Southeastern Adirondacks: March 31st-April 2nd, 2024

After finishing Bearpen, I knew that there wasn't much left for me in the Catskills at this time of year with conditions being good for bushwhacking but my stamina being nowhere near enough to do trips like the Catskill 9. Plus, with the snowstorm coming in toward the end of the week, it would no longer make sense to be outside of the Adriondacks if everywhere was forecasted to have significant snowfall. My original plan was to crank through many of the peaks in the southeastern Adirondacks, from the western side of Lake George all the way to Newcomb and down toward Lake Pleasant. I was planning on pushing myself early in the week, taking Wednesday - the peak forecasted day for snowfall - and then keeping up the pressure later in the week. Unfortunately for me, the snowstorm lasted from midday Wednesday to late Saturday, so I entirely had to shift my plans and had to take three consecutive days off - which might be the longest period I've had to do that during my projects. Fortunately I had reception, my electricity system was functional throughout, and I had a few long phone calls with my lover - so not too bad :)

Kane Mountain, March 31st

After spending the night at the trailhead for Kane, I started up the northwestern trail, and found it to be characteristically muddy, but with a gradual incline. The summit tower would have obviously had good views, but I was too tired to be bothered to go up on account of rolling out of bed, scarfing down some cereal, and going up. With that in mind, I headed down and took the rest of the morning easy

Spruce Mountain, March 31st

After some R&R in a Stewart's parking lot, I went over to the trailhead of Spruce, curious to see if the mountain road I saw on maps would be a viable way to bike up the mountain. There exists a road, but it looks like it's part of a private snowmobile trail, and although none of the postings said "no trespassing", there were enough signs saying "no ATVs" that I can't imagine the owners would like people biking on the road. Oh well, the trail was bog-tacular, but requiring no spikes at any point. The fire tower at the summit was closed to the public, but the door to the top section was wide open, so you could totally get away with climbing up. Me? I was too tired and too weary of the wind chilling me to go up, but keep that in mind for the near future: you can physically and easily climb up it. The way down was uneventful. Counting Upper Esopus, Spruce is the halfway point for me for the New York Fire Towers: 16/32!!!

Hadley Mountain, April 1st

After a night of terrible sleep at the trailhead for Hadley, I started up and found the tread to be characteristically abysmal, but the incline to be manageable. An absolutely spectacular series of views at the top, and the fire tower here has the benefit of having the glass in-tact, although I must caveat that the glass is blurry, so you'll have to open the one window that swivels facing the high peaks. Regardless, the way down was delightful, and I spent the rest of the day resting in Lake George, deciding where to climb the following day, and where to take refuge in the impending snowstorm

Tounge Range Traverse, April 2nd

To knock out Fivemile and the other Lake George 12sters on the Tongue Range, I decided the best course of action was to do one long traverse, starting from Clay Meadows, and then biking up to the Browns trailhead, go all the way to First Peak, and then taking the connecting trail back to the start. In total, it was 19 miles and 3900ft of elevation gain, with 4 miles and 800ft of those being on my bike. A long and hard hike to be sure, and one that I hoped would help whip me into shape for the season. Time will tell if it did, but surely it can be said that it was a good try. I got some fantastic views on the second part of the range, and was able to bag seven peaks for my greater projects. However, the hike took much longer than I had planned, and the trail conditions particularly between First Peak and Clay Meadows were abysmal. Nevertheless, the hike was a success, and I haven't much to say outside of that except to say - halfway to the 12sters in one day!!!