Northeast Wild

  Mar 1, 2004 - WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN xc ski via Memorial Hwy. Spent the night in a leanto among red & white pines overlooking Heart Lake at Adirondak Loj campground - overnight temp a bit below freezing - beautiful cloudfree morning - good day to get up in elevation for views. Varied snow depths with couple of windswept bare spots on the uplowed paved road (had to take skis off once); bit icy near start & at top but mostly packed powder. Warm (upper 40s) & sunny - super views along the way & from summit. Most views are to the W & N til the 4,000' point when view opens to S & Lake Placid & many high peaks are seen. At the final turn, views are to the E over the Whiteface Ski Area. Left skis at the Castle at end of road then bare-booted up the rest of the way on man-made steps - railings help here - mostly open rock around the weather observatory at the summit. Trees get smaller as one goes up in elevation & near the summit red spruce & balsam fir ar...

  Mar 22, 2004 - OWL HEAD LOOKOUT ski, from Rt.9N near Elizabethtown. At trailhead (el. 1,300') less than 1' powder snow; just below the 2,500' summit 2'-3' of dry powder - nice!!! Skinned up in under 1.5 hrs. Could have used just a little bit more grip than my 48mm skins offered. Walked the last 200 yds on narrow trail to the rocky summit, a few small trees cut the wind enough for a comfortable break. On this clear sunny day (temp in low 20s), stunning views of Vermont's major peaks, Lake Champlain, Rocky Peak Ridge, Giant Mtn.'s eastern slides, Whiteface Mt., Hurricane Mt. & more. The first 600' drop was heavenly - perfect powder for making turns in the open woods. Trail then passes thru a ravine with some rocks showing - had to go easy here. Things get better for a while to a stream crossing on a good bridge. Trail levels out for bit (not so good with no grip) then drops moderately thru a beautiful hemlock woods - room here for more tele turns in ...

  Mar 16, 2014 - T LAKE from Piseco Lake.  Temp in mid-teens, windy; snow depth in 3' range.   Fairly steep climb to start, gaining 700' - southern exposure, icy crust topped with 1-2" powder - fair skiing (lots of zigzagging on way back down this section but I stayed upright, Rongwae fell & broke clavicle).  More powder, less iciness at over 2,000' - very good to excellent skiing. The trail drops 300' & crosses Mill Stream then climbs 400' to 2,500' elevation & drops to the lean-to.  Can hardly see the lake from the lean-to.  A tough, sometimes grueling but fun 7.6 miles in 6.3 hours - best for advanced skiers.  Feb 27, 2005 - SOUTH BRANCH WEST CANADA CREEK & T LAKE FALLS ski near Hoffmeister. Foot of powder on top of over a foot of base, just about perfect - temp teens to low 20s. Yet another gorgeous sunny Sunday! West Canada Wilderness. Start at end of Mountain Home Rd - this is private land & you may have to get permission...

  Mar 9, 2014 - INDIAN HEAD via Lake Rd from Ausable Club in St Huberts.  Skied the Lake Rd then switched to snowshoes at the Bypass Trail to Gill Brook & frozen falls.  Ascent of IH very steep in places.  Blue skies & little wind - gorgeous.  Nice view toward Giant Mtn from northern lookout.  From the ledges on IH the Ausable Lakes are below, Lower Lake flanked by Colvin & Sawteeth.  The open rock face of Gothics stands out in the Great Range.  In the far distance Vanderwhacker & Snowy (50 miles away!).  Looped down on lake side - trail switches back often, a ladder covered in ice was unusable.  Short side-trip to Gothics Window.  Snowmobiles had been on the Lake Road (private access to camps on Upper Ausable Lake).  Excitingly fast mostly downhill run out on the hard-packed road.  ~10 miles, 6+ hours.  Ran into Tony Goodwin when we stopped for dinner at the Ausable Inn. Jan 20, 2013 - LOWER AUSABLE L...

