Select Month for 2016

January 2016

Annual New Years Day hike up Buck Mountain   Fri, Jan 1, 2016, Reg Prouty and Bob Aspholm  
- Upon meeting at Queensbury Panera we merged a hike Jack Whitney was leading with ours so we had a good sized group of eager New Years Day hikers to head to the east side of Buck Mt. We had no trouble ascending without snowshoes due to the lack of snow but did need our microspikes due to some icy spots. Arriving just about lunch time, we took a few minutes for the singing and playing of Auld Lang Syne with some of us ringing the bells Reg brought. Then we found a sheltered spot from the wind for our lunch. Visibility was good but not good enough to see the high peaks. A good day was had by all and we were back at the cars by mid-day. 19 hikers: Reg Prouty, Bob Aspholm, Jayne Bouder, Kyler Mangulis, Rob Furlong, Michele Bartz, Emily Bartz, Ray Bouchard, Margie Litwin, Susan Howard, Kendra Schieber, Mary-beth Wagner, Joe Wagner, Eberhard Burkowski, Susan Jeft,J ack Whitney, Scott Andersen, Suzanne Rancourt, Kathleen Fitzgerald.

Whiteface Mountain   Fri, Jan 1, 2016, Steve Mackey
- The conditions looked almost perfect for sledding, but it turned out kind of slow. The snowmobiles hadn't been up in a while, so there wasn't a hard packed trail. There also was more snow the higher we went. We ended up sledding from different elevations, depended on whether we thought we would be able to slide or not. We were almost able to go the whole way down, but had to walk a few times. Glenn elected to ski, and probably made the best decision on equipment. We had a dog along that wanted to fetch the whole way, so we stayed entertained. Participants: John and Eileen Schneider, Jungle and Becky Mosher, Rich Elton, Glenn Balschunat, Steve and Licia Mackey.

Tuesday walk   Tue, Jan 5, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we had a little snow, but there were places on the trail that it was just leaves. Microspikes were definately the equipment to have as we were able to easily hike along the slippery layer of snow. We hiked up to the gazebo on Pilot Knob Lookout and then onto the waterfall. There wasn't much water flowing, but lots of cool ice formations. It was a cold day, but with the right layers everyone was comfortable and glad to be out! Participants: Tom Burns, Mo Coutant, Licia & Steve Mackey, Kathi Noble, Neal Van Dorsten, Laurie Williams.

Tuesday hike   Tue, Jan 12, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we weren't sure if we'd have enough snow to XC ski in Coles Woods behind the Glens Falls Y, but we decided to give it a try. We actually moved the outing to Thursday evening so we could ski under the lights. It's such a great spot in Glens Falls. One of the reasons I was happy to move here 25 yrs ago! The conditions were better than expected with a light covering of snow over the icy surface. We had a nice trip through the woods, up and down hills, over the streams on the bridges and then over to Dunkin Donuts to warm up! Great evening out! We just need a little more snow! Participants: Annemarie Carberry, Jim & Mo Coutant, Mike George, Licia & Steve Mackey, Jim Zwynenburg.

Tuesday walk/ski?   Tue, Jan 19, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- Ever since I led a trip to Rainbow Falls this past fall, we've wanted to return to ski in on the Ausable Club Rd and then visit the Falls in the winter. So, this week I decided to do it even though it was the coldest day of the winter so far! But we dressed properly and the wind was blocked by the mountains on the road, so we were too warm more often than cold! We had to stop and take off layers. The road had just enough snow to ski on barely but we made it. The falls were beautiful! Check out the Gallery on the website. Then it was a quick ski out and trip to the Noonmark! Participants: Jim & Mo Coutant, Steve Mackey, Kathi Noble, Laurie Williams, Jim Zwynenburg.

Hudson Crossing / Happy New Year Outing   Sat, Jan 23, 2016, Rich Crammond
- This was a very cold and windy hike but, shortly before we were on the trail we spotted a good size eagle flying up river just north of the parking lot. That made it all worth being out there in the cold. A nicer group of people I've never met. Highlights of this outing were hiking with Jean Holcomb, 46er and Appalachian Trail veteran, hiking along with a hardy group, and spotting two eagles. Just didn't get no better. Participants: Jean Holcomb, Mike Usher, Katie User, Candie Becker, Karen McLaughlin, Rich Crammond.

Pyramid & Gothics   Sun, Jan 24, 2016, Steve Mackey
- I had to cancel, due to lack of participants, but it still ended up being an interesting day. Originally I had 4 people signed up. I lost one Saturday afternoon, because she wanted to take her dog, and they don't allow dogs in the Ausable Valley. She was going to do another trip with some other ADK friends up Colden. I was still thinking of going with three, and just have it an unofficial trip. I got another cancellation in an email around 10:00 PM. I emailed and called the last person ASAP to cancel, but never actually talked to him. I decided to go to Panera in the morning just in case. He didn't show, but since I was up and had my gear, I decided to try and catch the other group and do Colden. Since I had my skis I skied in from South Meadows. When I got to the dam, they hadn't signed in, so that meant, I was either ahead, or they skipped signing in. I asked other groups, and no one had seen them. I continued climbing Colden and somewhere near the top I came across a black windbreaker. I picked it up, and about 15 minutes later I ran into Matt Karkoski running down to retrieve Heidi's "lost" jacket. Everyone else was on the summit, so we got to hike together the rest of the day. It was beautiful - sunny and no wind on the summit. The skiing was better than I expected, but I did a lot of rock dodging on the trail down from the Lake Arnold junction.

Tuesday hike   Thu, Jan 28, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we walked into Inman Pond which is on the road leading into the Hogtown Parking lot. This trip doesn't have much elevation change and is only a little over 3 miles round trip. There wasn't much snow, so microspikes were the "go to" gear of the day. The trail was definately icy, so these were perfect. We walked along one side, but didn't want to bushwhack around the lake, so we returned to a campsite area and walked across the ice. We saw an old beaver lodge, beautiful views, and a bright blue sky! It was a great day out topped off with food at Paneras at the end of the trip for most of us! Participants: Mo Coutant, Paul Dietershagen, Liz Gee, Heidi Kaugman, Sarah King, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Tom Martindale, Jane Morrissey, Anne Paolano, Bill Schwarz, Joanne Szot, Jim Zwynenburg.

February 2016

monthly Monday Geocache   Mon, Feb 1, 2016, Sarah King and Mo Coutant  
- We met at Panera at 9am and headed down to Peebles Island in Waterford. Peebles Island State Park is at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. It offers spectacular river and rapids views from its miles of paths through the gently rolling and wooded landscape. The amazing thing about the day was the temperature. It was probably 50 degrees with no sign or ice or snow. No micro spikes needed. As we are usually a small group, I let everyone know that I usually bring my geocaching partner in crime, Sadie (my mini golden doodle) with me. It also happened that Mo was dog sitting two golden doodles plus had her own doodle Charlie with her and to round it out Anne brought her dog too. So we were almost outnumbered dogs to people! As we parked, we noticed several others getting out of cars with their canine companions. We enjoyed walking along the cliffs with views of the Mohawk and finding the 9+ caches hidden here. The trail was muddy in some of the lower spots but nothing we couldn't navigate around. We had some newer cachers so we had fun showing them some of the winter friendly hide styles here; benders, leaners and hangers. As always, Licia came through with some yummy snacks. We were on the trails about 2 hours. A great outing with a great group. Participants: Sarah King, Mo Coutant, Licia Mackey, Ann Paolono, Heidi Kaufmann, Don Thorn. Tuesday Outing   Tue, Feb 9, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- Cancelled due to slippery driving!

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Feb 16, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- The weather wasn't great...so I made our monthly program our "outing"!

Young Members: Banff Mountain Film Festival   Fri, Feb 19, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- This was a great little social outing to get people together to watch these amazing outdoor films. Our group consisted of Yuan-Ming Cheng, Joe and Kelly Durma, Julia and Jake Greiner, Stephanie Graudons, and Ted Letcher. There were lots of other familiar faces from the ADK community, so it wasn't hard to meet up with others we knew there too. ADK staff had a table at the event, and even recruited a new young member from the area to join. Can't wait to do this again next year!

Young Members: Moxham Mountain   Sat, Feb 20, 2016, Stephanie Graudons and Julia Greiner  
- The weather forecast wasn't too promising with its probability of wintry mix and rain in the mountains, but that didn't deter us, and it's a good thing it didn't! What looked like it might not be a great weather day leading up to it, turned out to be a bright sunny morning with mild temperatures. 11 young members from the Albany and Glens Falls-Saratoga region hiked up Moxham Mountain, stopping often for photos, conversation, and snacks. What the group didn't know, due to trees obscuring the view of the sky, was that the sunshine above them would soon be taken over by the oncoming snow shower. In a very short time, the clouds moved in, the wind started whipping, and light wintry mix fell from the sky. The group didn't spend long on the summit, only enough time for a quick photo and to take a look around, and retreated to the woods to pass around treats out of the wind. Thankfully, on the way down the precipitation was light so no one really got wet. Since everyone had such a great time, a stop for a late lunch in Lake George was suggested, which was a perfect way to end the outing. Participants: Liz Young, David Kelley, Dustin Wright, Yuan-Ming Cheng, Mehreena Ahmad, Julia Greiner, Jake Greiner, Dan Kemp, Michael Diana, Stephanie Graudons, and Ted Letcher.

