Big Crow & Little Crow Mountains
After two long days of hiking, we enjoyed having a day for a relaxing hike with friends & family.
Sean Carpenter – Photographs and Work
Personal Photography and Work
After two long days of hiking, we enjoyed having a day for a relaxing hike with friends & family.
With two of three difficult hikes behind us, the last long day in our quest was Mount Donaldson, Mount Emmons, and Seward Mountain.
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.
“What type of mountain is Allen?” “Oh, just like any other mountain, only more so.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Five days of hiking out of six was more than we had ever done. Factoring in the difficulty/length of three of those hikes, we were looking for something simpler on day 6. Enter Whiteface & Esther.
The Indian Pass trail was easily the best/most interesting lead-in trail we’ve taken. It’s much prettier (and softer) than the Van Hoevenberg or Phelps trails, and not nearly as boring as Lake Road.
Many (most?) people choose to climb Cliff & Redfield Mountains from the south via the Upper Works trailhead. From the Adirondack Loj, where Kathy and I started, the mileage is about the same, but our route skirts the 3,800-foot elevation Lake Arnold, adding several hundred feet of climbing both ways.
Heading straight for the summit of Tabletop at about 4 miles from the Adirondack Loj, the last mile was dark and muddy (but not shoe-stealing muddy) with relatively middling views.
The Slide Brook and Lillian Brook herd paths were two of the best trails in the Adirondacks. They vary the terrain and direction enough that you don’t feel like you’re on an endless trail, and almost the entirety of both routes is soft underfoot and well-maintained.
You will not find a better rental than Mercy Cabin, inside the hamlet of Keene — centrally located to Lake Placid, Wilmington (Whiteface Mountain & skiing), and all the major trailheads for hiking the high peaks.