Snow Mountain Scramble

Are you the manager? I’d like to speak to the manager, please. My name is Karen, and I really need to complain about the Deer Brook Trail. How can you even call this a trail? I broke the heel on one of my Jimmy Choos. My Kate Spade bag is covered with mud. I want a refund.

approach to Snow Mountain hike

After the heat wave earlier in the week, we expected various amounts of rain every day in the Tri-Lakes. Friday looked like the most benign weather, so I drove to Keene Valley with Snow Mountain and the Rooster Comb in my sights. As I descended Route 73 into Keene, rain came down like water from a bucket.

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The Giant and His Bottle

With the ski season over, I figured it was time to get back my other passion, slide climbing. The large slabs of anorthosite are a fun and adventurous way to reach the summit of an Adirondack peak. Of course, combined with a good amount of snowfall, they become a thrilling descent on backcountry skis.

View from the top of Roaring Brook Falls

Almost every High Peak in the Park has at least one slide, while a few have more than a handful. Giant Mountain is one of these select few, boasting roughly 9 separate landslides on each of its flanks. Each has their own unique characteristics and difficulty, with the hardest one being the Eagle, a Class IV climb that doesn’t require rope but is steep enough to send a careless climber hundreds of feet down the mountain.

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Piermont to Irvington by Kayak: Back in the Zone

Last week, I had an idea of driving up to Vermont for a day or two of spring at Killington. As I got to the actual planning stage though, I had second thoughts. Taking off would leave important chores undone and after a ton of windshield time for work and traveling up to Plattsburgh for graduation last week, I was not looking forward to hours of driving.

I made the decision to skip Superstar this year. I spent Saturday mowing grass and taking care of the yard. When I was done, I put some effort into organizing my garage, which had the added benefit of locating all my kayaking gear, PFDs, paddles, bilge pumps, everything.

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