As a Birthday celebration, my girlfriend and I headed down for a long weekend of Fire Tower hikes. The forecast however changed that to mostly a weekend of tackling some more of the Saranac Lake 6er peaks. Staying in Lake Placid, the 6er trailheads are a lot closer than some of the Fire Towers we were planning, and with snow storms in the forecast we felt it wiser to stick closer to our base.
On Friday (Feb 6) we crossed into New York at the Cornwall crossing and hit Azure for our first hike. We weren’t sure what to expect but were happy to find the parking lot plowed. With the logging trucks whipping by, parking on the road wouldn’t have been much fun. With the light snow this was a really nice hike that took us about 2 hours in total. My son and I had hiked Azure just after Christmas when the trail mostly consisted of ice and rock. The nice hard packed snow was perfect for my girlfriend to try out her new Flex VRT snowshoes. She loved them… as for me I stuck to my MSRs. The clouds blocked most of the view but I’m always surprised on the wind speed difference between the base of the tower and in the cab.
Following Azure, we headed for Mount Baker. Having hiked St Regis a couple weeks ago, this was 6er peak #2 for her. Again the hike was a little under 2 hours in total over a very well trodden trail. The clouds had lifted a little and there was a fairly nice view of below. At the summit it was nice to see a Summit marker. This was my 4th time up Baker and had never seen a marker up there before.
On Saturday (Feb 7) we targeted Scarface. We were surprised that this trailhead was not plowed. The people at the Ray Brook Sunoco gas station, however were nice enough to let us park there. (It’s only a couple hundred yards up the road). Signing in at the register, we were happy to see that a group of 5 from the Northville-Placid Trail chapter had started ahead of us and were nice enough to break trail the entire way. :) We bumped into them near the summit and had a nice quick chat. We are contemplating trying to hook up with them sometime. I was a little concerned how that one particular steep stretch would be in these conditions…but again were happy to see that the NP trail group in front of us had broken a trail around it. Reaching the summit I am always surprised to find how long it takes to get to the actual summit marker. Some pictures and some snacks and we were on our way back. The total hike for Scarface took us close to 4 hours.
On Sunday (Feb 8) we tackled Haystack (the 6er one). We were the first group that day. There was about 3 inches of fresh snow over the trail, so breaking trail wasn’t too difficult. It really was a beautiful hike through the woods. The work really didn’t start until about the last mile or so. Then it got pretty steep with some loose snow. The summit that day was pretty windy so we basically only stayed for a couple quick pictures before heading back down. Heading back turned out to pretty easy as we dropped elevation quite quickly through some controlled butt-sliding. Along the way we passed a group of hikers from Quebec. I think they were part of a group called Detour Nature. What seemed strange on our way back was the freezing rain (freezing fog?) we encountered. We kept thinking that it was way too cold to be freezing rain. At this point I was glad that our hotel was only a few minutes from the trailhead. Again our hike took close to 4 hours.
On Monday (Feb 9) we hiked Ampersand on our way back to Canada. Being a Monday, I was thinking we might have the entire mountain to ourselves … and it turns out that we did. It was a gorgeous hike that seemed to get steeper and steeper. This was my 4th time up Ampersand but the first time with an actual snowy trail. With careful footing we made it safely to the icy summit. At first I was a little concerned with the ice covered rocks but the Flex VRTs and my MSRs handled it easily. Although extremely windy, the clouds were high enough to have us stick around for a bit to enjoy the views and take some summit pics. In the back of my mind I was wondering about getting back down some of the steep stretches, but again, with controlled butt-sliding we came down quite quickly. I think we descended close to a thousand feet in about 15 minutes.
Signing out at the register meant the conclusion of an incredibly fun and successful birthday weekend. Having only been to Adirondacks twice, Tammy now has 5 Fire Tower peaks and only needs one more peak to finish off the Winter Saranac Lake 6. McKenzie will be a little more challenging, but I think she’s hooked!! :)
Blair
On Friday (Feb 6) we crossed into New York at the Cornwall crossing and hit Azure for our first hike. We weren’t sure what to expect but were happy to find the parking lot plowed. With the logging trucks whipping by, parking on the road wouldn’t have been much fun. With the light snow this was a really nice hike that took us about 2 hours in total. My son and I had hiked Azure just after Christmas when the trail mostly consisted of ice and rock. The nice hard packed snow was perfect for my girlfriend to try out her new Flex VRT snowshoes. She loved them… as for me I stuck to my MSRs. The clouds blocked most of the view but I’m always surprised on the wind speed difference between the base of the tower and in the cab.
Following Azure, we headed for Mount Baker. Having hiked St Regis a couple weeks ago, this was 6er peak #2 for her. Again the hike was a little under 2 hours in total over a very well trodden trail. The clouds had lifted a little and there was a fairly nice view of below. At the summit it was nice to see a Summit marker. This was my 4th time up Baker and had never seen a marker up there before.
On Saturday (Feb 7) we targeted Scarface. We were surprised that this trailhead was not plowed. The people at the Ray Brook Sunoco gas station, however were nice enough to let us park there. (It’s only a couple hundred yards up the road). Signing in at the register, we were happy to see that a group of 5 from the Northville-Placid Trail chapter had started ahead of us and were nice enough to break trail the entire way. :) We bumped into them near the summit and had a nice quick chat. We are contemplating trying to hook up with them sometime. I was a little concerned how that one particular steep stretch would be in these conditions…but again were happy to see that the NP trail group in front of us had broken a trail around it. Reaching the summit I am always surprised to find how long it takes to get to the actual summit marker. Some pictures and some snacks and we were on our way back. The total hike for Scarface took us close to 4 hours.
On Sunday (Feb 8) we tackled Haystack (the 6er one). We were the first group that day. There was about 3 inches of fresh snow over the trail, so breaking trail wasn’t too difficult. It really was a beautiful hike through the woods. The work really didn’t start until about the last mile or so. Then it got pretty steep with some loose snow. The summit that day was pretty windy so we basically only stayed for a couple quick pictures before heading back down. Heading back turned out to pretty easy as we dropped elevation quite quickly through some controlled butt-sliding. Along the way we passed a group of hikers from Quebec. I think they were part of a group called Detour Nature. What seemed strange on our way back was the freezing rain (freezing fog?) we encountered. We kept thinking that it was way too cold to be freezing rain. At this point I was glad that our hotel was only a few minutes from the trailhead. Again our hike took close to 4 hours.
On Monday (Feb 9) we hiked Ampersand on our way back to Canada. Being a Monday, I was thinking we might have the entire mountain to ourselves … and it turns out that we did. It was a gorgeous hike that seemed to get steeper and steeper. This was my 4th time up Ampersand but the first time with an actual snowy trail. With careful footing we made it safely to the icy summit. At first I was a little concerned with the ice covered rocks but the Flex VRTs and my MSRs handled it easily. Although extremely windy, the clouds were high enough to have us stick around for a bit to enjoy the views and take some summit pics. In the back of my mind I was wondering about getting back down some of the steep stretches, but again, with controlled butt-sliding we came down quite quickly. I think we descended close to a thousand feet in about 15 minutes.
Signing out at the register meant the conclusion of an incredibly fun and successful birthday weekend. Having only been to Adirondacks twice, Tammy now has 5 Fire Tower peaks and only needs one more peak to finish off the Winter Saranac Lake 6. McKenzie will be a little more challenging, but I think she’s hooked!! :)
Blair
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