Sunday June 28, 2026 Pinacle via the Red Trail, Bolton NY.
Great 2.2 Mile hike with a great view of Lake George at the summit. We started out early (highly recommended) while the day was sitll cool and bugs were at a minimum. Well maintained trail of moderate difficulty due to the mid-trail scramble and scree but overall it was a great hike
Monday June 29, 2026 Return visit to Spectacle Pond with Jeannette and Evan.
Always a great hike, Spectacle Pond is 3.1 mile round trip, well maintained, and basically an easy level trek.
Weather was perfect, but the bugs were a bit out of control today. Outdoor Research net bucket hats saved the day keeping the bugs out of our faces. As always, an early start is recommended, parking lot fills quickly, but not overcrowded as the high peaks
Early AM did some archery, 8 out of 12 hit target, not too bad! got progressively worse from that first round, but still happy with it overall.
Today was a perfect day to put all the plant babies into the raised beds. Last fall I had planted some garlic and early spring I tossed some potatoes (that had started to grow in my pantry) into the smaller beds. I had propagated all the tomatoes from seed as well as some peppers, and true to form my tomato labels were completely scrambled as I moved the seedlings from the greenhouse to the beds! So now it is kind of a crap-shoot to figure out which plant is determinate and which is indeterminate. I was hoping to keep the taller ones in the rear, and shorter bushier plants in the forefront but..well you know “the best laid plans…”
I am attempting to propagate some eggplants and some more onions, I find onions incredibly difficult to germinate, but this year I was able to get about 18 red and yellow plants to survive. The greenhouse was a success this spring! Bill set up a system with an air conditioner/ dehumidifier so when it gets above 70 degrees, the air conditioner creates condensate and with the addition of a pump, empties water into my “AutoPot” gravity self watering system. I am hoping it can work through the summer and early fall as I know once the temperature gets too cold for the AC to create condensate, the plants get too dry and they fall below their 55 degree comfort zone. We had set this system up at the end of last summer, so this will be the first full growing season test!
Still setting up the Huglekulture garden. Spring cleanup filled the spent soil with fresh load of twigs and organic matter. it has been sitting a couple of weeks in the “April Shower” weather, and I am just adding new soil to the top of the bed so it can start filtering down. I had tossed a few potatoes that were going soft into the twigs, and as expected, they are growing! Honestly…ANYTHING that goes into that plot grows like something out of a Disney movie (Snow White to be specific)
This was our second hike to the pond, and it was a first long-ish (3.5 miles) hike of 2026 in the Pharaoh Wilderness. We had a delayed start this time leaving at noon instead of our usual time: first thing in the morning after breakfast.
Dressed in layers we set out armed with our bug-netting bucket hats and light weight gloves. I am so skittish about bug bites on my fingers (…I know it sounds crazy but this is one of those old adage “ounce of prevention is better than pound of cure” situations!) Surprisingly the bugs were minimal and only swarmed when we slowed down or stopped. There was a steady cool breeze which is most likely the reason they bugs stayed at bay.
The trail is clearly marked and has been maintained well. It was a difficult winter here in north country and fallen trees have been cleared from the footpath and in some cases cut into chunks to open the path adding to the wilderness look and appeal of this trail.
Spectacle Lake trail has become one of out “go to” hikes due to the fact that it is a serene and calming path. No scrambling, minimal “twist your ankle” foot holds, and the end of the trail is so worth the trek.
Wonderful 2.72 Mile hike up a local Chestertown trail. The weather was chilly, and at 33~34 degrees the precipitation was like solid rain, not quite hail, not snow. Trail was freshly opened, and well marked with bright new signage that notified hikers to caution at the “Adirondack Wild” area where trail work and tree work was active. It was our second time out in Warren county since our famous Brant Lake Paddle!
