Trip Report
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Riding 141 Miles on the Erie Canal Trail – East Syracuse to Schenectady
After riding the epic 65 mile farmer’s daughter gravel grinder back in August, I had a week of vacation planned. Riding the Erie Canal trail has been on my to-ride list for years, but I didn’t have enough time to plan and ride the whole 292 miles, but instead just an overnight trip from the Old Erie Canal State Park in East Syracuse. I asked my parents to drive me and my bike to East Syracuse (~2 hr drive from Albany) so I could ride home from there via the Erie Canal Trail. My plan for Day 1 was to ride from East Syracuse to Little Falls and stay at a…
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Wright Peak – 7.11.21
After a 2 year hiatus, Brendan and I finally summited a high peak together, Wright Peak! Brendan is almost done with his 46er Journey. He’s hiked almost all 40 of his high peaks with me over the years and on Sunday he hit #40, with Wright. Our original plan was to hike the trio, Algonquin, Iroquois and Wright together, but since it’s been so long since our last big day, we decided to break it up to make it a little easier. At 4,587 ft in elevation, Wright is the 16th highest peak in the Adirondacks. At only about 7 mi RT with ~2,500 ft of ascent, Wright on it’s…
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Hiking Treadway Mountain (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) – 6.19.21
Treadway Mountain in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness is a great day hike in the Ticonderoga area. Located right near the Putnam Pond Campground (note: there is a $6 fee for parking at the trailhead which is located inside the campground), Treadway is a great option for campers looking for a nice hike right from their campsite. Brendan and I decided on Treadway since it’s part of the ADK 29er Challenge and also serves as a good warm up hike for more challenging hikes we hope to do this season. The hike starts out meandering past some ponds and wetlands. The trail is pleasant, there weren’t too many rocks or root…
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Camping at Alger Island & Hiking Bald Mountain (Rondaxe) Firetower – 5.31.21
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer. Of course, I had to plan a weekend camping trip. This time, I reserved a site at Alger Island Campground, a small island on Fourth Lake near Old Forge. This is an area of the Adirondacks that I haven’t explored much, so I was excited to try something new! Alger Island is only accessible by boat. The sites have lean-tos, fireplaces, and grills. They were gorgeous! We loaded our kayaks with our camping gear and set off from the launch at the Alger Island Access Point, where we also checked in for our stay at the campground. Because we had so…
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Hiking Bear Den and Flume Knob – 5.15.21
A few weekends ago Brendan and I found ourselves with a free day with some great weather to we drove up to Wilmington (near Whiteface!), to hike Bear Den and Flume Knob mountains. They are lesser-known lower-elevation peaks right near Whiteface and Esther. The trailhead to Bear Den actually starts in the Whiteface ski area’s parking lot. Bear Den is only 2,600 ft in elevation (~1,300 ft of ascent) and although the trail is steep, it’s in great shape as it isn’t very rocky. Plus at the top, there are great views of Whiteface and the surrounding high peaks. We spent about 45 minutes on the summit taking in the…