Springbreaking, ADK style

I "had to" use up some vacation days at work so a couple of long weekends in March hiking the ADKs seemed like a great plan. A long cold winter and steady snowfall since mid-January made for great snow conditions. I managed to get out on some cold but bluebird sunny days as well as  a couple of somewhat cloudy days for some great hikes and views. The quick trip up Mt Jo found the clearest views I have yet had up there. The hike up Round mountain was highlighted by the animal tracks evident in the thin layer of fresh snow. The most enjoyed of the hikes was to Mt Colden via the trail from Lake Arnold which brought my number of winter 46ers (all done in March) to 10. Although a mostly cloudy day, the winter views from Mt. Colden, of Mt. Marcy in one direction and the McIntyre range in the other, are spectacular!

Pics:

• Random St Huberts peak
• Round Mountain
• Mt Jo
• Mt Colden

ADK Leaf Peeping

I spent Wednesday to Friday of last week leaf peeping in the Adirondacks. The beginning of the week had some light rain so the leaves were starting to come down but there was still plenty of color and views were as usual fairly awesome.

In no particular order, I visited the following "shorties":

• Owl's Head: The short trip up was worth it for the vibrant colors although the low cloud cover hid all the high peaks.
• Round mountain: Another great short hike with fine views, easier than it's nearest neighbor (Noonmark) with slightly better (just my opinion) views. Again, the low cloud cover messed with my view of the Dix range but no complaining here. I'll be back here soon, perhaps next winter.
• Big Crow: This one is a hidden gem that rivals Owl's Head for lowest effort vs excellant view. The effort is slightly more but the view is much wider in scope. Low clouds again on the higher peaks but the nearest ones (Big Slide, Porter, Cascade and Pitchoff) were clear under bright blue skies.
• Mt Jo: Jo was packed at the summit including two groups of school kids from Saranac Lake (I think). Colors were brilliant and skies were clear blue. The hikers ranged in age from 4 to close to 80 (if I am an accurate judge of age!). Have to wonder if the 4 year old will hike it when aged 80?
• Mt Gilligan: Yep, I had a familiar tune in my head as I began this hike. This one is also hidden (off route 9 just west of the New Russia trailhead to RPR and Giant) though I am not ready to label it a gem.

A nice way to spend a few fall days and a great place to do it!

Finally some leaf peeping

Between the ton of wet weather in September and a relative visiting for a couple of weeks I hadn't been able to get out for a hike since finishing the 46 on Grace at the end of August. I headed down Thursday to find a place to stay and drive around to do some leaf peeping. The weather was forecast to be sunny but cold. I found a cheap room just past Lake Placid and headed out to take some photos towards Whiteface. There are several viewpoints along the Ausable river that have great views on a clear day and good fall colors. I also hiked in the Connery Pond trail to see the view of Whiteface across the Pond. This approach to Whiteface is on my list for next year.

Friday morning I headed to the South Meadow road to hike up to Mt Van Hoevenberg. No cars parked at the trailhead. Sweet, as on Saturday there would be cars parked all along this road as the hordes descend to peep them beautiful leaves. The trail to Van Ho is flat and wet until it rises up the ridge to a sweet ledge. The colors were a little past peak and it seemed that reds in particular were missing but no complaints from me. This is a great hike views for effort wise. On the way back I had a small mistep when I attempted a triple jump manouvre to avoid a swampy spot. Mostly soaked but the camera was dry so all was good.

After stopping to change clothes, I headed to the second leaf peeping stop of the day, Owl's Head. This is an awesome spot, about half way down the hill towards Keene. It is a short climb of about 400 feet to a nice pointy summit. Another great hike for views per effort. The view back towards the notch between Cascade and Pitchoff is a great one. The wind was really howling up there which must have worried the group of college students learning to rappel on a rock face near the summit. Not the best day to be doing that but a fine day to be leaf peeping!

There was an overnight frost Friday night and it was noticeably colder. This would not deter the holiday weekend crowds. I got to the AMR trailhead at 9am and it was already full and overflowing onto route 73. I figured the best place to hide from the crowds was Round mountain so I headed up via the trail to Dix with the plan to return via the trail direct up Round. Round has a nice open summit with clear views west and slightly obscured views to the east (Giant). After a round of photo taking I headed back down via the steeper trail down the north side of Round. This is definitely the steeper of the two approaches. Round is a great hike and a nice quiet spot to aim for on a holiday weekend.

A good way to end the hiking season if I don't get out again before the snow flies!