dismal wilderness

May 17, 2020July 20, 2020

Black Mountain via Rhus Ridge

The meadows of the Rancho San Antonio preserve, as seen from the the trail up Rhus Ridge, with Black Mountain in the background.

February 23, 2020, Rhus Ridge trailhead

A big change of scenery

Deep snow and wintry landscapes have dominated most of my early 2020 adventures. But this hike would prove quite the opposite. Just hours earlier I had arrived at SFO for a job interview in Silicon Valley. It was a Sunday afternoon and I had time to kill before the next day’s interrogations. My original plan was to wander around San Francisco, but I missed the CalTrain, and the next departure was a shocking 90 minutes later. After wandering around the Mountain View farmer’s market and grabbing a couple of tacos, I decided to load up All Trails and find myself a good hike.

March 26, 2020March 10, 2022

Allen Mountain

February 1, 2020, Fire Tower Trailhead

Allen Mountain and 46er Procrastination

Putting off Allen for the bitter end is one of the time-honored traditions of High Peaking. According to the Adirondack Mountain Club’s official roster of 46ers, Allen spent decades as, far and away, the most popular last ascent. Only after the 1980 Winter Olympics did Whiteface replace Allen as a more pleasant (and ceremonial) finish. To understand why folks are keen to procrastinate in bagging Allen, one need only look at the stats. Allen requires an 18-mile round trip through brush and bog to bag just one lonely, tree-covered summit. No other peak requires such an enormous minimum amount of mileage.

February 29, 2020March 10, 2022

The Santanonis

Stunning views from the summit of Santanoni

January 25, 2020, Bradley Pond Trailhead

Into the night

The “day” began around 3:30 am, when my alarm when off at the Owl’s Head Lodge in Newcomb New York, smack dab in the center of the Adirondack Park. As a winter day hike, the Santanoni’s would become the single-longest day to date in my 46er adventures.

January 21, 2020March 30, 2022

Sawteeth Mountain

January 5, 2020, St Hubert’s

Fresh tracks up Lake Road

I embarked from St Hubert’s at 6 am sharp on this snowy Sunday in early January. I headed up the road past the Ausable Club in what was still, essentially pitch darkness. The goal was a swift summit of Sawteeth Mountain, with ample time left in the day to get back to Brooklyn by a decent hour.

January 20, 2020March 10, 2022

Colvin and Blake

January 4, 2020, St Hubert’s

On the Road Again

Just weeks after summiting Dial and Nippletop I returned to the Adirondacks to finish off the Colvin Range with Colvin and Blake. I left the car park at 6:45 am, a bit later than I’d hoped for. But soon enough I had signed in at the AMR trail register and was off down a snowy Lake Road.

January 20, 2020March 10, 2022

Dial and Nippletop

December 17, 2019, St Huberts

A pre-dawn breakfast

The journey to Dial and Nippletop began with a 5:30 am drive through a snowy and blustery Cascade Pass, descending down towards Keene and Keene Valley. The plan was to arrive at the Noonmark Diner for their 6 am opening (per Google) and then scarf down some eggs before hitting the trail. To my dismay, the diner was completely darkened when I arrived. I stood there a few minutes, slightly panicked that my breakfast would be reduced to a few sad, frozen Clif bars. I decided to drive back up the road, north towards Keene.

January 19, 2020March 29, 2022

Tabletop Mountain

December 16, 2019, Adirondak Loj

Almost Winter

More than halfway through my Adirondack high peaks journey, I still manage to encounter many “firsts”. In fact, one of the best parts of trying to become a 46er is that it forces you to always explore something different: different trailheads, different ridgelines, different types of weather, and different seasons.

For my journey to Tabletop Mountain, those “firsts” would include winter hiking. Well, almost winter hiking. December 16 fell just under a week away from the official season. To become a winter 46er, you must summit each peak between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox (late March). But I harbored no such ambitions at present, and timed this hike to a wonderful winter hiking informational seminar the prior day at the Adriondak Loj.

January 12, 2020March 10, 2022

Colden and Phelps

A bolder perched precariously atop Colden

November 2, 2019, Adirondak Loj

Arrival

I arrived at Heart Lake before dawn on a brisk day in early November. The target, a pair of classic high peak day hikes: Colden and Phelps! My original plan consisted of hiking the Santanoni’s. But torrential rain and high winds had plagued the Adirondacks in recent days, and I decided to target a couple of peaks easily accessible from the relatively dry and well-trafficked Van Hoevenberg trail.

January 12, 2020March 10, 2022

Street and Nye

October 14, 2019, Adirondak Loj

Full moon over Heart Lake

I arrived before dawn to the Heart Lake Trailhead to bag Street and Nye. It was my first time back to this popular trailhead in two years! This marked my final day-hike of Columbus Day Weekend 2019, and I was feeling sore from my adventures on Lower Wolfjaw and Giant the prior two days.

January 1, 2020March 30, 2022

Giant & Rocky Peak Ridge

October 13, 2019, Chapel Pond

Starry Skies at Chapel Pond

I arrived at the parking for Giant via the Ridge trail around 6 am. The Autumn days were rapidly growing shorter. And on arrival, I was treated to a clear sky full of stars. How beautiful! This was my second day-hike of Columbus Day Weekend, and my second high peaks adventure post-knee surgery. Lower Wolfjaw had gone well the day before. And so I decided to graduate to Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge.