Owl's Head, Baxter and Jay Range

On one glorious day of leaf peeping I hit two "shorties" with great views and then checked out the new trail to the Jay Range, another great hike with plenty of above treeline trail.

First stop of the day with the favorable early morning light was Owl's Head. It is a short jog of about 20 minutes up to this perch with a nice angle view of Porter, Cascade and Pitchoff. It is an open summit with views in all directions but the light favored the view to the west. For more pics see here .

Next stop was Baxter peak with it's "longer" trip of 30-40 minutes of switchbacks to some nice ledges looking south and west. Plenty of color in the valley and slopes of John's Brook valley. For more pics see here

Last but certainly not least was the Jay Range. I started out at 11:30. This hike has plenty of open ridges which is unusual for the elevation but welcomed indeed. An official trail was opened this year complete with parking lot with space for about 10 cars. I hiked this range with Ken several years ago and remember the initial part of the trail as being pretty steep. The new trail is the opposite. It is soft underfoot and switchbacks up the slopes of two hills before emerging on the open rock that I remembered. I found the switchbacks a bit annoying on the way up but welcomed them on the way down as it was an easy walk out when I was running out of gas. You can see most of the Adirondack High Peaks as you make your way up the open rock across many bumps to actual summit of Jay. I stopped about 2/3 of the way along as I was more interested in the views than the destination. It was a great spot to find a nice spot to sit and soak in the sun. This hike is a must for anyone who hasn't already done it. For more pics see here .