Whiteface Mountain, October 17, 2025, McKenzie Mountain Wilderness, Adirondack Park

First light and waning crescent moon from Marble Mountain overlook

Everyone knows the rules for High Peaks hiking. Make sure to pack your "Essential Ten." Leave your planned route and ETA with someone back home. Always maintain three points of contact on ladders. Keep an eye out for black ice on rocks in the shoulder seasons. Today, I came up with a new one. Never watch a musical-turned-motion picture the night before a solo 46er hike. I did just that before a recent hike up Whiteface Mountain and couldn't shake Gee Officer Krupke, America, and other catchy tunes from West Side Story the entire six-hour-long morning on the trail. Particularly embarrassing, on the descent, was when a hiking party rounded a bend to catch my vocalization of the most earworm West Side Story song of all -- I Feel Pretty. Oh well, Muhammad Ali wasn't afraid to say it.

Approach to Whiteface summit buildings

Mount Whiteface looms large over the towns of Wilmington and Jay, our go-to base of operations whenever we visit the Adirondacks. You can see Whiteface from the pond loop hike in the cabin subdivision where we often stay. You can see it from our favorite short hikes in the area, the Bluffs at Silver Lake and Cobble Lookout. And it is the prominent landmark in views from Catamount, Clark Mountain, Hamlin Mountain, Jay Mountain and other peak hike destinations in the Wilmington/Jay region. Yet in all these years of hiking in this part of the Adirondacks, I still had never visited its summit... despite having already hiked up to its nearby sister peak, Mount Esther.

View to the Northeast from Whiteface 

So, on the last day of a recent weeklong stay in Jay, I decided to use the blue bird weather forecast of sunny skies, light wind, and cold, yet still comfortable, autumn temps to finally visit Whiteface. I set off on the Marble Mountain Trail from the ASRC at 6 a.m. sharp, choosing this route because I wanted to get to the mountain's overlook point with plenty of time to watch the sun come up. It only took about 30 minutes to navigate the straight but steep scree-covered route up to the overlook with a headlamp. I then camped out for 45 minutes or so to watch the pitch black of night turn to first light and, eventually, a beautiful sunrise. It was neat.

Rockwell Kent-ing it on Whiteface summit

Once on the Wilmington Trail, it is a fairly straightforward climb covering a lot of elevation over a short distance, kind of like Giant Mountain in the ADK and many of the 4,000 footers of the White Mountains. I was glad to do this hike a few days after the tourist highway had closed for the season because I was the first to the top and had the entire summit all to myself to admire the 360 degree panorama. A week earlier and I am sure that the place would have been mobbed. I didn't start encountering other hikers until I was about 1/3 of the way back down the mountain, but all of them were amiable, chatty folks clearly enjoying a beautiful day out so I didn't much mind. I was quite content that I had plenty of alone time on an otherwise ever-busy peak.

Oh, I almost forgot. Mount Whiteface makes it 46/46 ADK High Peaks hiked.

And there was much rejoicing. Yaaaay.

Peak: Whiteface Mountain
Elevation: 4,867 feet (Gain: 3,143 feet)
Distance: 7.2 miles
Route: Out and back, Marble Mountain Trail to Wilmington Trail 
Conditions: Sunny, 30 degrees F

Couchsachraga, Panther, and Santanoni Peaks, October 12, 2025, Western High Peaks, Adirondack Park

Amazing High Peaks panorama from Santanoni... view to the east of Algonquin, Iroquois, Colden and its slides, Marcy, Skylight, Haystack, Allen, Nippletop, etc., Henderson Mountain in foreground and Mt. Adams mid-distance on right

For a couple of reasons, I'd always planned to do the three 46ers in the Santanoni Range as multiple trips. For one, I knew that the trifecta was going to be a really tough hike with long mileage, high elevation gain, numerous ups and downs, difficult terrain, and a lenghy out and back to an extremely remote peak on the other side of a false summit and notoriously difficult-to-cross boggy area. Breaking it up into several comparatively-easier hikes seemed to make more sense. Another reason was more philosophical than physical. Seemingly out of nowhere, I found myself at a point only 4 peaks away from having hiked all 46 High Peaks of the ADK. Some people rush to finish the list. I didn't want it to end. Turning the Santanonis into several hikes would allow the fun to live on. 

First views of the day at the precipice above Bradley Pond

When the day that I set aside to explore the range finally came, however, the conditions were so perfect that I decided I was ready for a big day and set out to visit all three as a single hike. Since the trail head in Tahawus was 1 1/2 hours away, one way, I got up at 4 a.m. in order to make it there by 6:30 and was geared up and on the trail to Bradley Pond at 6:45 sharp. I only needed headlamp and bear bell for about 15 minutes until sunrise. It was great to have the early morning trail to myself all the way to the pond.

