Expect blowdown and ice

This afternoon I went up Baker Mountain, a small peak outside Saranac Lake, to test a pair of crampons (Black Diamond’s Sabretooths, pictured here). I thought the crampons would be overkill on the trail, but it turned out I needed them.

Black Diamond Sabretooths

Thanks to all the rain on Monday, followed by subfreezing temperatures, parts of the trail were sheer ice. I encountered a couple of snowshoers and a guy wearing Kahtoola MicroSpikes, and all were having a much harder time than I was. (I like MicroSpikes, but they were overmatched by today’s ice.)

Monday’s storm also brought strong winds. I saw the evidence on my hike: several trees and countless branches had fallen on the trail.

When I got back to the office, I called David Winchell at the state Department of Environmental Conservation to ask about trails elsewhere in the Adirondacks. After checking with folks in the field, he reported back: “Expect blowdown and icy conditions under whatever fresh snow we’ve got. That’s pretty much the case across the Adirondacks.”

Winchell said the blowdown is not so bad that DEC needs to send in crews to clear trails.

Finishing the 46

Seth Lang, Kyle Lang, and Thomas Tubbs on Mount Haystack. Photo by Seth Lang.

You might think climbing the forty-six High Peaks is no big deal. After all, more than 6,200 hikers have done it.

But I’ve got news for you: those peaks are as big as they were when Bob and George Marshall and their guide, Herb Clark, climbed them. The Marshall brothers and Clark completed the first round of the forty-six in 1925, inaugurating an Adirondack tradition.

Taking a break at Slant Rock. Photo by Seth Lang.

What’s more, no matter how many people preceded you, when you climb the High Peaks for the first time, you see the mountains fresh, just as the Marshalls and Clark did.

I was reminded of this when Seth Lang, a Crown Point photographer, sent me images of his recent hike up Mount Haystack with his brother, Kyle, and Thomas Tubbs. Seth, who is twenty-seven, and Kyle, who is thirty, were finishing their forty-six. They had climbed their first High Peak, Cascade Mountain, in 1994 but didn’t start seriously pursuing all the peaks until 2004.

“My personal feeling was one of pride and accomplishment,” Seth e-mailed me after his round. “Not only do I feel a deeper connection with nature, but also with my family back home. I feel that I am far better at solving problems now. I would argue that climbing the forty-six has as much to do with mental fortitude as anything else—maybe more.”

Why did he finish on Haystack?

“I was told by a very wise man that it had the best view,” Seth said.

He didn’t reveal the identity of the wise man, but it’s interesting to note that Bob Marshall also prized Haystack’s view as the best in the High Peaks.

“It’s a great thing these days to leave civilization for a while and return to nature,” Marshall once wrote with this view in mind. “From Haystack you can look over thousands and thousands of acres, unblemished by the works of man, perfect as made by nature.”

That holds true today just as it did in 1925.

Incidentally, you can see more of Seth Lang’s excellent photography on his website.

Looking from Haystack across Panther Gorge at Mount Marcy. Photo by Seth Lang.

Prepare for winter

Martha Brown at the trail junction just below the summit of Hurricane.

There’s snow in the High Peaks now, so if you plan on hiking to a summit, you’d be smart to pack a pair of Yaktrax, MicroSpikes, or similar grippers for your feet.

On Sunday, my daughter Martha and I encountered snow and ice on the trail from Crow Clearing in Keene to Hurricane Mountain, which at 3,694 is not even a High Peak. This trail ascends the north side of the mountain, so it doesn’t get much sun. Hikers who came up the trail from Route 9N to the south told us they did not find snow until just below the summit.

At this time of year, though, it can snow at the higher elevations at any time. And the temperatures are often below freezing at night. So be prepared.

Having said that, Martha and I ascended the mountain in running shoes (we jogged part of the trail). We managed to get to the top, but I’d bring grippers next time. On the way down, we had to slide on our butts in a few places.

