Rattlesnake - Poke-O-Moonshine - St. Regis (2/18 & 2/19/2018)

St. Regis! YES!

Kailee was visiting my parents in Albany for Winter break. That left me with some free time on my days off. We've had a bit of a warm streak lately in the North Country. So, I figured "might as well get some Winter hikes in."

For full disclosure, I'm new to hiking mountains in the Winter and have been sticking to trails that I'm familiar with. I guess you could say "A new season of Learning the Trails!"

Rattlesnake - 2/18/2018

Rattlesnake's Summit.

The Snake is a pretty easy hike in Willsboro that offers wonderful views of Lake Champlain, Willsboro Point, Four Brothers Islands & Vermont's Green Mountains. 

The Four Brothers and part of

Willsboro Point from the Snake.

Like many mountains in New York's Champlain Valley, it lacks the elevation of it's Adirondack counterparts. But, it's views easily make up for that.

I hit the trail around 3PM on Sunday. About 100 feet in, I noticed the remains of a dead turkey... That wouldn't be the first time on this day... Some critter was out there picking off a bunch of belated Thanksgiving dinners.

The first of numerous turkey remains...

I moved at a pleasant pace, the trail was well broken and it didn't take too long to reach the Summit. 

Once there, I took in the views, shed my fleece underlayer, and refueled with water.

I quickly got the idea to tack on Poke-O-Moonshine for a second hike of the day.
For the heck of it, I bushwhacked around the Snake's crag for an easy descent back to the trail and my car.

The Sun breaking through the clouds and illuminating Giant 

from Rattlesnake.

I hopped in and drove to nearby Poke-O-Moonshine.

Another dead turkey on Rattlesnake.

Poke-O-Moonshine 2/18/2018

I could see a number of ice climbers working their way up Poke-O's ice wall as I pulled into the parking lot. They were pretty far up the face. That type of climb isn't for me... I hit the Ranger Trail.

I was feeling good after the Snake and made my way to the first lookout in no time.

Then... It got tough.

Too many layers of clothes, ice, dehydration and frosty elevation gain were a few of the factors working against me.

Yeah... That ice is the trail.

It felt like I was making really slow progress after the first lookout. I was getting tired... Physically and mentally.

I psyched myself out. However, once I hit the remains of the old Observer's Cabin, I felt a sigh of relief. Since I was clearly the only person left on the trail, I ditched my pack and took only my camera, headlamp, GPS and cell phone with me on my procession to the Summit.

Ditching the gear was a welcome reprieve. I briskly made my way to the fire tower/Summit and checked out the views on the ledge.

Poke-O-Moonshine... Definetely no time to 

climb the tower!

Sunset hit just as I summited. I snapped a few pictures, strapped on my headlamp and immediately made my descent.

Gettin' dark...

I made my way through the dark without incident. 

I was quite drained when I reached my car. I needed more liquids. I was hot. I was getting hungry. My legs ached. I was glad when I got home and was able to tend to each of these issues.

Poke-O Tower.

St. Regis Mountain 2/19/2018

St. Regis Mountain's Fire Tower.

My legs were beat when I woke up. But, I was determined to have the best hike possible as I prepared to tackle St. Regis.

Orange ice!

I packed as lightly as one could without forgoing any of the essentials. The weather was forecasted to be in the mid-40s for Santa Clara, NY. So, I opted to use my camelback instead of clunky water bottles.

That's... Erratic..

I had been debating on doing Scarface or St. Regis for Monday. 

A facebook friend climbed St. Reeg on Saturday and reported that microspikes were all that were needed for the climb. Perfect!

And, that was pretty much how it went... Perfectly!

Did my legs hurt from My adventures at Rattlesnake and Poke-O?

Yes.

Did I let that bother me? 

No.

I maintained a good pace and enjoyed every minute of the hike.

It felt like I was making quicker progress than Sean and I had in the dog days of July.

A whole new snow covered world was ahead of me... Checking the mountain out in a Winter setting was awesome.

It felt awesome too.

The last 3/10th's of a mile is where the climb really kicks in. But, I was feeling positive and had made decent time to up until that point. So, I kinda lolligagged my way up the brief final stretch to save my tired legs the hassle.

Hanging at St. Regis!

In my opinion, St. Regis Mountain has one of the finest summits for a mid-sized mountain. And, upon reaching it, I was greeted with some screaming wind which I had been protected from while on the trail.

The view at St. Regis.

I didn't climb the fire tower to enhance my view because of the blasts of wind. Rather, I hid behind trees until breaks allowed me to walk around and take things in.

More St. Regis views.

I spent less time on the Summit than planned. That was fine. I had been itching for a good hike with decent distance and elevation gain and got it!

