Grafedie in the Library

Back in the Adirondacks for Spring!  We are not summer hikers, so this will be pretty much our last ADK jaunt until fall. Too many bugs, and too

Downy yellow Violet

much heat make summer treks way to stressful. Between slathering on bug repellant and sun block I feel toxic rather than healthy, so staying home is the best solution.

May 19, 2016-Little Porter Mountain
Today the weather was forecast to be partial sun until afternoon pop-up thunderstorms. We went out early and took on a 3.8 mile RT peak called Little Porter. We could have continued on to Porter mountain (Big Porter?) but I think we have come to the conclusion that 4 hours is the maximum hike time that will allow a second day for another lengthy hike.

It was a great hike, beautiful Pine stand forests, running brooks and a manageable incline with a 2995 ft. peak. We paced ourselves taking pictures and taking in the early spring blooms like this violet . The summit was impressive, although not the highest peak it is a great span of Wolf’s Jaw, Noonmark and the Brothers.

May 20th, 2016 – Van Hoevenberg Trial

Today’s weather was clear, sunny and in the 70’s. We had thought  about Horseback riding, but we opted exercise ourselves rather than give the horse the workout. It was the right choice as the hike was a great one!  With a summit at 2860′ and a gentle
grade hike up it was a pleasant journey up and down.
Along the way, more spring flowers emerging trailside.  Summit was a beautiful view of the range and the valley

The trail begins with a serene pine forest. The needles padding your way under foot, so different from the rock hopping riverbeds of other peaks we have been to.  As we continued,the path opened up to a hardwood forest flooded with light and the bright green of new leaves.

The skeletal tree forest

Early in the hike you pass through what is described as a  skeletal tree forest, and it is as eerie looking as it sounds.  Beavers had built a dam that flooded the area, and created a swampy habitat.  As the trail skirts around this area one steps gingerly from one fallen log to another to avoid the black mud. I find it ironic that one species can look at an area and see nothing but devastation, while the other species created it as a haven. At least the beavers don’t make the environment toxic, can’t say the same for humans.

May 21, 2016 – Baxter Mountain

I believe this was the first mountain that we ever hiked in the Adirondacks 7 years ago. It clocks in as a 2.6 mile round trip with an average grade of 11.2%. It was a great end of vacation jaunt, and brought back a lot of memories of our early days on the trails as newbies

We wanted to keep this trip a low key vacation and so we kept our hiking choices under 5 hours. These three hikes were perfect both in time and difficulty to make this trip both enjoyable and relaxing.