Incidentally, the three-mile trail from Crow Clearing would be a fun ski/snowshoe trip. The first mile to the Gulf Brook lean-to is flat. Beyond the lean-to, the trail ascends gradually for another mile or so, and the woods are fairly open if you prefer to ski off the trail. You could ski up the trail as far as you felt comfortable, then snowshoe the rest of the way. In winter, the dirt road is not plowed all the way to Crow Clearing, so you’ll have an extra mile of skiing–all told, two to three miles each way.

Directions: From NY 73 in the hamlet of Keene, drive east on Hurricane Road for 2.3 miles to O’Toole Lane. Bear left and take O’Toole for 1.2 miles to its end at Crow Clearing. In winter, most of O’Toole Lane is not plowed.

Martha on the summit of Hurricane.

New trail in Lake Placid

The entrance to Henry's Woods. Photo by Phil Brown.

The next time you’re in Lake Placid and looking to kill an hour or two, check out the new 2.5-mile trail at Henry’s Woods on the outskirts of town.

Locals have been using the trail for a while now, but village and town officials celebrated its official opening just this week.

Donna Moody of Lake Placid enjoys a walk with her dogs, Rider (a black Labrador) and Ranger (a golden retriever).

I went there after work the other day and was impressed. This is not a wilderness trail: it’s five feet wide and most of its surface is covered with crushed stone. But it’s  ideal for a short hike or jog at the start or end of your day. Come winter, it will be great for cross-country skiing.

The trail was designed by Tony Goodwin, executive director of both the Adirondack Ski Touring Council and the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society. It was constructed by Steve Langdon and Jeremy Burns.

Henry’s Woods is a 200-acre preserve off Bear Cub Lane owned by the Uihlein Foundation. The preserve is named after the philanthropist Henry Uihlein.

The trail passes an unfinished kiosk at the start and reaches a junction at 0.3 miles–the start of a 2-mile loop. I went clockwise, climbing steadily through a hardwood forest for about 0.4 miles. The trail continues on the level at the higher elevation for about 0.5 miles before beginning a series of descents and returning to the junction. The downhills will be exciting on skis.

There are plans to construct two other trails. These would provide views of Lake Placid and the High Peaks.

Directions: From NY 73 , turn onto Old Military Road near the ski jumps south of Lake Placid village. Drive 0.8 miles and turn left onto Bear Cub Lane. The entrance for Henry’s Woods will appear on the right in a tenth of a mile. If coming from Saranac Lake, turn onto Old Military Road from NY 86. You will reach Bear Cub Lane on the right after 3 miles.

Revisiting Lyon Mountain

The view of Chazy Lake from the ledges on Lyon Mountain. Photo by Phil Brown.

Last weekend I climbed Lyon Mountain, the 3,830-foot peak west of Dannemora. What a great view! I had been up it a few times before but not since the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) rerouted the trail.

The old trail was an old jeep road that shot straight up the mountain. It was a rubbly mess. The new trail switchbacks up the eastern face, so gradually that at times you hardly realize you’re climbing. At 3.3 miles, the rerouted trail is about a mile longer than the old one, but it’s much easier on the knees. 

In fact, the trail is so user-friendly that a strong trail runner could probably jog up it. I didn’t try that, but I did jog on the way down, and it was exhilarating.

Another change is that the fire tower on the summit has been refurbished. From the cab, you can see in all directions: the High Peaks to the southwest, the Champlain Valley and the Green Mountains to the east, and the St. Lawrence River to the north. Chazy Lake is spread out at the foot of the mountain. The view also now encompasses the huge wind farms just outside the Adirondack Park.

Kudos to ADK for redesigning the trail. And to the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, which bought Lyon Mountain from Domtar Industries in 2004 and sold it to the state in 2008.

Word must be getting out about Lyon (our publisher, Tom Woodman,wrote the new trail in the January issue of the Explorer), because there were more than 20 cars at the trailhead when I began my climb on Saturday afternoon–many of them from Quebec.

Directions: From the village of Dannemora, drive 9.3 miles east on NY 374 to Chazy Lake Road. Turn left and go 1.7 miles to a dirt road on the right. Follow the dirt road nearly a mile to its end. If coming from the south, turn onto Chazy Lake Road from NY 3 in the hamlet of Saranac and follow it 9.6 miles to the dirt road. (Chazy Lake road takes a left turn at 0.5 mles and a right turn at 2.4 miles, the latter at a four-way intersection.)

