Saturday, July 18, 2009

Owl Pate Mountain

View from the top of Owl Pate looking South over the Paradox Creek Valley. Our homestead in roughly the clearing in the center of the photo.

On July 17th, my brother-in-law, Bruce Phipps, and I climbed Owl Pate Mountain. It is one of the higher peaks on the east side of the Northway just about at exit 29. It is visible from my house and makes for a nice walk which will entertain for the best part of a day - at least at my speed. I can walk to it from my house without having to cross anyone else's property because we adjoin the Hammond Pond Wild Forest at a place that makes a convenient route to the mountain. When I was younger and we operated a residential treatment center and school on our property, I used to hike to the top of Owl Pate several times a year and also hunted, fished, and camped in the same area. The outdoor experiences provided by the Hammond Pond Wild Forest played an important part in the School's program. The hike triggered many happy memories of days spent in the woods. The mountains in the upper left of the photo above are Knob Mountain and Little Knob Mountain. Just below Knob mountain is the abandoned hamlet of Hammondville which was a center of the mining industry in the Nineteenth Century. It was connected by railroad to the Champlain Canal. The Iron that made up the cables for the Brooklyn Bridge came from those hills.


Bruce and me in picture at the top taken with a timer. I look a little beat and I was. Bruce, on the other hand, could have taken in another couple of mountains and been none the worse for wear.


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