August 1, 2025: First day of a two day streak of “Back Outside” Pharaoh Wilderness / Spectacle Lake1.7 mile hike was just a perfect “get back to wilderness” hike! Well maintained trail through beautiful pine forests with spectalcle lake at the end. There was even a boat (no paddle) for those who dared to venture out. Weather was cooperating at a comfortable 75 degrees, nice breeze at the lake and very few bugs!
August 2, 2025: 6 Mile Brant Lake Paddle
6 miles of steady paddling! No time to think about creepy things that live under the water, or how deep the lake is. We completed the race in 2hours and 2 minutes, and I’m pretty sure that we were the last to finish the race! Not really where we wanted to place, but the important point is we FINISHED! yay for us!
May 1, 2024: Premier voyage of the greenhouse! Propagation has been in full swing since January 2024. One little setback delayed my peppers for a month, however I am no longer frantic as I have a greenhouse to extend the season as long as necessary! The crops shown above are my Asclepius groups “Hello Yellow” and Orange tuberosa and the middle Common Milkweed. happy with the progress so far.
Managing the Temperature in the Greenhouse is going to be the challenge this season. I prefer my veggies to be full grown before they are “cooked” with high temps! The Palma Twin greenhouse fan with thermostat has kept a steady heat all winter long allowing my hydrangeas, yucca, kale and parsley to successfully survive. Newly propagated plants have been put in the greenhouse as soon as they showed they were sturdy enough to stand temperature shifts and real sunlight rather than grow lights
Red bush beans are already producing! So far I am very pleased with the color and sturdiness of the plants. I have been supplementing with fish fertilizer, something I have finally understood, that its “OK” to use fertilizer in potted plants. Plants in pots are dependent on us for nutrition, it was something that I was reluctant to try, but now I understand that there just isn’t the same soil dynamic as there is when you have worms and other organisims crawling around.
Cucumbers are doing well. For the past few years I have not been happy with the harvest, we will see how I can change this in 2024. I may just leave some in the greenhouse to compare how they thrive in there vs an outside plot. Every year is a new adventure.
This year we pruned the fruit trees again. Last year they shot up and I would say doubled in size! We need to keep them manageable and on the small side, after all they are dwarf varieties and should not be allowed to get too large. We sprayed horticultural spray application #1 and will continue following sprays to keep the fruit healthy. Last year was very successful as there were no bugs. The apples had spots on their skin due to the leaf-heavy centers, now we know that air circulation is key.
Nature never fails to surprise. After pruning the trees, I had used some heavier branches to support the side of my huglekulture bed. I have notice that it started to grow! Totally unexpected, and not so sure that it is really going to grow, but I am happy to see is sprouting nonetheless !
March 10, 2024 My elevated beds have taken themselves down :(
I am a steadfast believer in re-using, restoring, re-purposing pretty much everything, just because that is the way I was brought up. Everything can be salvaged…to a point. After 10 years of loyal service to our homestead it is time for replacement elevated beds.
When the bottoms started to fall out, I removed the soil and put it into grow bags which enabled me to move them around if I chose to. This system worked well all last season with two out of the 5 beds that were falling. This past winter one more collapsed on me, and today after completing my cleanup I watched (in horror) as one bed totally took itself apart-luckily all the soil filled grow bags plopped down without spilling soil all over the gravel!
Lesson and cautionary tale: as I was filling bags, I noticed that over time the soil had gotten a bit dense, so as I set up for a new season, in new elevated beds I will restore the mixture to a lighter, nutrient enhanced mix. I will continue to use the grow bags because I like the flexibility they offer. Looking forward to a new season of growing!
January 19, 2024, Jackrabbit trail. So nice to be back in the Adirondacks! Returning here in Winter is just the absolute best experience. We came up in October, but that was a Kayaking trek, totally different feel as the summer months were past, and everything was changing color and cooling down. This time is what we love best! glistening trail, snowy mountains, fresh coating of snow and temperature close to zero!