Pine Pond Trail   Sat, Feb 20, 2016, Steve Mackey
- We scouted this out (with microspikes) when we were up north for the Chapter Winter Weekend. At the time it was very icy with a lot of blowdown. We threw a lot of sticks off of the trail, but there were still a lot of trees to clear. We drove to the spot where we were going to be parking the other cars and it wasn't obvious where the trail comes out. The route crosses Oseetah Lake, so hopefully it would be obvious from the other direction. As the trip got closer there still hadn't been any new snow, so we were forced to cancel. I will try and reschedule the trip for next winter.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Feb 23, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we did a quick hike along the Van Dusen Preserve loop. Just under 2 miles and we were out for about 1-1/2 hours with time to chat at the beginning and, of course, during the hike! Mix of ice and leaves. The bottom half of the hill had ice on the trail, but the top gets more sun and the ice was mostly melted. The microspikes were definitely needed. Participants: Annemarie Carberry, Mo Coutant, Sarah King, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Reg Prouty, Bill Schwarz, Joanne Szot, Don Thorn.

March 2016

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Mar 1, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we did our annual trip to the Fort Edward Important Bird Area (IBA) as a joint trip with the IBA's Friends group which was started by our Chapter member, Laurie LaFond. She led us around to a few sites and answered questions about the habitat and why it's important for the birds, especially those species that are threatened or endangered. She was also able to identify Northern harriers, Red-tailed hawks, and the special treat of the day (evening really)...many Short-earred owls! We saw them flying over the fields and sitting on posts. We took turns looking through a spotting scope and sharing binoculars. It was one of Laurie's best days for seeing the owls and we were all thrilled to be there with her!! Participants: Don Butler, Mo Coutant, Alan & Liz Gee, Mark Janey, Heide Kaufmann, Eric Krantz, Laurie LaFond, Licia & Steve Mackey, Liz Mulshine, Gwenne Rippon, Howard & Lynne Silverberg, Don Washburn, Jim Zwynenburg.

Monthly Monday Geocache   Mon, Mar 7, 2016, Sarah King and Mo Coutant  
- Today we headed down to Thatcher State Park to hike the High Point Trail and look for 15 caches placed for the Winter 33 challenge put out by volunteer geocachers on behalf of the state park system. It was a beautiful day, unseasonably mild for early March. No microspikes needed. We all ended up shedding layers as we walked along the trail. Conditions were muddy in spots, no ice to be seen. We climbed when driving to the trailhead but the trail itself didn't gain much elevation. We did come upon a great overlook near one of the caches where we snapped a quick picture of the group. Probably the most memorable thing about this trail is all the fissures that we noticed as we walked along. You really need to be paying attention or you could break a leg if you stepped into one. I also snapped a picture of one of the deeper fissures we passed. See the gallery for that and a few other shots of this trip. We found a neat multi stage cache where we had to discover the code word to open a cryptex, a term coined by Dan Brown and made popular in this book and movie The Da Vinci Code. As I guessed, the code word was "geocache" so we were able to open the cryptex to get the coordinates to the final location. All hides were right along the trail and we had a great time making the loop and finding all 15 caches. Treats provided by Licia Mackey, our baker extraordinaire. As always, a great outing with great people. The distance was about 4 miles and we were on the trail about 3 hours. Trip Participants: Sarah King, Licia Mackey, Mo Coutant, Steve Gray, Don Thorn, Larry Eaton, Heidi Kaufmann.

Wright Peak, Algonquin, Iroquois   Sun, Mar 13, 2016, Steve Mackey
- I actually screwed up the time change part, so I ended up moving the start time to 7:30 new time. We got to the Loj around 9:00 which sounds kind of late, but if it was the day before it would have been 8:00, which sounds okay. As you are all aware, spring came early this year, and though we carried snowshoes, we never needed them. About half way up Wright we all put on our microspikes and used them most of the day. A couple of times we switched to crampons, such as when we were descending Wright and climbing the upper parts of Algonquin. There were about three spots where the trail looked like a frozen waterfall. It would have been very dangerous without some kind of traction device. The actual weather was beautiful. Several times we were hiking with short sleeves or wind breakers on. On all three summits we spent time hanging out, eating, and taking pictures. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to take the trail down to Lake Colden, so we reserved judgement until we saw what it looked like. Under melting conditions the trail can turn into a river, and I didn't want to deal with it. Luckily it was in good shape. A few times we could hear water running underneath us, and a few times you could see dirt on the snow where it had flooded recently, but it wasn't an issue for us. We planned on being able to hike on the ice across Avalanche Pass. The beginning was open water, but after a couple of hundred yards we gingerly ventured out on it, and it was fine. (It didn't hurt our confidence that a Ranger was skiing on it.) The last couple of miles out from Marcy Dam were extremely muddy. We got to the cars at dark. We didn't need head lamps, but we were going to need them soon. We had a good strong, fast group. Participants: Jim Zwynenburg, Keelin Zwynenburg, Paul Gebhard, Joe Babcock, Justin Drisco, Keith Harrison, Chris Ball, Peter Abreu, and a guest appearance by Mike Fuller.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Mar 15, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- Thank you to Steve and Licia for filling in for Mo while she was out of town! The Feeder Canal Trail was one of the best options for an ice and mud free walk. We started at Murray Park in Hudson Falls and headed past the Five Combines, toward Fort Edward. Neil and Steve hustled ahead while Heidi, Eric and Licia paused to take pictures, check water levels in the combines, and ID some birds. The song of the Red-winged Blackbird assured us spring has arrived. We met Bill Schwarz, a usual participant, returning from an earlier start. It was good to get out for some fresh air, exercise, and have enjoyable company to chat with. Participants: Eric Krantz, Heidi Kaufman, Neil Van Dorsten, Licia and Steve Mackey.

Young Members: Evening Trail Walk & Social   Wed, Mar 16, 2016, Julia Greiner and Stephanie Graudons  
- We had a small group for this outing: David Kelley, Stephanie Graudons, Julia Greiner, Greta Heilman, and her two young children. We did some light hiking around the trails at Cole's Woods for an hour or so after work. What started as just a cloudy afternoon turned into a stormy evening (that's right - thunderstorms!), with rain on and off. The kids were delighted with the thunder and enjoyed this fun little adventure. There was lots of exploring and observing leaves and water, and perhaps some confusion about why we were playing outside in the rain, thunder, and darkness. It was a lot of fun and we hope to do more young member and family friendly activities in the future.

Moreau Lake Overlook via Spier Falls Connector to Western Ridge and Red Trails   Sat, Mar 19, 2016, Reg Prouty
- Although it was not an official ADK hike as there were only two of us, Bob Bedard and I enjoyed a beautiful early spring day at the overlook, needing no microspikes or snowshoes due to the year of no winter.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Mar 22, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we hiked up Prospect Mountain from the Lake George Rec trail. We think this is the best approach of the 3 main routes up Prospect, although Big Hollow is good. The village route is in need of some rerouting due to all the erosion over the years. This approach starts along a stream with beautiful moss covered rocks and little waterfalls. You leave the stream and head through the woods along an unmarked trail and eventually come out at the parking lot. From there, it was a steep trip up to the summit where we enjoyed some snacks and views. Great day out! Participants: Mo Coutant, Carl Harris, Heidi Kaufmann, Sarah King, Licia Mackey, Anne & Rick Morse, Joy Munro, Kathi Noble.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Mar 29, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- Each spring we hike French Mountain and do a little clean up, usually just looking for trash along the trail or at the hidden billboard spot. Over the years, we've really cleaned up that spot and usually don't find too much trash other than in the parking lot. So this year we expanded our efforts to building a few water bars to try to move some water off the trail which will help slow the erosion of the trail. This was Steve's idea after hiking it a few weeks ago and seeing spots where a well placed water bar would make a difference. Steve, Carl, Mark, Bill, Rick, and Joy were the main builders and with all the help they made quick work of it! It was a windy day, so we didn't stay at the lookout for long. Participants: Mo Coutant, Margaret Curtis, Carl Harris, Mark Janey, Licia & Steve Mackey, Anne & Rick Morse, Joy Munro, Anne Paolano, Bill Schwarz, Joanne Szot.

April 2016

Monday Monthly Geocache   Mon, Apr 4, 2016, Sarah King and Mo Coutant  
- Todd had been to Terzian Woodlot before so knew where the turn off was and led us to the field to park. Seasonable temps today made for a nice walk and geocache on well marked trails. We found all six geocaches with no problem and discovered some cool spots along the way: an old foundation, Uncas Falls and a beautiful overlook of Lake George. We did some rock hopping over the stream on the trail and a much easier crossing over a new bridge. A sign on the bench at the overlook warned of it being rattlesnake territory but it was too cool for any to be out sunning themselves today. After this hike, we travelled down route 9N to Pole Hill Preserve where we completed the shorter yellow trail to look for another few geocaches. The trails here are much less defined and you really need to be on the lookout for the markers. Once again, Licia comes through with some great home made snacks. Another great day of exploring two new LGLC properties. Participants: Sarah King, Mo Coutant, LIcia Mackey, Don Thorn, Todd Earl.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Apr 5, 2016, Mo Coutant
- I think we got one of the biggest snow storms the day before this walk. But since we didn't really have winter it was only a couple of inches. There wasn't that much on the trail when we started our walk, but it did make the walk a little tricky as it hid some of the bumps between the old railroad ties that this trail was built upon. We were walking along the Bog Meadow trail and it was fairly smooth until the first bridge, then to the next bridge we had to be careful not to stumble between the RR tie and dirt that was hidden by the dusting of snow. The highlight for me was the pussy willow blossoming near the second bridge and, of course, lunch in Saratoga! Participants: Mo Coutant, Paul Dietershagen, Carl Harris, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Joanne Szot.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Apr 12, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we tackled the Chester Challenge. This is a fairly new hiking challenge series started last fall to encourage people to visit the area and explore some different trails. None of the trails are too long and some of them are fairly flat. To complete the challenge you have to go to 6 of the 8 trails. We did 1/2 the challenge this day by walking along the wetlands behind the Town Hall in Chestertown. This was a very short trail, but it was a nice start for the day and it gives you a chance to go into the Town Hall and pick up a brochure (and use the bathroom!). From there we went to Stewart Mtn. The hike on this mountain was just under a mile, but ended at a nice overlook of Loon Lake. We had the great pleasure of meeting a relative of one of the landowners who opened up their property to make this challenge possible. He gave us all kinds of information about the area and answered questions about what we were looking at and about the challenge. We wished we could have talked longer, but we had our third destination to get to! That next trail was about twice as long up Kipp Mtn. It also ended with a nice view of Loon Lake but from the other end of the lake. We all had a great time and we're 1/2 way done with the challenge. We hope to finish it up in a couple of weeks. Participants: Judy Beers, James Brown, Mo Coutant, Carolyn Curren, Steve Gray, Heidi Kaufmann, Licia Mackey, Tom Martingale, Joy Munro, Joanne Szot, Bill Wasilauski, Jim Zwynenburg (Margaret Curtis & Hillary Wasserman for the first trail).

Young Members: Game Night & Social   Thu, Apr 14, 2016, Julia Greiner and Stephanie Graudons  
- What a fun night! We had a group of 7 get together at the leader's home in Glens Falls on a gorgeous evening. We watched the sunset playing bocce ball in the backyard, shared some delicious dishes for dinner, and moved indoors to play card games for a couple hours. This was a great opportunity to get to know each other better and there will definitely be more social nights like this in the young members group's future!

Spruce Mountain   Sat, Apr 16, 2016, Rich Crammond
- Just a super day to be on the trail with blue skies and warm temps. We hiked to the tower, then climbed up to the cab for great views all around. Then we had some snacks before heading back down the trail. Highlights of this outing were good hiker buds, great weather and early blooming coltsfoot along the trail. I always enjoy a safe hike even more. Thanks to all for sharing their day on the trail. Once again, it just didn't get no better. Participants: Laura Sieme Giordano, Elizabeth McHilifte, Margie Liturn, Linna Frus, Rich Crammond.

Spruce Mtn   Sun, Apr 17, 2016, Jayne Bouder
- Great group! Beautiful day! And Licia, with Steve and the rest of us, located all 6 of the area geocaches. Participants: Jayne Bouder, Scott Cooper, Steve and Licia Mackey, Wayne Richter, and Tim Ward.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Apr 19, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we returned to a hike I hadn't done in at least 15 years, but I remembered it as a nice hike. I always love loop trails and ridge trails and this is both. We did the Nun-da-ga-o trail which starts at the Crows parking lot in the Adirondacks. It was Jim's birthday, so I convinced him to take the day off and join us and I don't think he regretted it! Lots of nice photos...see the gallery on the website. A great day out with the group! We even had cupcakes at one of the overlooks. If you haven't done this trip or haven't done it in awhile...put it on your to do list! Participants: Sue Atwell, Annemarie Carberry, Jim & Mo Coutant, Carl Harris, Susan Howard, Licia Mackey, Joy Munro, Laurie Williams.

Hadley Mountain Fire Tower   Sat, Apr 23, 2016, Reg Prouty
- It was a beautiful spring day to climb Hadley at a relaxed pace looking for wildflowers as we climbed. Several including the Trillium and Trout Lillies were already or getting ready to bloom in a week or so. Many dogs and people were passed on both the ascent and descent. Ample time was allowed on the summit for lunching, climbing the tower and musical selections on Reg's pocket trumpet. Three hikers: Linda Frees, Margie Litwin, and Reg Prouty.

South Bay Diameter   Sat, Apr 23, 2016, Jayne Bouder
- rain cancelled

Mt Bike - Gurney Lane   Sun, Apr 24, 2016, Steve Mackey
- My original thought was that it would be mud season up north, so we could do something at a low elevation and close by. Unfortunately no takers. The park still has some nice trails that are worth checking out.

Pilot Knob Preserve Gazebo and Waterfall - RTL   Sun, Apr 24, 2016, Lorraine MacKenzie and Jack Whitney  
- 15 participants came out to hike on this beautiful day. It was early enough in the spring to have unobstructed views of the lake on our decent and the waterfall actually had water!

Tuesday Outing   Tue, Apr 26, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we continued the Chester Challenge which is exploring 6 trails in the Chestertown area. Our goal was to hike 3 trails and enable some in the group to complete the challenge. We started at the trails behind the school since it was school break week and a good time to do those trails. From the overlook, there's a good view of Gore. From there we headed to Meecham Mtn, but got there to find the parking lot & trail closed. Later we heard various reasons...not sure which is correct, but the trail should be open now. So we adjusted our plans and walked around Palmer Pond. Beautiful spot and nice pictures...see gallery. After this trip, some who didn't now have 5 trails headed back to GF. The rest of us went over to the dynamite hill trails and explored the area. Saw some wildflowers and then headed to the Town Offices to sign the log and get our "prizes"...a sticker, patch or pin. Quite a haul! Then off to the local shop for lunch! Participants: Mo Coutant, Tom Martindale, Jane & Mike Morrissey, Liz Mulshine, Joy Munro, Andrew & Anne Paolano, Bill Wasilauski, Jim Zwynenburg.

Young Members: Pilot Knob Sunset Hike   Wed, Apr 27, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- We had a small group for this easy evening outing and perfect spring weather. Hikers included David Kelley, Jen Shepherd, Chris Imperial, and Stephanie Graudons. We got started around 6:30pm, hiked up the steeper trail to the gazebo, and arrived just as a large group was heading down. We enjoyed watching a peaceful sunset together with the gazebo to ourselves, until we saw a man with a radio heading up with two others. We learned there was a medical emergency on the trail below and immediately offered to help. Jen stayed on top with them to wait for the helicopter, while the other three of us headed down in fading daylight to help carry the patient to the top. As always, it's pretty incredible to see strangers come together and work as a team, and thankfully the hiker was able to receive necessary care. Plus, it was pretty cool to see a helicopter land on a mountain at sunset.

Spring Bird Walk - Peebles Island State Park   Sat, Apr 30, 2016, Rich Speidel
- Cloudy at the start, the morning turned sunny and pleasant as we made our way around the perimeter of Peebles Island. We saw a variety of birds from the bluffs along the Mohawk River, including tree swallows in a hole of a tree, sandpipers and ducks in the channel below, and a red-tailed hawk high above. We also had good views of yellow-rumped warblers and goldfinches, among others, and concluded a fine morning along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers with 37 bird species identified. 7 participants: Susan Booth-Binczik, Gerry Binczik, Patricia McEntyre, Reg Prouty, Domenic Vecchiarelli, Michela Viscariello, Rich Speidel.

May 2016

Hopkins Mountain   Sun, May 1, 2016, Wayne Richter
- The sunny day that had been forecast for us in the middle of the preceding week degenerated into certain rain, dropping our number to three. While it would not be quite accurate to say that the rain held off, we usually had no more than a light drizzle, with a little more rain on the summit. We were pretty much socked in with only short range views through the clouds. We really enjoyed the different spring colors of the conifers softened by the rain, as well as good company, and ended the hike far drier than we had expected. Participants: Jen Ferriss, Wayne Richter, Joanne Walczak.

Tuesday Paddle   Tue, May 3, 2016, Mo Coutant
- So, the forecast wasn't great for this week, so we did a hike instead of a paddle. Joy had mentioned a nice waterfall hike just outside of Manchester, VT. So a small group of us headed over there. It was a gradual ascent in a nice wooded area with quite a few stream crossings. You could look over and see Mt. Equinox through some of the clearings, although the top was in clouds most of the day. We saw some wildflowers and even taught a few to Joy who remembered them on later hikes! The waterfall was beautiful! Thanks for the suggestion and bringing us here! Finished with lunch and browsing at Northshire, of course! Participants: Mo Coutant, Sharon Kendall, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Joy Munro.

Young Members: Sunset Hike   Wed, May 4, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- Cancelled due to rain.

Spring Bird Walk - Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park   Thu, May 5, 2016, Rich Speidel
- Despite cloudy and cool weather during the morning, we enjoyed more than five hours on the trails at Camp Saratoga. We saw a kingfisher nest that was recently dug in a sand bank. Other highlights included rufous-sided towhee, and close-up views of rusty blackbirds (a species in steep decline), great-blue heron, yellow-bellied sapsucker, kingbird, and yellow-rumped warbler. A broad-winged hawk also circled above us during the walk. Adding the sights and sounds from a variety of songbirds, we completed our field trip with 39 species. 8 participants: Patricia Brennan, Audrey Champagne, Cathy Hall, Marlene Hurley, Mark Janey, Licia Mackey, Peg McCanty, Rich Speidel.

