Pharoah Lake

On a particularly warm February day we (Lisa, Tom and yours truly) packed the car and headed to the trail head on the northern tip of Brant Lake. Thinking that we would finally beat Jeff and Lisa we pulled in ten minutes early to see them completely geared up and conversing with the forest ranger. Better luck next time...

With skis strapped on, we set off on the trail which wound through tall softwoods and over bogs (on skinny bridges) before following the outlet of Pharoah Lake. The snow was a bit sticky and we occasionally had a tough time getting a glide, especially where the sun had been shining. We made it to the lake as the forest ranger was getting ready to leave after his lean-to inspection.

We followed his tracks on the lake to a great view of Treadway Mountain from the number two lean-to. There we ate our sandwiches and compared our ski experiences of the day while drinking in the sunshine.

Following our tracks on the return trip made for an easy ski since we lost a few hundred feet in elevation. The snow seemed less sticky somehow and we managed not to fall off the skinny bridges. This was a very enjoyable ski that we will gladly do again. We were lucky to follow it with a trip to North Creek for dinner followed by an amazing concert by Charles Cornell and the Square One Project at the Tannery Pond Community Center.

Mackenzie Pond

With minimal snow in the valley and an intense desire to ski, we headed to Saranac Lake to try some new trails. My parents decided to join us and luckily seemed to trust our trip planning skills...

Our first destination was the famed "Jackrabbit Trail," a cross country ski trail that connects Saranac Lake to Keene. We strapped on our skis and headed east from the route 33 trailhead. After a few bruises and bumps on the hills, we got the hang of it and enjoyed when the trail widened after a mile or so.

Our destination was Mackenzie Pond and the scenery did not disappoint. With gently falling snowflakes we admired the mountains and ridges surrounding the pond while we snacked. In the winter, breaks don't last long though and we needed to get moving before our teeth began to chatter. The trail back to the car was smooth as we now knew where all the moguls, rocks and steep sections were.

We then headed to Saranac Lake, where the first weekend of the Winter Carnival was taking place. We met the Henrys and Vincents and were happy that our nephew Ben was willing to give us a personalized tour of the Ice Palace. The theme this year was "Adirondack Wildlife," and we even enjoyed the ice lean-to facing the lake. It would be nice to have in the summer for some air-conditioning on those hot nights...

In the afternoon, we wanted to get on the skis one more time before heading home. We went to the John Brown Farm in North Elba and although we had to look closely, we found a ski loop. The fluffy snow was denser now and the trail took us through some nice woods as the sun started to set. It was the perfect bookend to a fine ski day.

As we begrudgingly drove back to the Champlain Valley, noticing the disappearance of snow our stomachs started to grumble. To amend the situation, we capped off the day with a fine meal at George's Italian-American Eatery in Port Henry. Yum.

Whiteface Landing

With just a dusting of snow in the Champlain Valley for weeks, we had been pining for a day on our skis. Lisa checked the North Country Public Radio's ski conditions webpage and with the Lake Placid region listed as "outstanding," we threw the skis in the car and headed to the Connery Pond road.

The day could only be described as perfect. The powdery snow make the skiing absolutely sublime as we meandered through the woods. We stopped briefly to admire Connery Pond from the boat access while making mental notes for a future return with paddle boats when the pond would be a bit more liquid.

Our destination was Whiteface Landing at the belly of Barrel Bay on Lake Placid. We took a brief snapshot of the lake but then ate our lunch in a grove of trees to keep our fingers warm. In winter trips, the breaks are brief and we were soon back on the trail, gliding most of the way. We backtracked except for where we skied across Connery Pond.

With puffy snowflakes falling gently from the sky, we savored our last mile of the trail. We will be keeping this one high on the list for all seasons!

Lake Andrew Tract

On the last day of 2016, we packed the car and headed to the Newcomb cabin in search of snow on which to ski. We were happy to see that as we climbed in elevation from Port Henry to North Hudson and later to Newcomb we went from seeing a dusting on the ground to over a foot of snow. Upon arrival, we shoveled paths and got the wood stove cranking for our New Years Eve in the wilderness. We would be hard pressed to find an experience further from attending the Times Square celebration in New York City!

In the afternoon we headed to the Newcomb ski loop, which we assumed to be a pleasant trail for skiing since it was labeled as a ski trail. What we found was a mile of flat terrain followed by cliffs, river crossings, boulders and borderline impassable "trail." We scrambled up and down the rough terrain, taking off skis to walk in places while breaking trail. We made it back around sunset, exhausted and ready for supper.

