Ski into County Line Lake (Pinnacle Rd TH) 1/6/2021

[50something]

Amazingly good conditions given the thaw 2 weeks ago. Solid 6” base with fresh 2” powder. The blue marked DEC trail to the lake is an old road with only minor stream crossings which though open water, we easily crossed with minimal detours. We skiied out on the lake for 20 yards and pole probing showed pretty firm ice under 5” snow but another week of cold will remove any safety doubts. The only real climb is the 1/3 mile over the shoulder of Pigeon Mt on the last mile in. Ski out was 2/3 of the way in and the downhills are more manageable given the wide and open edges of the trail. We’ll be back once all water freezes solid as we plan to add a ski bushwhack to Fisher Vly.


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[DSettahr]

Nice photo. I took a trip into County Line Lake a few years ago after spending the previous night in the Chase Lake Lean-to. That stretch of the Adirondacks has always intrigued me- there's a decent number of off-trail lakes and ponds and it's always seemed like a good area to find both scenic beauty and solitude for those willing to bushwhack especially. But I've also spent relatively little time there, apart from the aforementioned overnight, an overnight to Holmes Lake, and a day hike up Kane Mountain.

[Bark Eater Too]

Thanks for the report. I was in there for the first time back in September in conjunction with a climb up Pigeon Mountain. Pretty country!

[50something]

skiied into the lake again, this time with new 2-3" at trailhead and over 6" new powder at the 2400 elev on the last 1/2 mile to lake. We skiied across the lake and poked around looking for potential route to Duck Lake, but then took the shorter distance toward Fisher Vly and got halfway, per GPS. Route isn't too bad, it follows the natural break in the steeper slopes separating the two drainage areas and we reached height of land and a small stream that flowed south in about 45 min. The unconsolidated snow and heavy load on all the tree branches slows progress and makes visibility a challenge, so we turned back but will return the first week of Feb, and we'll get to Fisher Vly then.. Doubtless our tracks were obliterated a few hours after we set them as this year with the Great lakes being warm, the Tug Hill effect on the western and southern adks is bringing lotta snow every few days (that no internet weather forecast can know about).