It was a brisk morning, 18 degrees with a consistent breeze out of the south. My dad and I set out for a snowshoe up Mt. Arab for the day, a peak with a 2,545-foot elevation in Piercefield, NY. Arriving on the outskirts of Tupper Lake at 10:30am in the morning, we were the first to park at the trailhead. After strapping on the snowshoes and signing into the trail register, we were on our way up the easy/moderate slope to the summit. A one-mile long ascent, Mt. Arab has grown to be a popular hike offering spectacular views from the top. At the open summit is a small cabin and fire tower. Once used for by observers to search for fires in the surrounding forest, the 35-foot steel fire tower is now maintained by the Friends of Mt. Arab. This enables the public to enjoy the history of the tower and the great 360 degree views from the top of it. It's definitely worth the short trip.
The Foxy Brown Trail, named after Adirondack hermit Foxy Brown, is a multi-use 5.6-mile loop located within the Jessup River Wild Forest. Foxy Brown worked in logging around Lake Pleasant and Speculator before building himself a small log cabin in the backcountry outside of Piseco.
With limited travel and social interaction being the responsible thing this winter, we set out to explore more places within the Adirondack Park. Luckily, we found a last minute weekend rental at a cabin with Camp Gorham, offered through their Winter Program.
With sunshine in the forecast, we packed up our snowshoes, Lucy, and all the supplies needed to make a mean cup of hot chocolate, and made our way to the Chimney Mountain Trailhead. Evan and I have hiked Chimney a number of times which is always a great trek, but the day’s journey was toward Puffer Pond, a popular destination in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness.