4 great snowshoe ascents
When the snow gets deep, so does the longing to get out into the woods—at least if you’re a snowshoer. Below are four winter hikes up mountains that offer magnificent vistas in different parts of the Adirondacks.
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All Stories
3 wild lakes in winter
By Robin Ambrosino In a fit of cabin fever I called my friend Thad. I’d been pressing my nose against the window for weeks, as more snow than we’d had in years created a thick inviting carpet over the landscape. But below-zero temperatures and a nasty wind chill had been keeping me from enjoying it.…
Backcountry Ski Festival celebrates the wild
He had dreams of skiing in the Olympics. He went to high school at Burke Mountain Ski Academy, in Vermont, where he trained 150 days a year. By 15, he was the nation’s 10th-ranked giant slalom skier in his age group.
Winter adventure at the Vic
Happy day! An early, mid-November blizzard has graced our northern end of the Adirondacks with nine inches of snow. Last weekend we were hiking these trails at the state’s Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smiths. Today we’ll be skiing on them.
Cooper Kiln Pond ski
Embark on a ski journey to Cooper Kiln Pond, navigating rugged terrain and enjoying stunning winter landscapes in the Adirondacks.
Cooper Kiln Pond hike
No bugs, no crowds, no mud (mostly), colorful foliage and, often enough, previews of winter at high elevation. How can anyone resist hiking in fall? So in early October, I spurred my family out and up into the hills above Wilmington.
Paddling on Duck Hole
This year the Open Space Institute purchased 9,600 acres from NL Industries bordering the High Peaks. Sometime soon, the state plans to buy 6,200 acres from OSI and add them to the “forever wild” Forest Preserve. The public then will own Henderson Lake and the Preston Ponds, pristine lakes with magnificent views.
Biking through history
The Champlain Valley comes pretty close to Bikers’ Heaven, with its quiet country roads, friendly villages, rolling farmland, and frequent views of lake and mountains. By Dick Beamish
Chimney Mountain
After too much overtime and too many missed bedtimes, it was time again to plug into America off line. Our goal was Chimney Mountain, one of the Adirondacks’ more fascinating freaks of geology. Chimney has a maze of caves, a jumble of boulders fit for a Road Runner cartoon and an immense rock tower narrowing to the sky that gives the mountain its name.
Azure tower gets 2nd life
You might say I’ve come full circle on Azure Mountain. When I was 12 or 13, a friend and I climbed it and then clambered up the fire tower’s rickety stairs. The fire observer, a slim and grizzled but cordial old-timer, pointed out landmarks on his table-mounted map and showed us how to ascertain the location of a suspicious wisp of smoke.