Top of Esther
Yesterday we hiked Whiteface and Esther. We started at the trail head from Marble Mtn road at 6:45. We hiked up the rocky, steep trail to the summit of Marble Mtn which was once a ski area. We reached the summit at 7:30 then headed over to Lookout Mtn where the herd path to Esther would start. It was pretty flat going over to Lookout Mtn. and the herd path was marked by a huge cairn and a small sign saying ESTHER MTN (not a marked trail). We reached Esther around 9:45 and stopped for about ten minutes then headed back down for Whiteface. The climb up Whiteface wasn't bad and we crossed "The Wilmington Trail" which is a ski trail on the right side of Whiteface (looking on the map) which for the most part is a very flat trail down to the Lookout lift. When we got to a spot on the hiking trail that was very close to the Memorial Highway going up the backside of Whiteface we decided to take the road since the trail was starting to get icy. When we got to the end of the road we walked up stairs they had built to the top of the mountain. This is where the wind started to kick in. We reached the summit about 12:30 and left to go back down at 12:50. We took the road down the rest of the way which was pretty boring but easier and quicker. We finished our day very early at 3:45.
-ADK Gurl
