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Bald Peak – A Good Climb in the Spring

The trail up Bald Peak is also the long trail to Rocky Ridge Peak and Giant.  Since this trail starts at the lowest elevation of any trail to a High Peak (about 650 ft), the climb of the relatively low Bald Peak ascends some 2400 feet and with the other ups and downs, it is really more like 2600 feet over the 3.9 miles to the summit.  There are several High Peaks for which the ascent is less than 2600 feet.  One can add another 2.8 miles each way and another 2100 feet ascent and continue on to Rocky Ridge Peak.  Or one can have a great shorter hike and call it a day on the summit of Blueberry Cobbles, a hike of about 2 miles each way with an ascent of about 1400 feet.

I chose Bald, because I wanted to confirm to myself that it is a great climb in the spring during Mud Season.  As my hike on May 13th confirmed, this is a mostly dry trail because the lower portions are so low in altitude that the snow melts earlier even in sheltered sections and the upper portions are dry because the trail is south or southwest facing.

I was lucky enough to start the hike at the same time as Jim K. over from Shelburne VT.  He has hiked this trail many times over the years and was quite a bit stronger hiker than I am.  Due to our friendly exchange of hiking experiences, I was able to keep up with him until we were about 2/3 the way up the final climb of Bald itself.  (He did continue on to the summit of Rocky Ridge Peak.)  

It was a great day to be out in the Adirondacks and the views start as you near the summit of Blueberry Cobbles (or as Jim K. called it Blueberry Cobbler, which one could make from the blueberries which grow their in season).  There are many more views than I can show pictures.  You can see to the east and Lake Chaplain, you can see several of the High Peaks besides Rocky Ridge and Giant.  The trees and wild flowers were in bloom.  Here is a wild cherry blossom and a picture of Fringed Polygala (also called Gaywings).

                  

Much of the trail on Bald proper was over bare rock and was somewhat steep in places as shown in this picture.  The summit of Bald is kind of flat and so when you first reach what you think must surely be the top, it isn’t.  As you will see when you reach the first false summit, the actual summit is a few hundred meters further on.  There are many views of Rocky Peak (which is what the false summit of Rocky Ridge Peak is called) as you ascend the last part of Bald and cross its summit ridge (see picture at the top).  In the picture, Rocky Ridge Peak and Giant peek out from behind Rocky Peak.

Since I still had plenty of time and a little more energy, after I paused on the summit for a short rest, I continued out on the north ridge of Bald past the huge glacial erratic (which is 10 feet tall and is visible slightly left of center in the picture at the top) to have lunch on a rocky point just above the valley (or col) between this ridge of Bald and the south side of Rocky Peak.  This addition to the hike was minimal and I would recommend it. 

On the way back down I met several other hikers out for a great day on this very interesting trail. 

NOTE: For a brief description of the trail, please see ADIRONDACK TRAILS - High Peaks Region 13th Edition , pp 199-202.

Hope you have a great hike!
Bob Goodwin