Last summer EC and I joined CG, who was doing a botanical study on Whiteface. We hiked up the Stag Brook Trail, which starts immediately above the NYSEF building (and which, if you've never seen it, is worth doing in itself) to midstation, thence up Excelsior and Paren's Run to the top of the summit quad. That's as far as we went that day, tho' we also walked over the top of the slides to see what they look like in summer. A few steps in that direction was something that is hidden in the winter; a path to the summit ridge. From there to the top of the mountain is less than 500 feet. That approach has been calling to me ever since. Sunday was sunny and breezy, a perfect day to scratch that itch. Climbing the ski trails was wonderful compared to my last two hikes, Cliff & Redfield and Allen, which were MUD, more MUD, and yet more MUD! They are gravel roads in the summer, open from the get-go. The views get better quickly and soon become spectacular. There is every reason to take it easy and enjoy the experience. I left the parking lot at 9:00 and was at the top of the upper lift at 12:00. Anyone could cut a half hour off that time without much effort. The herd path from there to the top is direct and steep and, interestingly, has fixed ropes on a couple of ledges, tacitly inviting people to go after their "W" by that route. A few steps shy of the summit I stepped from the herd path onto the Connery Pond trail and at 12:30 was on top and surrounded by tourists. Doing a loop is more fun than going back the same way, so I went down the Marble Mountain trail a piece, then cut across to the top of Lookout Mountain. It was a happy discovery that the hiking trail almost touches the ski trail. It was 2:00 then and three miles to the bottom. I thought I'd be down in an hour. However, that turned out to be the most difficult part of my day. It was loose, rocky, gravel all the way down with several thirty degree drops (I measured them; my compass is also a clinometer), too steep to walk but not steep enough to glissade. Still, I was back at the parking lot by 3:30. What a great way to end the summer!
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