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

No M&Ms On Emmons

 View of Seward off of Donaldson

 Top of Donaldson

 Top of Emmons

 Top of Seward

View off of Seward















On Tuesday night we drove into Corey's and slept in the car. The following morning we were on the trail at 6:00 hoping to grab all three peaks. The walk into the start of the Calkins Brook herd path was quick along the road. Once we got to the cairn we made a left onto the herd path. We stopped to fill up with water a couple times along the way. The climb up was not very hard it was pretty moderate all the way up with a few rock scrambles right after the split to Seward. We reached the summit at 10:00 and then headed over to Emmons. The bog was not bad but I imagine it was only because of the lack of rain. We went over two bumps to get to Emmons and there were quite a few rock scrambles. We reached the top off Emmons at 11:30. We had a half hour lunch then we headed back over to Donaldson. When we got to the top of Donaldson we were tired but had no desire to gain the elevation again, or drive all the way up to Corey's. It was 1:00 and we had time to get over to Seward and back. We decided to give it a shot and see how far we got. At the junction we dropped 150 feet of elevation and then we were in the col. We went over one small bump and then started our ascent. The trail was filled with fun not too difficult rock climbs. We got to the top of Seward around 2:00. By 4:00 we were back at the junction and then started our descent. We headed down the herd path slowly since we were pretty tired. We got to the car at 8:00 with three more peaks under our belt. It felt pretty good to get the Sewards out of the way.
-ADK Gurl

Panting Panther and Ouchy Couchy

 Top of Couchsachraga

 View off of Panther

 Santanoni Lean-to

Top of Panther



















Yesterday we hiked Couchsachraga and Panther. We had also hoped to grab Santanoni but sometimes things just don't work out. We started at 5:30 on Saturday morning with full packs in hopes of grabbing a campsite to pitch a tent. We headed up the trail with Biji from http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/ a forum my Dad is apart of. The road was about 1.5 miles I would say and then another 3.5 miles up the trail to the campsite. Once you hit the trail we were on a steady upwards climb but it wasn't all that bad. We past the start of the herd path up to Time Square and kept going for about .3 miles to the lean-to. All the legal and illegal campsites around there were occupied by tents already so we settled for the lean-to. We dropped our packs turned around and headed for the herd path. The beginning of the herd path around Bradley Pond was confusing we searched for the path for about a half hour before finally finding it. The key is when you see the cairn by the pond go straight and around to the left right over the beaver dam. We continued up a very rugged herd path along Panther Brook. Once we reached Harold Square we made a right onto Panther. The climb to Panther was very short and not to hard. Once you got to the top there were great views. We had our lunch and headed down over to Couchy. It took about 2 hours to get over there. It was rugged, muddy, slick, and steep in some spots. The bog in the col between the ridge and Couchy was passable but I suspect if it hadn't been as dry as it had been it would've been worse. It took about an hour and 45 minutes to get back to the ridge where we decided it was too much to go onto Santanoni. Down we went again on the rugged Panther Brook herd path. We got back to the lean-to about 8. It was a long long day and we were exhausted. After the trip I actually find that I like lean-to's better than sleeping in a tent. In the morning we packed up and left around 8 and headed down back to the car. We ended our trip at 10:40 with sights set on Santanoni in the fall.
-ADK Gurl

Nyece and Easy On Nye and Street

The split to Street and Nye

 Top of Street (sorry it is so dark, the sun caused it to be this way)

Top of Nye

View from trail














Last weekend we hiked Street and Nye. We started off early at 6:30 from the ADK Loj. The hike was pretty flat going in untill we reached Nye Brook which was when the trail started gaining elevation and the day started getting hotter. The hike up was hard in the heat and deer flies pestered us endlessly. At one point I was ready to turn around but we kept heading up. Around 9:30 we hit the trail junction and headed towards Street. From the junction we headed up a little bit but not much. We were at the summit of Street at 10. We turned around and headed onto Nye. The climb up Nye wasn't really much of a climb but more like a like a staircase. We got to the summit of Nye at 11:30. Then we headed back down. The deer flies were what kept driving us down the mountain. We finished our hike at 2 right as storms were starting to come in.
-ADK Gurl

Cold Winds On Colden

 New bridge over Marcy Brook

 Mount Colden

 Avalanche Lake

 Hitch-up Matilda

 View off of Colden

Top of Colden















This weekend we hiked Mount Colden. We decided it would be our first camp out of the year. We started around 6:30 on Saturday from the ADK Loj. We hiked into Avalanche Camp and set up camp before our long day. We continued and headed into Avalanche Pass which was very rugged and slow going. We finally made it around Avalanche Lake which was gorgeous and onto to Lake Colden which wasn't nearly as rugged. The climb up Colden was extremely steep and slow going. We had to gain 2000 feet in 1.6 miles. Once we were on open rock the trail was hard to follow and we had to experiment going different ways to get to the top. We reached the summit around 1:30. The winds on top of Colden were strong enough to knock you off your feet. We ate our lunch and headed down the Lake Arnold trail which wasn't nearly as hard. It was moderately steep all the way down and was very easy. We reached camp at 5:00 and went to bed early. We started our hike out around 9:00 the following morning and got back to the ADK Loj around 10:30. It was a good first camping trip.
-ADK Gurl