Indian head is a fairly well known hike in upstate New York that rewards the adventurer with the view above. My wife and I are avid travelers and when we are visiting some remote place in another part of the world we typically pick a nearby mountain to go hike, but we are not avid hikers. We live in upstate New York and have only ever hiked a few of the amazing trails through the Adirondacks. This trail happened to be one of the few and we did it in the fall to in order to see some amazing foliage. 

The trail its self is a 10.4 mile loop that is rated as moderate to intermediate depending on the weather. The majority of the hike is along a road that is a very easy walk and passes by a small pond area that has clear evidence of beaver activity. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any beavers when I was there but maybe next time I will. Toward the end of the road we chose to take a half mile detour to see Rainbow falls (which is highly recommended). 

My wife and I spent some time here as I looked around with my gear and scouted out some spots for a good shot of the falls that ran down the massive rock face. When I found the first location that I wanted to shoot, I took off my pack and started to pull out my camera gear. I searched for what felt like an hour in a panic until I finally accepted that I had left my tripod mounting plate at home! I had no way to attach my camera to my tripod which would be necessary for the long exposure shot I was setting up to take of the falls. Fortunately I keep a roll of painters tape in my bag so I decided to give that a try. I set up my tripod and framed up the shot in my camera. When I had the shot I wanted, I wrapped tape all round the camera to attach it to the tripod. It wasn’t a very sturdy connection but it would work for the few seconds I needed to get the shot. I made a few minor adjustments, screwed on the ND filter I had brought, and with the camera trigger wet to a 2 second delay, I pressed the shutter and let go. I was watching my camera like a hawk waiting for the camera to start slipping out of the tape cage which was all that was keeping it from crashing the rocks below. A few seconds later when capture was done, I checked the viewfinder and was relieved to see my first shot of Rainbow Falls came out perfect!

Due to the uncertainty of my tape job I decided it would be best to try only 1 more shot before moving on. I wanted to get a different foreground with some leading lines so I climbed up some rocks with my camera and tripod in hand in order to get in position to have a moss covered fallen tree pointing right toward the falls. When I got in position, I knew this would be a great shot with solid leading lines but the spot was difficult to get to and didn’t have anywhere for my tripod to get any footing. This forced me to extend the legs as far as they would go and collapse them into a single pillar more like a mono pod. I braced myself against the rocks and stabilized my hand since I needed to hold the tripod in place for the full exposure without introducing any movement that would blur the foreground that was so key to this shot. After hitting the shutter I waited again to see if my efforts would pay off and I was rewarded for my efforts with this shot.

After stopping off at Rainbow Falls, we  retraced our steps and got back to the road. From there, we took the trail, which begins a steeper climb than how the hike had been up until then. There was also a section where we needed to climb a wooden ladder which could be difficult for some. It wasn’t a breeze with a pack on but we managed okay. From there we continues to hike until we got to the very rewarding overlook. We had to climb down to get to the rock outcropping  that overlooks the valley below. The leaves were exploding with beautiful fall colors as they climbed up the large mountains that flanked the lake below. It looked like fire climbing the mountains, trying to escape from the water below. We spent a  fair amount of time up there enjoying the view and eating lunch. I took a number of handheld panoramic shots which I later stitched together in Lightroom. After taking a number of shots that I was satisfied with, we turned around and made our way back down the mountain so we could meet some friends for dinner before our journey home. If  you are looking for a hike in upstate New York with some amazing views, Indian Head should be near the top of your list.