The Hiking Blog

Mount van Hoevenberg Singletrack Hike

Posted on by Peter Minde

Sunday before Memorial Day. The 400th consecutive cloudy day in the Adirondacks. At least it wasn’t raining. I paused construction on the ark for a trip to the happiest place on earth, Mount van Hoevenberg.

intersection of 3 trails
3 Trails intersection

While I’ve put in my share of mileage on the Ho’s ski trails, the singletrack is a mystery. I think that most of these were originally snowshoe trails linking various ski trails. At some point, many of them were cleaned up and manicured for summer cycling.

Last summer, I had a day where I incorporated a bit of singletrack on the cross country side into my run.

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Tagged: Adirondacks, Hiking, Mount van Hoevenberg3 Comments

Iron Spirit Trail: The Space Between The Roads

Posted on by Peter Minde

Over Mothers’ Day weekend, I drove to New Jersey. Took my kiddo out to dinner on Friday night. Saturday’s rehearsal with Katye Kellye and The Interruption was scheduled for late afternoon.  For a change, I had a chance to get a run in before driving down the shore to rehearse.

high water

When I lived in NJ, Lake Denmark Road was my regular roller skiing haunt.  Five miles of rolling pavement, it wends through country that’s the antithesis of the tired “Jersey? What exit?” trope.  It’s adjacent to Picatinny Arsenal, and on the right day, one’s workout is leavened with explosions as they test ordnance.

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Tagged: Flatlands, Hiking3 Comments

The Bristol Hills Trail

Posted on by Evan

As seasons change, so do our methods of outdoor recreation. When ILoveNY starts to put out their Fall Foliage Report, it ques my brain to contemplate hiking in the Adirondacks.

Naples Creek Trail Head

The ADK region is usually first for peak foliage in early October, and I wasn’t able to make it work. Luckily here in the Finger Lakes, peak is much later. The large bodies of water hold heat and delay the onset of cooler temperatures needed to trigger the color change in leaves, and extend the fall foliage season. The FLX has some challenging hikes, and I set my sights on Naples. The Bristol Hills Trail is a 50-mile branch trail of the 900+ mile Finger Lakes Trail System.

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Tagged: Hiking, Western NY3 Comments