Adirondacks
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Hough, S. Dix, Grace, Macomb, Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge
The six-hour drive home after hiking in the Adirondacks is sometimes harder than the hike itself. Not this hike.
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Santanoni, Panther, Couchsachraga (August)
I had recently hiked the three Santanoni mountains in June, at the time remarking on how wet it was. Earlier this month, the drought had dried up even the wettest of trails; the thunderstorms that preceded this hike brought them back to their soaked and muddy glory. The lead-in trail to Bradley Pond was, unimaginably,…
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Marshall, Cliff and Redfield
These three peaks are normally two long days, but with enough will they make a single inspiring, exhausting, rewarding one.
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Wright, Algonquin and Iroquois In The Rain
The rain muffled my steps enough that I startled more wildlife than usual, and the bird songs were particularly crisp and clear.
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Dix with the 46ers
This was my first ever trail maintenance day. The 46ers gathered a crew to help clean up the trail to Dix, from Elk Lake to Hunters…
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Santanonis (Spring)
One of the justifications for pursuing a hiking ‘grid’ (seasonal, monthly, etc.) is to experience a place in different conditions. I definitely got a Spring full on…
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Cascade & Porter
Cascade (without Porter) was our first High Peak back in 2009. Like this day, it was hot and humid. Unlike this day, it felt impossible!
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Macomb, South Dix, and Grace
As a friend of mine says, “you don’t have to be having fun for it to be fun.”
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First Day of Spring in Keene Valley
Winter is over, both meteorologically and officially for the 46ers, so Kathy and I toted around Keene Valley and Keene (New York) enjoying our last day here.
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Armstrong & Upper WolfJaw (Winter)
After a successful hike to Big Slide and with continuing cool temperatures and sunshine, I had hoped to take Kathy on a more wintry hike. We packed the snowshoes, hoped for a white fluffy trail and headed up two of the lower Great Range, Armstrong and Upper WolfJaw Mountains.
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Big Slide Mountain (Winter)
The summit was glorious — brilliant sunshine, no wind, and panoramic views. We stayed a half hour but could have spent all afternoon. What a glorious summit for Kathy’s first winter 46!
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Adirondack Panoramas (Winter)
Some of the scenery this past week was breathtaking, and photos can’t really do it justice. On a couple occasions I took out my phone and snapped a few panoramic photos which perhaps show a bit more of the views.
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Dix, Hough, South Dix, Macomb, and Grace (Winter)
Joe was great to hike with, just as I’d assumed, the route was as interesting as I’d imagined, and I did better than both he and I expected. For five consecutive days of hiking, accumulating 87 miles and 27,000 vertical feet, I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
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Marcy, Skylight, Gray (Winter)
On climbing Gray Peak, I have now officially climbed all 46 Adirondack High Peaks twice. This beautiful, warm, frustrating, wonderful day was a perfect way to accomplish it.
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Phelps, TableTop, and Mount Colden (Winter)
The re-routed trail to TableTop sits very nearly at the top of Indian Falls, which I knew crossed over to Mount Colden…so I decided to keep going.
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Street & Nye (Winter)
I met a new friend and breakfast and convinced him to hike Street & Nye, mainly due to the cool weather being the last good chance for a bit before the El Niño warms things up.
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Donaldson, Emmons, Seward & Seymour (Winter)
This hike was gigantic. 27 miles — more than a full marathon. Way more than 6,000 vertical feet gained. Four summits. Just under 14 hours.
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Lower Wolf Jaw (Winter)
There are perfect days for hiking. This, unfortunately, was not one of them. In fact, it was the opposite of a perfect day for hiking.
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Cascade & Porter (Winter)
Cascade was our first high peak, way back in 2009. Back then, the three quarters of a mile to Porter might as well have been a million; we were exhausted within a mile of the car.
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Colvin, Blake, Nippletop & Dial (Winter)
God made me a glorious Adirondack day, with four summits and nearly 20 miles of wonderful winter hiking.
