When the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released a report calling for the removal of the fire tower on Hurricane Mountain, Jess and I just happened to be sitting around trying to figure out what to do with our day. Trail heads to this peak are about a 5 minute drive from...

This video from Backpacker Magazine is a nice, basic intro to upper body layering for winter hiking. I use a very similar set-up for our winter hikes, except I often wear a soft shell jacket instead of a down jacket. It’s not quite as warm and won’t pack down as nice as a puffy jacket,...

Ok, folks, it’s still Way Back Week here at Towns and Trails. And it turns out I lied the other day when I said our Roaring Brook Falls adventure was my first winter trip to the Adirondacks. I had conveniently forgotten about a quick little winter overnight hike we did over Thanksgiving weekend...

The other day I was reminiscing about our Northville-Placid hikes and I remembered one of the best days we’ve ever had on the trail. It was during our section hike in 2005. We were hiking in the West Canada Lakes region and stopped at a lean-to on West Lake for the night. It was a beautiful,...

Standing over a pile of empty boxes and wrapping paper, Jess and I looked at each other and we knew what had to happen next. It was Christmas morning. We just finished unwrapping our toys and couldn’t fight the urge to go play with them. It was like I was 9 again and needed to go run around the...

You may know him from such hits as “Pineapple Express,” or “Milk,” or the “Spider-Man” series – but for my money, nothing beats his performance in “Freaks and Geeks.” I digress… James Franco will be taking on the role of Aron Ralston in Danny...

This afternoon I walked out the front door and went snowshoeing. It was awesome. Although our house is on only .5 acres, we’re surrounded by 54 acres of undeveloped APA-regulated land. Private land in the Adirondacks is classified into specific categories that set limits on land use. The goal...

The mother of imprisoned American hiker Sarah Shourd released a video appealing to the Iranian Supreme Leader for the release of her daughter and two hiking companions. Along with Shourd, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were detained back in July after allegedly crossing over into Iranian territory (presumably...

In a previous post, I mentioned that we went on a couple of trips this year with friends who were brand-spanking new to hiking and camping. We had so much fun on our Mt. Greylock trip in August that we immediately planned another trip for early October. We settled on a weekend car camping trip to the...

One of the easiest of the Adirondack High Peaks to hike, Cascade Mountain is often considered a good starting point for those looking to experience a summit in the area. Along with the accessibility of its trailhead, the low round-trip mileage of this half-day hike has helped make it one of the most...