distance.
Then ski all the way down, past the pond itself and drop a few hundred feet of vertical on skinny skis. Parallel, tele and step turns, double polling… use your whole bag of tricks to get down. An easy way to get out there, in the woods, in just a few hours.
Nice! I’d like to see more reports like this.
How far is the trailhead from HR HQ?
Do you think there will be some new snow at Gore this week? We’ll be bringing the gang up from CNY this weekend.
It doesn’t look like there will be any new snow this week, maybe some passing flurries..Just seasonably cold..
Could you drop a few hints about the location of the trailhead? I’m familiar with the Garnet Hill trails, and several of us will be coming up from Rochester this weekend (Jan 8-11).
Please disregard the last question. I read your Siamese Ponds Wilderness post. Great read! Thanks for the topo and the trail descriptions. Wonderful photos, too. It takes me back to winter backpacking Smuggler’s Notch and Mansfield back in the winter of '75-76.
Tom … that ski is very basic and leaves right from the ski shop. If you like skiing in the woods, they are in pretty good shape right now. There is a ton of day skiing that can be done from GHL. PM me if you’d like more … harvey44@nyskiblog.com.
James … trailhead is about a mile or so from HRHQ.