We whiled away the evening eating chili cooked over the wood stove and playing Settlers of Catan by firelight. We didn't make it to midnight...not even close.

The next day we parted with Tom who elected to snowshoe around the Hudson River area behind the cabin while we skied the Lake Andrew Tract. We parked at the Bradley Pond trailhead and found that the trail had been tracked by skiers already. This made for a pleasant surprise and an opposite experience of the previous day. The wide road into the hunting camps made for easy skiing. We found ourselves looking directly up at the slides on Santanoni Mountain. It was a breathtaking view and we enjoyed the light snow falling as we admired it.

Our ski out was quick since most of the four miles was downhill! It was a perfect way to ring in the New Year with plenty of sleep and lots of fresh air.

Adirondack Loj

With a car full of winter gear we caught an early ferry intending to spend a weekend at Adirondack Loj. Upon arrival, we convened a committee of all the friends and family in attendance and decided to snowshoe to Marcy Dam. The path had been well tramped and going was easy, even though it seemed that snowshoe bindings and rivets were failing miserably. The walk through the woods was pleasant and upon arrival at the Dam, we happened to see a moose running at the edge of the woods. With a bit of patience, we were greeted with a second moose that came in from the direction of the Van Hovenberg trail. 

It was a magical sight in the light snowy air and upon arrival back at the loj, we were told that "no one EVER sees a moose at Marcy Dam..."

For the afternoon, we strapped skis on and blindly followed some of the cross-country ski trails around Adirondack Loj. With just enough snow cover to glide over most of the rocks and logs, we followed the Rimrock trail to Easy Street, followed by a short jaunt around the campground. We noticed some nice views of Mount Jo and Wright Peak that we had never noticed in the summer.

We spent the evening bookending the delicious meal with an impromptu tuba Christmas with music supplied by maestro Jeff. With flute, piano, cornet and tuba we made our way through some nice Christmas sing-a-longs. We even pulled out the fiddle and guitar later in the evening for an old-time jam.

After breakfast the next morning, we strapped on the skis yet again to follow another nice loop on the Mr. Van trail to Easy Street. It was a chilly morning, but the powdery snow made for glorious skiing!

We spent the rest of the day furiously working to make an Adirondack pack basket in the workshop sponsored by the Adirondack Mountain Club. Our instructor was infinitely patient with each of us and we walked away with raw fingers and a brand new basket at the end of the day. It was a fantastic winter weekend!

Newcomb

With residually full bellies the day after Thanksgiving Tom, Chris and Lisa headed to Newcomb for a night. According to NOAA weather, they had a foot of snow on the ground and we packed the car full of skis, snowshoes and warm clothes in anticipation.

Upon arrival, the wood stove needed a bit of convincing to light, so we spent the afternoon and evening in the cabin stoking (and poking) the stove into an acceptable temperature. We passed the time with multiple games of scrabble.

The next morning, we went to the SUNY-ESF property on the border of Rich Lake armed with our winter gear. Upon arrival, it was apparent that the wet weather overnight would render it all obsolete and we strapped on boots to go for a woods walk. We admired the scenery along the peninsula that juts into the middle of Rich Lake. We saw an eagle, beaver and either a weasel or mink (them varmints move real quick like...). We also inspected all of the canoe access points for warm weather exploration!

After lunch at the cabin, we wanted one more walk before heading home so we drove to the Mt. Adams trailhead on the Tahawus road. We only went as far as Lake Jimmy since the ground was getting particularly muddy. We admired the scenery as the sun was getting low in the sky, waiting for the clouds to offer a view of the fire tower.

We sloshed our way back to the car, happy with our first taste of winter and glad that we were able to take our gear for a ride!

Anthony's Nose

After our hike on Jay Mountain, we wanted to get another view of the peak Adirondack foliage. We headed south on route 9N toward the town of Putnam where we parked the car in the world's most awkward lot to hike Record Hill, also known as Anthony's Nose on the shore of Lake George.

The hike was short, steep and sweet. We had many viewpoints on the ascent but the sandy soil made for some tricky footing. On the top, we could see from Sabbath Day Point to Rogers Rock. We meandered on the summit, soaking in the colors before heading back down the trail. While eating our dinner that night around the campfire, we reminisced about the beautiful autumn views that we had seen.