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.
Saturday: A return visit to Big Crow. Always good for a “quick hike” .07 mile and 2,815′ it was a perfect end-of-stay hike. Incredibly beautiful vista at the summit makes this trail a win-win. We would laugh that the chattering birds, few that there were, were warning their families that we were on our way on the trail. It always amazes us how little wildlife we actually see when we are hiking, more wildlife passes through our backyard!
Grafedie in the Library 