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Allen Mountain (Winter)
4,340-foot Allen Mountain is one of the more rued hikes for aspiring 46ers. It sits to the south of most of the other High Peaks, isolated from all the other trailheads. The start of the hike, shared with the über-cool Mount Adams and its restored fire tower, is a whopping 9 miles (one way!) from…
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Cliff & Redfield (Winter)
In finishing the Adirondack 46 High Peaks a second time, I had a few of the more remote peaks to tackle. I had considered attempting Allen Mountain instead, but the planning (read: breakfast in Keene Valley) dictated this pair instead.
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Esther & Whiteface (Winter)
After doing about 11 miles the day before, and having a 6-hour ride home afterwards, the close combo of Whiteface and Esther fit my plan perfectly. I started from the Atmospheric Science Research Center, which sits at the base of the old ski lift on Marble Mountain.
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Iroquois, Algonquin & Wright Peaks (Winter)
Conditions were perfect for hiking, with hard-packed snow almost the entire length of the hike. There was enough snow along the entire route to smooth out the innumerable boulders, rocks, and roots which are a hallmark of this trail.
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2015 By The Numbers
As I flip the calendar to 2016, I took the time to look back at how I did hiking in the Adirondacks in 2015.
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Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge (Winter)
The snowy summit of Giant Mountain at 8:15 AM was completely clouded in, but the wind was low making it beautifully quiet. I snapped a couple photos and quickly turned back to head towards Rocky Peak Ridge, hoping for it’s wonderful views.
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Santanoni, Panther and Couchsachraga Peaks (Winter)
I would ascend via the “Express” trail directly to Santanoni Peak, then descend all the way to Couchsachraga, and hit Panther Peak on the way out via Bradley Pond. Looping this way makes the total hike about 15 miles with 5,000 vertical feet of climbing.
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Porter Mountain and Little Porter Mountain
After climbing Porter Mountain via Little Porter (and Blueberry Mt.) this summer solo, I wanted to bring Kathy along this interesting and scenic route.
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Nippletop Via Elk Pass (and Dial Mountain)
We enjoyed an unusually comfortable hike up the icy Elk Pass to Nippletop for our December Adirondack weekend.
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Tabletop, Marcy, and Phelps
Upon finishing this 18.5-mile, 5,400-vertical foot hike, I reflected that these three mountains are really just hiked together by peakbaggers.
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Street Mountain & Nye Mountain
It helps that the weather was perfect, and that it’s been a dry summer so mud and water were eminently avoidable. But it’s also a lovely and wild forest, you just have to look 10 feet off the trail to see it.
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Mount Colden and Mount Marshall
With autumnal weather finally arriving, I jumped on an opportunity for one more Adirondack hike. Keeping with this year’s theme, I carved out a plan to hike two new trails, alternative approaches to Mounts Colden and Marshall.
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Gothics, Sawteeth, and Mount Haystack
My plan was ambitious, so I stayed overnight at the interior Johns Brook Lodge (JBL), cutting 7 miles round trip to and from the car. Seeing no morning rain, I started on a loop over Gothics and Sawteeth to Haystack via the Warden’s Camp.
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Mount Colvin, Blake Peak, and Sawteeth
It’s rare enough to enjoy long, difficult, multi-peak hikes; it’s rarer still to hike one with a friend and mentor. To then hike seldom-used trails in the Adirondacks with beautiful weather made it a near perfect day.
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Ten Fine Hikes in the Adirondacks
This was the first year after completing the 46, so we were free to explore new and interesting peaks and trails, both 46er High Peaks and smaller summits or outlooks.
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Little Porter – Porter Mountain – Blueberry Mountain
I encountered my first other humans at the summit of crowded Porter Mountain. I stopped for a brief photo and quickly headed back the Range Trail towards Blueberry Mountain. On the way, there was a perfect rock outcropping offering views of Porter and Cascade, after which I continued towards Blueberry.
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Big Slide
Our new aspiring 46ers enjoyed their third High Peak in three days, ultimately logging 30 miles and almost 10,000 vertical feet of climbing in the process. Each day was simply perfect for hiking, cool with a mix of sun and clouds.
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Dial Mountain
Instead of the quick 3.8 miles to Big Slide, for which we didn’t pack lunches, we started Dial an hour later and didn’t finish until after 5.