   Mar 3, 2014 - GOOD LUCK MOUNTAIN CLIFFS from Rt.10.  Dexter Lake snowmobile trail to past the register then off-trail up the NE side of the mountain climbing moderately at first then steeply cutting switchbacks (climbing skins helped), nice view of the W Br Sacandaga valley along the way.  Picked up the hiking trail just below the cliffs & side-stepped the final steep pitch. Gain of 650' from start.  From the cliffs there is a great view across Spectacle Lake to the hills S of the Mohawk Valley & W to Hedgehog Mountain & the hills in the Jerseyfield area.  Dropped down to the W then N skirting some cliffs but with wide-open woods most of the way, much fun!  Crossed the snowmobile trail & off-trail over to State Brook (flows E) which we followed upstream to the W, some beaver ponds along the way.  Reached Hart Vly Stream (flows W) then back down State Brook further downstream.  Spent most of time off-trail - 3-4" powder on g...

  Mar 14, 2005 - PRESTON PONDS & DUCK HOLE . Weather much like yesterday: a bit of everything; winter still here for quite a while yet. Woke up to temps in low teens. Trail climbs gently then moderately with short steep pitches - I used skins for about a half mile but they weren't absolutely necessary (advanced intermediate on way down - can ski thru open woods to the N of trail) - gained 400' in 1.5 miles to pass before Upper Preston Pond. Nice mountain views while crossing the pond. A carry trail runs S of the outlet (an oar handle sticks up out of the snow at the start). Soon we are on Lower Preston Pond with views ahead to the Sewards & Sawtooths. Picked up the outlet & skied along its S shore (some open water here). After a while, the outlet narrows between steep walls as it goes over a waterfall as it enters Duck Hole - a bit before this there was a ribbon marking the start of a short narrow steep carry (side-stepped it). Out onto Duck Hole & crossed over ...

  Jan 8, 2017 - SHAKER MOUNTAIN WILD FOREST ski, from the end of Pinnacle Rd in Bleecker.  Started out on the County Line Lake Trail, the first 0.2 miles climbs 100' in a washed out trail, things got much better past that.  Had to go well upstream to get over 1st stream crossing.  At ~2 miles went out on the vly to the W which has a nice view of Pigeon Mtn.  Previous skiers had been in to N of the vly but turned back at a wet stream crossing.  We left the trail & headed N for a 0.6 mile bushwhack to the pass NW of Panther Mountain.  Temp 6F for lunch stop at 2,185' (over 600' from the start).  Some nice downhill runs on the way back.  15'-20"; 2-3" powder on light crust with a bit of give to it - good skiing.  6.2 miles, 4.3 hours.  Feb 24, 2014 - PINNACLE CREEK from end of Pinnacle Rd in Bleecker.  2' of snow.  Morning radar showed a narrow band of lake-effect snow along the Fulton/Hamilton county line.  Blu...

  Feb. 22, 2000 - Headed out from the Garden on the Johns Brook trail which had been nicely packed by snowshoers. Steady climb with thru the trees views of the Great Range to the ranger's cabin, crossed scenic Johns Brook on the suspension bridge & picked up the Range trail to Wolf Jaws leanto (the climbing here was a little more difficult). 40F at the leanto, nice view of Big Slide Mtn., woodpecker for company. Decided to put on climbing skins here (probably should have at beginning of Range trail) & headed over the Woodsfall trail which had one steep hill but moderated after that. About 1,300' elevation gain from start to high point on Woodsfall. Trail dropped fairly steeply down to Orebed Brook trail - skins helped slow me down but impeded good edging of skis. Took Orebed trail back to bridge & then over to Johns Brook Lodge. Saw a pine marten going after a bag of apples someone had left out. Ski out was nice - the last 1/4 mile is one of the nicest runs I've...

                                                                                                                                                                   Feb 6, 2014 - ALBANY PINE BUSH PRESERVE from the end of Madison Ave Ext.  Excellent skiing on about a foot of powder.  Did a loop on the yellow trail & parts of the red & blue to a clearcut area with view to the Heldergerg Escarpment.  All trails broken this morning.  I did break trail along part of the powerline.  Snowshoers already walking in the ski tracks!!!  1.4 hours. Dec 15, 2013 ...