Blank Page - Recommendations for first ADK peaks

[Peppersass]

Told my husband last week that I want a "weekend hiking in New York" as my birthday present. I'm working on the NE 111/115 list. We'll drive the 5+ hours on Friday night and leave mid-afternoon Sunday so I am thinking a 2 peak hike on Sat and a quick 3rd peak on Sunday, head back home. Where do we stay (hotel or lodge) and what peaks should we bag? We've only done Marcy in NY. Pepp

 

[Tom Rankin]

2 peaks, Giant and Rocky, or Whiteface and Esther, or Cascade and Porter.

Single peak on Sunday, Big Slide. Nothing else near it.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Stay at Tmax and Topos! They are serious peak baggers and great people.

http://www.tmax-n-topo.com/

 

[Peppersass]

Thanks, Tom, looks like we will choose Cascade/Porter and then Big Slide but looking at distance it appears Big Slide is the longer hike, correct? Since we have a 5+ hour drive home on Sunday would you suggest that I do Big Slide Saturday and Cascade Porter Sunday?

 

[eddie]

As an alternative I recommend Wright and Algonquin (~10mi) on Saturday. Sunday you could easily do Cascade and Porter (~6mi) in the morning. Now you'll have 5/46.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Thanks, Tom, looks like we will choose Cascade/Porter and then Big Slide but looking at distance it appears Big Slide is the longer hike, correct? Since we have a 5+ hour drive home on Sunday would you suggest that I do Big Slide Saturday and Cascade Porter Sunday?

I guess you could do it either way. Big Slide has a longish, flattish approach. Cascade and Porter get you right into the action. It's not just miles, it's elevation gain you need to add in.

A rough formula for time T is:

T = M/2 + E/2000

M=Miles, and E = Elevation gain.

 

[Jay H]

A rough formula for time T is:

T = M/2 + E/2000

M=Miles, and E = Elevation gain.

Which could be reduced to

T = 2*(M + E/1000)

JUST KIDDING!!!!

Jay

 

[Peppersass]

Thanks Jay and Tom. The fun of this is with only Marcy under our belts we can bag ANYTHING on the list we have time and legs for! Got our lodging taken care of (busy season!) and I've promised to cancel the weekend if its a rain out but if it's just foggy, what would Saturday's Plan B look like do you think?

 

[Daniel Eagan]

I would save Algonquin for a beautiful day. If it's foggy, Big Slide would be better as you wouldn't miss as many views. If you just want to bag peaks, foggy days mean mountains with little or no views: Street & Nye and Tabletop are all relatively short.

 

[Neil]

If you do Big Slide go via the Brothers Trail, which gets you up onto open rock early into the hike with killer views of the Great Range. From the summit I always return back over the Brothers. The light is different and so is the experience. You can always bail out down the Slide Brook Trail if the weather gets rough.

Yet another two-fer option is Dial-Nippletop. Everyone wonders whether it's best to do it as a CW or CCW loop but I solved this perplexing question once and for all: the best way to do it, hands down, is Dial-Nip-Dial.

Cascade-Porter is a shorty hike, btw. Nothing wrong with that but with such a long drive you might find the bang for gas buck ratio somewhat wanting.

 

[Peppersass]

Thanks Daniel and Neil. It is such a long drive and I am balancing wanting to get at least 3 peaks in and not arriving home super late. I plan to do Brothers for Big Slide and appreciate the foggy options.

 

[TEO]

For Saturday, I could recommend my first ADK hike: Gothics>Armstrong>Upper Wolf Jaw from St. Huberts; or there's always Allen--start out with a bang. Colvin>Blake>Colvin>Nippletop>Dial would certainly be bang-for-the buck; Iroquois>Algonquin>Wright (via a loop through Avalanche Pass/Lake Colden) is another great hike. But then they're all great. Keep in mind, though that these are all somewhat big days--big, but not unreasonable for a fit hiker.

I'd think the fore-mentioned Cascade/Porter, Phelps, Giant/Rocky Peak Ridge, Big Slide (up via Yard, out via Brothers) would all be good shorter days. Lower Wolf Jaw isn't too bad, either.

 

[Peppersass]

Thanks for the tips. Did Big Slide via the Brothers along with hundreds of others yesterday. It was quite fun and a good day's workout. My husband struggled a bit so we opted to do the loop - down toward JBL (a trail quite different from the Brothers). Not sure if he will be up for Cascade Porter today but we have options and more importantly this visit has helped me learn the lay of the land for future hikes. The books I have talk trails. It would be great if I could find a resource that describes trips, total elevation gain/mileage. Anything out there like that?

 

[Lefty E]

How about the Adirondack Mountain Club's High Peaks Trails, 14th edition?? The descriptions given of High Peaks that have maintained trails to them do show the elevation gain and mileages, while the High Peaks with "herd paths" to the summits appear not to have the same info...course we NH ites are so used to the WMG book, reading another from unfamiliar territory can be confusing (at least to me!!!) I'm sure fellow vftt ADKr's can verify or add much info to your request....

 

[Peppersass]

You're right Lefty, I've gotten used to the WMG and more importantly Mo's site with his "snapshots" of RT mileage and elevation gain (not to mention the skinny on trail characteristics). I also look at the trip reports from Andrew Lavigne and the Its-not-about-the-hike ladies Pat and Nancy. I'll just have to get used to the maps and numbered trails. Pepp