Algonquin, Iroquois & Wright
Seasons pass. This far north they linger a bit longer than at home, which I seem to appreciate more each year.
Allen (April Fooled)
The trio before me made it to about 2,600 feet; no one else had signed in for Allen since the 23rd of March. This would be one of the hardest hikes I’ve done.
Dial Mountain
For this year’s winter Gathering, I learned my lesson from the 14-hour behemoth hike last year and picked something that both Kathy and I could do.
Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge (March)
As much as I dislike some aspects of the Ridge Trail, I have to admit that the ratio of wonderful views to effort is high.
Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge
Sometimes, you are presented with a day that fills you with awe.
Marcy in the Clouds (January)
Just before hitting the fully-exposed part of the summit, the wind picked up and the dim sunshine and blowing snow made the landscape ethereal.
Cascade & Porter (January)
It’s too pretty not to hike, and this duo is always a good choice when time is limited.
2016 By The Numbers
In short, I obliterated my 2015, which was at that time my most prodigious year. In 2016, I roughly doubled all the hiking I had done since I started in 2009!
Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong (Winter)
It’s been a long 9 months waiting for winter to arrive.
Colden
Sunrise comes late this far north, so starting hikes before dawn usually means cold. It was 5°F as I pulled in the lot at the Adirondack Loj. I got the front spot.
Cascade
After an even one hundred summits in 2016, number 101 was short and sweet. With the rest of the US was gripped in the big freeze swooping down from the Arctic, we knew that the calm winds and sunny skies would make a great day hiking.
Haystack, Basin & Saddleback (November)
Not having hiked these three together (colloquially referred to as ‘HaBaSa’) since July of 2014, I wanted to reacquaint myself with them before winter.
Big Slide
All that melted snow had to go somewhere, and the trail was obviously the path of least resistance. There was so much water pouring down the trail that it was at points truly a stream, with little waterfall cascades and everything.
Sawteeth, Gothics & Armstrong
Lake Road still had a dusting of snow, and turning up the Weld Trail I realized that I probably could have brought snowshoes. There was easily 4″-8″ of snow all the way up to the junction with Sawteeth, and there was 8″-12″ up to the summit.