The Crows Trail in Hurricane Mountain Wilderness ascends 845 feet and 0.9 mile from the Crows Trailhead on Hurricane Road to the summit (2,535 ft.). The trail contains moderate climbs with a few steep sections with a number of scenic views from ledges along the way.
Climb another 280 feet and another 0.6 mile to reach the summit of Big Crow Mountain. Many scenic views of the surrounding peaks can be found along the way and on the summit. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
Champlain Area Trails (CATS) is set to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Flying Squirrel Trail in Westport, on Saturday, June 2, at 2 pm.
The hike will last an hour and a half to three hours, depending on the route hikers select. The new trail connects New York State’s Split Rock Wild Forest to the CATS Wildway Passage property next to Coon Mountain. » Continue Reading.
The 6th annual Lake George Hike-A-Thon has been set for Thursday, July 5th, 2018. The public is welcome to participate in the free, family-friendly event, but registrations must be made by June 15.
The 2018 Hike-A-Thon features 19 simultaneous hikes and paddles all around Lake George, culminating with aerial photography of each group by Carl Heilman, II, who will once again be flying in a helicopter donated and piloted by Bruce Mowery of North Country HeliFlite. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has urged hikers to postpone hikes on trails above 2,500 feet until high elevation trails have dried and hardened. Snow and ice are currently melting on high elevation trails and steep trails with thin soils are dangerous for hiking and susceptible to erosion, and sensitive alpine vegetation is easily damaged. » Continue Reading.
As we made forays out from Mateskared, our family’s cabin in Baker’s Mills, most often Schaefers were the way-showers and Zahnisers their eager followers. On their 1946 backpacking trip to Flowed Lands and Hanging Spear Falls on the Opalescent River in the High Peaks with Ed Richard, Paul Schaefer went so far as to carry my father on his shoulders across one difficult and hazardous approach by narrow ledge to the falls themselves up through the boulder-strewn canyon of the Opalescent. Paul’s accounts of the trip never mentioned that fact, gleaned from my father’s journal. But it set a suitable tone for our families’ joint wildlands outings. » Continue Reading.
Spring conditions are present throughout the lower elevations of the Adirondacks but trails in the highest elevations are still covered in slowly melting ice and snow.
Steep trails with thin soils can become a mix of ice and mud as the ice melts and frost leaves the ground, making the trails slippery and vulnerable to erosion by hikers. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Land Trust’s Coon Mountain Preserve offers an easy mile long hike to a summit. One short section gets steep as it passes through a rocky area, where footing is a bit more difficult, but it is an easy climb to big views of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains. » Continue Reading.
The recent recounting here of personal memories and good times linked to the old trail on Lyon Mountain told only part of the path’s history. A decade ago, a new trail replaced the old one, which had degraded with sections ranging from grassy to rocky to bouldery to muddy to extremely steep, muddy, and slippery. It was a mess compared to paths built by modern trail crews. In 2006, ADK’s Algonquin Chapter completed the plans for a new trail, which was built in the summer of 2008.
Without fanfare, a new trail replaced the old one, but a bit of fanfare might have been nice, considering the old trail’s age and historical significance.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
Champlain Area Trails (CATS) will host the 2018 Grand Hike on Saturday, May 12. This year’s 14-mile route will run from the Westport Train Station to the Essex Inn, beginning with a new trail on land CATS just conserved in the Westport area.
The Grand Hike leads to a Block Party at The Essex Inn, featuring the Steady Benders band, food and drink. A buffet dinner will be available at the Essex Inn for $15, with reservations made with the Grand Hike registration. » Continue Reading.
Lisa Ballard’s recent piece, “Her Special Mountain,” which appears in the March/April 2018 issue of Adirondack Explorer, struck a chord with me and rekindled some great memories.
In the opening paragraph, she writes, “You might climb many others, but there’s always one that’s yours… a favorite you climb over and over. It’s your go-to hike when you need exercise, you want to share quality trail time with someone else, or you need to get above the daily fray.”
Lisa’s choice is Lyon Mountain, which, at 3,830 feet, is the highest point in the northern Adirondacks and offers commanding views in all directions. She first climbed it via the old trail when it was being replaced, and soon after ascended on the new trail, which was completed in 2008. In September of that year, the Adirondack Almanack reported the change: » Continue Reading.
Champlain Area Trails (CATS) has recently acquired Viall’s Crossing, a historic 132.5-acre farm in Westport that had been placed on the market last August.
In an announcement sent to the press, CATS Executive Director Chris Maron said: “Viall’s Crossing is the only place where a hiking/skiing trail going directly north from the Westport train station to Essex could legally cross the Canadian Pacific railroad tracks. CATS has envisioned doing this for years.”
“The property is also a key link in protecting wildlife in the Split Rock Wildway, which connects New York’s Split Rock Wild Forest to the Adirondack Mountains,” Maron said. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
The nonprofit Adirondack Hamlets to Huts, Inc. (AHH) will conduct a test run of its first route slated for implementation, the North Creek Indian Lake Circuit, from May 8th to May 13th. This five-day, four-night route begins and ends in North Creek and involves three days of hiking and a rafting trip down the Hudson River.
The hiking portion of the route provides opportunities to summit Balm of Gilead, Peaked, and Chimney mountains while covering approximately 24-30 miles, depending on options taken. » Continue Reading.
Latest News Headlines
Latest News Headlines
The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
To advertise on the Adirondack Almanack, or to receive information on rates and design, please click here.
sign up for news updates from the Adirondack Almanack!
Help us keep bringing you the Adirondack information you value.
Email
Twitter
RSS
Facebook
Recent Almanack Comments