From the top of Ampersand, this high puddle merges with the lake below. Beautiful fall color :-)

It was one of the last days the road up Whiteface was open. It was hard frosty white on top and a carpet of autumn leaves down below.

This was my second time hiking at Wellesley and my third time in the park. It was just as fun as this time around. The trail is very dog friendly (my dog will be 8 in a few weeks and this was his first hike but he did so well). I really enjoyed walking around the water. Just as a tip, make sure you check for ticks after leaving. My dog is on a tick preventative and both of us had deep woods tick repellent on and I still found eight ticks between the two of us!

Exquisite sunset from Coney Mountain! What a wonderful evening. Happy solstice everyone.

Marcy's Great Chimney (aka Empty Tomb) & All Ryled Up-2017 June 15. (First ascent by Kevin and Jaryn DeShane) Mt. Marcy is home to a large vertical trap dike/chimney though it only looks like a pencil thin shadow from Mt. Haystack. Jaryn Deshane and I spent last Thursday on an intriguing climb, one that has taken 4 years to come to fruition. I didn't expect the route to be as clean or as varied. A couple sections had slightly overhanging trap rock..what a surprise.

Took a great afternoon hike up Owl's Head, a small peak near Groton State Forest, while visiting family over in Vermont this weekend. There was still about a foot of snow on the ground, but spring was in full gear, with a sky full of high wispy cirrus clouds and 60 degree weather. Beautiful!

After all the fresh snowfall in the Adirondacks this past week I was excited to get back into winter hiking even though it's not quite winter yet. I decided to take my mom up McKenzie Mountain, 3,861-foot peak in the 36,200 acre McKenzie Mountain Wilderness area. We took the Jackrabbit ski trail, 6.8 miles roundtrip and were surprised with over a foot of snow on the trail at some points. There was no view at the summit due to clouds, but the beautiful snow covered trail and trees, made the trek worthwhile.

Last weekend, I went for an early morning hike up Azure, a trail I'd never tried before. It was so rewarding, especially just post-peak leaf season. The summit has a firetower that allows for spectacular 360 views, and was a great place for a snack and a quick rest!

Gore mountain was a place that I went when I was younger to snowboard. I had never seen the mountain without snow and it looked very different. The differences were, my purpose for being there was different, there was an abundance of color and the forests were not bare. My friends and I were hiking the mountain and would stop every once and while to look at the view behind us. After a while down at the bottom there was this beautiful pond that had so many colors from the trees surrounding the perimeter that reflected back out of the water.

Whiteface