Buck Mountain: 09/28/2014

As anyone who's been outdoors this weekend can attest, the fall foliage season has been progressing rapidly. Where there were just hints of color last weekend, the hillsides are now sporting brilliant yellows, oranges and reds.

Even though we only had Sunday afternoon available, it was simply too beautiful not to hike, so we made the 50-minute drive up to the Shelving Rock / Hogtown trailhead to hike Buck Mountain. The Pilot Knob trailhead for Buck may be more popular (I'll never understand why), but the route from Shelving Rock Road (4.6 miles round-trip, 1100' vertical) fit perfectly into the time we had available.

Gore Mountain Leaf Cruncher 5K: 09/21/2014

Not too many leaves got crunched in Sunday’s Leaf Cruncher 5k trail race at Gore as there’s just a bit of color and so far all the leaves are still on the trees. And with temperatures in the low 70s, fall seemed pretty far away.

The course was altered this year to eliminate some of the more difficult trail segments, substituting a long lap through the parking lots past lift towers and other components staged for the new Adirondack Express II high speed quad chairlift. As a result of the easier course, I took more than two minutes off my time from last year.

Whiteface Mtn uphill footrace: 09/13/2014

There’s not much that I haven’t already said about the Whiteface Mountain Uphill Footrace (2013, 2012), except that if there’s a race that I have to run each year, this is it. Because it’s New York’s fifth highest peak, because of its Olympic heritage and skiing history, because of the pure challenge of running 3600 vertical feet uphill in 8 miles.

Two runners crossing the finish line just below Whiteface's summit

Moreau Lake trail 15K: 09/07/2014

Beach starting area at the Moreau Lake trail 15K

Chalk it up to training (doubtful), experience (maybe) or just good luck (more like it), I ran a successful race at Sunday’s Moreau Lake 15K trail race, put on by Green Leaf Racing. By successful, I mean that a) I didn’t get lost, b) I didn’t get hurt or suffer any spectacular falls, and c) I beat my time from last year’s race by 6 minutes, finishing in less than 2 hours. Not getting lost or hurt might seem like odd criteria for “success” in a race, but this is no ordinary race, even by trail running standards. Featuring lots of rocks and roots, big vertical, downed trees and the infamous “staircase of death,” the Moreau Lake 15K course is known as one of the toughest around.

Rafting the Hudson Gorge: 09/02/2014

Ever since our hike in – raft out trip to OK Slip Falls earlier this summer with Square Eddy Expeditions, we’ve wanted to return to the Hudson Gorge. Of course we wanted to see the parts of the gorge that we missed, but there’s also something compelling about the gorge that draws you back. Part of that draw is the natural beauty, the alternating stretches of calm water and rapids hemmed in by steep, wooded slopes. And part of the draw is the adventure of the paddling itself, with a new challenge around each bend of the river.