Friday, August 31, 2007

Firetower weekend

Labor Day was a busy weekend filled with camping and hiking. On Friday, Howie and I drove up to Rollins Pond campground near Tupper Lake. We had a site on the water side of the road. There was a short path that lead down to a beach area on the pond.

Rollins Pond

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Big Rip

Howie and I climbed another Adirondack high peak this weekend - Big Slide. This was part of the 70th Anniversary In Memory of Grace climb. Got to the Garden parking lot at 9:15 am. Luckily, there were spaces available. Started out on the route via the Brothers. We had views to start out, but the clouds were pretty low in the sky. By the time we go to the summit, there was no view at all. A guy on the summit joked that he was going to ask for refund when he got back to parking lot (there is a $5 parking fee). After a long lunch break, I headed over the trail to Yard - still no views. Descended down to Klondike notch and out via the Johns Brook trail. By the time I was driving along the highway, the skies were starting to clear out. Go figure.

Summit Elevation: Big Slide 4240 ft
Round-trip Distance: 11.5 mi
Elevation Change: 3000 ft


Big Slide

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Good dog

Howie and I did a short hike near the Adirondack high peaks on this cool, cloudy day. We climbed Mount Adams which had a fire tower at the top. Went with an Internet hiking group. Many commented on how well behaved Howie is. But they don't know the real Howie.

Summit Elevation: Adams 3540 ft
Round-trip Distance: 4.8 mi
Elevation Change: 1800 ft

Adams fire tower

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Wet dog

Howie and I did a short hike today in the Southern Adirondacks along the West Branch of Sacandaga River. Drove to the end of West River Road in Wells (which is a very long gravel road) and started out on the path. Soon reached a register and the Northville Placid trail. Headed north on the N-P trail and came upon a split after 15 minutes. Took the unmarked woods road on the left which eventually led to Hamilton Creek. Crossed the creek and continued on the path to the Sacandaga. The path followed along a wide, tranquil section of river. The river became more narrower, with steeper sides as we continued upstream. Soon we reached the first falls. There was a large jumble of rocks to get around to reach the second upper falls. Howie took an unintentional swim and got pulled downstream a little bit. I reeled him back in and we took a well-deserved lunch break. Returned back the way we came for a 4+ hour trek on this sunny, warm afternoon.

Round-trip Distance: 6.0 mi

West Branch Sacandaga

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Slip sliding away...

Howie and I did a nice hike in the Adirondack high peaks today. We climb East Dix (Grace peak) via the Great Slide. Parked near bridge over the North Fork of the Bouqet River on Route 73 and started out on the unmarked path. It was confusing at times and I made a couple wrong turns. Was able to correct our route and eventually made it to the start of the slide. The slide started out at a reasonable grade and got steeper toward the top. We skipped the last bit of climbing (which would have been tricky for the dog) and opted for path on the side. Reached the summit and had a quick bite. Returned the way we came for an eight hour trek in the woods.

Summit Elevation: East Dix (Grace) 4012 ft
Round-trip Distance: 12.0 mi
Elevation Change: 2700 ft

East Dix