Jackrabbit stretches 7.7 to McKenzie Pond with a 1,656 ft. height gain. The trail is shared by snowshoers and cross country Skiers and the trailhead we started from today was Saranac Ave, Lake Placid. In the past when we did this trail, we were staying in Keene Valley where we picked up the trailhead I believe off of Rt. 73, I will need to look back at into my posts to check the exact location, but it was a gradual height gain, as this was and the way we approached this was by setting our turn-around time. So for today we did 3.23 Miles in 1hour54 minutes with a 720 ft Elevation gain!
January 20,2024: John Brown Historic Trail / Potato Field and Maple Grove Trail loop. A perfect trail to do when the weather is -4 degrees! Beautifully groomed, well maintained under the shelter of a serene pine forest. .90 mi distance with 132 foot elevation gain with the 1980 Olympic ski jump tower looming above.
There was a gentle snow falling and a general quiet throughout the hotel grounds. There are trails on the grounds, we may look into those tomorrow, but for tonight, we may toast up a few s’mores on the open fire pit and sit by the outdoor stove.
January 21, 2024: Mount Jo An amazing day and a really beautiful hike! Everything about this trail is great. First, it has options, either a short steeper hike, or a longer gradual height gain until a steeper incline a couple of hundred feet from summit.
Once again today as we arrived at Adirondak Loj the temp was at 0 degrees. It never warmed up past 3 degrees, but all of the trail is well groomed and under the cover of an evergreen forest, and there was no wind. As you get closer to summit, there are stairs built into the trail. Three sets of snow packed steps are better than an icy scramble, but one must use extreme caution navigating up and especially down. The long trail clocked in on Strava as 3.68 miles with a 793 ft elevation gain. Mt. Jo is not one of the high peaks at 2,876 feet, but has a beautiful view at summit and totally worth the hike. We find that on sub-zero days it is best to keep things reasonably short and sweet, and this hike was spot-on.
This fall may have been the end of the outdoor growing season, but the start of the indoor and greenhouse garden! My long awaited greenhouse kit arrived and was erected in late September, so rather than growing from seed, I have opted to winter-over some kale, yucca, peppers and my Banana trees. I have started some seeds indoors, and have moved some potted up broccoli rabe and arugula out to the greenhouse to see how it does. The Temp in the greenhouse is a steady 56 degrees with the addition of a thermostatically controlled heater/fan .
On January 1, I planted some cayenne pepper and Italian flat onion seeds and they were germinating nicely…until last night. I usually clamp the humidity dome shut to prevent critters from snacking on sprouts, but having forgottn to do that I now have to replant and start again.
My Root cellar attempt was…just OK. The temp around the carrots and green squash was a steady 61 degrees, I believe that is far too warm. I had to cook and freeze so I didn’t loose my squash harvest. Back to the drawing board on that! In the meantime I did successfully preserve most of the Tomatoes, apples, peaches and grapes! Peppers are drying and hanging in my kitchen, Bill has created some amazing hot sauces with recipes for next season in the works. I plan on working on my preservation techniques for 2024 garden. Green beans, although very prolific have been a bit of a disappointment. Dragon beans (which I had last season) were great, however the heirloom green beans I planted this season were harvested and frozen with the “string” intact! I should have taken it out before freezing…now I know.
This trip was the first, and last paddle of the season. The reason it took a while was because we needed to do many summer chores like paint the patio/deck furniture, bring the roses back from the dead (almost) tend to the garden plan a party, but the biggest thing that was holding us back was the fact that we needed to install the Kayak racks onto the new car. Our old faithful jeep of 11+years bit the dust :(.
We chose to paddle two days rather than hike the second day. The weather was absolutely perfect September: cool in the morning, warmer in the afternoon and cool at night. We went to Lower Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks which, in our experience of paddling is by far the most beautiful we have been to yet.
We paddled about 1.5 hours each day circling the large rockface island on the second day. It was a great upper body workout and just long enough to get our “sea legs” back.
Next stop: Winter hiking and snowshoeing. Looking forward to it!
Grafedie in the Library 