Bald Peak and Western Ledges, October 11, 2026, Eastern High Peaks, Adirondack Park

Bald Peak Western Ledges

Adirondack peak hiking on Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day weekend has been an annual tradition for many years. So I know the deal. Avoid Heart Lake. Avoid the Garden. Avoid Upper Works. Avoid the AMR. You know what? Pretty much avoid any of the 46er trailheads. But many years of visiting the 'Dacks means that I've picked up one or two secrets. Rocky Peak, via the East Trail, has some of the best fall foliage views in the High Peaks, but also sees little use, even on super busy holiday weekends. I didn't feel like doing the entire length over to Rocky Peak Ridge, so I decided on an up and back to 3,000-foot Bald Peak.  

View to Bald Peak and beyond from Blueberry Cobbles

 
The trail departs from the north end of the parking area, but there is also a short, grassy trail heading south for about 100 yards that terminates at some historical gravestones. After checking them out (of course), I bushwhacked north through the woods to the main trail and found it to be pleasantly un-Adirondack like, with a fairly easy uphill grade, no rocks, no roots, and solid footing all the way to the first two outlook spurs. I visited them both, but especially liked the view to the north where you can see the rocky outcroppings of Owl's Head Lookout and Iron Mountain. Next came the equally-rewarding views from the Blueberry Cobbles. No blueberries at this time of year, but the many plants strewn about the cobbles had turned their familiar flame red color. It was neat. 

View from the Western Ledges of Bald Peak

I only encountered a few hikers on the day, and two of them were camped out for lunch at the summit when I reached the top. I touched the cairn and quickly moved on. If Bald Peak itself is a secret, sleeper of an autumn hike, then secret #2 is that one should not miss its western ledges. Adding just 8/10th of a mile and only 100 feet of elevation gain, the out-and-back passes a huge glacial erratic and offers a wide, rocky ledge with sweeping panoramic views. I mean, the view is pretty much the same as that from Bald Peak summit, but this spot is somewhat hidden from the trail proper and rarely a destination for hikers. Solitude is pretty much guaranteed, even on Columbus Day weekend. Just the way that I like it.

Peak: Bald Peak and Bald Peak Western Ledges 
Elevation: 3,060 feet (Gain: 2,931 feet)
Distance: 7.6 miles roundtrip
Route: Rocky Peak Ridge East Trail 
Conditions: Party sunny, 40 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Golden-crowned Kinglets, Common Ravens, Eastern Chipmunks

Thunder Swamp Loop, September 30-October 1, 2026, Delaware State Forest

Spruce Run Beaver pond and wetlands

The summer lingered this year. As always, I'd been saving my vacation days for the cooler temperature days of fall. By the end of September, they still hadn't come and I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. It was time for a two-day, 20 mile loop of the Thunder Swamp trail in Delaware State Forest that I had been visualizing for some time. Added incentive was the fact that Pennsylvania hunting season would be opening on the coming weekend and I guessed (correctly) that I'd have the trail to myself on a couple of weekdays just prior. I needed a few days to sort through all of my older gear, some of which hadn't been used a quite a while. I went with my 15-year-old Osprey Kestrel 68, the largest-volume pack that I have, in order to carry the load. It turned out to be nearly 35 pounds. A big chunk of that was water weight. In the past, I'd only done the northeast and northwest sections of Thunder Swamp, so wasn't sure what the water sources would be down south and decided to carry 3 liters. Better safe than sorry. For the belly... not the back. 

Trail break near Pennel Run

I started out from the parking area near Lake Minisink on a clockwise loop. My departure was announced, almost immediately, by the call of a Great Horned Owl. Owl sounds would turn out to be a recurring feature throughout the two-day hike, mainly at night of course. Thunder Swamp Trail is notoriously challenging due to the rocky surface, which I also encountered from the get-go. Well-positioned orange blazes guide the way and I had no trouble navigating the path for a few hours until a lunch break near Red Rock Run. The creek turned out to be a rapidly-flowing stream and most certainly could have been a water source. There was also a very nice creek-side campsite along this stretch.

The Bushkill at dusk

However, my plan called for camping along the Bushkill Creek so I pressed on through the increasingly humid afternoon. By the time I reached my campsite location, I was totally drenched in sweat and needed a bath in the Bushkill before setting up camp. It was a little buggy, so I set up my mosquito net and camp chair reading area next to my tent in order to have a place to escape the annoyance. It was a picture-perfect spot, with close access to the water and pleasant site lines through the pretty forest. The only downside, I soon discovered, was the noise pollution from a Pocono mini-development and access roads that looked far enough away on the map but turned out not to be. Target practice and hours of droning muffler noise put a huge damper on the evening.

