Meade and Beckman Mountains: 09/25/2016

Once school starts up it seems we always have trouble finding the time to fit in a family hike. We had a half day available Sunday afternoon, so we made the quick drive up the Northway to do another one of the Chester Challenge hikes: Meade and Beckman Mountains. Like the other hikes we've done in the Chester Challenge, Meade and Beckman Mountains is short and easy but offers up some great views.

Rafting the Hudson Gorge: 09/03/2016

My friends Linc Marsac and Lori Phoebe Benton, chief guides and owners of Square Eddy Expeditions, like to say that they get double the fun out of every snowflake that falls: first skiing the woods and mountains around North Creek and Indian Lake, and then paddling the runoff when it all melts in the spring. We weren't paddling spring runoff on our trip down the Hudson Gorge with Square Eddy over Labor Day weekend, but the double-the-fun rule seemed to be in full effect anyway.

Dix Mountain: 08/22/2016

Back in 1987 when I finished my first round of the 46, there were a handful of peaks I swore I’d never repeat. If you’ve climbed Blake, Couchie or Cliff, you know what I’m talking about. Sooner or later though, I’d get dragged out by one hiking partner or another and notch second and third visits to those “never again” peaks. At the other end of the list are the favorites, the ones you return to over and over, even if it’s a decade between visits. Dix is on that list, 6th highest in the Adirondacks and offering some of the best and most interesting views of the 46. A recent two night stay at Elk Lake Lodge provided the perfect opportunity to climb Dix again.