Snow and Rooster Comb Mountains
Snow Mountain, what a mountain! It is located in the Keene Valley region of New York. Which is about an hour and a half from Saratoga Springs, New York, and about two hours north of Albany. I really enjoyed this hike, however, it is a much longer climb then what I anticipated for. If you lookup this mountain on All Trails, it tells you it is 3 miles round trip, but after I finished my hike, my phone told me that I had walked 5.5 miles. Even though, this trail is totally worth the extra 1.5 miles, be prepared for that, if you wish to hike this mountain! That being said, this climb is truly captivating. The view is awesome, it is a rock summit, and kind of looks like you’re on the edge of the earth, with mountains surrounding you, and truly wonderful. In addition, there is a ton of wildlife to be seen.
When my dad and I started our hike, we heard an interesting sound to the right of us. And then we remembered the, “Attention Bear” sign we’d had just seen, and were both like, “Oh no.” But no worries, if was not a bear, it was a duck flying through the water (there is a pond to the right of you, when you first start your hike). And then we saw a giant bird fly up next to the duck, and it was a crane! And then we saw another one! I don’t know why we were attracting all the wildlife that day, but it was definitely something! Because then, we saw a snake, but no worries, again, it was just a little guy (gardener snake). However, you do want to be careful because on some trails there are potentially rattle snakes, and black bears, that you might run into. However, 90 percent of the time you do not see rattle snakes or bears.
Anyways, you definitely want to make sure you are looking/following the trail markers. From the parking lot, it is very easy to follow, you will follow the yellow markers. However, once you walk about .7 of a mile, you will come to an intersection, with different signs, informing you on which direction each trail goes. If you stay to your right, you will climb Rooster Comb mountain, and if you go to your left, your will climb Snow mountains. This time I hiked Snow mountain, and you REALLY want to PAY attention to the trail markers, because they are pretty spaced out. As well as, when my dad and I hiked this past weekend in April, the trail was not as up kept as it could have been, which was fine. We still had no issue hiking, just sometimes we had to make our own trails, because of fallen branches and what not. Again, not a big deal, just something to be aware of.
Also, because it was April, there was still some snow on the trail. For this hike, where the snow was, it did not hinder us from hiking on the path. However, at times, if you are hiking early in the season (from late March to early May), there might still be a lot of snow/ice. If you do wish to hike during this time, I recommend getting micro spikes, which can be found here. These help immensely with grip and traction, when walking on slippery ice/snow.
In addition, when you come to your first intersection, you want to go left, if you wish to hike Snow mountain, and then you will start to follow the red trail. Then you will follow the red trail for a little over a mile, then you will come to another intersection of signs, informing you to stay left, again if you wish to continue on Snow mountain. And this time, you will start to follow the blue markers, instead of the red. Then after a little under half a mile, you will come to another intersection of signs, and again stay to your left for Snow mountain, and you will begin to follow the yellow markers, for about .3 of a mile. Then you come to your summit!
The climb to this summit is very rocky, and yes, there is definitely some climbing involved in some areas, but totally manageable. And again, the view is gorgeous. You can see Giant and Noonmark extremely well from this summit and many other mountains in addition, it’s a great view! Also, on the way down, it is very easy to unfollow the trail, so again, always be looking for the trail markers. I would say this trail is dog friendly, but just be extra careful on the last .3 miles of the trail, because it is very rocky, and the summit does feel like you’re on the edge of the earth. But other than that, I would highly recommend this trail, it is quite steep in places, but again, the view is so worthwhile.
Also, because this trail becomes very steep at points, it is important if you have a backpack, that you use the straps provided for you! I use to think that the straps on my backpack were just there for people who encountered back problems. However, my friends told me, the hip and shoulder straps, are what direct the weight of your bag to your hips. And I promise you, ever since I started strapping in, my body does not hurt anymore, and I can finish my hikes much easier! Here is a link to some great hiking backpacks!
Rooster Comb is very similar to Snow mountain, as it has some very steep parts, and is around the same distance. The two are both about 5.5 miles give or take, and are accessible from the same parking lot. There are actually quite a number of trails available through this parking location, here is a link to the directions for this parking area, here.
Overall, I really enjoyed Snow mountain, it was challenging but not too challenging that I was out of breath the whole time, it was easy to get too (no dirt/unpaved roads), and most importantly, an exceptional view. Seriously, if you have the time, go check it out, and thank you again for reading.
P.S. If you want to see some of the hike, you can see some footage, here.