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Mount Colden
Kathy and I were incredibly proud — two new aspiring 46ers with Mount Colden as their first ever High Peak. Way to go!
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Owl Head to Owls Head
Owls Head in Keene easily beats the Owl Head in Elizabethtown for vistas, but the latter has a better hike.
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Round Mountain
Round Mountain’s summit, thankfully, is gorgeous. Dominated by the perfectly-shaped Noonmark, the Great Range extends to the West and the Dix Range to the South.
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Mount Skylight (and Mt. Marcy)
We had previously hiked Mount Skylight in 2012, the year we started tackling the 46 High Peaks in earnest. It was our hardest hike. Ever since, we have been looking to go back. This hike was our primary target for 2015. Then we both got injured. Well, so what?
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Rooster Comb
The climb up Rooster Comb from the eponymous trailhead is straightforward and over soft forest for almost the entire way. Sporting a few switchbacks, it is still steep enough to get the blood flowing – in all, a decent day hike.
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Scenic Trail to Sawteeth
Back in 2012, we hiked Sawteeth in conjunction with Gothics in our first Adirondack traverse. Gothics was the star of that hike, with its (in)famous cable route and sprawling vistas. Sawteeth was a half-mile out-and-back-again tacked on somewhat as an afterthought.
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Mount Adams (New York)
Today our late hike was an absolute gem, with dramatic clouds and “our mountain” – Mount Colden – the highlight of the view.
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Roaring Brook Falls
The forecast on our final day in the Adirondacks called for afternoon thunderstorms. While we had considered Cascade Mountain or even Dial Mountain as nice easy…
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Wright Peak, 2015
Wright Peak is a slightly lower summit on the way up to the popular Algonquin Peak in the MacIntyre Range. Looking for another relaxing day (and having summited Algonquin twice previously) it was chilly as we started, but not nearly as cold as the previous day.
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Phelps Mountain 2015
Our first time up Phelps, we climbed the north side of the mountain to a socked-in and windy summit. This time, we took the marked trail from Marcy Dam and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
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Rooster Comb to Basin – (Almost) Great Range Traverse
I hiked about 20.1 miles, gaining 7,200 vertical feet over 8 mountains. It wasn’t quite a full Great Range Traverse, but I got to hike some new trails and re-summit some of the most picturesque summits in the Adirondacks. It was a good day.
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Big Slide Revisited
One of the best views we never saw in our initial round of Adirondack 46 was Big Slide Mountain.
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Mount Colden, Our 46er Finish
We had accomplished a goal set 5 years prior, through adversity and joy, in a simply perfect day for hiking in these beautiful Adirondack mountains.
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Seymour Mountain
Our penultimate peak would be 4,120-foot Seymour Mountain, the last in the Seward Range.
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Big Crow & Little Crow Mountains
After two long days of hiking, we enjoyed having a day for a relaxing hike with friends & family.
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Donaldson, Emmons, and Seward Mountain
With two of three difficult hikes behind us, the last long day in our quest was Mount Donaldson, Mount Emmons, and Seward Mountain.
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Haystack, Basin, and Saddleback Mountains
One of the things my quest for becoming a 46er has changed in me is redefining possible, and these three mountains are proof of it.
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Allen Mountain
“What type of mountain is Allen?” “Oh, just like any other mountain, only more so.”
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Mt. Colvin and Blake Peak
When we summited Mount Colvin, the clouds were hovering just above the peaks, making for an awesome view. Colvin offers a wide vista of the snow-capped and majestic Great Range, from the Wolfjaws to Haystack and beyond.
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Santanoni, Panther, and Couchsachraga Peaks
On the last day of summer, we did a loop hike of the Santanoni range: 4,606-foot Santanoni Peak, 4,442-foot Panther Peak, and 3,793-foot Couchsachraga Peak.
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Dix Mountain
Hiking these mountains started on a whim, and I for one had never hiked anything, ever, before my first trip to Lake Placid. Over the course of these several years our hiking has taught us about ourselves, about overcoming obstacles, about completing seemingly impossible tasks.
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North Meadows Sunrise
On my final ‘rest’ day, I decided that I wanted to get some pre-dawn shots from either near North Meadows (along Adirondack Loj Road) or from Keene Valley.