Old metal blaze badge in the orange of Thunder Swamp

The next day, I was up at my normal hour of 5 a.m. and needed a headlamp for breakfast and other morning business. It was still dark as I struck camp and geared up for day two. The next part of the trail is all ascending, with rocks aplenty, as well as too-many-to-count blow downs across the trail. Though difficult, this section really proved to be the most interesting and memorable part of the trail as it passes through pleasant woods (with fewer invasive species than along the Bushkill) and near beaver-dammed wetlands and numerous small streams. I also passed several really nice campsites and resolved that next time I would surely flip-flop my route in order to camp here instead.  

Sunlight on spider web

It was slow going all day, with my face constantly brushing through thick, sticky spider webs, the telltale sign of a lesser-used trail. I needed three long breaks, one in which I even took the time to bust out the camp stove for some hot tea, in order to shake off the fatigue of a huge pack and finish the hike. 

Time to invest in some ultra light. 

Destination: Thunder Swamp Loop
Elevation: 1,803 feet gain
Distance: 19.25 miles roundtrip
Route: Clockwise Loop, Thunder Swamp Trail
Conditions: Partly Sunny, 50-70 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Black Bear scat aplenty (no sightings)

South Hancock and North Hancock, September 12, 2026, White Mountain National Forest

The Flag on South Hancock

I've known about Flags on the 48 for many years. It's an annual 9/11 remembrance hiking event organized by the New Hampshire hiking community in which American flags are raised on all 48 of the White Mountain high peaks. Although we almost always spend some time in New Hampshire in September, the timing never worked out that the event was happening while we were up there. So this year, the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I decided that the time had finally come to participate and made the last minute, seven-hour drive just to do so. The sign-up process was easy and I hooked up with the team tasked with Mount Suribachi-ing South Hancock. I hadn't been up the Hancocks lately, so I was very much looking forward to a return. I was a little nervy about hiking with strangers, but everyone in the group was kind and affable with not a wildcard in the bunch. The pleasant company, coupled with the beautiful weather, combined to make the day a memorable experience of patriotism, contemplation and remembrance for an event that changed the world forever.

View to South Hancock from North Hancock

Our group met at the hairpin turn parking lot on the Kanc for briefing and gear distribution and hit the trail at 7:30 a.m. sharp. Not wanting to set too fast of a pace, I took up a position at the very rear of the group and had a good conversation with a nice guy from Massachusetts who was doing the 48 with his two kids and thought that this memorial hike would be a great way to tick off the Hancocks. As is usually the case when hiking with others, the miles and hours flew by as we all conversed in small groups during the long, flat approach and then up the steep, rocky climb to South Hancock. We promptly raised the flag with the help of the two members of our group who were not yet alive on 9/11 but brought the same energy and enthusiasm to the act as the rest of us, even making use of their skills with knot-tying and American flag handling. It was impressive.

Carrying up the rear on South Hancock climb

Most of the hikers in our group were actively working on the 48 list, so they wanted to make the relatively-easy traverse and tag North Hancock. Our directive was to keep our flag up for at least 2 hours, from 12 to 2, so we had plenty of time for an out and back across the ridge. I decided to go along as well. As one might expect on a beautiful weekend in September, the trails were packed and we met lots of other hikers, many of whom were curious about what we were doing with the flags. One of them, a friendly, recent college graduate who had been solo-hiking multiple peaks on the 48 list all week, found our efforts so compelling that he hooked up with our group for the rest of the day. At lunchtime, we added a twelfth person. She had signed up late and missed the morning rendezvous but hiked up to join us nonetheless.

So when we returned to the trailhead base camp at 5:45 p.m., we had two more team members than when we started.

Mission accomplished.

Team South Hancock, post-hike at the Hancock Pavilion

Peaks: South Hancock and North Hancock 
Elevation: 4,319 and 4,420 feet (Gain: 2.919 feet)
Distance: 10 miles roundtrip
Route: Up and Back, Hancock Notch Trail to Cedar Brook Trail to Hancock Loop Trail
Conditions: Sunny, 50 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Canada Jays