Exploring Prospect Mountain   Sat, May 7, 2016, Bill Bechtel
- It was delightful day weather-wise as it was raining on and off all the previous week. Temperature was around 60 F, with very few black flies. We pretty much had the mountain to ourselves as we only encountered one person with a black lab near the peak. After ascending to the peak, we came back down to a fork in the trail and proceeded down the rest of the mountain on an unmarked trail to near where the Prospect Mt. road crosses the Northway. We passed four concrete buildings and two dams that appear to be part of an old water supply that is no longer in use. From this area we bushwhacked about 0.4 miles to cross the road and hike back into the Rec Area near the ball fields. I think the following participants had a nice day in the woods: Bill Bechtel, Owen Bechtel, Reginald Beatty, Brenda McAteer, Linda Veraska, Catherine Bunk, Richard Dill, Karen & Aryeh Alpern, and Lorraine DelRosso.

Lake George Property Workday   Sat, May 7, 2016, Mo Coutant
- The original workday had to be rescheduled, so we wound up doing a mini work hour before a Tuesday outing, and then 2 Saturday work mornings in May! Thanks to everyone who came to help! This year's major work was moving the stones back to the parking lot after the plow person went a bit crazy this winter. Plus we moved the pile of sand he left there 2 or 3 years ago and never came back for....plus we fixed the damage to the plants in the Sally Hunt memorial area that he ran over! I was not a fan of the plow guy this May! Thankfully, we did manage to get most of the other normal things done too! Thanks again to all that helped!!

Monthly Monday Geocache   Mon, May 9, 2016, Sarah King and Mo Coutant  
- Due to some rainy weather on Monday the 2nd, we ended up postponing to the following Monday, which was beautiful. The goal was to find the 11 caches placed in VanDusen Preserve as part of a new 'geo-art' series. What this means is that the placement of the caches on the geocaching.com map is in the shape of something, in this case a Q for Queensbury. All caches in geo-art are puzzle caches, which means that a simple puzzle needs to be solved beforehand to get the actual coordinates to the cache. The actual locations of the caches are not in a shape. Sarah and a few others had solved all the puzzles before we set out. After meeting at Panera, we met up at the VanDusen trailhead on West Mountain Road to start our hike. We did the loop in a counter clockwise direction grabbing a few on the "official" trails. Following another trail off the main loop (not to the summit which is now heavily posted) we made our way along, finding the caches placed here. We were careful to not trespass and indeed we did not see any posted signs on our trip, which headed on trails toward Butler Pond Road. The highlight of the trip was the spectacular waterfall where we turned back to avoid the posted signs that are present off Butler Pond Road. All is all, a great day out, finding 11 of our target caches and exploring some new trails right in our backyard. Participants: Sarah King, Licia Mackey, Mo Coutant, Steve Gray, Diane Demetriou, Heidi Kaufman, Todd Earl.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, May 10, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This was our traditional first paddle of the season, our adventure paddle from Lake Luzerne to Second Lake. It's an adventure since you have to go over beaver dams, sometimes under or over or around a tree that has fallen across the stream, and usually get out a few times when the water gets too shallow to paddle in. But this year, we had the easiest time of all the trips that I can remember. The water was high enough that we could mostly pull ourselves over the dams, and only had to get out of the boats once due to fast water in a shallow section. So we did this trip on just the right day and it makes all the difference! We got to Second Lake and had a nice float and snacks before enjoying the quick return with the current all the way back to Lake Luzerne! Participants: Mo Coutant, Sharon Kendall, Sarah King, Licia Mackey, Joy Munro, Anne Paolano, Cory Rinella, Joanne Szot.

Pole Hill Pond - RTL   Sun, May 15, 2016, Lorraine MacKenzie
- The day was overcast but our spirits were bright. Middle Mountain was a bit of a struggle but the views from Walnut Ridge were fantastic. The red efts were out in full force to accompany us! 14 participants.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, May 17, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we did our Annual Wildflower hike up Hadley Mountain. At first it started out slow, but then we started seeing violets, trillium, solomon seal, dutchmens britches, trout lilies in bloom, and foam flowers, among others that I've now forgotten! On top, most of the group climbed the fire tower and then we headed to the north side of the mountain to check to see if the rock sculptures we made last year were still there. Happily, they were! From there, you can see up to the high peaks! It was a great day out. Participants: Annemarie Carberry, Mo Coutant, Carl Harris, Heidi Kaufmann, Licia Mackey, Joy Munro, Kathi Noble, Christy Phelan, Laurie Williams.

Panther Gorge Lean-to   Sat, May 21, 2016, Mike Fuller
- We arrived just in time to get the last parking spaces at Elk Lake. After the hiker briefing we were on our way. Steve came along to do trail work while the rest of the group headed to Panther Gorge. Just before we left the jeep road we found moose tracks. The Pinnacle shoulder yielded a dry trail and good views of the high peaks. Now my favorite part of the trail, the plank hardening "Yellow Brick Road" through Marcy Swamp, thanks to the hard work of the trail crew last year. As we started our climb we stopped at "picnic table rock" for a break; everyone was saying what a great day it was. Soon we were at the lean-to. Some guests had laid out their camping gear while they headed for the big peaks. I did some work and a journal entry, but was a little ticked off about the pile of stuff behind the lean-to. After lunch we headed back and saw Steve's great trail work, including one tree he worked on over 2 hours. Back through Marcy Swamp I noticed fresh moose tracks, so it had to be close by. Our last break was at the jeep road and a hour back to the parking lot. We all did our part giving back by clearing blowdown; special thanks to Steve for chopping the bigger trees and drainages. Great weather and a great group = a fun day. 10 participants: Brenda McAteer, Jim Zwynerberg, Mark Seymour, Akane Suzuki, Wayne Richter, Steve Mackey, Eric Kimmelman, Leighann Helson, Denise McQuade, and Mike Fuller.

Lake Andrew   Sat, May 21, 2016, Rich Crammond and Jayne Bouder  
- This was another great day to be in the mountains. Mild weather with not many black flies, plus some real nice views form the shore of Lake Andrew and a side hike off the main gravel road by the camps to an up close and in your face view of Santanoni Peak and the twin slides. We got a little side tracked on the way out from the lake but stayed on a north compass bearing, plus Jayne Bouder's woodswoman skills put us back on the, after a while, "better" path. "There is no marked trail for the last app. 0.7 miles to the lake" through the woods. Eeks! Highlights were good weather, good hiking buds, and a good old short bushwhack. Almost didn't get no better. Participants: Denise Eriwin, Gretchen Gedzoiz, Karen Alpern, Aryeh Alpern, Jayne Bouder, Rich Crammond.

Spring Bird Walk - Pack Forest, Warrensburg   Sat, May 21, 2016, Rich Speidel
- We were treated to a good variety of birds, including nine species of warblers. Notable warblers were two common yellowthroats (seen together), northern waterthrush, northern parula, and black-throated green warblers. We had good views of least flycatcher and spotted sandpiper, and a great blue heron and osprey overhead. A highlight for our group was seeing the colorful Canada warbler, an elusive migrant which can be missed from year to year. Thanks to our team efforts, we completed an enjoyable outing in the southeast Adirondacks with 40 species of birds identified. 9 participants: Patricia Brennan, Jim Cooper, John Good, Cathy Hall, Nancy Kimball, Licia Mackey, Jack Reber, Edna Van Dorsten, Rich Speidel.

North Saddle, Whitehall   Sun, May 22, 2016, Jayne Bouder
- Klaus kept track of the distances and ascents (which became a lot more than than in my trip description). John learned some new birds, and calls. Tim actually led this hike, but no one blamed him. I talked us into continuing down to South Bay to get the best views, have lunch at Devil's Den, and cookies at Tim & Mary's place. By the time we got back to the cars we'd gone 6.8 miles, 1523 feet ascent (and 1882 descent) in 5 hours and 33 minutes at an average of 1.3 mph through blaze marked woods. Wonderful day! Awesome group! Participants: Jayne Bouder, John Halleck, Klaus Sommerlatte, and Tim & Mary Ward. Thank-you!

Tuesday Outing   Tue, May 24, 2016, Mo Coutant
- We rolled the dice...and kind of won? This week we paddled the Battenkill from Arlington to the parking lot on the NYS line. The water level was perfect, but the water constantly falling from the sky...was not! Ok, we could have just not started. After all, it was raining when we started. But it's such a long drive to get there...and it was fairly warm. So everyone decided to give it a go, and we all had a fun time floating down the river and through the ripples. We were all soaked by the time we were done and cooled off quickly once we stopped paddling. It was good to get to Dunkin Donuts for a hot drink and to get changed out of the wet stuff! The rain we were in seemed to be just in that area even though it wasn't suppose to be there at all in the morning! Oh well. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and make the best of it! Participants: Mo Coutant, Tina Crook, Mark Janey, Sharon Kendall, Sarah King, Licia & Steve Mackey, Joy Munro, Elena, Josh, and Lynne Silverberg with transport assistance from Mark Munro...THANKS!

