Rambles In The Brambles: Black Bear Mountain Hiking Trip

We did another hike, in the days preceding the Sillick family reunion. Black Bear Mountain, well-known in the region, is visible from Standing Pines. The trail, used for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter, could be climbed in only a couple of hours, but offered a good view of the surrounding territory. (A geocache is supposedly located at the top, but we did not know of its existence at the time.) Mountains are on a bit of a different scale in the east (this one peaked at about 3000 feet), but the trail was fairly steep in certain sections.

	Theresa and Tom Standing, on the trail up Black Bear Mountain.
	The last portion of the trail consisted of some serious scrambling over rocks. It is always a good trail when you have to use your hands as well as your feet.
	The view of Sixth Lake from the top. We could see Standing Pines, and the people back at the cottage thought they saw us, too. We had two-way radios, and we able to easily hear the "home base".
	U.S. Survey marker, on the top of Black Bear Mountain.
	Chris Mandile, looking down on the cottages below.
	Other mountains in the Adirondack park can be seen off to the east.
	The Black Bear Mountain Expedition. Right to left: Jeff Borlik, Chris Mandile, Tom Standing, Theresa Standing.
	The trail was mucky-wet in some spots. This looks like the imprint of a bear claw.