Although our Mckenzie summit stop was the longest break of our hike, we still kept it to a modest length. We knew that inclement weather was forecast to arrive early in the afternoon, and already we noted a buildup of puffy cumulus, perhaps covering 50% of the sky. Time to move along.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
We continued west along the trail that followed the crest of Mckenzie Mountain. Immediately, we switched from the jurisdiction of the Lake Placid Shore Owners Assocation to that of the NY state Dept of Conservation. Accordingly, the trail markers switched to the red NYSDEC discs. We also noticed an immediate change in the trail - especially over any sort of steeper terrain, it was now worn down to bedrock, and often had sections of mud and boulders: the tell-tale sign of heavier hiker traffic. Clearly, most people climbed Mckenzie from this side.
Although the trail was mostly downhill, we did have to climb up and over a couple of minor subsummits before finally starting a precipitous descent through forest. This was probably the worst bit of trail of the entire loop, with long sections of very steep, very eroded trail. In other words, typical for the Adirondacks. There is about 800-ish feet of this sort of thing, and by the time we got down to about 2600-ish feet, the grade quickly flattened out. A short but annoying section of boulder hopping along a stream-in-trail brought us to a broad four-way junction in the broad flat valley south of Mckenzie Mountain.
We had intersected with the Mckenzie Pond Trail - a wide gently-graded route linking the Lake Placid area with the Saranac Lake area. In winter, this is also a cross-country ski route.
The completion to our route lay to the right, east along the Mckenzie Pond Trail (Jackrabbit Ski Trail in winter). After the steep, rough and sometimes wet descent, this trail was an easy [and fast] cakewalk.
It took only forty or so minutes to cover the nearly 3km (2 mi) to the eastern terminus of the Mckenzie Pond trail at Whiteface Inn Road. From there we turned left, walked for perhaps a hundred yards to Blodgett Road. Another few seconds of walking up Blodgett brought us back to our start point. Good thing, too - we had begun to experience the first sprinkles of rain over the last half hour.
And so ended our 2015 iteration of the Mckenzie Mountains Loop. Despite losing a bit of the cottage eye-candy it once had, the Lake Trail is still a pleasant-enough path. Certainly the re-route doesn't make it any longer. More importantly, though, having continued access to the Lake Trail means it is possible to do a satisfying loop that includes the delightful traverse between Moose and Mckenzie. If you want a secluded walk along a great little forest path, then this outing is for you. In a way, we are probably better off that these two peaks didn't quite manage to make the 46R list. If they had, the quaint little trail between them probably wouldn't be so quaint!
Interactive trackmap with photo points - Mckenzie Range Loop - click map to view
Mckenzie and Moose Mountain Loop - Hike Data
Start Time:
7:13a.m.
End Time:
2:38p.m.
Duration:
7h24m
Distance:
16.32 km
(10.14 mi)
Average Speed:
2.2 km/hr
(1.4 mph)
Start Elevation:
2027ft
(618m)
*
Max Elevation:
3908ft
(1191m)
*
Min Elevation:
1912ft
(583m)
*
End Elevation:
2011ft
(613m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2845ft
(867m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
2873ft
(876m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