Esther and Whiteface   Sat, May 28, 2016, Bill Morse
- Very warm day. We started with 13 and finished with 11 with trip leader hanging on. It was a good supportive hike where lots of liquids were needed. Trail for the most part was dry. Top was full of people having driven up and a horde of little beetles that were very annoying. I appreciate the group helping me out when I cramped up coming down. Group included: Jim Zwynenburg, Colleen Downing, Donna Olson, Richard Dill, Joanne Walczak, Jim Zack, Intaba Liff-Anderson, David Manley, Mark Bramer, Brandon Bramer, Greta Van S., Tom McLenithan, and Bill Morse.

Tuesday Outing   Tue, May 31, 2016, Mo Coutant
- Since we did a paddle last week and hiked Hadley the week before, it was time for an easy outing. So this week we did a nice walk in the Skidmore Northwoods. It had finally gotten hot during the Memorial Day weekend and it was still warm on Tuesday, but these trails are shaded with barely any elevation to get us hot. Luckily, the bugs weren't really out either! We saw a few remnants of wild flowers and found the points of interest ("Lord of the Flies" well, teepee & swing, and this time the "Little house"), then we headed into town for a stop at Uncommon Grounds. Participants: Nancy Burke, Mo Coutant, Paul Dietershagen, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Joanne Szot.

June 2016

Seward Black Fly Blood Drive   Sat, Jun 4, 2016, Mike Fuller
- Yes, a dry Seward hike! After the hike briefing and introductions, we hit the trail. Wayne and I were wondering if calling the hike "The Black Fly Blood Drive" was giving some people second thoughts, but not this group. The trail up Calkins Brook had great footing. The views from Donaldson were great. After a break, the only mud was that "one spot" along the ridge. While lunching at Emmons, we noticed hardly any black flies - that started to worry me. Back to the Seward intersection where Reg, at 74, said he was up for the last peak. Let's go! The best part of Seward is the rock scramble up the east side; great views! Soon we were all on the top. Congrats, snacks, pictures, and we were on our way back. At our last break at Calkins Brook many were asking, "When are we going to feed the black flies?" Then I remembered feeding chickadees at Marcy Dam. We held out our bare arms and soon, one by one, the black flies began to feed. Smiles filled everyone's faces, knowing we had helped the next generation of the legendary black fly. We got out with daylight to spare. Ten blood donors. Participants: Reginald Beatty, Kearney Sagehorn, Wayne Richter, Colleen Downing, Jim Zwynenburg, Joe Babcock, Karen Burka, Joe Burka, Josh Kohan and Mike Fuller.

Plane Crash Site, Cold Brook Trail, High Peaks Area   Sat, Jun 4, 2016, Rich Crammond and Jayne Bouder  
- The leaders did it! Great day! This was a rugged, long hike, but we made it to the crash site. The pilot lived after the impact, from what was said about it, so that's a good thing. The Cold Brook Trail sure is rocky and quite steep, but we made it there safely and back. A great day to be in the Lake Colden area. Just didn't get no better. Participants: Jayne Bouder, Lucy Crammond, Rich Crammond.

Monthly Monday Geocache   Mon, Jun 6, 2016, Sarah King
- The weather wasn't predicted to be good on this day but we caught a break and it was sunny and mild. We headed down to Grafton Lakes State Park and, as we do when caching, moved around a bit following the new SaraCap caches. The neat thing about these SaraCap series of caches is that they highlight interesting information and histories of some of our area state parks. One fun fact that we learned in the write ups of the geocaches is that Grafton was once called Roxborough, and part of the East Manor of Rensselaerwyck, which was established 386 years ago by Killaen Van Rensselaer. Some people believe Roxborough means "town of rocks." We started our adventure at the parking lot of Second Pond and did a quick walk along the pond to grab a cache. Then back in the car to drive down North Long Pond Road to grab one off the road a bit, then two more on trails off that road. Then we hopped over to Shaver Pond and enjoyed the trails there and three more caches. By now it was lunch time, so we stopped at our favorite shrine in Grafton, the Grafton Peace Pagoda for inspiration and lunch. After lunch we headed to Martin Dunham Reservoir to find a few more caches totaling 11 in all. Great day out with great company, scenery and of course brownies made by Licia. Participants: Sarah King, Mo Coutant, Licia Mackey, Steve Gray.

Tuesday outing   Tue, Jun 7, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we hiked up Buck Mountain from the lake side. I know this is the more popular route, but it had been forever since I'd gone this way. It's a nice wide trail with a few stream crossings and it opens up at the top for great views of the lake. Once we got to the top, we encountered a fierce headwind that forced us to enjoy the view quickly and then retreat to the back side behind some boulders to have our lunch. Afterwards, we took one last look north and had amazing visibility. We think we could see a little sliver of Lake Champlain up past the north end of the lake. Great trip! Participants: Doug Beers, Mo Coutant, Paul Dietershagen, Sue Howard, Eric Krantz, Anne Paolano, Bob & Sandy Powell.

Giant   Sat, Jun 11, 2016, Wayne Richter
- A somewhat dreary forecast kept our number down to four. We started out under a solid cloud cover but dry conditions that gave us good views from the ledges of the Ridge Trail. Light rain began just after we passed over the "bump." We spent only a few minutes on the summit, though with some interesting views amidst the clouds. Fortunately, the rain quit for much of our hike out. The most amazing sight on our descent was a bank of clouds nestled about halfway up the mountains on the other side of Route 73. Participants: Reg Beatty, Karin Gossweiler, Mary Grueniger and Wayne Richter.

Tuesday paddle   Tue, Jun 14, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we did our annual paddle out to see the eagles on Lake George. We launched from Eric's beach and headed over to the island. This year we went a little later in hopes of seeing the young out of the nest. We weren't disappointed. Both young were "branching" - sitting on branches near the nest. An adult bald eagle was sitting a little bit south of the nest in another tree seemingly unperturbed by our presence. After staying for a little while, some of the group circled the island and others hung out in a nearby bay. Joanne noticed a greenish hue to the water on the east side of the island and recently there was an article about algae growth in Lake George. Hopefully all the parties interested in keeping the lake clean can come together and work even harder to keep the lake clear and clean. We returned to Eric's house and had lunch on the deck overlooking the lake! Can't beat that! Thanks Eric!! Participants: Mo Coutant, Carolyn Curren, Paul Dietershagen, Nicole Grynsztein, Heidi Kaufmann, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Anne Paolano, Jeremy Sirkin, Joanne Szot, Laurie Williams.

Young Members: Evening Hike   Wed, Jun 15, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- We had a great evening hike at the Cat & Thomas Mountains Preserve in Bolton, where we hung out at the cabin overlook to chat and take in the scenery. We started down with the sun and hiked out in the dark, brainstorming ideas for desserts to bring on future sunset hikes. Participants included: Julia Greiner, Jen Shepherd, Rachel Corry, Jake Wilde, Meagan Sherry, Kate Schlesier, Carly Briggs, Dima Kassab, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Junaid Halabi, and Stephanie Graudons.

Phelps Mt. via Herd Path   Sat, Jun 18, 2016, Bill Morse
- Good hike on a day where it was getting warm. The herd path up Phelps is almost all in the woods so it kept us cooler. An easy pace all day kept everyone from wearing out. The herd path is grown over but is easily seen. Good views on top with low humidity, but there were some pesky flies. Great hike overall. Participants: Intaba Liff-Anderson, Jim Zack, Susan Keely, Joanne Walczak, Hallie Ehlen, Linda Veraska, Mary Dabulas, Bill Morse, and Penny.

Goodnow Mountain   Sat, Jun 18, 2016, Reginald Prouty
- It was a beautiful summer day in the Newcomb area for an easy climb up the ESF trail to the summit and fire tower atop this small mountain. To enjoy it best and the 360 degree view one needs to climb at least up several sections of the tower, or all the way for the best rewards. When I played the Syracuse Alma Mater I discovered there were other alumni as well as Cornell alumni on the summit. Thanks go to ESF for taking such good care and providing those great informative pamphlets. 4 hikers: Peter Bishop, Laura Fiske, Margie Litwin, and Reg Prouty.

Tuesday outing Party!   Tue, Jun 21, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we celebrated the end of the Tuesday Outings for the season with a potluck dinner at the top of Pinnacle Mountain in Bolton Landing. This is a very short hike (~1 mile) with a great view of Lake George. The trail was fairly recently opened by the Lake George Land Conservancy (Thank you!) and is a great go to hike to bring non-hikers or out of town visitors to give them a taste of what hiking is about. This is a big bang for your buck hike! We had great weather, the bugs weren't bad and the food was awesome! Next year, I might have to do a monthly pot luck hike! Thanks everyone for coming on the trips and look for weekly hikes again in November - June. Participants: Jim Brown, Nancy Burke, Mo Coutant, Lorraine DelRosso, Heidi Kaufmann, Sarah King, Licia Mackey, Kathi & Tim Noble, Christy Phelan, George & Irene Sammons, Bill Wasilauski, Donna, Mitch & Stephanie Zimmer

Young Members: Evening Hike   Wed, Jun 22, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- How we've gotten so lucky with pretty sunsets and beautiful weather, I don't know, but I sure like it. We had a small group of only 3 tonight, but that didn't stop us from hitting the trail and having fun. We hiked Sleeping Beauty from Dacy Clearing and enjoyed apple turnover bites and cookies on top, and explored the different ledges and lookouts. Participants were Rachel Corry, Jen Shepherd, and Stephanie Graudons.

