Esther

This one was my first winter hike in the Adirondacks, and it took place in February with my brother Adam. My previous winter hiking experience consisted of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire -- a decent amount of elevation, but a fairly short amount of distance (but damn cold at the summit).

We had recently had a giant snowstorm, so there was quite a layer on the ground. I believe the total was about three feet of powder up there. Luckily for us, somebody had been through that way and broken trail for us (at least somewhat).

Again, I'm writing about this months later, so I'm going to have to be brief on details for now. One thing to note is that there is no officially maintained trail to Esther. We never would have known where to branch off the main trail if someone hadn't been up there previously. Good thing their snowshoe tracks hadn't filled in completely from the wind yet.

Once off the main trail, the going was rough. We were hunched over ducking under branches and squeezing our way through dense pines for the next couple hours. Frustratingly slow and painful is the only way to describe this process. Eventually we reached the summit of Esther and were able to take in the views -- quite impressive. There was a fantastic view of Whiteface from here -- one mountain I still need to climb.

We headed back out again the same day. I haven't yet ventured to do the winter camping. One of these days when we pick up a four-season tent that may change...