Thankful for some fall hiking

Fall colours in the High peaks
This past weekend I was thankful for a chance to get back to some hiking and take in the falling leaves. I haven’t done enough “big” mountain hiking this summer to plan an arduous hike but with warm temperatures forecast there was no need to cover big distance. Rather some shorter walks in the colour rich morning light would be ideal. As luck would have it there is a long list of smaller peaks I would like to explore so I headed down to the Adirondacks pretty early on Saturday morning. Parked in the Keene Valley at the Roostercomb trailhead with this option looking the most appealing on a warm sunny morning. Roostercomb is a little peak that reportedly offers some nice views so it sounded like a start to the day. Pulled into the parking lot as only the 5th car and got booted up for the walk. Beautiful trail work up this peak made for a pleasant walk. Clearly the trail gets a lot of use from the locals as it extends almost right into town. Lots of leaves down but still more on the trees which seemed to range from (pale) greens to (OMG)reds. I never really get the “peak foliage” debate when it comes to leaf peepers but seems like a discussion where everyone wins regardless of the ruling. Either way the relatively short 2.5 miles to the little summit passed quickly as my head swam in the bright colours. Soon enough I stood on an open rocky block staring up the length of the Great Range with views back to Giant and Vermont to the east. It was interesting to note that above 3000ft the leaves were all pretty much gone. After that, the south facing slopes looked most colourful while the north facing slopes looked a little thin. Some spots looked to be hardly started to turn colours while others were already done… so peak? Near peak? Past peak? Who knows… there was lots to look at regardless.

Looking up the Great Range
With the first summit covered I decided to carry on up the range trail to nearby Hedgehog mtn. before looping around to Snow mtn. This was mostly new trail to me so it’s always nice to stumble upon some little gem of a lookout that peers across a valley or up to the high mountains at some unusual angle. It was also my first time since “Irene” to walk the hardest hit trails through here. Lots of signs of fresh chainsaw work thanks to the hard working trail crews. Quite a few of the steeper pitches had a lot of soil washed away in spots and it was clear a lot of water had rushed down the trails. This left some significant stretches with deep ditches where the trail was and a lot of loose boulders which makes for tricky footing… but I guess with time they will get locked in again. As I crossed Deer brook, the “after” picture was quite startling. The brook itself had been swept clean and no earth or moss of any kind was left behind. All that remained was a wider stream bed (what was 3 or 4 feet is now 10ft) and polished, white rock faces and boulders. Again, clear that a lot of water had pounded down this brook during the storm.

Busy spot - Lots more cars out on the road
Back at the car I discovered (not a surprise really) that I wasn’t alone enjoying the fall foliage. While I was 4th or 5th car in the lot in the morning, there were now close to 50 cars jammed in the little lot making it a chore to get out. Once on the road there was more (and more and more) cars parked everywhere! Every major trailhead had 1 or 2 kms of road approaching it with cars parked on either side of the highway People were not willing to let a 2km walk - to the trail head mind - deter them from getting to those fall colours!

Fall colours in the Keene Valley this year (hopefully this year only)

Got back to the car with plenty of time so I toured around the valley to see some of the repair work that has gone on post Irene. Indeed lots of signs of people hard at work. The highways were repaired in record time so driving around was easy but the side roads still have a long way to go before the locals can move about freely. I wonder if a lot of current enviro-policy in road construction was … umm, ignored, for the sake of speedy economic recovery to the area. I would wager it was as there were lots of “poor construction practice” here and there. Still, the economy in this area is so razor thin that it was clear getting things moving was paramount in the governors mind. Act first, respond to criticism later. Lots of demo work on houses is obvious as well with flooded basements and damaged homes being ripped out and rebuilt. Only a few signs of folks abandoning there destroyed property. Otherwise the locals are rebuilding with fervor. High water marks everywhere are always a little surprising. At one point a sign indicated the Ausable had topped out at ~25 feet above its current level… and taken quite a few homes with it. Impressive stuff to see.

The Ausable river is behind me... some 15 feet below where I'm standing


Early morning in Lake Placid... I wonder if they'd mind if I borrowed the canoe?
Having not made any plans I decided to head to South Meadow to camp… which proved an experience for sure. Again, cars were parked on either side of the Loj road some 3km from the Loj itself. The South Meadow road was pretty busy as well but I did find one spot that could support 1 or 2 cars so I quickly pulled in and set up camp. As dusk fell, others drove by and first 1 car and then a couple of more groups jammed their cars into my little spot to camp in any few, free square inches they could set up. Busy spot to be sure but most everyone was pretty quiet and soon off to sleep with plans of a full hiking day dancing in their dreams.

Looking south to the high Peaks
Sunday dawned early for me and I snuck out of camp and headed through Lake Placid to check out another trail I have been meaning to explore. This one would likely be quiet as it gets little use compared to the more popular spots nearby. The hike up Scar mountain was another treat. Flat for a mile or so before turning up the fall line and ending with a few nice scrambles. Just before the summit ridgeline a nice view to the south opened up but I continued on to the summit which turned out to be fully treed. No matter, a quick jaunt back to the lower balcony and then lunch in the warm sunshine. Over lunch I chatted with a couple from New Zealand who were spending a month exploring America. They had opted for this little trail hoping it would be somewhat less busy than their hike up Cascade the previous day – and apart from myself they had it mostly to themselves. Interesting folk to talk to. Most everything was new to them in this environment (no snakes, or mammals, or deciduous trees of this size back home!) so they were quite happy with their choice of hikes and forever swinging their heads around with a “hey, look at that!”.

This little guy should be looking for somewhere to spend winter - but a warm sunny weekend had him thankful to get out and explore
Quick change at the carpark and then I closed out the day with an amazing lunch at a (new to me) secret campspot where I broke out my chair, and had a good afternoon relaxing in the sun, reading a good book and enjoying the fall weather. As dusk settled in I packed up and headed for home. Another great weekend in the peaks. Weather outside my window (as I type) suggests that regularly scheduled fall weather is on tap for a while. Cold and wet will be the norm as we head towards November.