Rainbow Lake   Sat, Jun 25, 2016, Jayne Bouder
- We did it! Had a great time. Participants: Me, Ray Boucher, and Bob Morrissey.

Tuesday Evening Paddle   Tue, Jun 28, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we paddled on the Stewart Pond (Dam) Reservoir. I never know what to call it...I've heard it both ways. It was another beautiful evening with a threatening cloud just east of us. Luckily the weather was fine where we were and at the end of the evening we could see a tiny bit of a rainbow way off in the distance. While we were eating at the Up River Cafe in Lake Luzerne we found out it rained in Queensbury and we were getting text of amazing rainbow pictures from there. So we missed that, but we were treated to seeing 3 juvenile eagles in the branches near their nest on the reservoir. Some in the group also saw a beaver swimming. Another great evening followed by great food! Participants: Annemarie Carberry, Mo Coutant, Carolyn Curren, Stu Leinoff, Licia & Steve Mackey, Andrew & Anne Paolano, Donna, Mitch, and Stephanie Zimmer.

Young Members: Spruce Mtn Evening Hike   Tue, Jun 28, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- The 28th turned out to be a washout with severe thunderstorms, so we had a very last minute reschedule to June 30th. Thursday evening was beautiful, with an awesome sunset from the fire tower, and Julia made cupcakes we frosted and enjoyed on top. Participants included Megan McLaughlin, Marissa Charlebois, Jen Shepherd, Joan Xu, Myra Wong, Brie Anne Wilson, Sarah Givney, Julia Greiner, Greg Kerwath, and Stephanie Graudons.

July 2016

Panther and Couch   Sat, Jul 9, 2016, Mike Fuller
- The first highlight of the hike was that it was filled on May 5th; I then had 32 inquiries after that. With some last minute cancellations, twelve of us hit the trail with off and on rain during the day. We dropped our packs for the short hike to Panther. Arriving back, we fueled up on brownies I had baked from the Cheech and Chong cookbook "Baking for High Peaks," or something like that. Off to Couch where we got a little spread out. We met some of the faster part of the group heading back; they said they'd wait for us at Times Square. With the faster hikers waiting there, there were some issues with being cold and wet but thanks to a great team effort we solved the problems. Jim led the faster part of the group to Santanoni; Josh had used the Express Trail before so he knew where it was. When the last of us got to the peak we could hear the faster group heading down the Express Trail. That was good because here came the rolling thunder and rain. So here is where it all gets interesting: It was lightning and heavy down pours on our way down. The trail turned into a brook. At 8:30pm Kearney, Reg and I got to the brook just before the main trail. It was nearly waist deep with a strong current. I was worried about everyone else at that point, not knowing that the groups were out at 8:30pm and 9:30pm, while we were out at 11:30pm. Reg, at 74, had a sprained ankle but did a great job of toughing it out back to the parking lot. I was glad to see that all of the cars of the participants who had hiked with us were gone. I want to thank everyone for teaming up to make this a success. Thanks also to Michelle and John for loaning their pickup to a hiker with car problems; that is "giving back." 12 wet participants: Jim Zwynenburg, Joanne Commisso, Michelle Haller, John Haller, Jeff Levitt, Janette Goldstein, Kelly Marriott, Sandy Demers, Josh Kohan, Kearney Sagehorn, Reginald Beatty, Mike Fuller.

Tuesday Evening Paddle   Tue, Jul 12, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we went to one of my favorite spots on the Hudson...the Spier Falls section. From the boat launch we paddled downstream and headed to the little coves hidden from the river by an island. Here most of us got out of our kayaks to squeeze in amongst the undergrowth on a boulder and eat dinner. I think I picked the wrong boulders...or else the undergrowth has grown up since we did this a few years ago! We had a good time sharing food and stories before heading back to our boats. Beautiful fun night out as usual...oh I almost forgot the water war between Steve and me during this hot evening. That cooled us off so we didn't need to go swimming! Participants: Doug & Judy Beers, Mo Coutant, Ann Hunt-Wardle, Heidi Kaufmann, Heather, Licia, & Steve Mackey, Joy Munro, George Sammons.

Mount Vanhoevenberg from South Meadow Road   Sat, Jul 16, 2016, Reginald Prouty
- This relatively small mountain in the foothills of the high peaks was easy to climb as the ascent is very gradual. We discovered that when visiting one of the 3 or 4 overlooks it is necessary to go all the way out on the outcrop ledge and look way to the right in order to see down to the Olympic bobsled run and the Village of Lake Placid. It was warm enough, though, that we decided to stop at Stewarts in Keene for ice cream on the way home. 3 hikers: Abby Hellman, Christina Danison, and Reg Prouty.

The Pinnacle and Cat Mountain   Sun, Jul 17, 2016, Lorraine MacKenzie
- It was a beautiful day. The views from the Pinnacle were stellar and easily accessible. The views from Cat were fantastic but the hike up was more strenuous than I anticipated. Fortunately the weather did not match the forecast of rain and a good time was had by all. 13 participants: Klaus Sommerlatte, Joanne Walczak, Joan Ferguson, Carrie Agne, Georgine Rausch, Marsha Jewett-LaPointe, Bill Carpenter, Sandy Yellen, Beau, Ann, Lorraine MacKenzie.

Gray, Marcy and Skylight   Sat, Jul 23, 2016, Wayne Richter and Eric Kimmelman  
- We had a beautiful start to the day, though a chance of thunderstorms was predicted for the afternoon. Beginning at the High Peaks Information Center, we soon took in the views from the (former) Marcy Dam, then headed up the trail over Lake Arnold Pass. We had some wet footing on the boards across the swamp just before the Opalescent River. Fortunately, no one fell in. We then made the steep climb to Lake Tear of the Clouds. The herd path to Gray was fun as always, and we had beautiful skies for pictures on top. It was on to Skylight, Dave's 46th high peak. We celebrated with oatmeal raisin cookies from Mike and my dried cherry and chocolate chip cookies. Dave was helped to do a handstand to channel Brenda L., who could not make it. By now, the sky was making us think about those possible afternoon thunderstorms and we headed off to Marcy. On our way up the south face, we were treated to the sight of a small cell of rain moving from west to east behind us. We could hear a few rumbles of thunder far to the east but the sky still looked clear enough. We arrived at Marcy's summit with plenty of blue sky and some white clouds, giving us time to celebrate Mark's 46th high peaks. Ten minutes after our arrival, though, I looked to the west and the sky had turned black. It was time to go - now! We, along with many others on the summit, hustled our way down. We got to the safety of the tree line before the thunder showed up, though not before the rain. We even got some dime-sized hail. The rain stopped before long, but we had no view from Indian Falls. By the time we reached Marcy Dam, however, we were back to blue skies to close out the hike. A big thanks to Eric Kimmelman for co-leading and to Mike Fuller for helping to keep the group together during the storm. Participants: Joe Babcock, Nicole Durocher Beaulne, Gina Feliciano, Mike Fuller, Madeline Kennedy, Eric Kimmelman, Ben Legg, Brenda McAteer, Kelly Marriott, Wayne Richter, Mark Seymour, Akane Suzuki, David White, Rob White.

Severance Hill and Big Pond   Sat, Jul 23, 2016, Rich Crammond
- This was a hot day for sure, but hiking in the shaded forest made walking a little cooler. Reg played his pocket horn at the overlook on Severance and played it again at Big Pond. Maybe ADK should have "jamming" hikes; think so? Just a nice summer day to be in the Adirondacks. Participants: Reg Prouty, Lucy Crammond, Rich Crammond.

Tuesday Evening Paddle   Tue, Jul 26, 2016, Mo Coutant
- This week we paddled from the County Home Bridge in Warrensburg upstream along the Schroon for about an hour before returning with the current. The current wasn't strong, though, so it was an easy paddle in both directions. Some in the group saw a beaver, some heard its tail slap, and others just heard about it! The cardinal flowers are beginning to bloom along the shore and the temperature dropped by the time we got on the water. Everyone seemed to remark about the gorgeous evening and how good it was to be out! Participants: Rene Clarke, Mo Coutant, Tina Crook, Daniel & Jane Hensel, Mark Janey, Heidi Kaufmann, Laurie LaFond, Licia & Steve Mackey, Joy Munro, Donna, Jerry & Mitch Zimmers.

Raquette Lake and St Williams   Sat, Jul 30, 2016, Jayne Bouder
- Ray Boucher and I scored the best camp site on Big Island, paddled around it and some smaller islands, and went up the Marion River on Saturday. Sunday we loaded our boats and gear into/onto the car, and hopped on a pontoon boat to Long Point and the St Williams Annual Chicken Barbecue. We left well feasted!

August 2016

T-Lake Falls   Sat, Aug 6, 2016, Nick Ringelberg
- It was a perfect August Day for a pleasant woodsy stroll. Starting at 9:30am, the first half of the hike in, about 2.5 miles, was on the South Branch Trail (#97, "Central Trails" Guide Book). This was an old logging road and although there are no trail markers, it was easy to follow it to the rock-hopping crossing of West Canada Creek. After searching for about 10 minutes, we found the well defined herd path and continued upstream on the east side of the creek, usually just a short distance away from it. Occasionally the herd path would peter out, but with a little searching, it would turn up again. The last of us reached the base of the falls at about 1pm and stayed about a half hour for lunch (some of us swam in the 8 foot deep pool at the base of the falls). Although the flow over the falls was only a small stream, you could tell from the smashed boulders and the sparse growth at the base that in spring time there must be a large volume of water. Reversing our direction, we found the way out a little easier to follow and we arrived back to our cars around 5pm.

