ADK Hike/Climb Suggestions

Hey Guys,

I'm headed up to the dacks this weekend with a few of my buddies for some hiking/climbing. Originally we were planning on heading back to Nine Corners for some bouldering, but were considering some new options for this weekend.

Does anyone have any recommendations for good spots with a combination of hiking/climbing? We're thinking somewhere in the range of a 10 mile hike, and would be up for any of bouldering, sport, or TR (no trad unfortunately).

Any suggestions would be welcome, thanks for your help!

The top of Noonmark and Rooster Comb have a couple decent trad routes.

The ADKs are REALLY big, and there's climbing everywhere. You have a particular area in mind?

Oh, and there might be winter or crappy/slushy conditions depending on where you go. Check around (ADKForum, VFTT) for the latest conditions.

Hey Kevin,

Thanks for the reply! I'll look into those areas, but as I mentioned, we won't be doing any trad... any idea if we could anchor a TR from those climbs you're thinking of?

Nothing really particular, but as we're coming from the south, stuff too far north might start getting a bit tougher for the weekend drive. Thanks for the heads up on conditions, though, I'll definitely look into that.

Southern ADKs are probably close to snow free. The High Peaks will likely still have some snow at elevation and on north facing slopes.

Not leading complicates things a bit. The ADKs are largely trad climbing.

Noonmark would require use of gear anchors. Not sure if some of the routes on Roostercomb have trees at the top/can be TR'd.

Buck Mt on Lake George and Crane Mt outside of Warrensburg have climbing you can hike to, but I don't see getting 10 miles under your feet unless you take extra lengths to make that happen. More climbing destinations than longer hiking spots, but loops and longer hikes can be made from the trail systems. There is top roping at both places, scattered about.

There's tons of backcountry stuff that would fall into your hiking criteria if you trad climbed.

If you're not wanting to drive to far north Crane and Snowy Mt. are nice half day hikes with great views of the High Peaks. Both have climbing available too, i'm not sure how easy it would be to set up TR though. Lost T cliffs is in the southern Daks, and has TR accessible routes.

The hiking conditions this time of year do tend to be slushy/muddy. It never deterred me when I lived there tough, I loved the time I spent living in the Daks. Have a blast!!!

Owls Head has some nice cracks in the 5.6 to 5.7 range that can be toproped with a long static rope or a gear anchor. However, the hike is only a mile or so. Still I recommend it if you have an afternoon before blowing out of town...very scenic cragging spot.

Alex M. Smith wrote:Hey Kevin, Thanks for the reply! I'll look into those areas, but as I mentioned, we won't be doing any trad... any idea if we could anchor a TR from those climbs you're thinking of? Nothing really particular, but as we're coming from the south, stuff too far north might start getting a bit tougher for the weekend drive. Thanks for the heads up on conditions, though, I'll definitely look into that.

Stewart's Ledge is a fun spot. It'll keep you busy for the day for sure. There are some really fun climbs there, several fully bolted sport routes and the top roping is super easy to set up, especially from the bolted anchors. Plus, it's right off of the Buck Mountain trail head. You can easily hike up and over Buck, cross some back roads, and be up Sleeping Beauty on the other side. Let me know if you want some more info on that area.

Ben Brotelho wrote:Owls Head has some nice cracks in the 5.6 to 5.7 range that can be toproped with a long static rope or a gear anchor. However, the hike is only a mile or so. Still I recommend it if you have an afternoon before blowing out of town...very scenic cragging spot.

I thought about Owl's Head, then thought about the two random days I've climbed there. It's a heavily used guiding spot (like the Spring wall off exit 30). They were friendly but it kinda ruins the outdoorsy experience for me (too crowded). Still worth checking out otherwise, the climbing is TR friendly (with a long static line for anchor building).

Greg, there's also "New Buck" which is a herd path off the main trail (with some sport, but some anchors have to be rap'd to), and Eagle's Cliff which is above Upper Buck. Eagle's cliff right-side is all top ropeable. Using a few piece of gear for directionals is advised. Buck has a lot of climbing on it now. :-)

adirondackrock.com/newroute…

The directions on the adirondack rock page are wrong (outdated), the path comes right down to the main trail, about 150 feet after a large obvious boulder, and essentially heads uphill on a faint but established path.

mountainproject.com/v/eagle…

It would be cool to hike in to Good Luck Mountain. There are cliffs there that could theoretically be top-roped. Might be some decent boulders lying around too. Good camping on top with a scenic view. You could also top-rope many routes at Long Pond, which would require a pretty long hiking approach or a canoe approach. The reward would be solitude and adventure. Check out Adirondack Rock by Jim Lawyer and Jeremy Haas for more details. There are plenty of options out there if you're willing to poke around a little. I'd be willing to bet there is some pretty good single pitch climbing to TR at Crane Mountain too.

I believe Long Pond is difficult to setup top ropes because there's no easy access to the top and many of the routes are longer than a single rope. Just recall reading that in adk rock at some point...

Also don't know about TR'ing at Good Luck, seem to recall all the harder routes required climbing a neighboring route for TR access. Could be a rap down from above? I think that's why Lost T is so popular, there hadn't been much quality top roping available in that area prior (it was all trad/mixed).

• Update -- Looking at the guide there does appear to be spots where the Long Pond cliff is shorter and there are trees. Not sure about the walk around options though, the rock guide isn't geared toward top ropers and really only lays things out with the assumption people are leading. Maybe Simon has personal experience climbing there... The one thing it does say is that you need to boat across. Not sure if this is because the walkaround is flooded, marshy, or just longer.