Ampersand Mountain, Saranac Lake, Adirondacks

Basic Information

Day 4 of our Lake Placid get-away

Link to AllTrails website for Ampersand Mountain

Date of hike: 08/29/2021

Difficulty level: hard

Distance: 5.4 miles round trip

Elevation: 3,353 feet

Elevation gain: 1,765 feet

Location: Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, Harrieststown, Franklin County, High Peaks Wilderness Area, northeastern Adirondack Mountains, NY

Saranac Lake

Our Airbnb rental for our Lake Placid trip was in Saranac Lake, which is approximately 10 miles from Lake Placid. If you are on a budget, it offers much cheaper accommodation options.

The village of Saranac Lake consists of the towns of Harrieststown, St. Armand, and North Elba and the counties of Franklin and Essex.

In the late 19th century, Saranac Lake became known as the pulmonary tuberculosis treatment center because of its fresh mountainous air.

It attracted celebrities such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, and Albert Einstein and obtained an artsy cultural vibe.

In 1995, Saranac Lake was named the best small town in New York State and ranked number 11 in the United States in The 100 Best Towns in America.

Today, like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake has numerous unique shops, art galleries, and restaurants. It offers tons of hiking and biking trails, fishing, birding, boating, canoeing, skiing, and swimming. It is famous for the Saranac Lake 6er hiking challenge.

Saranac Lake 6ers

The 6 Adirondack Mountains that comprise the Saranac Lake 6ers are McKenzie, Ampersand, Scarface, Haystack, St. Regis, and Baker. They are often used as an introduction to hiking in the Adirondacks.

Ampersand

Ampersand Mountain, the second highest of the 6ers in elevation, is named after the nearby Ampersand Creek, which twists and turns like the ampersand symbol “&”. The summit is above

Our Experience

This was the last day of our journey and we wanted to squeeze in a quick hike before our drive back home. Our Airbnb host recommended that we do one of the 6ers. We picked Ampersand Mountain. What a pleasant surprise! It was no less astonishing at the summit and no less steep of a climb than Cascade Mountain or Mt. Marcy. The view at the top is a panoramic 365 degrees. It is a wonderful choice if you are not ready or do not have the time to attempt a giant 46er climb.

After the third torturous ascent in our four day weekend, I started rethinking the purpose of hiking and if I ever want to do it again. However, like post childbirth, after only a few days, Sheldon and I were already discussing our next “child.”

We did learn one very important lesson from this experience – not to overload our mini vacations with hiking. Since we do not have too many opportunities to get away, we try to squeeze in as much hiking as possible but clearly, that does not yield the best satisfaction. We promised ourselves that, next time we climb giants like Marcy, we will ensure that the rest of the days will be spent on other activities such as easy flat hiking, canoeing, and biking.

Will we keep our promise or is the thirst for hiking stronger? Stay tuned for future posts to find out!