Nearly at the bottom of the ADK 46er list (Adirondack 4,000 Footers) Dial Mountain is number 41 of 46. At 4,020 feet, it is barely over 4,000 feet. It has long been considered a classic hike in the area.

I drove from Tom’s house in Queensbury, NY to Lake Road. He told Mark, Jon and I that the first time he hiked Dial it was in April where he encountered a huge area of fallen trees due to a fire years earlier. He lost the trail and had to bushwhack down to Lake Road. He was curious to see where he lost the trail. A hike to Dial Mountain by itself is 9-miles round-trip with a 3,450 feet elevation gain.

The naming of Dial is a story in itself. Where the name comes from is a little bit of a mystery. It was first conferred on Nippletop by someone in the Emmons’ survey of 1837 but this name (Dial) conflicted with the local name of the peak (Nippletop). Old Mountain Phelps balked at calling his Nippletop anything else, no matter what some of the more fastidious tourists and writers said about this most unchristian of names. Phelps just transferred the name (Dial) to a lower peak further down the ridge and both names have stuck ever since.

The hike has a steady ascent with occasional steep sections. There are a number of things to look at while ascending and one gets a great view at the end.

We started out from the Ausable Club trailhead at Lake Road. I like starting out on Lake Road. I always marvel at the entrance gate. We then hooked up with the Henry-Goddard Leach Trail for our ascent.

One part of the trail you cannot miss is the large fire zone that cut a swath across Noonmark Mountain’s shoulder in 1999. This is the area where Tom lost the trail. One really sees the devastation that is caused by careless camping and there are scorched trees on the way telling you this. One also gets some sort of idea of the magnificent views that one would have in the late 19th century when most of the surrounding area was clear-cut.

On the shoulder of Noonmark we were at 3,000 feet. The views were wonderful but we had to move on descending into the col. From the col we started back up the other side of Bear Den Mountain. There are directional signs on the summit of Bear Den Mountain, which was usually missed by hikers on the way up or down. It is basically just a pleasant green forest and if there were water it would be a really good place to camp.

On the summit of Dial we first encountered a group of boys from a local camp. They soon departed and we then had the summit to ourselves for a leisurely lunch break. From Dial one can see an almost complete panorama of the Great Range with its peaks visible in a line across the entire northern horizon. One can see further up the ridge to Nippletop and then Noonmark down below. To the South one gets a great view of the Dix Range with their many slides.

We hiked back out the way we came. Counting the group of boys on top, I think we saw only 10 hikers on the Henry-Goddard Leach Trail the entire day. We made good time hiking 9 miles in 7.25 hours! We ended our trip with a disappointing dinner at the Noonmark Diner. This used to be a legendary place to eat for hikers but their standards have fallen. At least the company was great!

View Slide Show (Press F11 for full effects)