Cook Mtn & Anthony's Nose   Sun, Aug 7, 2016, Lorraine MacKenzie
- It turned out to be a beautiful day. We decided to start our trip by hiking up Record Hill. The summit had a good view of Anthony's Nose and Rodger's Rock. We then headed to Cook Mountain and got a glimpse of Anthony's Nose again. On the way back we stopped at Peggy's Point in Hague and got our feet wet in Lake George. All in all we visited 3 LGLC parks and had a wonderful time. Participants: Jack Whitney, Pat Desbiens, Sandy Yellen and Lorraine MacKenzie.

Tuesday evening Paddle   Tue, Aug 9, 2016, Licia & Steve Mackey
- Hudson River Paddle: Schuylerville, 8/9/16: Don, Gwenne and John opted for Hudson Crossing's kayak access for the Hudson. At Joy's suggestion, the rest of us slid our kayaks onto the canal for a float through lock 5. (It was surprising how smooth our drop of 17' was.) We reassembled on the river to head downstream to the Battenkill's exit into the Hudson. Some saw green herons, kingfishers, and eastern kingbirds. We were thrilled to have an eagle fly overhead and perch above us. Heading south around the island, Steve spotted a geocache hanging on a tree. Don & Licia logged it. We had a nice chat with some folks enjoying their cocktails at their riverfront RV site. A hatch on Fish Creek enticed the fish, (which were jumping), the fishermen, and the great blue herons. We couldn't venture too far up the Fish as the water was low. We headed back to our access to claim a few picnic tables at the park for an enjoyable evening picnic. Participants: Don Thorn, Joy Murno, Tina Crook, Carolyn Curren, Stu Leinoff, Don Butler, Gwenne Rippon, John Schneider, Steve & Licia Mackey.

Allen "The Big Nasty"   Sat, Aug 13, 2016, Mike Fuller
- This was my 5th time leading The Summer Allen. It had filled early and had a long waitlist, but the threat of rain and thunder made most cancel. We started out with an overcast morning sky and only had light rain after the gravel pit; the Opalescent was a rock hop. No rain for the climb and the "Red Slime" was not as bad this year. We spent a half hour on the summit in the clouds but no rain. Coming down, we did have some views but could also hear the thunder moving in. Yes, we got downpoured on, but after our last water crossing it was just light rain back to the parking lot. Everyone was glad I didn't cancel the hike, and the rain helped cool us off with the heat. Marie, who was born in Cuba, called it a "Cuban Saturday." 5 wet happy souls: Jim Zwynenburg, John Kershko, Kearny Sagehorn, Marie Fernandez De Alaiza, and Mike Fuller.

Tuesday evening paddle   Tue, Aug 23, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we returned to the Hudson River and paddled upstream from Nolan Road in South Glens Falls. We were joined by Dave Naylor who paddles this section regularly and served as our guide. We explored the little back water that takes you right to the embankment south of the Northway. We saw an osprey perched in a branch overhanging the water. He didn't seem bothered by us as we paddled by to return to the main river. Although he did almost poop on Steve, so maybe he got a little too close! Then we explored another backwater on the north side of the river where we saw a very large great blue heron. After paddling by the remnants of the logging booms, we returned to our cars and saw a beautiful sunset. Participants: Mo Coutant, Judy Halstead, Mary Knutson, Licia & Steve Mackey, Dave Naylor, Malina Stawarz.

Boreas Ponds   Sat, Aug 27, 2016, Steve Mackey
- I heard a few days before we left that you could mountain bike in. It was a little too late to change the trip, but it definitely would be a good/fast mountain bike trip. There were no signs saying they weren't allowed and everybody else we saw was mountain biking. We also decided that it would have been nice to have a boat. The view was outstanding, but it would have been better a little further out in the pond. We tried walking around a bit, to find another view, but were unsuccessful. I also thought that the Finch Pruyn Lodge was further around to the right (where almost all the pond is), but it was actually to the left and the route was posted. They are supposed to be dismantling it, and we were curious to see it, so you can chalk up another good reason to bring a boat. I think if we actually get snow this year, that I might lead a cross country ski trip in, in February. We had a good strong group and basically hiked about 2 hours each way. Allen was the closest high peak and it was just a little north of us. Someday it might be an interesting way to climb it. Participants: JP Martin, Erica Halbrook, Kim Brown, David Colomb, Joe Babcock, Lorraine Skibo, Colleen Downing, Jim Zwynenburg, Beau Bessen, Karen Burka, Joe Burka, Tim Ward, Steve Mackey.

Gothics (and Possibly Armstrong)   Sun, Aug 28, 2016, Wayne Richter
- Even before hitting the trail, those of us coming up the Northway were treated to one of the best sunrises ever as we drove past Schroon Lake. We hiked up the Lake Road to the dam at Lower Ausable Lake, took in both the lower and upper views of Rainbow Falls, and headed up the trail to Pyramid. We enjoyed the views there, then continued up to Gothics where we had a good while on the summit with lunch and views under most pleasant conditions. On to Armstrong with more views to be enjoyed until an ominous looking cloud suggested it might be time to go. Ominous was all it turned out to be as we stayed dry. Beaver Meadow Falls was another treat as the recent rains gave us a good flow. Although it was a fine day to be out, we had little company on the trail. Not to worry, though, as our congenial group provided all the good fellowship that we needed. Participants: Mary Dabulas, Jen Ferriss, John Hallock, Kerri Ketcham, Marlene Killian, Wayne Richter, Erin Roberts, Joan Scibetta and Jim Zwynenburg.

September 2016

Tuesday Evening Paddle   Tue, Sep 6, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we ventured up to Northwest Bay on Lake George. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the winding paddle along the stream to the bay. Then we paddled a short way along the shore. On the way back we rescued a float that was released from a campsite. Too much to carry it out? They do deflate. We couldn't figure that out, but if anyone wants to borrow a float, let me know! Participants: Mo Coutant, Bob Glandon, Mark Janey, Licia Mackey, Jane Morrissey, Anne Paolano, Bob & Sandy Powell.

Indian Head and Fish-hawk Cliffs   Sat, Sep 10, 2016, Reg Prouty
- We found out why there were so many cars going out to the boathouse as there was a big wedding with people from as far away as Norway occurring at 4:30 at the boathouse of the Ausable Club. As we began to do the climb on the Indian Head trail we ran into numerous people all dressed in white clothing and everything except hiking attire. One woman in a white dress said she left her hiking clothes in her other summer residence. Most of them had gotten bored with tennis and golf and found out there was a mountain with a great view. The rain was only light and shortlived as we left Fish Hawk Cliffs returning via Gill Brook. The flumes were very low on water due to the dry summer. All in all, it was a great day for enjoying both Ausable Lakes from above. 10 hikers: Reg Prouty, Linda Frees ,Kim Gryga, Ray Boucher, Laura Fiske, Cathy Bunk, Annemeri Carberry, Liz Mulshine, Pam King-Hall and Lorraine Ruffing.

Dix Mountain   Sun, Sep 11, 2016, Wayne Richter
- Our day started out with left over cloud cover and the threat of showers from the previous evening's cold front, but the clouds soon broke up to give us a mostly sunny day. In spite of blustery winds on the summit we spent quite a while enjoying the clear views and going over to the Beckhorn for a look. It was a small group after some late cancellations, but a fine hike. Participants: Wayne Richter, Jim Zwynenburg.

Monthly Monday Geocache   Mon, Sep 12, 2016, Sarah King and Mo Coutant  
- We had a wonderfully relaxing kayak along the lower west branch of the Sacandaga River where it enters Lake Algonquin in Wells, N.Y. Nine of us met at the Wells town beach off Route 30 in Wells. We were searching for 8 kayak caches that two local geocachers, who happened to be with us, had put out. Kayak caches are typically small pill bottles or like sized containers zip tied into branches or stumps along the waters edge, which can be grabbed from the seat of your kayak. We found all 8, although really 7 as one cache had gone missing. The cache owner promptly replaced it. We also had quite the eagle show by a young eagle that seemed to be as interested in us as we were in it! I didn't get any pictures but I think Mo might have. It is a leisurely paddle up river through the main channel to a fork in the river where it gets too shallow and some rapids about 1.75 miles from beach. The weather was perfect and it was great to catch up with friends after taking the summer off from our monthly outings. Participants: Sarah King, Mo Coutant, Licia Mackey, John Corcoran, Joe Busch, Don Thorn, Marjory Moelller, Steve Gray, Diane Demetriou.

Moxham Mountain   Sat, Sep 17, 2016, Rich Crammond
- It was another great day in the Adirondacks. The trail was busy with many hikers and their dogs. The north woods are very dry with low stream beds. Highlights of this outing were hiking with son Rich and two nice other people. We didn't see much wildlife; too many people, I guess, like on the Goodnow Mountain trail. Sure had a good time, though. Participants: Peter Bishop, Leslie Beadle, Richard Elvis Crammond, Rich Crammond.

