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Kane Mountain South Trail

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  • Kane Mountain South Trail

    Did the Kane Mountain Hunting Club close the south trail from School House Rd? I notice new posted signs all along the trail. The way they are oriented on the trees at the state boundary gives the impression that they don't want anyone using it anymore.

  • #2
    I keep checking on its progress. The trail closed and posted signs keep getting worse and worse. The trail entrance has been blocked by brush. Its done for. So much for the residences there using it religiously every day, and Canada Lake Protection members telling me that the hunting club doesn't care about its use. I was told that this summer. I'm going to miss that trail, it was my favorite. I liked the quick, but challenging climb. I liked seeing the lakes through the trees as I ascended the mountain and seeing that hemlock forest on the left close to the top.
    Last edited by Lonehiker; 09-11-2017, 01:13 AM.

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    • #3
      I have been doing a lot of work exploring Kane Mountain. I'm not happy about losing the south trail. I love the south trail. It was the way I usually started on the mountain. I miss it's quick but challenging climb and seeing the lakes behind me. I miss emerging at the top, walking through that weedy clearing. So I came up with a plan to tap the south trail through bushwhacking around the posted property. It is convenient that there is a parking area at the boat lunch for West Lake. The boat launch is accessed off of Route 10 through Breeze Point Rd. and taking the right fork for W Lake Rd. It is only a quarter mile from route 10. This parking access Rd. is just passed the termination of the private property across route 10. So there is a jump off point right there. I made sure there was no private property at the jump off point, by studying the tax maps.

      Kane Mountain has a primary ridge ascending up it's south side. It's like part of a north-south axis. The private Parcel, blocking the south trail, dominates almost the entire southeastern side of the mountain at its base. It's the area of School House Rd. and Green Lake. It terminates east of the primary ridge and west of Green Lake Rd. Obviously, there are smaller home, camp, and business parcels embedded in there. The dominate parcel is owned by Upper Hudson Woodlands ATP. They obviously, have leased the property to hunting clubs. They post the property.

      The southern trail starts from School House Rd., east of the primary ridge. I broke up the Southern Trail into three stages. The stages are, the private land, lower mountain, and upper mountain. It starts out at the private parcel, which is now POSTED. It climbs for a moment up away from the Road. It then levels off in a wet area. The woods open up. Looking west, you can see the primary ridge line rising up to the mountain in front of you. Shortly, you cross the property line and enter State Land. There has been a large log laying across the trail at the boundary.

      The trail immediately begins moderate climbing once it enters state land. During the lower climb, the trail goes through two steep pitches. There is a tree in the middle of the trail on the second pitch. After the second pitch, the trail levels off at what I call the upper plateau. The trail is merging with the southern ridge here. Before you, is the upper stage, with its foreboding steepness. I know it's nothing to people who can do mass High Peak traverses, 14teeners, and Wind River traverses. The point is it's steep for the average person who climbs once in awhile on a family picnic outing.

      The upper stage is a highly eroded steep climb, probably about .2 to .3 miles long. Right at the beginning is a series of muddy slippery rock slabs and a few trees strewn across the trail. When the trail merges with the ridge it smooths out and moderate climbing continues. You can see the top a short distance away with a few boulders to rest on. At the top there is a weedy clearing and the fire tower is straight ahead.

      Now, my objective was to bushwhack around the private property and tap the trail at the lower mountain section. I chose my jump off point across from Breeze Point Rd. or Reference Mile 17.0. It's on the west side of the southern ridge. I didn't use any instruments. I eyeballed everything. I bushwhacked up a southwestern hill to keep my distance from private land. Along the way there was a stream valley to my left. The woods were open and it was a pleasant walk. I could see the mountain silhouetted through the trees. When I got to the top of the hill, I turned right into the stream valley. I crossed the 3 foot wide stream by a curious mound of dirt and rock. I started to wonder if it was man made. There was a small pond just downstream. On the other side was Kane's southern Ridge. It was steeper to the left as it was rising up to the mountain. It was easy to gain the ridge heading slightly right. I found myself on a plateau section. I saw boulders and rough terrain heading up the ridge. I could see mountains silhouetted to the west and the lakes to the south. This would be my staging point to figure out how to best join with the trail.

      My first attempt from the staging point was to make a B line for the trail. I descended the ridge and headed east. I quickly ran into the posted signs marking the private property. I paralleled the boundary and joined the trail at the base of the mountain.

      My second attempt was to ride along the contour. It was a pain. There was some blow down and the understory was thicker. I probably won't use that route again. What I did see was a drainage descending from a notch in the ridge. I joined the trail a little higher from the base.

      My third route was made, jumping off the trail on a return trip. I decided to jump off at the upper plateau. It was unfortunately, brushy at first. But it then got easier. It turned out to be a graceful descent to the lower plateau. It wasn't as rough as I the thought it would be. I just had to stay close to the western edge. I saw the notch where the drainage began. There was another short band of brush before reaching the checkpoint. From there I descend back to the southwest hill. In the future I might do a more direct experimental route. It would be more along the stream instead of going up the southwest hill.

      I'm wondering if a reroute of the southern trail could be made through what I described. The parking area already exists. you can even put a trail along the north side of the parking access road, since that is state land. Just a thought.
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      Last edited by Lonehiker; 04-22-2019, 08:00 AM.

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