St. Regis Mountain

On the heels of summitting Ampersand Mountain last week, I realized that I had completed one of the Saranac Lake Sixers. In the following days, I was asked by a few people if I was trying to be a Sixer.

So it got me thinking and I decided to go for it.

I chose St. Regis Mountain to be the next in line and asked my friend (and sometimes bandmate) Sean to go with me since he lives near the mountain and because I haven't seen him in a while. Today's hike (July 30) ended up being a really nice hike, with great conversations under perfect weather.

I met Sean at the trailhead and we made our way past a lake with a little waterfall and river at 11am. The trail starts with rolling hills for the first mile or so until you hit the mountain. It's a nice trail although there were a number of areas of heavy mud due to all of the rain this year. The mosquitoes weren't really an issue despite having read reviews that said they were out like crazy this year.

St. Regis Mountain's trail never got too difficult and we were able to reach the Summit at 12:50 at a very relaxed and comfortable pace.

We were greeted at the top by Carly, the mountain's firetower steward. She was extremely nice and gave us information about the tower and the mountains, lakes and rivers that encompassed our view.
I can't underestimate how great the view is on St Regis. The peak is mostly cleared and leaves you gazing outwards towards the High Peaks.

As we ate lunch, we were surrounded by huge  dancing dragonflies and a curious chipmunk ran over to Sean looking to be fed.

The recently renovated 100-year old fire tower. Each part was
carried up the mountain to restore it.

We also made a quick run up the firetower which was a bit nerve-racking but it did give us some brief enhanced views.

This was a pretty fun trail and I didn't feel worn out by the 6.8 mile round trip at all. I would highly recommend hiking St. Regis Mountain to others. It's a relatively easy trail with an astounding payoff.

St. Regis Mountain trailhead is located on Keeses Mill Road right down the road from Paul Smith's College.

DEC Junior Naturalist Program

      I started taking Kailee camping for her first times two years ago (2015) and at that time I learned of the NYS DEC Junior Naturalist Program.

It's a neat little project for kids to be entertained and educated while camping at one of select NYS Parks. Kids up to 13 years of age are allowed to grab a Junior Naturalist project book and play Nature Bingo, a crossword, animal identification and other games. They will love the expose on the yearly featured critter (this year was a chipmunk!) and learning about proper campsite etiquette and safety.

Upon completion of your stay at the campground, the kid shows their "completed" book to the Ranger and he gives them a badge displaying the aforementioned featured critter (yay chipmunk!).

  Kailee really loves working on these books every Summer and getting her impressive badge. She was 4-5 years old the first Summer we took camping trips and she kept calling it her "Smart Book.

"Wait, Dad! I Gotta work on my Smart Book!"

Now, grabbing a DEC book is a "must" of every camping trip for her.

And, I've gotta say... I wouldn't mind being able to grab my own book just for the sole reason of playing Nature Bingo!

The DEC Junior Naturalist program really is a great thing. Aside from paying park admission fee, the program and badge are free and it serves as a nice time-piece souvenir from the trip.

Kailee gives the program a thumbs up and a high five and so do I. Check it out the next time you go camping with your youngsters.

More information and a list of participating parks in the NYS DEC Junior Naturalist Program can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/education/21673.html .

Pictured Top-Bottom: 2015/Monarch, 2016/Bat, 2017/Chipmunk!)

Ampersand

I recently took my friend Noelle up on an open offer to hike Ampersand Mountain near Saranac Lake. This Summer's weather has not been ideal to say the least and my most recent hiking excursion at Sharp Bridge was cut short thanks to a downed tree taking out one of the trail bridges.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to a trek in the Adirondacks and a romp up a mountain that I've never climbed seemed like a great idea... And, it was!

Ampersand is one of the Saranac Lake Sixer's and it's located on Route 3 just outside of the village. Noelle and I arrived at the trail marker and met her friend Beth who would be joining us for the trip on July 23. We hit the trail at 11:45am on a slightly overcast day.

The first leg of the trail was pleasant with little incline. We saw a variety of mushrooms and other fauna, and crossed several foot bridges over the mountains runoff.

Then Ampersand issued it's challenge... The following mile was all incline. Having bounced back from diverticulitis earlier in the year, I was not in the best shape of my life. It didn't take me too long to start sucking wind. Additionally, I had made a poor decision in apparel and wore jeans out of concern for bugs. However, aside from one muddy spot, the mosquitoes weren't biting that bad. So my denim was unnecessary and left me unnecessarily hot.

The steep part of the trail forces you to do a little bit of climbing. However, there are parts of the trail where stones were moved and positioned to form a mountain staircase. This doesn't mean that this portion is easy. The incline is daunting and the stone steps take a toll on the feet and legs.

Climbing upwards, the mountain began to give us peeks of the surrounding lakes. We also passed the remains of the original caretaker's hut which is about 100 years old. We also made a few stops and cooled off in Ampersand's chilly runoff water.

As we neared the summit, the trail finally eased up a little bit. Painted arrows guided us to the peak. Once we hit the clearing, the payoff was immediate. Ampersand's peak is largely free of trees which offered us a full 360° view of the Saranac Lakes, Ampersand Lake, a number of rivers and ponds, and of course a primo view of the High Peaks.

We stepped on the summit marker at 1:45pm, a two hour ascent. Then we found a nice spot away from the other hikers (it's a busy mountain with a lot of traffic) and had lunch and relaxed in the cool mountain breeze.

After hanging at the peak for a few hours, we packed up and made our descent. The trail gets tricky going down in a few places and it certainly takes it's toll on the knees. Aside from that, it's not too bad.

Overall, climbing Ampersand was a great idea. The payoff at the summit is damn near priceless and I was fortunate to be in good company with Noelle and Beth.

I wouldn't recommend this trail for out of shape hikers or for little kids. But, for those looking for a nice challenge this trail offers that and so much more!

Sweating as I hit the Summit of Ampersand Mt.