Sean Carpenter – Photographs and Work
Personal Photography and Work
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.
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.
Kathy and I were incredibly proud — two new aspiring 46ers with Mount Colden as their first ever High Peak. Way to go!
Owls Head in Keene easily beats the Owl Head in Elizabethtown for vistas, but the latter has a better hike.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Today our late hike was an absolute gem, with dramatic clouds and “our mountain” – Mount Colden – the highlight of the view.
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 hikes, the overcast skies led themselves more towards waterfalls…
