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.
Sean Carpenter – Photographs and Work
Personal Photography and Work
As I flip the calendar to 2016, I took the time to look back at how I did hiking in the Adirondacks in 2015.
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.
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.
After climbing Porter Mountain via Little Porter (and Blueberry Mt.) this summer solo, I wanted to bring Kathy along this interesting and scenic route.
We enjoyed an unusually comfortable hike up the icy Elk Pass to Nippletop for our December Adirondack weekend.
Upon finishing this 18.5-mile, 5,400-vertical foot hike, I reflected that these three mountains are really just hiked together by peakbaggers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.