Fuji X-E2
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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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Ricketts Glen
I’m pretty easy to convince to go hiking. Offer me a trip to the nearest majestic place and our niece and nephew, and I’m even willing to get up at 4AM to make it happen.
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Rainy Saturday Flora
A couple friends and a flowering peony inspired me to grab some photos from the backyard. Overcast days are the best for photography in general, and…
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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First Day of Spring in Keene Valley
Winter is over, both meteorologically and officially for the 46ers, so Kathy and I toted around Keene Valley and Keene (New York) enjoying our last day here.
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Gothics, Sawteeth, and Mount Haystack
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.
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Little Porter – Porter Mountain – Blueberry Mountain
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.
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Big Slide
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.
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Dial Mountain
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.
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Mount Colden
Kathy and I were incredibly proud — two new aspiring 46ers with Mount Colden as their first ever High Peak. Way to go!
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Owl Head to Owls Head
Owls Head in Keene easily beats the Owl Head in Elizabethtown for vistas, but the latter has a better hike.
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Round Mountain
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.
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Mount Skylight (and Mt. Marcy)
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?
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Rooster Comb
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.
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Scenic Trail to Sawteeth
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.
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Mount Adams (New York)
Today our late hike was an absolute gem, with dramatic clouds and “our mountain” – Mount Colden – the highlight of the view.
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Landing
Sometimes it just takes a lot of looking to just see one thing. This was it for me.
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Wright Peak, 2015
Wright Peak is a slightly lower summit on the way up to the popular Algonquin Peak in the MacIntyre Range. Looking for another relaxing day (and having summited Algonquin twice previously) it was chilly as we started, but not nearly as cold as the previous day.
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Phelps Mountain 2015
Our first time up Phelps, we climbed the north side of the mountain to a socked-in and windy summit. This time, we took the marked trail from Marcy Dam and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
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San Francisco at 15mm
I found time in between working and playing for a little ultra-wide 15mm shooting in San Francisco.