Beautiful Late Winter Light
The snow showers quickly passed, and we got to walk along the excellent new ridgeline lookouts again, this time with less obscuring clouds and more visibility of the land around us. Then, a final splash of warm sunlight before the sun sank behind the western clouds. We descended off the ridge and easily (the grading of this new trail is really very easy...) descended back to the flats.
The sun set as we made our way back across the flat stretch south of the mountain. We had timed things pretty well - we had only another thirty minutes to go and we would be able to make our way back to the car without having to break out the headlamps.
Things were getting pretty dusk-y as we came upon the initial lookout (the one not far from the trailhead). In the deepening gloom, the scatteried tiny flurries had returned, lending an ethereal look to the scene.
Chris signed us out at the trailhead and we walked over to the car. Gino had just completed his first ever Adirondack hike, and gave the experience a thumbs up. Owing to the new trail routing, the hike had been a bit longer than intended, but all things considered it had all gone quite well.
Now knowing the general state of the snowpack (and the state is good), here's hoping that I can organize a few more winter "above-the-clouds" outings with my work colleagues. Thanks again, Gino and Chris, for coming along on this successful reconnoiter!
Interactive trackmap with photo points - Hurricane Mtn (New Route) - click map to view
Hurricane Mountain - Hike Data
Start Time:
12:28p.m.
End Time:
5:14p.m.
Duration:
4h45m
Distance:
10.13 km
(6.29 mi)
Average Speed:
2.1 km/hr
(1.3 mph)
Start Elevation:
1732ft
(528m)
*
Max Elevation:
3877ft
(1182m)
*
Min Elevation:
1669ft
(509m)
*
End Elevation:
1673ft
(510m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2053ft
(626m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
2114ft
(644m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
