Starmer - Five-star trails: adirondacks: Your Guide to 46 Spectacular Hikes

Overview Map Key

HOFFMAN NOTCH BROOK (Trail 23, )

Five-Star Trails: Adirondacks: Your Guide to 46 Spectacular Hikes

Copyright 2017 by Tim Starmer

All rights reserved

Published by Menasha Ridge Press

Printed in the United States of America

Distributed by Publishers Group West

Second edition, first printing

Cover design: Scott McGrew

Text design: Annie Long

Cartography and elevation profiles: Scott McGrew, Thomas Hertzel, and Tim Starmer

Cover and interior photos: Tim Starmer

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Starmer, Timothy, 1975- author.

Title: Five-star trails, Adirondacks : 40 spectacular hikes in upstate New York / Tim Starmer.

Description: Second edition. | Birmingham, Alabama : Menasha Ridge Press, 2017.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016053971 | ISBN 9781634040525 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: HikingNew York (State)Adirondack MountainsGuidebooks. | Trails New York (State)Adirondack MountainsGuidebooks. | Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.) Guidebooks. | BISAC: TRAVEL / United States / Northeast / New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT). | SPORTS & RECREATION / Hiking. | HEALTH & FITNESS / Healthy Living.

Classification: LCC GV199.42.N652 A34735 2017 | DDC 796.51097475dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016053971

ISBN: 978-1-63404-052-5; eISBN: 978-1-63404-053-2

MENASHA RIDGE PRESS

An imprint of AdventureKEEN

2204 First Ave. S, Ste. 102

Birmingham, Alabama 35233

800-443-7227, fax 205-326-1012

Visit menasharidge.com for a complete listing of our books and for ordering information. Contact us at our website, at facebook.com/menasharidge, or at twitter.com/menasharidge with questions or comments. To find out more about who we are and what were doing, visit blog.menasharidge.com.

DISCLAIMER This book is meant only as a guide to select trails in the vicinity of the Adirondacks and does not guarantee your safety in any wayyou hike at your own risk. Neither Menasha Ridge Press nor Tim Starmer is liable for property loss or damage, personal injury, or death that may result from accessing or hiking the trails described in this guide. Please be aware that hikers have been injured in the Adirondacks. Be especially cautious when walking on or near boulders, steep inclines, and drop-offs, and do not attempt to explore terrain that may be beyond your abilities. To help ensure an uneventful hike, please read carefully the introduction to this book, as well as safety information from other sources. Familiarize yourself with current weather reports and maps of the area you plan to visit (in addition to the maps provided in this guidebook). Be aware of park regulations, and always follow them. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this guidebook, land and road conditions, phone numbers and websites, and other information is subject to change.

Contents

TOP OF THE FIRST FALLS ALONG TENANT CREEK (Trail 5, )

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents, who first inspired in me a love of the great outdoors and helped in innumerable ways in completing this book.

Acknowledgments

FIRST AND FOREMOST, I would like to thank everyone who braved the trails with me and endured my repetitious mumblings into my voice recorder. Your company was appreciated and helpful.

Second, I must acknowledge all the work that my parents contributed to this project, from editing my rough drafts to retyping hikes I lost when my computer crashed to loaning me a car when my truck broke down, sadly more than once.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the tireless efforts of all the trail crews who maintain the thousands of miles of trails in the Adirondacks. Your work is greatly admired and appreciated.

T. S.

Preface

WORKING ON THIS BOOK was definitely an experience to remember. I lost two hard drives; had to rewrite a handful of hikes from memory; fried a camera, a voice recorder, and a GPS unit; sprained my ankle; was nearly blown off a mountaintop; and was stranded in the middle of the Adirondacks when my truck broke down and AAA redefined 24/7 service as weekdays only during business hours. It was memorable andquite simplygreat. Planning and replanning hikes, followed by days in the woods, is more than most hikers can ask for; to do so in the Adirondacks is definitely more than most get.

For those who dont know, the Adirondack Park is huge. The parks boundaries encompass 9,375 square miles, which is larger than each of the states of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. It is only 240 square miles smaller than Vermont. Compared to national parks, the Adirondack Park is larger than Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountains, and Big Bend National Parks combined. In fact, its boundaries, also known as the blue line, encompass more acreage than any of the national parks in the Lower 48 states. Not all of the land within the blue line is owned or managed by the state. Towns, villages, and two entire counties, as well as vast tracts of privately held land, lie within its boundaries. However, dont let the land classification fool youthe park is truly a vast wilderness. Of the 6.1 million acres, almost 45%, or 2.6 million acres, is owned by the state, though donations and purchases continue to expand the state-owned land. Of the remaining land, less than 1% is municipal property and about 6% is classified as low-level residential, which is almost equivalent to the amount of acreage of water within the park. The remaining land is either rural or privately owned forests.

No matter how you frame it, the park is a huge wilderness, and you sense it almost immediately after passing the blue line. As you drive toward any of the hundreds of trailheads, you can feel the forest encroaching on the fields and houses along the roads. You know that the boundary between civilization and a sprawling wilderness is just beyond the treeline. Soon the forests have overrun manicured lawns, and fields give way to staggering boulders and craggy cliffs that loom close to the roadside. You sense that at any point, you could stop your car, step out into the woods, and within feet completely leave civilization behind. All the while, should you choose to stop at a diner for lunch in between hikes, forget camera batteries, need to refuel, or need replacement gear, there is typically a spot to resupply within a half hour of a trailhead. This is the charm of the Adirondacks: A vast wilderness, in which you can spend days in solitude, is at your fingertips, and yet civilization is still close at hand. For many beginning hikers, this is a great comfort, while experienced hikers can revel in the idea of a warm meal or cold drink at the end of a journey.

My goal in writing this book was to cater to both beginning and experienced hikers by providing easy and challenging hikes in all corners of the park. I could have easily found 40-plus hikes in any single region, and all would have been rewarding. Some of the hikes will be familiar, others less known, but all are rewarding examples of the many facets of the Adirondack Park and its thousands of miles of trails.