Northeast Wild

  Apr 5, 2015 - INDIAN FALLS from Adirondak Loj Rd. After Friday's rain, 1-5" of snow fell in the Lake Placid area on Saturday morning & 1-2" more on this Sunday morning. Temp 25-35F & sunny; 2-6" powder on firmly packed base - very good skiing. High Peaks Wilderness. Along unplowed Meadow Rd then up Marcy Dam Truck trail. Always awesome mountain views from Marcy Dam area. VanHoevenberg Trail (the most popular route up Mt Marcy) to the top of the frozen falls where there is an excellent framed view of Algonquin Peak & the rest of the MacIntyre Range. Interesting seeing usnea (old man's beard, a lichen) & snow on some trees. Intermediate to the bridge over Phelps Brook then advanced (mostly on designated ski trail) to the falls - David Goodman in Backcountry Skiing Adventures: "a mile-long 6- to 8-foot-wide pipeline that charges relentlessly downhill" - it wasn't pretty going down this section. From the bridge to Marcy Dam, it was fas...

  Dec 17, 2021 - The morning was spent shopping for Nordic bc gear.  Started hiking at 1pm from Rt.73 & crossed a narrow bridge (no handrails), soon at a pond/reservoir, then reached state land in the High Peaks Wilderness area.  Start climbing moderately with some switchbacks & stone steps.  R at a junction.  R at another junction at the 2-mile mark & passed around some erratics.  More switchbacks to a junction.  Went R 0.1 miles down to a ledge with valley views plus The Brothers & Hurricane Mtn.  Back to the junction & another 0.3 miles to the summit - several views of Giant Mtn along the way - the last bit is very steep & there are some wood steps at one point.  Not much time to enjoy the views & quite windy, temp in the upper 30s.  Back down the same way, sunset 4:20pm, got back to the car at twilight 4:50pm - any later & we would have had to pull out the headlamps.  No snow up to this 2,762' sum...

Article: Cross Country Skiing the HIGH PEAKS WILDERNESS from Upper Works