planner girl / trail chaser / bird watcher
I actually tried to do this hike a few Sundays earlier, but the trailhead parking lot was full. Rather than wait around hoping for a spot to open up, I decided to come back another day. I figured a Tuesday evening would be much quieter, and since Josh was working…
I had the day off from work today, and I’ve been trying to make a point of hiking with Hudson whenever my days off don’t line up with Josh’s. My original plan was to hike O.K. Slip Falls, but while catching up on old blog posts and hiking journals the…
Hudson and I are on a roll with these Adirondack Gateway Challenge hikes. One of the things I enjoy most about this challenge is that many of the hikes are only about an hour—or less—from home, making them perfect for a day trip. Today, we decided to check out Potash…
Sometimes the hikes you have the lowest expectations for end up being the ones that completely surprise you. That was definitely the case with Bear Slides. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting much from this hike. The mileage was short, it wasn’t too far from home, and it seemed like the…
This was not the original plan for the day. My first choice had been Stonewall, another hike on the Adirondack Gateway Challenge. But when I arrived where the trailhead was supposed to be, I found myself at the end of a residential road. There were houses surrounding the area, people…
Technically, I started this challenge when Darby and I hiked Lake Bonita and Lake Ann last July. But after saying goodbye to Darby in October 2025 and welcoming Hudson into our lives in December, I decided to start over so that Hudson and I could both be official finishers. My…
Hike #3 of the day turned out to be the redemption I needed after our less-than-successful attempt at Rock Lake. Feeling a little intimidated after turning around earlier, I was happy to arrive at this beautiful and peaceful destination. Hike Report The hike to Sprague Pond is incredibly short—less than…
Today we had big plans to complete several hikes in the Indian Lake area. Since I’m getting close to completing the 4-3-2-1 Way Challenge, and Darby had already completed some of the hikes with me, I decided to focus on a few of the remaining trails so she could potentially…
This weekend, we went canoe camping on Blue Mountain Lake. While researching the area before our trip, I was excited to discover that Castle Rock could be accessed directly from the lake. Since we were already camping by canoe, it was just a short paddle farther to reach the trailhead.…
Because I love hiking challenges, and because I once got Josh to agree to do the Fire Tower Challenge with me, we were able to squeeze Blue Mountain into our weekend while camping at Mason Lake. I was really excited for this one. I’ve driven by Blue Mountain countless times,…