Recent content by mannionjeff

Hadn't done S&N before, so decided to tag along with a trip from the Schenectady chapter of ADK. As it turns out the "trip" was only Herb the guide +1 other. The trails were easier to follow than the guide book would let you believe. The river crossing was a cinch, and the rest of the trip...

In from the Garden, microspikes all the way to Shorey's (not so) shortcut, snowshoes until the ladder on Basin, switched to crampons from that point to summit. The ladder was solid ice, and a bit sketchy as were some of the steeper sections above that point. All in all it was a perfect day...

Read a few of the reports from last week, and decided to give a three a try. Of course, conditions change daily, much less weekly, so we got what we deserved. Upon arriving at Bradley Pond to pick up the herd path, there were no tracks going across, so it was route finding and trail breaking all...

In from Upper Works to Calamity LT, followed the trail around Flowed Lands to the herd path. Herd path is completely stomped out, literally like a sidewalk. We wore micro-spikes from Upper works to the LT, and then put on snowshoes. If you have any inclination to do Marshall anytime soon, I'd...

In from the LOJ, to Lake Arnold, to Feldspar LT, to Lake Tear. Had to break trail from Lake Arnold all the way to the summit of Gray. I will be perfectly honest, we completely butchered the route to the summit of Gray because we couldn't find the herdpath. A group came up behind us once we made...

Took Lake Road Trail to Lower Ausable Lake, and crossed the foot bridge, took Trail 35 to to the junction between Sawteeth and Pyramid, and the final 1/2 mile to the summit was pretty easy going. Sporadic views due to high winds and clouds. Micro-spikes for all of Lake Road Trail, but snowshoes...

In from Rt 73, it's the usual sidewalk to the summit of Dix. Plenty of snow the whole way, and snowshoes are a must. Crampons/Microspikes/Stable-icers will do no good in the current conditions - all you will do is post-hole. The route over the Beckhorn to Hough "looked" as though nobody had...

In from the Atmospheric Research Center, like a sidewalk to the Esther Junction, Esther is completely stomped out as well. From the Esther junction to the toll road is no problem either. The last section from the road to the summit is hard to follow due to the blowing snow - part of our group...

The gate is still open. In to Blueberry lean-to, to Ward Brook Truck Trail, to the herd-path. There were tracks to follow most of the way, and when there weren't Ron "I'm a bush-wacking machine" was on it. It's an a@@-kicking grind to the summit, but the trail should be easy to follow. Back down...

Large group of us from ADK went in from Elk Lake to the Slide Brook trail. Lots of branches waiting to poke you in the eye if you're not careful. A bit of a grind up to the base of the slide on Macomb with lots, and I mean lots, of spruce traps. Climbed the slide and on to the summit without any...

Lake road in to the 2nd Colvin trail. Snow pack is pretty thin in spots, so there are plenty of things to snag snowshoes or crampons on. A few icy spots going up Colvin, and a few more than that decending down the back towards Blake. Blake was mostly snow with only 1 or 2 icy spots. Came out via...

In from Loj, to marcy dam, to range trail, to the big daddy. Front side of little haystack was all ice, crampons mandatory, unless falling into panther gorge sounds like fun. Back of little haystack mostly bare rock. Ascent up haystack a mix of rock, snow, and ice. Back out same route with a 58...

Big groups up and down Redfield and Cliff today. Redfield was stomped out pretty good all the way. If you weigh over 175lbs, stick to the trail to the right of the river going up. I'm 185, and I'm the guy who made the big hole in the ice. I wasn't thinking that the 4 people in front of me...

"The Plan" was Gray, Skylight, and if time and conditions allowed - Marcy. Lake Arnold trail to Lake TOC. Couldn't find herd-path to Gray, so decided to get Skylight to try to see if the herd-path to Gray was visible from above - no such luck. Decided to go to Marcy hoping to find the other...

Dix from Rt 73. Trail fully broken to the summit. A bit icy at the summit, and the Beckhorn looked like it was made of glass, so we decided to skip it out of sheer laziness of not wanting to switch to crampons. Snowshoes needed the whole way. There are few things that look more stupid than a...