"Times Square" base camp for the day

On the other side of Bradley Pond, the herd path along Panther Brook rises steeply to a first view of the day overlooking the valley and the pond down below. Here, I overtook a pair of friendly hikers who had started at 6 a.m. and were doing all three peaks as well. I was surprised to see them at this location as most hikers tend to do Santanoni first via the Express. Instead, my plan called for a counter clockwise route. I wanted to get the long slog of Couchsachraga out of the way first. The psychological boost of still having a couple of peaks with nice views as motivation, I reasoned, would help me on the long, two-hour out-and-back to a lower, wooded, and less interesting peak. 

Yes, there is a view from Couchie!

So that's what I did. Once at the height of land at the top of the Panther Brook herd path, I stowed my heavy pack at Times Square - the unofficial name of the trail nexus - and began the trek to Couchsachraga with just a  summit bag. I knew that it would be long, but this descent goes on and on and on and on. Then it goes up, then down over a false summit before finally dropping steeply to the infamous bog. At this point, I encountered a pair of hikers pushing out of the woods to the right (north) of the bog and they informed me that this was the best way to go. Indeed, following a faint bushwhack through the saplings here allows for the complete circumnavigation of the dreaded bog. Glad to have avoided the wet work, I started climbing again and finally made it up to Couchsachraga. People always complain that it is a waste of a hike because the peak offers no views. That's true, to a point. The summit proper is just a small wooded clearing. But there is actually a very nice overlook with a wide view back to Santanoni just to the east of the summit. After tagging the sign, I backtracked to this point and stopped here to admire those very views. 

Views from Panther Peak to Santanoni (left) and to Couchsachraga and its false summit (right)

It was on the long return from Couchsachraga to Times Square that I encountered the bulk of the hikers who I would see that day, about ten or so, who had all started after me and done Santanoni first. This was promising, I thought, because it would mean that I would probably have Santa all to myself later in the day. I hit Panther next, which involved backtracking the way I had come in, but I stuck with the summit bag and that made for a quick and easy up and back. The views on Panther are great. It was neat to look down on Couchsachraga and its false summit knowing that I had already done them. Phew! The view to Santanoni, the biggest of these three peaks, is spectacular as well, and for me was also a little daunting knowing that I was heading there next. I chatted with two solo hikers hanging out on the summit and then moved out for the last climb of the day.

Fresh socks as a reward for the climb to Santanoni, view to Panther Peak

As I had hoped, I did get to have Santanoni Peak all to myself. After visiting the summit proper, I returned to a small clearing with a vantage point back to Panther and took a long break to rest, eat, drink and change socks - my go-to late-day psychological boost to close out the last miles of a long hike in the ADK. Everybody raves about the view from the open slabs on Panther, but the best views are to be had on Santanoni. Looking east from one of the overlooks, a full High Peaks panorama unfolds before you... easily one of the very best vista points of all the 46ers. It took a while but eventually I got around to starting my descent on the Santa Express. It was rough, but pretty straightforward technically until I got to the top of the so-called "Hillary Step," a super steep, forty-foot-tall open rock slab. When ascending this trail, I found out later, there is a clearly discernable reroute which bypasses the slab itself. But I entirely missed this option on the descent and had to take a few minutes to contemplate the safest route down. I ended up just tossing my poles and pack off the ledge and climbing down the center of the slab using the cracks and fissures as hand holds. Channeling the inner Alex Honnold? Not.

Looking back up the Hillary Step on the Santa Express

Once off the Express, the Bradley Pond Trail seemed to go on forever but I finally made it back to the parking area around 4 p.m. for a total trail time of about 9 1/2 hours. I had scraped shins, cut hands, bruised shoulder, ripped pants, saturated boots, and aching legs. All in all, doing all three peaks in the Santanoni Range as a day hike lived up to my expectations as a real beast.

Should have split 'em up.

Peaks: Couchsachraga Peak, Panther Peak, and Santanoni Peak
Elevation: 3,820 feet, 4,442 feet, 4,026 feet, 4,607 feet (Gain: 4,820 feet)
Distance: 15 miles roundtrip
Route: Loop, Bradley Pond Trail to Panther Brook herd path, to Times Square, to Couchsachraga herd path, back to Times Square, to Panther Peak herd path, back to Times Square, to Santanoni herd path to Santanoni Express, to Bradley Pond Trail
Conditions: Mostly sunny, 35 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Nothing of note in the so-called "dismal wilderness"