Another Scenic Hike at Another Unique Area

The view from the top of Jones Hill, looking at the Labrador Unique Area, is truly impressive, and that’s one of the goals of the OSC’s June 5th hike.

• We’ll meet at 10:30 in the parking area at Spruce Pond off Herlihy Road, 4.6 miles east of Tully.
  
• The hike starts out with a challenging 230 foot climb on a North Country Trail section that could use a few more switchbacks.  Once we get to the top of the hill, the trail is fairly flat and heads west across private land, gradually going into a valley and then back up to the Jones Hill hang gliding launch site.  From the launch site the view of Labrador Hollow and the surrounding hills is spectacular.
  
• The round trip from Spruce Pond to Jones hill is a little more than three miles with a pretty decent change in elevation.  However, an option for a five mile hike will include continuing on the NCT, south to the top of Tinker Falls and then returning.
  
• The trail across to Jones Hill used to be extremely muddy, but the work of the ADK people has provided a series of foot bridges that pretty much eliminated that. (With this spring’s drought, there isn’t any mud to speak of.) However, the trail has lots of roots and irregular sections, and going back down that steep section near Spruce Pond calls for good boots and at least one hiking pole.
  

Map Link