Redfield&Cliff Mts.   Sun, Sep 18, 2016, Ron Lester
- The best way to describe this hike is 15hrs, 53min ... we made it to both peaks ... and no, we did not get lost. This enthusiastic group consisted of Nick Destefano, Tom Esmond, Scot Jacoby, Lisa and Erik Jeschke (#44 & #45), Marlene Killian, Jim Zwynenburg, Melody Hoffmann and Ron Lester.

Amy's Park - RTL   Sun, Sep 18, 2016, Lorraine MacKenzie
- This was the 3rd attempt for this trip and the saying "third time is a charm" applies. The skies were blue, the temperature cool and no insects! The trail was true to the LGLC pamphlet write up - flat, steep, ponds and mountain. Plenty of beaver activity but no beavers to be seen. It was a great day! 5 participants: Margie Litwin, Bill Carpenter, Pat Desbiens, Jack Whitney and Lorraine MacKenzie.

Tuesday evening Paddle   Tue, Sep 20, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- So it turned out I couldn't do a trip in the evening, so we took Eric up on his offer to launch from his home on Lake George and then have lunch on his deck. It was a great morning out with very little wind. We decided to do something different and paddled across the lake and into Dunhams Bay. Eric and Paul had been there and wanted to show us the McMansion Beaver Lodge. Very impressive! Once we returned, a few people took a quick dip in the lake since it was still very warm. Great weather, great views, great company, great day!! Participants: Doug & Judy Beers, Mo Coutant, Paul Dietershagen, Mark Janey, Sarah King, Eric Krantz, Licia Mackey, Lynne Silverberg, Ruth Castonguay.

Marshall and plane crash site   Sat, Sep 24, 2016, Mike Fuller
- This hike always fills early and we had a full group. After I handed out 10 pound bags of home grown Adirondack blue and red "patatas^ a hiker briefing, and a beautiful clear morning and cool temps: "lets go." The first color was just starting in the maples and a fairly dry trail to Flowed Lands made for a great start. The view of Colden and Flowed Lands really brought out the cameras; that's wilderness. Herbert was a easy climb, with a little mud after the alpine bog. The summit was cool but we had great views of The Shepherd Tooth and could see hikers on Iroquois. Three of the group had to head back to get out early so John said he would go back with them. The rest of us headed to the plane wreck. Everyone had a great time sitting in the plane and having their picture taken. We regrouped at Lake Colden where Eric and Joe took the faster group and Mark and I took the slower. We were all out just before 9 and were treated to a beautiful Adirondack star filled night sky. Special thanks to Eric for co-leading and John for taking out the early group. A really fun day and a great group. Participants: Jackie Bogardus, Erin Roberts, Mary Dabulas, Tom Esmond, Joe Babcock, Madeline Kennedy, David White, Cindy Halpern, Kearny Sagehorn, Josh Koran, Eric Kimmelman, Nicole Durocher Beaulne, John Sasso, Marlene Killian, and Mike Fuller.

North Saddle, Whitehall   Sun, Sep 25, 2016, Jayne Bouder
- Six of us met Tim and Mary, the actual leaders, at the new trailhead. Everyone was well pleased with the terrain and views. Participants: Scott Anderson, Pete Bishop, Jayne Bouder, Chuck & Gail Helfer, Anthony Montague, and Tim & Mary Ward.

Hurricane Mtn - Fire Tower hike   Tue, Sep 27, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- We had a great day for this hike. Although the fall color was delayed this year...only about 10-20% leaf change, which is really surprising. The views were still beautiful no matter where you looked. I think it was almost 20 years since I was on this mountain and although the fire tower was there, the first few flights of stairs had been removed so you couldn't climb up. Now we could walk right up and enjoy a view to VT and all the Adirondacks. Participants: Mo Coutant, Paul Dietershagen, Sarah King, Eric Krantz, Margie Litwin, Licia & Steve Mackey, Anne Paolano.

October 2016

Nun-da-ga-o Ridge and Hurricane   Sun, Oct 2, 2016, Wayne Richter
- All participants cancelled due to weather. The would-be leader went hiking anyway and enjoyed a dry day with great fall foliage.

Monthly Monday Geocache   Mon, Oct 3, 2016, Sarah King and Mo Coutant  
- 50% chance of rain in Blue Mountain Lake postponed this trip until Wednesday. The weather started out very foggy on the drive up with some wonderful vibrant color on the changing trees. We started our 2 mile hike up at 10am and found the trail to be slightly damp (due to the fog) and quite rocky in spots. We had 4 caches to find on the way up and one at the summit. It was a nice hike with careful footing on the trail, much of it worn down to bedrock. The temperatures were mild, we all ended up stripped down to tee shirts on the way up. Coming to the summit and the fire tower, we quickly discovered the last cache here and headed up the fire tower, where the views of Blue Mountain Lake and beyond were spectacular. We had a leisurely lunch, found a benchmark and investigated a possible colvin bolt (from the original Verplank Colvin survey in 1899 according to Todd Earl), enjoyed the views and company and headed down slowly. We were back at the trailhead at 3pm. We ended up chatting with an employee of the radio tower company (?) who told us that the road up had been worked on last spring and over the summer and was in great shape for service vehicles only. We were surprised at the number of people hiking this trail on a Wednesday. Participants: Sarah King, Mo Countant, Licia Mackey, Todd Earl, Larry Eaton, and Heidi Kaufmann.

Tuesday paddle   Tue, Oct 4, 2016, Maureen Coutant
- This week we went up to Brant Lake and paddled about 6 miles...I think. The colors weren't peak by any means, but it was a beautiful day and we all had a nice time enjoying the area. Participants: Mo Coutant, Bob Glandon, Sarah King, Licia Mackey, Liz Mulshine, Lynne Silverberg

Mount Marcy   Sat, Oct 15, 2016, Steve Mackey
- It's hard to describe the day without mentioning that there were more people hiking than I have ever seen before. The lot at the LOJ was full and we had to park half way down the big hill on the Loj road. Other than that it was a beautiful day, and the trail was relatively mud free. There was a little bit of ice up high, but not a significant amount. We got out just before dark, but it was close. Most of us stopped for dinner at the Noonmark Dinner. Participants: Joe Babcock, Jim Zwynenburg, Susan Howard, Dave Twila, Mary Dabulas, Anne Mania, Laura Diebold, Joselyn Songer, Maureen Laskey, Steve Mackey

Gore Mountain Fire Tower Hike   Sat, Oct 15, 2016, Rich Crammond
- Another great day in the 'dacks; cool temps and nice sun. We saw one ruffed grouse, one deer and one Neal Andrews, an ol' hiker friend from the 90s. Thank you Neal for all the great hikes you've led. Everyone did well on this outing. Thanks buds for joining me. It just didn't get no better. Participants: Scott Anderson, Theresa Devlin, Peter Bishop, Brenda Arley, Rich Crammond.

Round Pond from Sharps Bridge Campground   Sun, Oct 16, 2016, Bill Schwarz
- A group of 6 hikers--all new to the leader--enjoyed a 7-mile roundtrip tour to Round (?) Pond, in North Hudson. The trailhead is right on US Rt. 9 at Sharps Bridge. The aspiring botanists among us found plenty to catalogue, and the trail was mild enough that, except for short steep parts, it could be skiable. We had lunch at the pond, and then a leisurely return with plenty of fall foliage to view. Participants: Karen Burka, Karin Gossweiler, Mary Grueniger, John Hallock, Bill Schwarz, Joe Wagner, Mary-Beth Wagner.

Young Members: Reel Rock Film Tour   Wed, Oct 19, 2016, Stephanie Graudons
- We had a group of 7 meet up at RPI to watch the Reel Rock Film Tour. There were many, many raffle items raffled off during intermission, a few of which were even won by those in our group! The films were interesting and inspiring and certainly got us excited to get back outside. Participants included John Robinson, Eric Adamchick, Dani Lloyd, Ted Letcher, Alisa Nurminen, Joe Durma, Kelly Durma, and Stephanie Graudons.

Mt. Colden via Lake Colden   Sat, Oct 22, 2016, Wayne Richter
- With car trouble and an unfavorable forecast, we fell from fifteen to five in four days (how's that for alliteration?), but five of us did indeed turn out for winter's first pass at the high peaks. Due to the possibility of icing, we went up and down via Lake Arnold, rather than taking the steep and exposed trail up from Lake Colden as planned. We started out in light rain, passed to sleet near the summit and finished in snow with about an inch on the cars in the parking lot. In contrast to recent weeks, we had very little company on the trail. What we did have was water, and plenty of it; in spite of very little precipitation during the day, the streams came up quite a bit between our ascent and descent, a reminder of how much conditions can change during heavy rainfall. A scenic highlight was a substantial cascade in a stream to the west of the trail on the way to Lake Arnold. I had never noticed it before, but it stood out prominently with the rushing water. Not too far below the summit, we began finding a layer of ice on the branches with drips frozen into place, indicating sub-freezing temperatures. Fortunately, the ground was still warm and we did not encounter ice under foot except in one small spot (we all had microspikes, just in case). Our summit time was brief in the wind-driven sleet, socked in by the low clouds. No views today! After lunch in a sheltered spot below the summit, we hiked out to finish well before dark. Participants: Maria Alvarez, Morgan Hanaway, Marcus Harazin, Wayne Richter, Sue Servatius.

November 2016

December 2016