"Hiked Jay Mountain today 5/23. I arrived at the trailhead by 9:30, and made quick work of the 2.6 mile ascent up to the lookout, completing it in about an hour. This portion of trail is marked and relatively new, and is very easy for a 1900-foot ascent. It utilizes many switchbacks and is dry and not rocky at all. The forest is typical low-elevation hardwoods at first, but changes to a strange field of shrubs at around 2850 feet. Still, it was enjoyable to witness all the freshly leafed out saplings in this area. Bypassing the lookout for later, I began advancing toward Jay's summit. The trail meanders up and down rock slabs, traversing many bumps, including a very nice ledge looking south, before ascending a large grassy field up to West Jay. This peak is very open, and the top is mostly gravel and lichen. After passing this summit, I crossed a very large open portion of slab that I momentarily became lost on, and then started making the ascent to Central Jay. The trail dipped steeply over a final bump, before beginning a steep scramble up to the peak. This seems to be where a lot of hikers stop, as the trail becomes fainter after this. The entire portion from the lookout junction..." — elimihuta • May 23, 2026

"Went up Buck Mt. from Pilot Knob Road on this glorious Saturday with a high of 70 degrees. Perfect easy day to prepare for some High Peak trips this Summer, as the trail up Buck is relatively easy and never maintains too steep of a pitch. Dry trail even during mud season, but I find the view to be underwhelming. Still a good outing for my first hike of the season, and it was nice to get some elevation gain down." — elimihuta • Apr 18, 2026

"After spending a second night at Meacham Lake, I headed home today, stopping to hike Silver Lake Mountain on the way back. I'm glad I stopped. It was a stunning short hike, with beautiful red pines and open rocks on the way up. Not too steep, but the majority of the trail was interesting. The summit showcased a cool view of Taylor Pond, with Catamount Mt. rising beyond. There were also less deer flies on this trail, something I have newfound appreciation for after Loon Lake and Debar." — elimihuta • Jul 10, 2025

"Solo hike, beautiful day for a morning hike up Jay Mt. The hike up was a gradual, moderate climb. The entire ridge from jay mountain lookout upon ascending all the way to the benchmark was breathtaking. The scrambles were awesome and i got a good leg workout with all the ups and downs. After the marked trial ends you are on your own to the benchmark but there are cairns to help navigate! The bare rock section where the benchmark is a little hard to see as you have to go through a small but thick grove of young trees to get there. " — dennis-van-amburgh • Jul 4, 2025

"Tom and I left the parking area at 10:08 am under cloudy skies @ 23 °. The short road leading to the locked gate was unplowed and covered in about 8" of fresh powder. The road leading to the public parking area had not been plowed so far this season. . We managed to make an area for my SUV. An hour 20 mins later we summited . Shortly after, another couple and dog from Plattsburg joined us. The trip down after having broke the trail up only took 36 mins." — garyogden • Dec 7, 2024