Robbie and I decided to hike this 3.5 mile hike to Potash Mountain. It turns out to be an open summit that seemed more like a meadow than the top of a mountain with several vantage points and different views. We spent some time “taking it in” at the top. At the start we both noticed a nice shelter with a stamped concrete floor and a large picnic table – a great place to get organized and plan for our accent to the peak at 1750 feet in elevation! We started out at 9:45 am sharp and the temperature was a brisk 39 degrees. With the sunny weather prediction, we knew, we’d be peeling layers.
We started out on the blue trail and shortly came across a red trail sign that veered off to the right with a wooden arrow sign that said “Nature Trail”. We decided to finish our main goal to climb the to the peak, saving this beautiful diversion for the descent.
Continuing upward, we chatted, took in the day and had a dry enjoyable journey for about a mile. Then the path started to change from gravel, to rooted, rocky, and then to bolder-ed!
Little did we know that soon we’d be on our hands and knees climbing. The trail started to switchback in very narrow rock outcroppings and in some areas became challenging to continue. Obviously, we weren’t stopping – we’ve both done much harder before.
We pretty much shed all our layers at this point, wiped the sweat off and charged on. We were rewarded with an amazing view of Lake Luzerne.
It wasn’t long after we made it to the summit approach – we both scrambled fairly quickly and decided to snap this shot before we had a well deserved snack and drink. The sign said 1751 feet.
Not long after we headed down, both in agreement to take on the nature trail when we got there. The hike down was possibly more difficult over the rocks in the down position, however, other than loosing a pack down a cliff it was uneventful.
It seemed that we came upon the nature trail very quickly. It looked so inviting with a cloudy, blurry or even foggy entrance – we jumped right in!
As you may have seen with nature trails, we started finding interesting tree markings. It was a learning exercise reading the small signs on many of the trees as well as a few old favorites like Shaggy Bark Hickory, which Robbie pointed out.
To our surprise, the shorter red nature trail also climbed considerably. Just as we thought we were almost back to the cars, it jolted up and actually came to another peek and a very nice double bench that was as big as a picnic table. We sat and took in another amazing overlook.
All in all, we did about 2,274 feet in elevation change in under 3 hours. You can see our stats below – it was a great hike and I’d rate it as moderate for the nature trail loop and moderate to strenuous for the complete hike. I think I can speak for Robbie when I say we both recommend this hike.