Kailee's Eevee doll accompanied me

on the hike at St. Regis Mountain.

I felt reinvigorated on my descent and was happy with knocking out three Summits in less than 24 hours... The good. The bad. The ups... The ups... The ups... And the downs.. All of it.
Time well spent!

GPS Stats:

In less than 24 hours, I climbed Rattlesnake, Poke-O-Moonshine & St. Regis Mountains.

Miles:

12.6 miles

Elevation Gain:

4019 feet

Conner's Bay - Rams Head Trail - 2-12-2018

Looking across frozen Lake Champlain at Vermont from
the Conner's Bay trail. This photo was taken by
Kailee.

A guy at work recently suggested that Kailee and I check out the Ram's Head Trail at Point Au Roche. We took his advice and walked parts of that & the Conner's Bay trail on a beautiful Winter evening.

We started by the Nature Center at the park and followed the Bay Trail over an easy grade.

Mt Mansfield has a very Alpine appearance in the Winter.

As we neared Ram's Head, we went off trail and walked across the frozen bay. Ram's Head (a peninsula that looks like it's namesake) has a nice look out spot. We walked around the Head and decided to follow (and not step on) a cross country skier's tracks on the lake back to our starting point.

Looking towards the Adirondacks. I can see a few

mountains that we've climbed!

The trails offered nice views of Mt Mansfield, Camel's Hump & the Green Mountains of Vermont. Ram's Head itself gave us pleasant views of Poke-O-Moonshine, Whiteface and many of the Adirondacks.

Looking up at the Conner's Bay Trail from Lake Champlain.

The sky put on a nice display of colors during our 2.3 mile walk. Both trails are suitable for year round hikes!

Colors Abound!

Deep Purple back at Deep Bay.

SLM - 2-5-18 (Solo)

This was the third time that I've climbed Silver Lake Mountain in as many seasons.

As I said in one of my recent posts... SLM is a good practice mountain & it's close to home... I won't drag you down with a long post with this time... But, I will say, it was a windy day with absolutely perfect bluebird skies!

Potter Massif.

It was a nice walk to the top of SLM. I did some bushwhacking (again) on my way down.

To get this view, you have to go just a little bit off trail.

I stumbled upon a really "cool" crystal cave of ice & rock while 

hiking off-trail on my way down SLM.

A quick, pleasant trip in the ADK while Kailee was at school!

Mount Baker 2-4-2018

Winter Carnival is Saranac Lake's fun wintery take on Mardi Gras. It's a week of music, events and activities that draws visitors from near and far.

The weather forecast for Sunday looked decent. So, I decided that we would put our own spin on Winter Carnival and planned a full day of exciting things to do... Beginning with a climb of Mount Baker.

Kailee and I have never climbed a mountain in Winter. I figured Baker would be a good one for our first attempt. I borrowed a pair of microspikes for me to use and bought some trekking poles for Kailee.

We started our hike on the frozen shore of Moody Pond at 1:30. We followed the marked trail which was caked in a thick layer of ice, thanks in large part to the mountain's popularity.

We ascended into a cloudy haze accompanied by light snowfall and big shouts of wind. In spite of those conditions, it was unusually warm (low 30s) and we were protected from the wind by Baker's canopy of trees.

As we neared the final stretch to the Summit, a local called out to us from the woods.

"I've been making this track over here for the past two days. The trail you're on is too icy," he explained, "you guys should follow my tracks for the rest of the way up and down."

He told us where we would pop out on our descent and we thanked him for the heads up. Following his tracks in the snow was way easier than the marked trail.

Within a few minutes we were at the Summit. Kailee and I were both happy and excited to be there. We refueled with hiking bars and water while Kailee lounged against a boulder.

Thanks to the haze, our view was limited to foggy McKenzie pond. Neither of us minded the lack of views. It was all about the adventure.

After 30 minutes of hanging near the Summit, we began our descent by following the local guy's tracks. Our bushwhack down was both scenic and quick. Kailee did a few Adirondack butt slides and we enjoyed checking out different ice formations. We were back at the car by 4PM.

I had a great time hiking Baker with Kailee last Summer. But, I loved hiking Baker in the Winter!

We then made our way over to the Adirondack Carousel for a ride. The restored carousel features carved animals based on the creatures commonly found in the region and beautiful artwork decorating it. Kailee rode a deer and an eagle and I took a spin on an otter.

Afterwards we visited the famed ice palace which had an Adirondack theme this year. It had ice sculptures of a bear, a snowmobile, a lean-to and even a fake privy.

We hit up McDonalds and munched on Happy Meals before our ride home.

It was an outstanding day and one heck of a way to do Winter Carnival.