a trail to self discovery...

  “The great revolution in the history of man, past, present and future, is the revolution of those determined to be free.” We woke early at camp on Fourth of July. Our plan was to meet Laura and John at ADK Loj by 5:30am. We were concerned about getting parking and boy was it close. Ryan and I, always punctual and don't mind waking early left a few minutes before Laura and John to grab breakfast sandwiches and coffee on the way. We figured get to the lot early, pack, eat, and have coffee there. It would ensure us the parking spot and we could hit the trail when we were done. When we left camp we were driving down 86 along the Ausable River and happen to catch an amazing sunrise in our rearview. We obviously had to pull over and take some photos. Once back in the car we headed towards this little corner mart Laura had recommended for breakfast sandwiches. We stopped here picked up 4 sandwiches and 4 coffees. Later to realize they were the worst microwaved breakfast s...

  The next morning after our Whiteface & Esther adventure in the snow we decided to hit the trail early to hit 2 more peaks. Street and Nye. The weather forecast was not calling for a very night sunny day and we felt these peaks were most appropriate given their lack of views. This was also is one of the few shorter hikes in the Adirondacks to hit 2 peaks so it was a good one to hit before we both had a long drive back to New Hampshire. We arrived at the Loj, where we packed up and hit the trail towards our peaks. We were both feeling awfully sluggish this day but managed to still keep a good pace. The herd path leading to our first peak was quite interesting. At one point near where the trail follows the river uphill we somehow took another herd path off the actual trail. We found our way back to the trail again and continued onward and upward. On our way up to the junction for Nye, it was a constant of wet slick muddy train conditions and lots of crawling over and under of fa...

  "Don't Expect things to happen, it is better to be surprised than to be disappointed." This was Laura and I's first trip to the Adirondacks with no pups! It was so weird. We met up in Vermont and car pooled our way over to NY. We stopped at a few stops in Burlington to obviously taste some good beer, eat charcuterie that had liver pate and tasted like donkeys ass, and shop at Sierra Trading Post. OH & I can not forget the warm cookies! We made it to camp early enough to set up and lounge. We both brought our hammocks where we double deckered them.  Our plans for this trip was to get Esther and Whiteface, then we would grab Street and Nye before heading out of town on Sunday. We are true weekend warriors sometimes. We arrived in shorts and tank tops, but well prepared for mid June snow!  We woke somewhat early to pack and eat breakfast to start our day hiking. We had no idea the weather forecast would lie to us for that day. Luckily we were prepared. The forecast...

It was almost one year ago I lost my mother to Triple Negative Breast Cancer and stage four lung cancer. Her battle to this disease was short-lived and she passed away after only 5.5 months of treatment. Growing up as a child, I never knew my father. When I was 18 years old he died of an overdose to drugs and alcohol leaving me feeling like I had never gotten a chance to even ask him if he remembered me, or why he did the things he did, or better yet, care about me. My mother did everything in her power to become both the best mother and father I could have. She did a great job at it even while raising four kids on her own. My Father & I Camping She was my absolute best friend and confidant. Never really growing up in a healthy home, and always having disagreements about my siblings substance abuse issues, she was always the glue that still kept us together as a family. Family was her priority, and she made it clear that no matter what family always came first. W...

" The only order in the universe is just a cycle of calm and chaos." Ricky Bobby and I set out around 5:45am to meet a friend for a hike. I texted him yesterday asking to hike Wildcat A. He is working on his first round of the 48 while if I have the chance I will be trying to knock off most of my winter peaks I have left. We both agreed on an early start. Starting time for 6:00am. Starting early is my preferred way to hike on a busy Saturday before a storm moves through that afternoon. I get to avoid busy parking lots, many people coming and going on trail, less noise, and much more solitude. I suggested this peak knowing it was a fun one to hike and one that could offer good views but if not it's still beautiful to witness these beautiful lakes in the midst of this notch and mountains towering all around it. We met int he parking lot just before 6:00am where we both gather our stuff together, put on our microspikes and hit the trail. We let both dogs ...