Good Luck Cliffs
I asked some friends for some advice about how to spend the day. I wanted to check out some less involved hikes in the Southern ADK. The Fulton County Five and Good Luck Cliffs were suggested and I figured we could start at the cliffs and work our way down SR 10 to do as many Fulton Five as we had time for.
We were lucky enough to be joined by Jay, Dan, Korra, and Zuko. Sunny was very vocal at the trailhead. Lashing him to the back of the car while I get ready causes him a great deal of anxiety and he wants physical touch from everyone before he's happy.
The snowdrifts on the side of the road along 10 were steep.
Korra and Zuko were in their element.
Sunny, pretending to read again.
The snow was piled up several feet deep.
The .5 mile on the Dexter Lake Trail from the trailhead to the main junction was mostly broken out and fast. Still, we could feel our snowshoes packing down the snow even further. Attempting this hike with bare boots would be an incredible mistake.
The junction between the local hiking trails and snowmobile trails was interesting. The entire area, from here to Northville (and across the Sacandaga) seems well-suited for Snowmobiles. Riders must be ecstatic about the weather this season.
It was neat that I had to stoop down to fill out the trail register.
Furry butts cruised three abreast down the Snowmobile trail.
Sunny immediately took the correct trail to the Cliffs at the Good Luck junction.
Peek a boo!
After the junction, the trail begins its ascent, between 15% and 26% grade according to my AllTrails activity map. The trail was tough to climb; the last hiker's butt slides had ruined any steps their snowshoes had made on the steeper sections. I don't blame them at all, though.
Sunny was having the best day ever, as usual.
So much work!
Snow Dog!
The hike was gorgeous; a magical snowscape from start to finish. The trail was well-packed down the center of the channel, but it was easy to slip off and into the deep powder on either side. Our group has packed down the trail further, so it should be more friendly for folks with a wider gait now.
After a particularly difficult section, the fellas took over breaking trail. It took me a while to get the technique down for ascending with the snowshoes. Sunny had a great deal of anxiety about me hiking in the rearguard. He moved from the front of the pack to the rear over and over again. This isn't usually a problem in other seasons, but in the winter it was a bit obnoxious because he was catching himself between the other dogs and stepping on everyone's snowshoes.
The snow was so deep that some trees that were usually above a hiker's head were now in their way.
The trail bends around these cliffs and ascends the other side at a more reasonable grade.
We pondered the cliffs and moved on at a steady and deliberate pace.
I struggled a bit with the last steep section and was abandoned by my dog until I made it to the pines at the summit.
I laid out my butt mat and enjoyed the company while we ate our snacks.
We also enjoyed the North/NorthWest view.
I had a lot of fun butt-sliding down the mountain.
We checked out one of the campsites on the lake; it's super nice. This is #3; the others were further down a trail which hadn't been broken out yet. According to the map, the lake trail leads to the trailhead; not the main junction.
We had a short pow-wow and decided to cool our jets and have lunch together at a restaurant rather than tacking on any more trails. We went to a great pub in Caroga Lake called "Vrooman's Hotel". The atmosphere was definitely "Adirondack Watering Hole", but the food was excellent. I had a spicy crab chowder to start, then fried shrimp and fries. Everyone was very impressed with the food. I'll have this place in my back pocket for future hikes.
My snowshoes had broken during the Buck Mt. hike. I repaired them with strips of metal, JB Weld, and electrical tape. I'd have preferred a layer of hockey tape because I think the fibers meshed with the JB Weld would have been much stronger, but the repair held on this hike. I'll probably bite the bullet and buy new snowshoes during the Summer.