Saw All The Views

 Lower Ausable Lake

 Top of Sawteeth

 The Great Range

Gothics from Sawteeth















On Thursday we set out for our last High Peak to do. We began our hike at 6:30 from the Ausable club and made the long walk to the end of the Lake Road. We took a stop at Rainbow Falls then headed up the Scenic Trail. It was really rugged going along the lake but very pretty. Once we started heading up the mountain the climb was very steep and hard but there were many amazing lookouts onto the lake. The trail wasn't too long but took us a good three hours to get to the summit. We reached the top at 11:45. We brought sparkling apple cider with us to celebrate. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I had finished. It didn't seem like I would ever be finished. There's always another mountain to climb and another view to see. We left the summit at 12:15 and headed down the opposite side to the trail that goes up to Pyramid. The climb down was quick and we were back on the Lake Road at 2:15. We made our back to the car and finished up at 3:30 as 46ers.
-ADK Gurl

Climbing the Saddle

Basin from Shorey's Shortcut

 Top of Basin

 Top of Saddleback

View of Basin from Saddleback














We had planned on going on a camping trip and grabbing Saddleback and Basin for a month before we finally set out on the anticipated trip. We were nervous because of the dreaded Saddleback cliffs. Our plan was to hike into Johnsbrook Lodge, set up camp at a near by campsite, then head up Shorey's Shortcut to Basin followed by Saddleback then head down the Orebed trail. Last Sunday we did just that. The walk in was a nice, gently walk. We had done this walk once before, two years ago when we did Haystack. We dropped our packs at a campsite just past JBL. We set up the tent and headed up to Slant Rock where we filled our water bottles and went up Shorey's Shortcut. It was a steep trail that was a bit rugged. It wasn't one of my favorite trails but it wasn't my least favorite either. The one thing that annoyed me the most about the trail was we had to climb over the top of the ridge to get to the range trail, causing us to lose a couple hundred feet of elevation. Once we got to the range trail we headed straight up to the summit. It was a very hard and steep climb. We got to the top of Basin at 1:00. The views were amazing. We had lunch and headed down the range trail to Saddleback. The trail between Basin and Saddleback wasn't difficult until we got to the cliffs. I wouldn't recommend descending Saddleback cliffs unless you have climbed them a few times before. The first part of the cliffs was the hardest. There were two possible ways to get up. One was if you looked to the left there would be a rock with multiple horizontal cracks in the rock. An option is to push yourself up using the crack or the second option, look to your left there would be another rock you could back yourself into, then pull yourself up onto the ledge. It would make more sense if you were there to see it.Once you got passed the first part it was mostly walking and pulling yourself along cracks in the rock. I personally thought climbing the cliffs was fun. Scary, but fun. We got to the top of Saddleback at 3:45. We took a quick break and headed down to the Orebed trail. The Orebed trail was very easy. A good amount was walking down stairs that were built into the slide. It was longer than Shorey's Shortcut and the walk to JBL felt like it took forever but we made it back eventually. We got back to our campsite at 7:00. The following morning we packed up and left the site at 9:00. The walk back was long but enjoyable. We got back to the car at 11:30. It was a great trip and we plan on doing it over again when we finish up.
-ADK Gurl

Top of the Pyramid

 Top of Armstrong

 Top of Gothics

 Top of Upper Wolfjaw

 Top of Pyramid

 Ausable River dam

 Rainbow Falls

The Great Range















On Sunday July 21st we began our hike from the Saint Hubert's at 6:15 with plans of going up to Pyramid, then grabbing Gothics, Armstrong, and Upper Wolfjaw. Even though Pyramid isn't a High Peak we have heard that the views were great and we didn't want to miss it. It was not a disappointment. The walk in was long but enjoyable along the Lake Road. We crossed the Dam, took a peak at Rainbow Falls which was beautiful, then headed up to the top of Pyramid. The climb wasn't too steep but the trail never flattened out. It just continued to push upward. We reached the top of Pyramid at 10:30. The views were amazing. We then headed over to Gothics. The climb between Gothics and Pyramid was not too hard. We reached the summit of Gothics just before 11:30. Then we headed over to Armstrong. The trail between Gothics and Armstrong was longer than we had originally planned but wasn't too difficult. We got to the top of Armstrong at 12:30 and had lunch. After Armstrong we set out to go over to Upper Wolfjaw. The trail between Armstrong and Upper Wolfjaw was very rugged. There were lots of steep rocks to scramble down and at one point a ladder was put in. We got to the top of Upper Wolfjaw at 1:45. We then headed down back to the Lake Road. The climb down Upper Wolfjaw was long. I couldn't imagine trying to do Lower Wolfjaw after the three peaks we summited before. We got back to the car at 6:00 and headed home for a late dinner. It was a fun trip and the views off the Great Range were phenomenal.
-ADK Gurl

