Jay Range

Went to the ADKs to climb Marcy. Got to the Loj and it was more crowded than I had ever seen it. Lot full at 7:30 and cars backed up about a half mile down the access road. We decided too many people and went to the Jay Range. Good choice! Nice day and nice area. You come up on the West side of the range and then have a mile walk with views to the East end of the ridge. Good views of Whiteface and the Lake Champlain. Interesting rock with iron visible and a number of boulders standing out on slabs of granite. Another great day to be outside!

Marcy, Haystack

Another nice summer day. Hot in the valleys but nice at elevation. A number of streams on this route to dunk your head into. Started from the ADK Loj and went past Marcy dam. Up past Phelps and took a break at Indian Falls. Indian Falls is an interesting place and a good place to hang out by the stream. It is about 7.5 miles to the top of Marcy from the Loj. Good views in all directions and nice temperature to hang out at the top. Very little wind for the top of Mt Marcy. I then headed to Haystack which is 2 miles each way although a tough 2 miles. A lot of down and up, down and up, etc. Haystack has unique views of the side of Marcy which has some steep slides on it. 19 mile day total. A long day but I stopped a lot and plenty of light to do the hike without getting there early.

Haystack

Skylight and Elk Lake

Haystack

Marcy

Heading down Haystack

Gothics

Indian Falls

Marcy Dam

Algonquin and Wright

After some pretty wild afternoon thunderstorms the day before this day was a perfect blue sky summer day. They had predicted 85 in Burlington. It wasn't hot in the ADKs until the very end of the day. Probably 60 at the top of the mountains and very little wind so perfect for hanging out.

Went with Jill and John to the ADK Loj. Then up Algonquin and then to Wright on the way back. It was very dry in the ADKs. We went by a number of streams and what are usually waterfalls that were barely moving. The tops of the mountains were clear and you could see to Mansfield and Camels Hump in VT. Algonquin had great views of half of the ADK 46ers. Colden and Mt Marcy are close by. Very nice day and John even managed to take a nap on the top of Algonquin. There is a plane crash on Wright from 1962 that is close to the top.

Wright seen from Algonquin

Marcy and Colden

Top of Algonquin

Plane parts

Algonquin seen from Wright

Giant and Rocky Peak 7/20/16

A nice somewhat cooler summer day. 60 at elevation. Nice temperature to hang out at the summits for a while. I went up Giant first and then to Rocky Peak and then back to Giant. The Y to go to Rocky Peak is very close to the top of Giant. Great views of the Giant cliffs from Rocky Peak. Rocky Peak also has some good Lake Champlain views.

Giant is one of the better ADK hikes. Part of that is it is close to the road so no big hike in. Good views in many places on the way up. You can see a lot of the high peaks as you go up Giant. Dix, White Face, Marcy, Gothics, the Wolf Jaws, etc. There is also a nice pond on the way up.

This view is 15 minutes into the hike

Rocky from Giant

Looking at Giant from Rocky

Lake Champlain in the distance

Dix 01/01/16

It has been a warm start to the winter but New Years day in the ADK's was decidedly winter. The snow, particularly up high, was great for hiking. Very little ice and enough snow to let yourself go downhill. We started at 8:30 and returned to the car a little past 4:30 just as it was getting dark. The top of Dix was blowing snow and the temperature felt well below zero. Coming down Dix, about 2 miles, didn't take long at all with about 1 foot of snow. It reminded me of skiing since you were sliding pretty far with each step. It snowed lightly for most of the AM and then turned into a steadier accumulating snow in the afternoon. The views were limited most of the day. The trip was about 14 miles round trip leaving from the Round Pond parking area.