Ampersand Mountain is a mountain in Franklin County in the

High Peaks Wilderness Area The High Peaks Wilderness Area, the largest Forest Preserve unit in the U.S. state of New York, is located in three counties and six towns in the Adirondack Park: Harrietstown in Franklin County, North Elba, Keene, North Hudson and Newcom ...

of the northeastern

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

, west of the High Peaks proper in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. The trail up the mountain begins on

New York State Route 3 New York State Route 3 (NY 3) is a major east–west state highway in New York, in the United States, that connects central New York to the North Country region near the Canada–US border via Adirondack Park. The route extends for be ...

southwest of the village of Saranac Lake, near

Middle Saranac Lake Middle Saranac Lake, also called Round Lake, is the smallest of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. Two-thirds of its shoreline is state-owned. The lake is lo ...

; it is a popular day hike. The mountain takes its name from nearby Ampersand Creek, so named because it twists and turns like the

ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters ''et''—Latin for "and". Etymology Traditionally in English, when spelling aloud, any letter that ...

symbol.Goodwin, Tony, ed., ''Adirondack Trails, High Peaks Region'', Lake George, New York: Adirondack Mountain Club, 2004. The summit is bare rock, with extensive views of the High Peaks to the east and the Saranac Lakes to the west. Stony Creek Mountain is located west-southwest of Ampersand Mountain. The mountain is notable as the land surrounding its hiking trail's initial ascent is generally acknowledged as unlogged

old growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

History

W.W. Ely made the first recorded ascent of Ampersand Mountain in 1872. Ely and Dr. William Reed and three others later cleared the summit of trees, and built a

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

. The following year,

Verplanck Colvin Verplanck Colvin (January 4, 1847 – May 28, 1920) was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features t ...

cleared the remaining trees while working on his survey of the Adirondacks, and subsequent fires and erosion left the summit bare. Colvin credits Ely for the mountain's name. New York State built a fire lookout station on the summit in 1911, although a fire tower was deemed unnecessary due to the open views available. By 1920, tree growth was such that a steel Aermotor LS40

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

was purchased and erected in 1921. The tower was used until 1970, when the

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (informally referred to as NYSDEC, DEC, EnCon or NYSENCON) is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection ...

closed it, as it had become more cost-effective to spot fires using aircraft. The tower was removed in July, 1977. There is a memorial near the summit to hermit Walter Channing Rice, who manned the fire tower from 1915 to 1923. Ampersand was the first mountain that wilderness activist and explorer Bob Marshall climbed, in 1915, when he was 14. In 1925, Marshall, his brother

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and Herbert K. Clark became the first to climb all 46 of the Adirondack peaks over ,Brown, Phil (ed). 2006. ''Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks''. Saranac Lake, New York: Lost Pond Press. . becoming the first

Adirondack Forty-Sixers The Adirondack Forty-Sixers are an organization of hikers who have climbed all forty-six of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. They are often referred to just as 46ers. As of 2021, there were nearly 14,000 regi ...

. Image:Ampersand Mountain - High Peaks.jpg, View of Ampersand Lake and the High Peaks to the east Image:Ampersand Mountain - Lower Saranac Lake.jpg, View of

Lower Saranac Lake Lower Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. With Middle Saranac Lake and Upper Saranac Lake, a paddle with only one portage is possible. ...

to the north. Image:Ampersand Mountain - Middle Saranac Lake view.jpg, Northwest view from Ampersand of

(left), with Weller Pond directly above.

Upper Saranac Lake Upper Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, in the towns of Santa Clara and Harrietstown, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. Upper Saranac Lake is the sixth largest lak ...

is just visible at top, and

at far right.

References

External links

*
Adirondack Mountain Club - Ampersand MountainNYroute30.com - Ampersand Mountain Topographic Map
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120313122213/http://www.nysforestrangers.com/towers5.htm#ampersand Ampersand Mt. Fire Tower - The Fire Towers of New York {{Fire lookout towers in New York Mountains of Franklin County, New York Adirondacks Mountains of New York (state)

History

See also

References

External links