So, there are a lot of hiking challenges in New York.  the biggest ones are of course the 46ers and 35ers in the Adirondacks and Catskills respectively.  Those 2 hit all the highest mountains in those regions.  One that is often overlooked is the Fire Tower challenge though.  Back before modern technology, it was common practice to build towers on top of mountains so that a ranger could look over the area and spot wild fires before they got out of control.  Many of these towers have fallen to ruins and have disappeared to just memories and a few random bits of steel

Today, I took a floating holiday and went up to get my winter Porter (Cascade was done a couple weeks ago, so it was a secondary goal if weather was clear).  I got up to the trail head about 845 and was on the trail just before 9.  When I was getting boots and all on, I looked down at the trail register and the couple of bridges over small streams and all I saw was ice on the trail.  Now anyone that has hiked a popular winter trail will know that the snowshoes compact everything down and what is known as a "monorail" is created.  Towards the end of the season that tends

So, last time I ended up going up Cascade and skipping Porter.  The biggest reason was I got to the top right about my turnaround time.  This was based off of not knowing how fast I would be heading out.  It took 4 hour up but only 1.5 down.  If it was 4 down I would have been off the trail at 5 and in the mountains where the sunset is around 6, it can get dark quickly and I don't really want to be hiking in the dark.  Now I know better about my abilities.  My turn around time won't be 130 like it was last time.  It will be more like 3.  Looking back

Saturday, I went and did my first winter 46er.  I decided on Cascade and Porter because of the distance (shortest for all the peaks) and because I knew the trail somewhat well.  I got at the trailhead about 9, got my boots, jacket, etc on and started to walk from the second parking area to the trailhead, getting about 3/4 of the way there, to realize I didn't have my gloves.  D'oh!  I get my gloves and go back.  Now this trail in the summer is a good mix of steep and flat with a lot of rocks to navigate over, and one really good scramble before you get to the bald p

Saturday will be the first of my winter 46.  I have all the gear and this will be my shakedown hike.  I didn't go up last weekend because of a major rain storm on Friday and unsure of the trails.  Trail reports after said some of the water crossings were bad, but overall the trails were fine throughout the high peaks.  This week, we've again got rain up there, but on Wednesday, and not as much or bad as we had last week.  That gives it a couple days to freeze back up and there's supposed to be another 9 or so inches of snow falling Friday.  So, with that all in

What's that?  I'm considering doing the 46ers again?  Why yes, I am.  I'm not going to do them all in 3 months like I did over the summer of 2020, but I am going to do them between Dec 21 and Mar 21 for this quest... yes, you read that right, I'm going for a winter 46, aka the winter rocker.

The last half of this week, I'm going to be funny an amazing hike up in the 'Daks with my friend Gretchen.  Our goal is to reach Lake Tear of the Clouds, the highest headwaters of the Hudson river, and the highest standing body of water in New York.  That in itself is not a horrific hike, if you break it up into a couple days.  Our current plan:

Hike into lake Colden from upper works parking lot on Wednesday.  I hope to get the lean-to on Colden, but there are plenty of other places to camp there. 

Friday, I went up to the Upper Elk Lake parking area and found that it was full, and a half dozen cars were already parked on the shoulder....

This is it, I'm down to the final 5 peaks of the 46'ers.  I started May 15, and I will be finishing up, if all goes to plan, September 5.... so just over 3.5 months, 255 miles, and 84.8K feet of elevation gain and loss.... if all goes to plan.