46er
46 High Peaks of the Adirondacks
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Big Slide (January)
The trail to Big Slide was hard-packed snow the whole way. Perfect for snowshoes. No ice the whole way.
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Algonquin & Iroquois
Today was an absolutely perfect day to hike. It was chilly (14°F at the start), not so cold that your sweat freezes your zippers but cold…
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A Wet TableTop and Phelps
Not exactly ideal conditions to enjoy a hike, it was warm, humid, and wet. When the Van Hoevenberg trail had running water on it, I knew that it would be a sopping mess getting to TableTop.
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Big Slide
This hike will always be a favorite of mine, especially on perfect-weather days like this one. It was a great way to spend an afternoon!
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Lower Great Range for Project 100
This hike was supporting Neil Luckhurst and his Project 100, which is raising funds for the ADK High Peaks Foundation.
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Sewards in the Snow
Yesterday perfectly encapsulated shoulder season: A nice 3-4″ of cool snow on the way in; about 6″ of snow (drifting in places) at elevation; icy steep pitches, sometimes hiding under powdered snow; warming sunshine melting low-lying snow by the end of the day creating wide mud swaths.
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Colden in the Clouds
We opted for a short climb of Mount Colden, up and back via Lake Arnold. This is our third trip along this route together, our first time was our 46th peak.
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Santanonis (October)
This would be my fifth visit to this southwestern Adirondack range, and Kathy’s second.
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Bennies Brook Slide to Lower WolfJaw, Upper WolfJaw & Armstrong
We started before sunrise, and made our expected time to the DEC Interior Outpost. From there we crossed Johns Brook onto the now-unmaintained South Side trail, first crossing the start of the Range Trail and a half mile later the base of Bennies Brook.
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Allen (Friday), Street & Nye (Saturday)
Allen Mountain for my September 46, followed by Street & Nye to get Kathy approaching half way towards a 46 year.
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Nippletop Bushwhack
I took my camera to document our hike up the huge slide leading up to Nippletop. The only problem is that we never got there.
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Whiteface, Lunch, Esther
Sunday’s hike would be a bit easier though, and had a unique bonus for the Adirondacks: Lunch at the cafe at the summit.
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Perfect Pyramid, Gothics and Sawteeth
Back in July 2009, we hiked our first Adirondack High Peak, a 2.3-mile jaunt up Cascade Mountain. We made it, but definitely not in ‘style’, and…
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Fourth of July on Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge
It was a great Fourth of July, happy birthday America!
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Dial & Nippletop plus Fish Hawk Cliffs and Indian Head
After two straight days of being thoroughly drenched, we wanted something relatively dry. I knew the excellent Leach Trail to Dial & Nippletop, with much of the hike on a ridge, would fit my criteria.
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Phelps & TableTop: All Water
I’ve never seen Marcy Brook like this, she was a raging torrent.
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Macomb, S. Dix, Grace, Hough and Dix
Having the entirety of Macomb and South Dix all to ourselves. Pushing right past Hough, our fourth peak of the day, onto the fifth: Dix, the highest and farthest peak of the day.
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Cascade & Porter
Having spent a couple decades in flatland Florida, I wasn’t sure how Philip would do, but we breezed up to Cascade. The view was typically spectacular, as was the stiff breeze.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Whiteface & Esther Breaking Trail (February)
Eight hours after heading out, we returned to the car. All the new snow made this quite a challenge, but all day the landscape was stunning. And except for skiers on the ski trails, we didn’t see a soul all day.
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Marcy, Skylight and Gray Redux
My last attempt at these three was aborted by footwear, so I was glad to have another try.
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Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge
Sometimes, you are presented with a day that fills you with awe.
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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.
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Cascade & Porter (January)
It’s too pretty not to hike, and this duo is always a good choice when time is limited.
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Mount Marshall, My Winter 46
I realized how lucky I was for last winter, but I definitely appreciate the last four the most. It’s been a great challenge, and I’ve got a lot more winter hiking in my future. For now, I’m going to take some time and enjoy being 46er #8475W.
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Haystack, Basin & Saddleback (Winter)
This winter has been no joke. Conditions are variable, there is no guarantee that any trail is broken out. Even with Joe’s experience we almost had to turn around two hikes in a row. It makes this trio all the sweeter.
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Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong (Winter)
It’s been a long 9 months waiting for winter to arrive.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Dix Range, An Idyllic Traverse
The route through the South Boquet River takes a meandering path, making four river crossings before leading to the base of a slide and up the north slope of Grace Peak.
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Frosty Wright, Algonquin, Iroquois
We got our first hint that we were in for a treat at the initial boardwalk along the Van Hoevenberg trail. Looking off to our right, the MacIntyres sparkled.
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Basin & Saddleback
I’ve bailed out of Basin (and Saddleback) twice after excruciatingly long days. As I soaked in the morning views I remembered what I was missing. The 4,827-foot summit (9th highest in the Adirondacks) has an open, rocky summit with nearly 360° views dominated by the close-up of Mount Haystack.
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Whiteface & Esther (September)
We swung over Whiteface’s summit and headed down for lunch at the cafe with the Mumaughs. I can’t believe we didn’t do this our first time here, it was absolutely brilliant to sit and have a hot lunch and cold soda in the middle of the hike. This will be the plan for this pair…
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Seymour, Seward, Donaldson, Emmons
I drove up ahead of the rest of the family just for this hike, leaving after work so I arrived well after dark. It was a crystal-clear day but cool, a welcome end to the hot and humid summer.
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Lower WolfJaw, Upper WolfJaw, Armstrong, Colvin and Blake from the JBL
Lacking my usual distance-and-elevation calculator, I mapped out what looked to be a not impossible 24-mile loop, starting and ending at the JBL and covering Lower & Upper WolfJaw, Armstrong, Colvin & Blake. There just happened to be the Ausable Valley in between them.
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Cascade, Porter, Little Porter, and Big Slide
I made a speedy ascent of the short-but-steep Cascade, enjoyed the amazing variety of mushrooms on Porter, and descended via the expansive Little Porter Mountain on one of my favorite traverses. I followed it up with a hike into the JBL and a quick up-and-down Big Slide.
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Redfield & Cliff from Upper Works
Staring down the sheer south side of Redfield, thick with what is nearly impassibly thick trees and debris, and over to Allen Mountain jutting steeply from the surrounding flats, a vulture launched beside me a circled the thermals over my head. I understood the symbolism, took some pictures and headed back.
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Allen Mountain (August)
After completing two days of hiking from the Adirondack Loj, I set off for Tahawus, near Newcomb, and Allen Mountain.
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Haystack & Gray via Panther Gorge (August)
As I descended to Bartlett Ridge and Panther Gorge I was a bit surprised at how steep it was. I remembered it as steep, but not *this* steep.
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Wright, Algonquin, Iroquois (August)
I enjoyed Iroquois’ summit all to myself. The clouds were amazing, with low-lying fast-moving clouds providing an endless variation on the scene.
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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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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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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.