-Submitted by Sue Cameron
I am ashamed (yes, completely and abashedly ashamed) to say in all my years growing up and living here and being an outdoors person, I have never climbed Baxter Mountain in Keene. I've spent considerable time at Baxter Mt. Tavern bar, but I've recently been informed that doesn't count!
Waking up one fine fall morning in September, you may come to the same conclusion I did and think to yourself, "Hmm - I think I'll finally climb Baxter Mountain today". If you do, you'll be fantastically rewarded for such a minimal effort. My husband agreed to drop one of those "important projects" of the weekend and accompany me, along with Bear, our 5 month-old Yellow Labrador. It would be Bear's very first peak bagging experience (hey! Baxter Mt. IS a peak, small as it may be).
To find the trailhead, take Route 9N between Keene and Keene Valley toward Elizabethtown. At a little shy of two miles, look for Hurricane Road on the left. The trailhead is directly across the highway on the right. The DEC sign at the trailhead says Baxter Mt. 1.1 miles. We made sure we had all the survival gear we'd potentially need for our outing - string cheese, water for us, water for Bear, chocolate non-pareils, an apple, cameras and leash. Oh, and the Ibuprofen (I'm in my 50's and have a bad knee!). Whatever you do, if nothing else, make sure you bring the camera part, oh and, well, maybe the water.
It was a spectacular early fall day - in truth it was still summer by the calendar - with not a cloud in the sky except way off on the horizon and the leaves barely starting to change in the general area. We set off on our adventure. The trail up Baxter is easy and gentle with lots of switchbacks to keep it from being too steep in places. The forest is mostly hardwood, with lots of beech and oak trees along with the usual suspects of evergreen and maple and poplar. The ground was covered in places by beech nuts and acorn tops - the squirrels were obviously very busy up there in the canopy, and the bears must love this part of the big woods. The forest floor was covered in dappled sunlight from the cloudless sky. Just a beautiful place. Pay attention about 3/4 of the way up the trail, as it divides and there is a sign directing you to Baxter Mt. to the right, and Beede Road to the left. If you wind up on Beede Road you've a long hike back without having been to the summit!
The last part of the climb is over some big boulders, made much easier for those of us challenged by physical limitations, such as age and knees, by some cleverly placed logs to step up on and trees to grasp ahold of. Good planning on the tree placement! It's a wonder they have any bark left on them after being grabbed by all the hands of passing hikers. At any rate, the path kind of divides and goes to various locations around the summit, making it easy to get a spot away from all the people that theoretically could be there on a busy day. We did that and relaxed while Bear chewed on an apple core, which he proceeded to drop down the cliff not once, but multiple times after I retrieved it for him. Who's the retriever here? His juvenile mind thought it was a great game, until I finally wised up and stopped going to get it. Then he decided to go get it and I almost had to retrieve HIM!
We finally summited to the large rocky peak, and were rewarded by the most spectacular view of the Route 9N corridor looking toward Hurrricane Mt. and Elizabethtown and on the South side by Keene Valley and the Great Range. I can't imagine more view bang for your buck on such a short climb. The village of Keene Valley is laid out below you with the Keene Valley Central School the dominant building. Back in the 1800's the valley was known as Keene Flats, and it's obvious why.
Definitely don't be like me and forget to make this wonderful little climb at some point in your life - hopefully do it before your knees give you problems like mine did when I got down. Round trip took us about two and a half hours, including the time spent retrieving apple cores and marveling and photographing the views.
Summary Statistics
Total distance: 2.7 miles.
Time par: 2.5 hours.
Cumulative ascent: 930 feet.