Today we returned to a perennial fav - Jay Mountain and its associated ridgeline - in the Keene Valley area. Jay is a perfect hike for an intro to the Adirondacks, and that's just what today was - a introduction to not one or two newcomers - but four new-to-the-Adirondacks hikers: Trevor, Rae, Tanya, and Claire. They were in for a fine specimen of a route.
courtesy JInnes
Not being a particularly long hike, we didn't need to start off super early, and we put boot (or foot, in the case of Rae) to ground at around 9 a.m. The forest was damp and moist from recent rains (oh how there's been a lot of rain this spring and summer, everywhere in the northeast!). In fact, there was so much moisture that there were many sections that were actually muddy - never seen that before on this lightly-eroded trail.
We took our time getting up to the good stuff - the start of the ridgeline - arriving at that point at about 11 a.m. From there, we began to enjoy all that is great about Jay: panoramic lookouts, grassy little paths, mountaintop meadows, open slabs, crags, and fun little scrambles.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
Earthy path for human footsies
Path to rock, rock to path
courtesy JInnes
