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A short late morning jaunt. A bit cold today, the temperature was around 11 degrees in Saranac Lake with the 20 mph wind made it feel colder. We originally planned to do Scarface mountain, but with the bitter cold temperatures, we chose something shorter in case the dogs had any issues. Both dogs did fine, and we all had a blast.

Distance: 1.8 miles RT (3 km)
Ascent: 884 (270 m)
Elevation: 2452 (747 m

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It started with a foot of powder at Blodgett Rd and turned around at Bartlett Pond with 2 feet of powder. Not our intended hike of Redfield and Cliff, but when you wake up at 2 am and can't get back to sleep, it's a suitable replacement.

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A group of us planned this hike one year for a New Year's eve hike. I don't think any of us made the true summit. I realized this when I hiked this as I went much further than we did that night.

It is a primarily moderate, 1.2-mile hike to the first summit. It begins at a moderate grade as it passes under a power line, then there's a continuous climb over switchbacks for 0.8 miles, where the Beede Farm Trail comes in on the left.

Go straight and work up a few steep steps to the first open rock.…

I had a mid-week day off, on purpose, to avoid the crowds. While I wait for the High Peaks to become less crowded, I want to work on my endurance and strength to hike the high peaks; I will be somewhat ready.

My wife and I decided on Bear Den Mountain today. It was our plan-b as we planned to hike Cobble Hill Lookout. However, when we arrived at the trailhead for Cobble Hill, signage stated the trail is closed due to COVID. Not sure of the story on that, but I will look into it.

We arrived at the…

A lovely snowshoe walk into the Ausable Club property. This area is absolutely beautiful year-round. The club is all private property, but an agreement with New York state allows access via foot traffic only and no pets.

The hike from the parking area, round trip, is around 6 miles.

Elevation gain was around 800.'



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This is a quick and easy hike, just what I was looking for today, as I had a lot of other things to get done, but I still wanted to get out and hike. This took all of 15-20 minutes to summit from the road. Not to mention that today was a bluebird day which made this hike rewarding as it was quick and offered fantastic views of the high peaks and green mountains of Vermont.

According to topo maps, this is only a little over 1750 feet; however, as mentioned earlier, the views are spectacular. The…