Mount Jo and Scarface Mountain

September 23, 2012

It rained steadily all night. My tent has also started leaking so felt the occasional drip on the face periodically as the waves of rain came down. Fortunately it stopped before we got up and we could break our fast without getting any wetter than we already were. The thought of bushwacking and scrambling up Iroquois from Cold Brook Pass through wet spruce and slippery cliffs no longer appealed, so we reset our objectives to Mount Jo. We packed up camp and hauled down the trail in the early morning light. As it got brighter, the clouds parted and the sun came out. We hiked along feeling good now that things were beginning to dry off. In short order we found ourselves on top of Jo where we met a guy relaxing and taking lots of photographs with a fancy looking camera. After a short break to soak in the views and have a quick bite, we made our descent. Many families were ascending in a good spirits which was understandable given the nice weather. In very short order we arrived back at the Loj, and since it was still early we drove to Ray Brook and hiked Scarface Mountain. The trail was nice, but the summit is solidly treed in. We retreated back to a lookout we had passed on our way up. Broke out some beers and had some lunch. We were alone at first but the several other groups arrived with many dogs so we packed up and left. Just under four hours after starting we were back at the trailhead. Although that one was a nice walk, I probably will not bother with that mountain again.

An old wagon wheel along the trail.

Mt. Jo... I can taste your summit!

Final approach.

Summit of Mt. Jo. Best view to effort ratio in all of the Adirondacks.

Starting the hike to Scarface Mountain.

Walking through beautiful forests on the approach.

Some root scrambling.

The top of Scarface. Move along, nothing to see here.

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