Mt Jo Trail, Heart Lake - Adirondacks Fall Foliage (Oct 2021)

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Originally, we had thought about doing the Cascade Mountain trail after Owls Head, but because of the time we spent at Owls head, we decided that it would be too late to start Cascade Mountain trail that late in the day. We had a plan B to go to Mt. Jo near Heart Lake in the Adirondack Loj area. When we got to the parking area, there were signs that the parking lot was full – and it seemed like a huge parking area! Luckily, we were told that there is couple of spots that we could park. The trail head for Mt. Jo started within a few yards from the entrance to parking and the trail went past the shores of Heart Lake.  Within a few yards into the trail, there was bifurcation to take either a short or long trail. We were told that the short trail is steeper than the long trail. So, we decided to take the short trail on the way up and come back in the long trail. 



The short trail is the steepest we have ever encountered. It was not just steep, but too rocky as well. In many spots, you need to be on 4 limbs, but for most of the rest of the hike, a hiking stick would definitely be helpful for people like us novices who are not so fit! Along the trail, there were hardly any vista points until you reach the summit. This is in very contrast to the Owls Head trail. During this hike, the breeze we had earlier had literally died down, making this one a sweaty and hard hike. Along the way, we were so impressed to see couple elderly ladies scaling rocky steep portions. The steep and rocky trail culminated with a spot near the summit, where ladders were built to ease that part of the hike.  At the summit, the views were good but the full view of the Heart Lake was obstructed by the tree lines. Given the limited views at the summit, we didn’t spend much time and started our hike down. At a junction, we chose the long trail, hoping the steepness might be lower. While the level of steepness is not that much different, it is a longer trail but the markings were not so great making it a difficult one. We wished we had taken the short trail at many spots when we could not spot the trail markers! And, there were no one we encountered all along the way until we got closer to the junction point of short and long trail, making it an even more spookier for us. 

At the end of the trail, we relaxed a bit along the shores of the Heart Lake before heading back to the parking lot.





Scenes of Adirondacks










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