It is no secret that the Adirondacks post some arctic temperatures. Even when it's bitter cold, there is always a way to admire the sweet views and freshness that the Adirondacks offer.
T'was the weekend before '24 Christmas....
Timing was right to do a few Christmas weekend walk abouts in short intetvals that brought some icy but pleasant sights. No elevation hiking as the knee is still in rough shape. Kept it simple and easy. A nice brief escape from the concrete metropolis!
Areas include Lake Placid, Lussi Trail, Silver Lake, & Hawkeye.
Passed by some cuz family of Donner & Blitzen grazing whatever they could.
Appreciate the landscapes and time with nature.
Til next time.
I was informed by a friend to check this place out and told I would love it and not be disappointed. Admittedly, I had never heard of Jefferson Rock before, but I surmised the name came from Thomas Jefferson. I would later learn that he stood there on October 25, 1783; who knew 241 years later, I would stand there? Jefferson described the view as "worth a voyage across the Atlantic,” it seems he hadn't been to any higher elevations yet.
It was a short hike from the railroad station parking lot, the only nearby area to park. Many streets are narrow, to begin with, and then they're marked “no parking” or flagged "2 hours only". Since I didn't want to be constrained in time, I opted for the train station.
It was a walk southeast on...
Big Schloss is a peak in the Great North Mountain range of the Appalachian mountains, with an elevation of 2,964 feet. The peak is in George Washington National Forest and borders Virginia and West Virginia. There are several different routes to hiking this mountain and Mill Mountain. I opted to hike from Wolf Gap and do an out-and-back hike. I grabbed my pack, locked the car, and was on the trail by 7:59 am. The first part of the trail coming out of Wolf Gap is where I would pick up most of my elevation gain. This would be the most challenging part of the trail, but the trail switchbacks up to the ridge, and I did not find it difficult.
Once up on the ridge, I had plenty of views looking into Virginia and West Virginia, depending on...
This was a fun hike, sitting north of Buzzard rock, which I had hiked a few weeks prior. I had read up on this loop hike, and what I was able to determine was it was a mix of conditions from river crossings, rock gardens, and steep and obscured views from the summit. I found all but the steepness to be accurate.
The parking area for Meneka Peak and or Signal Knob is quite large. When I arrived, there was a handful of vehicles already in the parking lot; all but one was covered in frost. I had anticipated this would be a popular hike, and for the most part, it was as the lot was full upon my return, although I wouldn't see another person until I crossed paths with two young women who were upbound as I was on my return to the trailhead...
I had heard mention of this hike previously, and a friend recently posted a memory of hiking it, and I thought, why not today? I read that the trailhead parking was limited, so I got a fairly early start, leaving the house around 7:00 am. it was still dusk when I left, arriving at the trailhead parking area around 7:45 am. There were three other cars in the lot when I arrived.
I threw on my pack and grabbed my hiking poles, and was on my way. There are no sign-in trail registers in Virginia, unlike the state of New York, where almost every trailhead has a register for hikers to sign in from.
This morning was crisp at 30 degrees, requiring gloves and a hat.; I would wear shorts and a t-shirt on my return trip out. This is beautiful...