Cliff Mountain

Overview

The forty-fourth highest peak on the 46ers list but like its three sisters Blake,Nye and Couchaschraga it has now been relegated to just a few feet below 4000 feet. Maybe some of us should start a new club called "The Fallen Sisters" for just climbing these four?

It now is about forty-sixth place in order of height but this all depends who makes the list.

There is one well established if very wet heardpath that heads to the summit. No doubt if it hasn’t seen a lot of work by the ADR46ers it soon will as the trail is notoriously wet and in poor condition at times. It is a rather short hike as trailless peaks go and should only take about 2 ½ to 3 hours round trip.

It begins following the abandoned Twin Brook trail, which starts just to the S of the former site of the Twin Brook Lean-to (The lean-to was taken down after the microburst storm of 1995.
The trail in to the lean-to site is now very open and there's lots of rasberries in season. Watch for BEARS ! ).

It should not be hard to miss as it is directly behind the old lean-to site and is an old corduroy road (logs laid side by side over wet ground) going strait through a swamp.

The standard route leaves the marked trail at a large cairn very close to the Uphill Leanto. After a few minutes you will come to a second cairn and a fork. The left fork goes to Redfield. Take the right fork to Cliff. After traversing a swampy area you will start to climb very steeply up to the summit ridge. Continue over the false summit, descend into a col, and then shortly thereafter climb to the true summit. The route is fairly easy to follow but take extreme care on the cliffs in wet weather.

There is no view of any worth on the peak but one does get some nice views from the cliffs on the way up.

Needless to say as this is very rough area and the heardpath is poor so a map and compass is a must for this climb.

Getting There

Like the other peaks in the area Cliff sits basically in the center of all the trails so the possible start points come from all directions. Check out the Marshal, Refield, or Gray posts for just some of the trailhead possibilities.

Red Tape

The frist part of both the Upper and Lower Works trails, The Adirondack Mountian Reserve trails and the Elk Lake trail are on private land please observe these simple rules

1) No camping, fishing or hunting
2) No off-trail travel including rock climbing or bushwhacking, or use of non public trail
3) No boating or swimming, including portable boats brought by the public
4) NO DOGS or other pets are permitted unless on a leash

As of June 30th, 2001 all parties regardless of size in the Eastern Zone (High Peaks) of the Park must fill in and possess a self-issuing "trip ticket," which may be obtained at the trailhead. People have been fined and turned around for not having one and at the more popular trailheads the Ranger on duty will not let you pass without one. This can cause some delays in getting onto the trail.

When To Climb

If you like dry feet and hate wet feet go at the end of summer.

Camping

Same as for all Adirondack mountians.

1) No Camping above 4,000 feet
2) No camping withing 150 feet of a stream or other water source except at a designated campsite.
3) No soap or washing withing 150 feet of water
4) Pack it in Pack it out is the rule for garbage
5) Only dead and down wood can be used for fires and set in a proper fire pit. ( local etiquette is to use a stove and not a fire)

Mountain Conditions

some good links

ADk 46ers
Adirondack Hiking Portal

Whats In a Name

Our old friend Colvin came up with this apt but not very imaginative name for Cliff.

Hmm!! Lets see here a peak with cliffs…. Ahhh! I got it. I shall call you “Cliff”. Real stroke of brilliance there bud, just about at the same level as the guy who bestowed the name “Main Summit” upon of the main summit peak on Logan.

The Swiss and the Italians have this naming thing down much better than us in NA. All five summits of Monte Rosa all have really cool names in both German and Italian. Simple ridges boast, bone chilling names like “Menschenfresser “ or Man-eater to us English types. Well I suppose we do have Nippletop as a consolation.

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Images

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