Cascade mountain and Porter mountain hike is a very popular hike in the Adirondack Mountains. A person can easily get to both mountains or viewpoint by traveling one trail. It seems that a lot of hotels and tour guides recommend this hike which often means that the place is very pack and full in the weekends. I went here in the morning to avoid such crowds and it was pretty good and pretty peaceful. The cascade mountain viewpoint is very large while the porter mountain viewpoint is somewhat small.
Cascade Mountain Important Information
Trail Map: Trail Map 1
Suggested Phone GPS Apps: Alltrails.com, Avenza Maps, Google Maps
Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous
Distance: 5.6 Miles
Elevation Gained: 2,300 ft
Portable Toilet At Parking: Yes
Trail Breakdown
1.8 Miles Going Up To Intersection
0.7 Miles To Porter Mountain
0.7 Miles Back To Intersection
0.4 Miles To Cascade Mountain
2.2 Miles Going Back
Note: The information is just an approximation.
Parking
Start Of The Hike
The moment one learns how to hike, troublesome things set in. I found myself addicted, sleeping in places I didn’t know I would, and traveling to places I didn’t know existed. There was just something inside me that wanted to hike, to go to places I had never been to before, and to explore viewpoints I would never forget.
The man-made staircase greeted me as I dived deep down the footpath to get to the trail head. Today, I found myself awake at 5 AM just to hike a very popular trail and avoid the crowd that will come in time.
Trail Head
Blue Trail
Blue Trail Ascending
The trail became even steeper with boulders and rocks scattered through out the footpath but the chilly morning air that surrounded me cooled my body and gave me more than enough energy to keep on going. It was a simple trail, straight to the top but it was not easy on the body as well. I moved one step after another, I wasn’t in a hurry but I didn’t want to hike in a slow manner either. Just a good pace to get me up to the viewpoint before the crowd gets to this place.
Blue Trail Ascent
The trail kept ascending without any hints of it ever ending. A few hikers passed me by as fatigue started accumulating within my body. I huffed and puffed heavily while saying “good morning” to everyone that I met. I had been hiking for 4 days straight and this was my last hike before going home. My body couldn’t recuperate fast enough as stress and fatigue seemed to have taken their toll on my body with each passing day.
Blue Trail
Perhaps it was the heavy hiking backpack that I was carrying as well. It was around 20 pounds, the last time I checked. Maybe carrying such a heavy backpack was not a wise idea but I had no choice. The camera, batteries and tripod were all very important pieces of equipment that I needed to have. I am more passionate of photography than hiking as well as such there was no choice but to carry them.
Blue Trail Going Up
The ascending footpath was relentless. It kept ascending, going up and up without any hint of ending. The popularity of this hike was based on the scenery and viewpoint but I wouldn’t say this was an easy hike for beginners and tourists. I wouldn’t recommend this hike for physically unfit people either as the elevation gain was rather high. But this place is better than most as the views are very good and there’s enough space for a big crowd of people as well.
Blue Trail Rocky Trail
Rocks and rocks and more rocks. There was like so many rocks in the trail going up the mountain. The amount of rocks didn’t decrease either. It was a trail filled with rocks in the beginning, in the middle and in the end as well.
Blue Trail
I swiped the dirt off a rock and sat on it for a while. The constant ascending nature of this trail had taken its toll on my body and I couldn’t handle it any longer. I sat on a stone, took out a piece of bread and rested for a while. Just a little bit of rest to let the legs let off some of the stress they had been accumulating.
Blue Trail Sunlight
Blue Trail
The rocky trail just didn’t want to end. I remembered the first time I came here, there were too many people but there were too many dogs as well. The dogs were able to get up rather easily while their owners were struggling hard just to make a step. This trail was not something that people should underestimate.
Blue Trail Steep
The light of the morning sun beamed down upon me from the opening at the end of the forest. Hope filled me heart as I was very tired at this point in time. Hiking multiple days had not been kind to the body. If only my legs would recuperate fully every time I sleep, then it would be great as I could keep hiking every day.
Almost At The Top
The smooth stone was too slippery for my boots so I hugged the sides. There was a footpath at the left side, although it looked more like an unintentional trail created by people who couldn’t get up the smooth stone.
First Viewpoint
The first viewpoint was where a lot of beginners and tourists give up even though Cascade mountain was just a few feet away. I think it was psychological. Sometimes the body can keep going but the mind would give up. So while the viewpoint in this place was decent, it would be a lot better if people keep going to Cascade or Porter Mountain.
Intersection
I decided to go to Porter Mountain first.
Porter Mountain Lookout
Porter Mountain was disappointing as the trees blocked the viewpoint. The place offered a 360 view which was great but there was barely anything I could see because the trees blocked the scenery from my eyes.
Trail To Cascade Mountain
Almost At The Top Of Cascade Mountain
Walking Up
Cairnes
Cascade Mountain Views
Cascade Mountain Lookout
Cascade Mountain View Point
Cascade Mountain Vista
Cascade Mountain Scenery
Cascade Mountain
Cascade Mountain Landscape
Cascade Mountain
Cascade Mountain Right Side
Cascade Mountain Right Side Lookout
Cascade Mountain
Cascade Mountain Going Back
Walking Downward
Blue Trail Descent
Blue Trail Going Back
End Of The Hike
