This hike was planned last minute when I got a call from Jon. He said that he had to get out or he was going to go crazy. How could I say no? We decided on Hurricane mainly for it's view of lake Champlain at Jon's request, but also this was a day trip so we would have plenty of time. The trail from route 9N is only 5.2 miles round trip. The weather, while cold, was as good as we could hope for. Deep blue winter skies and plenty of sun.

We carried the snowshoes for a good part of the ascent because the trail was pretty well packed down. As we gained altitude, the snow became deeper and the trail was drifted over in some places. We decided to put on the shoes then only to take them off once we reached the bald peak. The view of the high peaks became evident early in the hike through the hardwoods and we could see that they were getting hammered by snow squalls most of the day. This confirmed that we had indeed picked the right mountain to hike that day.

The view from the top is awesome, the Champlain valley can be seen to the north and east and the high peaks region to the south. I didn't get too many good shots of the high peaks because we were looking into the sun in that direction. I guess you'll have to take my word for it that it was awesome. It's amazing how the clouds and snow squalls seem to form right on some of the peaks and just stay there. The wind and cold on the summit were truly humbling. We could only stay unsheltered for a short time before any and all exposed skin would start to burn. (note to self, apply the petroleum jelly on your face prior to getting to the summit when it will be frozen). The summit fire tower is in rough shape, it was amazing to hear the wind whip through the metal structure. We only saw two other hikers on the mountain that day who passed us just before the summit.

Here's Jon being dwarfed by the old fire tower

All and all a great day to be in the Adirondack Mountains