Early morning stroll to Cascade and Porter

 

With a deluge that would get Noah's attention forecast for Sunday, Saturday was the day for another spring hike. I opted for the ever popular Cascade and Porter hike and got an early start to get the best of the trail conditions and weather. Near the trailhead the melting is well underway but the monorail is dependable once you gain some elevation. While sunny, there was a stiff breeze when above treeline near the summits. I certainly hope the many hikers I saw later on in sneakers, shorts and t-shirts didn't catch a chill up there! :-) I had a half hour to myself on each of the summits to see if I could find a few good photos out of the many that I took. Always a pleasure to do this hike and I can report that the view is only getting better with age!

Springing up Ampersand Peak

 

Ampersand is a great little mountain located just east of Tupper Lake. It has everything the larger high peaks have but in a smaller package. It fit the bill on Sunday as I could get up reasonably early, drive down, hike and be home before dark. I was suprised to be the only car in the lot at a civilized starting time of 9:45. The trail is flat for a mile and then straight up. Conditions were perfect for spikes. The main attraction of the view from the open summit is Seymour and the Seward range with the Santanonis peaking over Seymour's shoulder. You can see the MacIntyres off in the distance to the east, especially when they are coated in white. I found a spot out of the wind and enjoyed a sunny spring day. On the way down I tweaked my back by holding onto a branch too long as I slid down a particularly steep spot. The snow was balling up on the front of my spikes which made for sort of reverse-televators! Plenty of people and dogs were heading up to enjoy a great day.

 

 

Not bad for an Adirondack "starter" hike

May long weekend started out great with a sunny day hike up Ampersand but it dropped off quickly from there. Temperatures and rain on saturday and sunday were great for my newly seeded lawn but little else. It was even too cold to plant some new perenials and annuals. But enough with the zone 4 gardening report.

Ken and I wanted to get in another ADk "starter" hike to acclimitize the legs before subjecting them to something more strenuous like Allen or Couch. And besides there is still snow at higher elevations. We managed to avoid the school bus traffic in the busy towns of Malone and Lake Placid and headed down route 73 in good time headed for a sub-4000 trailhead. Ken spied a non-descript sign on the side of the road and on a whim we parked the car and headed up.

Other than the numerous times I managed to lose the trail, we were treated to s nice day. The trail was a gentle grade which usually means you are approaching a steep cliff. It was also mostly dirt and soft underfoot. The cool temps aided in making it an enjoyable hike. After an hour and half or so of hiking and exploring the local hydology we topped out after a short little steep rocky and muddy bit (a poor attempt at being tough by this peak). We were muttering "Is that all you got?" to each other as we emerged on the open rocks. We looked up and were silent for a second or two. "Nice view", said Ken. "Agreed!", I agreed. We spent an hour eating lunch and snapping a few pics before heading back down.

A short day for sure as we were back home in time to catch the NHL playoff action. This was a real nice day hike and in retrospect we really should have paid more attention to the location of the trailhead or the name of the peak. I'm sure we will make it back there someday even if just by coincidence. Oh and yes my grass seed is coming in nicely.

Spring vs Winter

I drove up to Gatineau park after work to get the May long weekend off to a start and also to visit some spots that I had skied to in the winter to compare the views. Things look quite different when buried under several feet of snow and with no leaves in the trees you can see further in all directions.

Brulé lookout:


Buried picnic tables at Brulé lookout:


Champlain lookout:


I'm glad I didn't plan on a hike or bike as the bugs were swarming as I sat on the ledge at Champlain Lookout and did some contemplating.

Coming soon, some Adirondack trip reports!