Giant Mt. from the Ausable Club.The fall hiking season is officially over.
I had planned on hiking 8 high peaks this weekend and by Sunday I still had a grand total of 0. I heard of reports of 2+ feet of snow in the high peaks but I was determined to try to salvage the weekend. Worst case scenario, I'd hike halfway up one of the mountains and turn around if things looked bad.
Well, that's exactly what ended up happening. I had planned on a roughly 12 mile loop of Dial and Nippletop Mts. and Elk Pass. But halfway up Dial the snow became impassable without snow shoes. Not wanting to posthole and ruin the trail for everyone else, I decided to turn back and I wasn't the only one. I started up the mountain shortly after dawn and on my way up, there were already two groups of hikers heading back down in defeat.
I still had fun though. This was my first time in the Adirondack Mountain Reserve area. I got some good views of the snow covered peaks, some fresh air, and a close up view of the damage from the 1999 fire. And most importantly, I returned home safely.
I had planned on hiking 8 high peaks this weekend and by Sunday I still had a grand total of 0. I heard of reports of 2+ feet of snow in the high peaks but I was determined to try to salvage the weekend. Worst case scenario, I'd hike halfway up one of the mountains and turn around if things looked bad.
Well, that's exactly what ended up happening. I had planned on a roughly 12 mile loop of Dial and Nippletop Mts. and Elk Pass. But halfway up Dial the snow became impassable without snow shoes. Not wanting to posthole and ruin the trail for everyone else, I decided to turn back and I wasn't the only one. I started up the mountain shortly after dawn and on my way up, there were already two groups of hikers heading back down in defeat.
I still had fun though. This was my first time in the Adirondack Mountain Reserve area. I got some good views of the snow covered peaks, some fresh air, and a close up view of the damage from the 1999 fire. And most importantly, I returned home safely.
The lower elevations on the trail up Dial Mt.
Noonmark from one of it's shoulders.
The furthest extent of the 1999 fire. On the left of the trail is old growth, on the right of the trail is the 11 year old growth - mostly Aspen saplings.
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