Back when I was focusing on hiking all 46 Adirondack high peaks that reached over 4,000 feet, that singular mission kept me focused on the biggest mountains and the most grueling hikes.
After checking off about half of the high peaks, I abandoned my quest. I realized there were too many mountains that required more than a single day’s hike to conquer, meaning I would have to carry camping equipment on my back, set up a base camp, and spend the night sleeping (or not sleeping) on the ground all by my lonesome.
That just isn’t my gig. I decided I didn’t have to become a “46er.” And I’m totally fine with that. I have other goals to reach.
What I didn’t know was that by closing the door to summiting all the high peaks, I was opening the door to hiking many other stunning trails in the Adirondacks. Yesterday I had the opportunity to hike Indian Head and Fish Hawk Cliffs which offered stunning views of Lower Ausable Lake. Add in a detour to Rainbow Falls and we had an eleven-mile hike with an elevation gain of just under two thousand feet.
It was a perfectly cool and sunny first day of autumn for me and my hiking partner JP. We followed gushing streams, saw more waterfalls than people, and stood on rock ledges that even at a safe distance from the edge filled me with a disorienting and somehow alluring sense of vertigo.
This is the perfect time to hike in the Adirondacks. The summer crowds are gone and the fall foliage gazers haven’t arrived yet. Nature’s splendor in all its glory. Here are a few images from the day.