‘Wild Times’ is here

We at the Explorer just received copies of our new book, Wild Times, a full-color anthology of 120 hiking and paddling adventures from the past ten years of our newsmagazine.

Softcover, 132 pages, $14.95

This is news you can use, whether you’re looking to paddle a quiet river, spend time on an uncrowded summit, visit a fire tower, or jump in a lake. As in the Explorer, most of the stories are personal accounts of trips, accompanied by hand-drawn maps and color photographs.

Our writers, photographers, and artists made this publication possible. A lot of credit also goes to Susan Bibeau, our designer, who laid out the book.

Wild Times sells for $14.95 (or $13.95 if ordered from our Web site). That works out to about 12 cents an adventure. Not a bad deal.

You can find a few samples from Wild Times on our main Web site. The book can be ordered online and soon will be in stores.

To order from our home page, click on “Order Now” in the Wild Times box on the right side of the screen. That will bring you to the sample pages from the book. Click on “Order Now” again to get to the order form. Or you can simple click here to get to the form.

Climbing the Whiteface slide

Jeff Oehler climbs the Whiteface slide above Lake Placid. Photo: Susan Bibeau

Last weekend, I climbed the Lake Placid slide on Whiteface Mountain with Sue Bibeau, who designs the Explorer, and her husband, Jeff Oehler. We paddled across the lake, went up the hiking trail for two miles, and bushwhacked up Whiteface Brook to the slide. The round trip took ten and a half hours, including a stop for refreshments in the summit restaurant.

The mountain takes its name from this slide, which exposes the white rock (anorthosite) that constitutes the peak. At least, that’s the explanation I found in Peaks and People of the Adirondacks, by Russell M.L. Carson (1926).

Carson also relates that Bill Nye, a celebrated guide (for whom another High Peak, Nye Mountain, is named), cut the first trail up this side of Whiteface in the 1800s. The original route brought hikers to the slide. I’m glad this is no longer the case, for one of the delights of slide climbing is solitude in a wild setting.

Incidentally, the trail between Whiteface Landing, where we stashed our canoes, and the lean-to on Whiteface Brook has been rerouted in recent years. It used to cross the brook three times and now does so only once. Alas, the new trail goes through some of the worst muck I’ve seen in the Adirondacks–and that’s saying something. DEC is aware of the problem.

Look for my story about our adventures in the Explorer. Sue took some great photos, including the one of Jeff above.

Nun-da-ga-o Ridge

Alan Wechsler, Phil Brown, and Rick Karlin take in the views of the High Peaks from Nun-da-ga-o Ridge

Lost Pond, with Hurricane Mountain in the background. Photo by Ken Aaron.

 The ridge trail affords many different views of the High Peaks as you scramble over open ledges. People differ over which direction is the better way to travel. I like hiking the loop clockwise. This way you get to the ridge and the views quickly. After a series of ups and downs, you reach the ridge’s high point, Weston Mountain (elevation 3,100+ feet), after 3.4 miles. After this climax, you descend first to Lost Pond, then to a lean-to on Gulf Brook. The hike ends with a mile-long walk on the flat, a nice cool-down after a strenuous outing. Of course, those who prefer hiking the loop counterclockwise say the flat is a nice warm-up. Whichever way you go, you should consider taking a short side trip up Big Crow. If you want a bigger day, you can hike up Hurricane Mountain from the Gulf Brook lean-to. If you just do the loop, you’ll ascend about 1,600 feet, with all the ups and downs.

 Incidentally, we did the hike on May 2, and there was no snow and little mud on the route. We didn’t run into anybody until the very end, when we encountered Pete Fish, the retired forest ranger, who was walking along the flat part with his wife and young grandson. Nun-da-ga-o Ridge is one of Pete’s favorite hikes, and he helps maintain the trail.

Thanks to Ken Aaron, the communications director at Paul Smith’s College, for letting us use the accompanying photos. Alan wrote a story about the hike for the Times Union.

Alan summits a large boulder along the trail. Photo by Ken Aaron.