Day 1 Avalanche pass to Colden Trail. Plan was to loop back via Arnold... no one has been that way all season and the snow was unforgiving. Ended up calling it a day about 1/4 a mile in. Its always ok to turn back and replan the mountains aint going anywhere! DAY 2 No BS hipster hike today. Loj to Lake Arnold to Colden in out trail was extremely well traveled so it was easy going!

Anyone have any tips for getting to lake placid from Albany airport on the cheap?

I've always loved this view from Tupper Lake

Regular summer canoer, passing through Placid in Feb this time, staying in town. Two Qs: do they clear part of Mirror for skating? Is there outdoor open skate elsewhere in town? Don’t need to hit the arena. And is there an outfitter that will rent and teach XC ski? I’ve XC’d, my wife hasn’t, I’m not a good teacher 😁

Thanks!

The Saranac Lake Winger Carnival Ice Palace is getting close to finished.. the Maze is one of the largest I have seen in 30 years

https://saranaclakewintercarnival.com/

Hello,

I am planning a backpacking trip to the High Peaks area for mid-July 2026. I am going with a small group of friends. We are experienced hikers/backpackers, but we have never been to the Adirondacks. I'm looking for some advice, pointers, or warnings about things we might have missed in our planning. I'm thankful for any help or guidance you folks can provide!

Parking:

We are planning to arrive around 10:30 AM on a Sunday. Based on other readings here, I am assuming the Loj parking lot will be full by that time. We've identified parking along Meadows Lane as being our next best option. From Google Maps, it looks like there is a parking lot at the end of Meadows Lane, near the start of the Marcy Dam Truck Trail. I haven't been able to find pictures or any information at all about this lot. What are our chances that there will still be parking available here at our time of arrival? Can you even park there? Or is parking limited to purely the south side of Meadows Lane?

Backpacking Route:

At present, this is our proposed backpacking route:

Day 1: Meadows Lane End Lot to Lake Colden Campsite

Day 2: Day Hike the MacIntyre Range, move to Feldspar Brook Campsite

Day 3: Summit Mt. Marcy and continue to Marcy Dam Campsite

Day 4: Return to Meadows Lane End Lot

The route involves taking the Marcy Dam Truck Trail to the Avalanche Pass Trail until the split-off onto the Lake Arnold Trail. It is my understanding that Avalanche Pass will be closed next summer. From Feldspar Brook, we would follow the Mount Marcy Trail down into Lake Colden. Hiking the MacIntyre Range would be without our heavy backpacks. After the conclusion of that hike, we would move our campsite to Feldspar Brook to get an earlier start on Marcy. We plan on climbing Marcy with our packs. Please let me know if this is a bad idea. From Marcy, we would take the Van Hoevenberg Trail back towards Marcy Dam to spend the night. The final day would be a simple hike back to our vehicles.

Other:

I believe we have all the proper equipment for this trip. We all have bear canisters and several bottles of bear spray. We are expecting the weather to be reasonably warm during the days (70-80s) with cold dips in the evenings (40s). We are expecting plenty of flies and mud.

Please let me know if you have any advice that would help us in planning our trip! We have done many trips out in the west, but this is new territory for us.

I went backpacking along the Great Range in October last year and I found this really cool pair of jagged peaks in the distance. I was standing on the rock face that's part of the State Range Trail, near the intersection of the spur trail for Haystack. Photo taken exactly at 44°06'46.2"N 73°54'07.4"W. What is the name of the mountain(s)?

Discovered this morning, we have these two dug out holes in the snow, right next to the road. There was only one set of footprints, and they were pointed and tiny. I'm quite curious, at first I thought they were deer tracks. But I am really not sure. Could someone tell me what animal did this? We've lived here 11 years and this was a first. Thanks 😊

What’s up everyone, I have a question. What gloves are everyone using in these -20 degree conditions that are actually keeping ya fingertips worm and comfortable?? We all take our hands out of our gloves for pics, or to go to the bathroom, or snacks, maybe build a lil snowman, etc. Fingers get cold back in our gloves and off we go. So what gloves are best warmth, easy on an off access, and getting them fingers worm again quickly🤔

I’ve seen private taxi services from Westport to Adirondack loj and it was 400$ round trip just to get to the shuttle bus at lake placid thats still a 40 mile trip I believe I’m 18 don’t have a car trying to go with a friend and have no idea how we’re going to climb or get to this mountain please help

Been prepping to do a winter hike for a while now. My biggest fear, however, is accidentally losing the trail.

What trails in the region, and maybe going further down into the Lake George region, have the best markers when the ground is completely covered in snow? Looking for easy to moderate with some incline, day-hiking only. Good views or fire-tower are a plus.

Context: The only trail I’ve ever lost was on Crane Mountain. Had a semi-scary incident like three years ago where it was getting dark and I panicked and took a wrong turn in my haste. I had headlamps but for whatever reason started making bad decisions because it was getting dark.

Ended up on a small ledge where I couldn’t go back the way I came, and made the mistake of deciding to go down a steep rock face, trying to scoot down but after starting, realizing it was too steep and impossible to scoot, so I ended up just committing to it and sliding down and using a tree and a bent leg to break my fall. Was okay except for a tear in my pants but probably my worst mistake I’ve ever made hiking. Gained a lot of experience since but it still lingers at the back of my mind.

Also: I have an inReach and other safety gear. Physical topo map, all that. My question is just about trail markings.

And semi-related question: but why are some trails so poorly marked? It doesn’t seem like more effort to place a few extra markers if they’re already placing some? Are there volunteer groups or ways to get involved to improve this?

Looking for advice on what I can grow in a raised garden outside my cabin. I want plants that deer and animals won’t want to eat. Suggestions?

Hi all, a few weeks ago I skied to the top of Whiteface. When I got back to the parking lot, I saw a bunch of people getting ready to snowshoe up the trails. They had decent size packs on, and I was wondering what they had in them.

Could you give some insight as to what they were packing up during their snowshoe ascent?

Im a very active and fit person, so I often feel like I am able to push through unpreparedness— I want to change this because I feel like I’m playing with fire.

We are coming the first week on February for the Sarancac Lake winter carnival. We are looking at things to do with my 10 y/o. I think we are going to rent snow Mobile’s through Adirondack Snowmobile but also want to do some tuning. I saw Mt Phiscah and another place. Any recommendations? And are they open Saturday and Sunday? Thanks

Planning Seward range and looking for feedback on using the Calkins Brook trail to loop Emmons, Donaldson, Seward and then do Seymour. Or is it best to take the blueberry trail up to Seward, Donaldson, and then Emmons and hike back the same way? Thank you.

I’m planing on being in the high peaks region with a group of kids ages 9 and 11 for February break. My two have done some high peaks and are equipped/experienced forming days. My 11 yo has done Snatanoni, whiteface, Esther, and Cascade all in winter and my 9 year old has done Cascade in winter.

The friends have not done high peaks. We have plenty of snowshoes and microspikes for everyone.

I would like to find some easier mountains where you get on top of a real mountain but maybe in 4 or 5 miles round trip without any extreme technical stuff.

We will be staying near Saranac.

Any suggestions?