May 23, 2023
Standing Indian Mountain via Deep Gap
A cool and misty, almost rainy hike, but the weather improved as the day went on to where the views from Standing Indian Mountain began to appear as we ate lunch there. The trail is not a steep incline, but is very rocky and rooty throughout making the hike moderately difficult. While not a lot of wildflowers, the trail was lined with Bluets for most of the way making it a pleasant sight. FS 71 continues to be in good condition making access to the Deep Gap trailhead a long, but fairly easy drive. All-in-all, a very good hike!
The route
5.3 mi · 1,161 ft climbing · 4h 4m out, 3h 20m walking · 1.6 mph moving
Elevation
Hover over the profile to see the elevation and steepness. Your position will be shown on the map.
- Steepness
- Gentle under 5%
- Moderate 5–10%
- Steep 10–15%
- Very steep over 15%
25 photos are shown on the map where they were taken — click one to see it full size.
Photos (30)
Matt checking out the emerging view from Standing Indian Mountain. Today's Hikers (L-R) Back: Jim, Matt, Rich, Ken, Edwin, Rex, Mike & Dick; Front: Angela, Jenny, Mike, Beth, Shelia, Vic, Jane & Squirt At the trailhead. Squirt is waiting . . . always not bothered by much of anything. And off we go! Another white wildflower day. Top: Star Chickweed; LR: Clintonia; LL: Mountain Meadow-rue Could these be Gall Mites? One of several late season Catesby's Trillium seen today. Maple-leaf Viburnum Indian Cucumber Bristly Buttercup Oh my! Another Jack-in-the-Pulpit. A very healthy clump of Common Violets not often given a second thought. The trail was extensively lined by these Bluets. Quite pretty. Thanks for waiting. What's going on with these bare Rhododendron? Fire perhaps. Gotta love nature's artwork with these trees! Yep! We're on the AT. Any tree experts out there? Could this be a Yellow Birch? First glimpses of the mountains as we approached the summit of Standing Indian. Yep. We made it. First "no view" from Standing Indian. What a disappointment. But hey, Rich's camera can see through the clouds with it's infrared capability. Neat! So let's have lunch. Something is fishy here. This Rhododendron blooming atop Standing Indian when no other Rhododendron were in bloom along the trail. Perhaps not native. But it did finally begin to clear as we left. Beautiful view. Headed back. This would make a spooky sight on Halloween night. Or perhaps the "animated" tree would spook you, too. Or, more scary might be meeting the bear depositing this scat. What do you think Heather?