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Windham High Peak & Burnt Knob Loop

Acra Point, Black Dome, Blackhead Mtn, Burnt Knob, Dutchers Notch, Elm Ridge, Thomas Cole, Windham High Peak
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mike
Posts: 1442
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:20 pm
Location: Ravena, NY

Windham High Peak & Burnt Knob Loop

Unread post by mike »

Over the last month I have been stuck doing projects around the house instead of hiking. But, with the Winter approaching at a fast pace I had chores to do. Last week I had the unpleasant chore of pouring a new concrete walkway in the back of the house. Still not done with it completely, but close enough.

On Friday, my good friend Heather suggested a hike I have done before a number of times. But, I had never done it in the late Fall. It didn't take much arm-twisting to get me to say okay. I am generally a solo hiker, or I hike with a very small group. But, this hike would be with a group of 10 hikers. I really wanted to do the hike, but didn't want to have drama. But, I was faced with pouring more concrete or hiking. Hummm...tough decision.

At 8 am I headed out the house to the parking area for Blackhead. Me being me, I forgot half my gear at the back door. Had to turn around at 8:10 am and go back. Now, I'm going to be late...Hate being late. But, with a little Mario Andretti driving, I was only a few minutes late.

When I arrived at the PA, just about everyone was there. To my surprise Cindy and her new husband were there. Cindy is always a lot of fun. I'm starting to think that this hike is going to be pretty good. Once everyone was there, we split up and car pooled over to the Peck Road PA. We then started up the trail.

It was cloudy, with virtually no wind. The summit was in the clouds with a white top. Not sure what we will encounter, but it will be fun never-the-less. Since my feet were hurting me, I took my trail runners instead of my mountaineering boots. The beginning of the trail was wet, but not that bad. Before long we reached the trail junction from Rt 23. From here, we entered into a nice conifer forest. The lean-to always looks so inviting. We headed up the gentle grade of WHP. We changed from conifer forest to deciduous forest. Always a nice walk up to the top.

Near the top, we enter the clouds and experienced a little snow on the ground. Nothing terrible to hiking in. The trees were covered in rime, but we still had a view of the valley. A win-win situation. There are three view points on top of WHP, and we had good views from all of them. We took a small break, and then headed off the summit to Burnt Knob.

In the summer, hiking from WHP to Burnt Knob is like bushwhacking in the Amazon. It is just a sea of weeds and prickers. But, today, it was wonderful. The path was very evident and fun to follow. You could see over into the valley easily in many places. Our group of people were excellent. Just about any of them could have lead the hike. Truly a nice group of people. Heather was constantly doing a head count to make sure that we didn't lose anyone. I was very comfortable hiking with her as leader.

As we approached Burnt Knob, we had some more view point. The good views never seemed to end. Everyone was self-sufficient and experienced. Took some pictures as I went.

As we approached the end of Burnt Knob we noticed another group over at Acra Point. Cindy hooted and hollered over to them. Of course, she knew them. Cindy and her hubby bushwhacked up to the summit of Burnt Knob. We then descended down into the valley to get to our cars.

When we got to the bottom the stream was a little challenging to cross, but nothing terrible. We then jumped into the cars and headed back to Peck PA to pickup our cars. We then headed down to Cave Mountain Brewery. Munched on lunch, and enjoyed the company of our fellow hikers. A truly nice day with a great group of people.

Here are some pictures:

Topo map of the hike:
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Top of WHP looking east and north:
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Heading down WHP summit towards Burnt Knob:
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Looking over the Batavia Valley:
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Panoramic of WHP from the west view point before Burnt Knob:
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Picture of WHP from the east view point before Burnt Knob:
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Panoramic of Acra Pt, BH, BD, TC from the west side of Burnt Knob:
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Dramatic view of BH & BD in the clouds:
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mtnclimber
Posts: 496
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:46 pm

Re: Windham High Peak & Burnt Knob Loop

Unread post by mtnclimber »

Sounds like everyone had fun. Views look pretty good. I need to get back this way soon. Maybe a snowshoe hike?
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