Logistically, doing what I love on the weekends is always a challenge that I enjoy planning and executing. I don’t just dream of being outside and getting to the mountains when I have “open weekends” – I try to make it happen. Even if it involves driving nearly twice the time it takes to complete […]
My first thought was “wait…we aren’t camping?”. Roger, my friend from college (SUNY Buffalo – Horns Up!) messaged me and asked in early June if I wanted to go up to the Adirondacks with him and his buddy from kickball. Always itching to get up there every moment possible, I obviously said yes. I’d find […]
Even the short lil hikes in the Adirondacks provide HUGE views. I tagged along for yet another Adirondack weekend June 8th-10th, this time with friends Ali and Dave. With this being their first time to the high peak region to hike, a shorter hike with killer views seemed like the way to go. Mt. Van […]
What do you do when the higher Adirondack elevations are muddy, wet, and fragile and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation asks hikers to consider remaining below 2,500 feet in elevation to let the peaks dry? Hike to the half way point just below 2,500 feet on the originally-planned hike and then use […]
A solo hike? By myself? All alone in the familiar, yet wild Adirondacks? Like…drive up to the Adirondacks and hike by myself? A few months prior to June of 2017 I would have surely found another activity to do locally on a weekend where I couldn’t find hiking mates. But after living in Albany, New York […]
30 seconds. Maybe it was even less. That is how long we had feeling in our feet if we stood still in the water. Would you wade out into the frigid water of Iceberg Lake (you can probably guess why it has that name)? Would you climb on the chunks of ice floating in the […]
Curiosity roamed free on Thursday, August 10, 2017. A turquoise blue lake awaited us tucked behind a 6.5 mile hike along a moderately trafficked trail. The Cracker Lake hike gains 1,686 feet in elevation. This was a day of exploration of glacier-like chunks of ice, wild flower filled glacial trickles feeding cracker lake, climbing red […]
A great hiking trip is incomplete without a “refresh day”. Swimming under a 34-45 degree waterfall is certainly refreshing – more than refreshing. Kayaking with views of the mountainous Many Glacier Hotel with 360 degrees of peaks is mentally refreshing. Wednesday, August 9th was a reset day in which we let our spontaneity and curiosity […]
Hey Summit Squad, First off, I’m super stoked that To Summit Up now has a logo (up in the header at the top of the page as well as right below)! What do you think? Secondly, we are going to continue our journey through my week at Glacier National Park in Montana from Summer 2017. […]
Mountain Crew, **Head over to the gallery to see photos from the winter hike! Brace yourselves for the first Adirondack adventure post on To Summit Up! I had been itching to get back to hike in the Adirondacks, as my previous hike in one of my favorite regions dates back to October. The past few […]