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Loon Lake Mtn A local chapter hike to LL Mtn is scheduled for Saturday 21 August. For further information go to the ADK home page and click on the link to the Shatagee Woods chapter.

This hike was with my friends Laurel who started on her 46 a year or two ago and Claire who, after today, still has Haystack, Hough, and Allen to look forward to. We set forth from the trailhead at 8:00. The Bradley Pond trail was actually a little drier than usual, with only about four vast...

The north trail to Cooper Kiln Pond had only a few mudholes and a couple of small downed trees which I cleared on my way out, but a little less than half a mile in were two big windfalls which called for heavier tools than my folding saw. Near the leanto, the pond impinges on the trail due to...

From the ASRC trailhead to the junction the W'face trail was in excellent condition with very little mud and only a couple of small trees across the trail. (Reminder to self: transfer folding saw from winter gear to summer daypack!) After the junction, which has a most impressive recently...

Saturday May 15 I was planning a loop hike up past Hanging Spear Falls and returning via Calamity Brook. Given the late thaw and recent snow I'm reconsidering. If anyone knows what the Opalescent crossings are like this week; i.e, on the trail heading in toward the Allen herd path or by the...

The ascent was via the L. Arnold trail. Recent snowshoe tracks turned off toward Colden at the junction, with only a couple of old ski tracks beyond that point. The swamp was still under several feet of snow and not a problem. The trail to Lake Tear was hardpacked. I had hoped to climb Gray but...

Despite an uncertain forecast, aside from a few worrisome drops of frozen precip' between the gate and the trailhead the day stayed dry, though very windy (Going up the open rocks on Carson gusts were strong enough to make walking difficult.) The red trail from the summer parking lot to Slide...

Peg and I followed the route taken by Christine & Gary the rest of their party the previous day, crossing Flowed Lands and easily surmounting the monster blowdowns on the lower flanks of Cliff beyond Livingston Pond, thanks to the deep and well-consolidated snow (and thanks to the excellent...

Road to summer trailhead still driveable but getting pretty squirrely. My Outback made it OK but if I'd met another vehicle it would have been dicey. If you have true 4wd you'll be happier in that. The parking lot is unplowed and rather rutted and messed up. But the trail to WB leanto is fine...

Beyond the junction with the Marcy trail there were several inches of new powder but the path had seen some use within the previous few days and was basically well packed. At the summit the rime-coated hoodoos were awesome against the deep blue sky and the view from the lookout was as clear as...

12x46 Let me add my congrats to those of peakbagger and black spruce (and probably some others I've hiked with but haven't deciphered their aliases yet) who along with you, inspire me, at 4x46 and counting at age 71, to add a few more to my yet-to-be completed winter list.

morale booster The certainty of knowing that no matter how muddy, scratched-up, bug-bitten, sweaty, chilled, or soaked to the bone I may be, sooner or later a hot shower, clean clothes, and single-malt will put everything right!

There are two series (that I know of) of small peaks in the northeastern Adirondacks which are designated on the USGS 15' quads as AuSable #1, 2, 3 and 4; and Elizabethtown #1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Maybe that's how they were identified in Colvin's original surveys. A few have other names. For example...

The Gossamer Gear Ultralight backback looks good for well-maintained trails but seems like it might not hold up well pushing through thick scrub. Has anyone had off-trail experience with it?

It seems like plastic mountaineering boots (like Koflachs) would be the very thing for slogging through deep mudholes and hiking in cold, wet conditions. Leather boots, even with Gore-tex membranes or thoroughly Sno-sealed, will eventually soak through. Yet I hardly ever see hikers in plastic...

A day-and-a-half of rain together with the large numbers of hikers this weekend turned the Marcy Dam trail into a series of quagmires with sporadic dry patches in between. The trail from Marcy Dam up to the cairn was OK, but the path beyond the cairn was a muddy ditch. There's a short stretch in...

The herd path has many signs of very recent maintenance. All stream crossings and dubious changes in direction are marked by cairns or flagging or both. The flagging is discrete, yet easily spotted. About halfway up there is one humungous, non-negotiable quagmire on the herd path, but at that...

From the old Nye ski trail the stream crossing to the herd path was almost dry, as was most of the rest of the path. Nye has a new yellow summit marker. The view is unchanged. There's none. The best thing about Nye, IMHO, is its proximity to Street, which at least has a small ledge with a bit of...

After we crossed the first stream (near the first lean-to beyond Marcy Dam) and worked our way over to the next stream, which comes down from Caribou Pass, traces of the old skid road along the right bank could be followed off and on, but generally the woods were open and the stream itself was...

blue flowers Those are closed gentians, aka bottle gentians, typically seen in open boggy areas. They're about as iconic of the high peaks as the white-throated sparrow. It's neat to watch pollinating bees squeeze between the petals and climb in, completely disappearing from view until they...