North, South, East, West

 Top of Macomb

 Top of South Dix

 Top of East Dix

 View of South Dix from East Dix

Lillian Brook herd path split to Macomb and South Dix

Last Sunday we completed the Dix range, climbing Macomb, South Dix, and East Dix. We started our hike at 6:30 from the Elk Lake trail head and took the first herd path up the Macomb slide. The trail was well maintained and easy to follow. Around 8:30 we reached the bottom of the slide. The slide had many carnes placed along the slide. Walking up the slide was like walking up a pile of sand and rocks. It wasn't too difficult to climb up but I wouldn't want to go down it. I enjoyed the slide, it was very different. It wouldn't be a good idea to climb with one person right behind another in the person in front lost their footing. We reached the summit at 9:30 and we were in the clouds. We then headed over to South Dix. The climb up South Dix had a lot of fun open rock climbing but the summit was in the trees. We reached the top around 11:00 then went over to East Dix. The walk over to East Dix was longer than we thought but it wasn't difficult. The views off of East Dix were by far the best of the three we did. We reached the summit at 12:00 and had lunch then headed back to South Dix and down the Lillian Brook herd path. The way down the herd path was steep but then once we joined up with the herd path that came over from Hough it leveled out. We got back to the car at 4:30. It was a successful and fun trip.
-ADK Gurl

Santa Baby

 Top of Santanoni

 Santanoni Brook

Santanoni Brook... again.



















Last weekend we set out on our third attempt on Santanoni. The first time we grabbed Panther and Couchsachraga and didn't want to have to go down the Panther Brook trail in the dark, and the second time,  in May, there was about five feet of snow that we were not prepared for. We started from the trail head at 6:30 am and headed down the private road then onto the trail. The first bridge on the trail was out and we had to cross the brook. There were many rocks that made crossing easy. The trail was very muddy but that was expected since there had been a lot of rain. We turned onto the Express trail and headed up to the summit. The trail wasn't too steep but was muddy from the rain from the day before. We reached the summit at 10:30 and had some snacks then headed back down. And reached the car around 3:00 pm. It was a good trip to begin with and I'm glad we finished the Santanoni range.
-ADK Gurl

Huffing on Hough

 Top of Dix

 Elk Lake from Dix

 Top of Hough

View off of Dix















On Sunday we hiked Dix and Hough. It was a tough climb but very enjoyable and very pretty. We started from Elk Lake at 6:30. Parking would've been an issue if we had gotten there 10 minutes later. It is a very small parking lot and it gets filled up very quickly. The walk in was nice but got more rugged after the turn off for the herd path for Macomb. We went up the Beckhorn trail and it was quite steep but was very pretty with views of the Great Range and Elk Lake all the way up. We got to the top of Dix at 12:00 and had our lunch. We then went back to the Beckhorn and were confused on where the herd path began. At the top of the Beckhorn is a trail off to left (as you are coming off of Dix) and it is a steep, narrow trail that leads you along the ridge. We got to the top of Hough around 2:00 and then headed to the Lillian Brook herd path. It was steep until we came to the brook where it felt flat instead of losing elevation. Once we hit the main trail we made a left and headed out. It was a good trip and was absolutely gorgeous.
-ADK Gurl

Touching the Sky on Skylight

 Flowed Lands

One foot on either side of the Hudson

 Top of Skylight

 Top of Gray

 Top of Redfield

 Top of Cliff

 Lake Tear of the Clouds

 Henderson Lake

View off of Skylight

Last Sunday morning we set off on the trip we had been planning since July of 2011. We had planned on doing this trip after Irene came through but the High Peaks Wilderness area was closed so we hiked Seymour instead. We set off from Upper Works at 7:30 with heavy packs on our backs. We were planning on hiking into Feldspar and camping there for two nights and having a three day adventure. The walk in was long. We had 7 1/2 miles up to Feldspar and 1,600 of elevation to gain. Most of it was when we were hiking into Flowed Lands and when we were hiking up from Lake Colden to the Uphill lean-to. Not only was it a hard climb with our packs but it was a very rugged trail. We got to the lean-to at 12:30 and we were luckily the first people at the campsite which gave us the opportunity to grab the lean-to. We had our lunch and then headed up to Lake Tear. The climb up from Feldspar to Lake Tear was very hard. We got to Lake Tear around 2:00 and then headed up to Skylight. The climb up to Skylight was not very hard and was easier than I had expected. We got to the top around 3:30 then headed back down to do Gray. Gray was said to be a hard climb but it wasn't all that bad. You gained your elevation right from the start and there were just a few muddy rock scrambles. It took us about 20 minutes to get from the start of the herd path to the top of Gray. We then headed back down to our lean-to and got there around 7:00. The next morning we set out do Redfield and Cliff. We decided to do Redfield first and then go up and do Cliff. On the way up Redfield we met up with Veranoenvermont from http://www.forums.adkhighpeaks.com/index.php, a forum my dad is a member of. We got to the top of Redfield around 11:00. Veranoenvermont decided to go ahead because she had decided she was going to try to hike Skylight, Gray, and Cliff in one day. We headed back down and had lunch at the split between Cliff and Redfield. Then we headed up to Cliff. The beginning was very muddy and wet and then the mud turned into steep cliffs. Cliff isn't called Cliff for nothing. We got to the top around 2:00 right as a storm was starting to come in. The rain wasn't all that bad since the cliffs were wet anyways. We got to the campsite at 4:00. A little bit of advice for Cliff: There is a false summit and once you think your there you need to drop about a 100 feet and then gain about 150 feet. Also there is a steep rock slab (you will know it when you see it) that is hard to manipulate. If you go to the right you can avoid it. The next day we took our time packing up. We left the campsite at 10:00 and had lunch at Lake Colden around 11:30. We were out of the woods around 3:00. This was a very fun trip and I'm glad we got to do it.

-ADK Gurl