I had a very nice day hiking and snowshoeing up South Besssemer. This was my first time up. It snowed like mad on top and of course that meant rain down lower. A long but nice trip. With the rain and minimal visibility I didn't take many pictures. The ones I took are posted with a report at the link below.
South Bessemer Mountain
I went up South Bessemer a few weeks ago and found it to be a little disappointing. The lack of snow (no snowshoes until 4000ft) made the road walk tedious and the logging on the upper sections of the mountain was downright depressing. The giant slide on the West side of South Bessemer is a great example of what happens to steep hillsides that have been denuded. The hike can be made more enjoyable by adding Moolock Mountain (Pt. 4965 on the USGS map) making a mini-loop. At the South Bessemer/Moolock saddle aka "kiss-your-ass-goodbye" pass, one can cut over from one mountain to the other thanks the nice people who have carved roads going in every possible direction in this area. At 4000 ft, a spur road connects South Bessemer and Moolock near the borrow pit on the map. From there, one can follow the road below Moolock to 4500ft and head up to the summit. I chose to take the rocky East ridge from about 4200ft for a nice easy scramble to the top. Combined with S. Bessemer, the Moolock hike comes in at 5000ft elevation gain and 12 miles making it a good winter workout.
I've always enjoyed South Bessemer in the winter. It's a long, simple hike that's offers solitude and a great workout. It's less than scenic along the way, but and once you reach the top the view is excellent. Next time I go up there I'll probably bring my bike to speed the tedious descent. I think this is a weird year with the lack of snow. When covered with snow the logged upper sections can actually be quite pretty.
Tom,
Thanks for the nice panorama of what I didn't see. I also saw that you have a number of photos on your web site. I have not seen Bessemer pictures anywhere else.
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