Black Dome, Thomas Cole, and Blackhead

October 9, 2019

Today a group of five went out to traverse Slide mountain and friends, while Ann and I set out as a pair to play in the Black Dome range. We drove to the end of Black Dome valley and started from the trailhead at the end of the road. The climb up Black Dome trail was fairly gentle with lots of switchbacks. Upon reaching the ridge the trail got a little steeper and some short scrambles were encountered on the way up Black Dome peak. A couple nice lookouts gave us some views, and then we tried to find something indicating the top of the mountain, but there is nothing of note at the summit.

Lookout from Black Dome.

Indistinct summit of Black Dome.

Another lookout.

Had a quick snack and then we continued on towards Thomas Cole. This took very little time, and upon reaching the summit (a rock with a small cairn on top in the woods), we met a friendly guy with his dog. We turned around and headed back to Black Dome, this time stopping for an extended break at one of the lookouts with a great seating area in the rock.

Summit of Thomas Cole.

Lunch rock.

As we down climbed the scrambles of Black Dome, we met a couple other pairs on their way up, and in short order we were then climbing Black Head where we met the guy with the dog again. Black Head was just a big rock plateau in the woods with no views, so we went a little further east along the ridge, but found nothing worthy of a stop before we decided to turn back. We descended via the escarpment trail and found a lovely rock outcrop with a view into the golden autumn leaves to sit on for a second lunch and decided that since the weather was nice and we had nowhere to be this afternoon, we would extend the hike a little further and see what Acra Point had to offer.

Blackhead from Black Dome.

Summit of Blackhead.

Acra point was less than impressive, though it was a pretty walk along the ridge, and we met several other small groups out enjoying the autumn air. A little ways further we found a nice meadow for yet another break, after which we hiked back down to the car. Six and three-quarter hours made for a very relaxed day on this hike.

Ann and three peaks.

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