Write-up: Jeremy Alexander
Leader: Paul Sirtoli
Co-Leader: Jeremy Alexander

Despite the fear of rain from a less-than-ideal forecast throughout the week, the latest offered hope that storms would remain south of the Thruway, so I, Paul & Cindy decided to attempt to tackle a remote mountain – unnamed on some maps, called Buck Meadow Mountain on others – in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness.  Paul arranged prior permission from the owners at Cabins at Chimney Mountain, as open public access to the trails from that property is now restricted.  We arrived in cloudy conditions at about 9:15 a.m.  Without Chloe, the owner’s dog that some of us grew fond of the week prior when she graciously lead the bushwhack to Puffer Mtn, the three of us headed out via the Carroll Brook trail to Puffer Pond.  We stopped at the lean-to that sits on a little rise above the lake, Paul noted our arrival in the lean-to book, and a chipmunk kept us entertained while we put together our final plans. 

Now on the North Country National Scenic Trail, a 4,800-mile trail from North Dakota to Vermont & of which 158 miles traverses the Adirondack Park, we headed east to the height of land and looked (in vain) for the junction with the Twin Ponds Trail, marked on my National Geographic map as well as in Paul’s recollection.  No worries, this was going to be a bushwhack anyway, so we drew a bearing for a knob & made our way toward the 2,587’ high point of Buck Meadow Mtn.  Shortly after noon, we summitted & had lunch in an open windblown tree graveyard. 

We made our way down on a heading toward Twin Ponds, and kept an eye out for viewpoints (very limited peaks over to Puffer Mtn).  The woods were not only open but large areas of field appeared on the gentle downslope toward the easternmost Twin Pond.  The Pond offered some more views of Puffer Mtn & Bullhead Mtn, but getting around it back to the “Twin Ponds Trail” was a little rough.  We found the (rarely used) campsite, and some sundry items that Paul was not allowed to carry out, but no trail.  We bushwhacked our way back to the North Country Trail, looked (again) for the Twin Ponds “Trail” junction, and can now confidently report that none exists. 

On our way back to Puffer Pond, we stopped at the 2^nd lean-to on that body of water, marked from the trail as a campsite but really an abandoned-but still decent lean-to.  We chose the Puffer Pond outlet trail, then found a cut-off to the Kings Flow trail, and were out of the woods and back to the Cabins by 5:30 p.m.