Nippletop and Dial

Nippletop

4,620 feet  |  ranked 13/46 in height  |  35th peak climbed 

Dial

4,020 feet  |  ranked 41/46 in height  |  36th peak climbed

This hike was rather spur of the moment, which for an Adirondack High Peak, is very unusual for me.  Normally I plan things out obsessively, reading and re-reading trip reports and poring over maps and buying special foods.  None of that happened here (except maybe the obsession part, that is ongoing).  What happened is this: I got a text from Erin Saturday saying that Alden was spending the night at his Dad's house and she couldn't stop fantasizing about driving up north and climbing a mountain.  She'd have very little time available, as she'd need to pick Alden up the next day, but was still sorely tempted.  Hmm. Lovely notion, right?  Initially, I dismissed it as pure fantasy, but the idea was lodged like an ear worm -- a mountain worm.

FLT/NCT: Maple Lane to Sugar Hill

We have taken so many endless walks in our neighborhood since March when we went into corona virus induced shutdown.  But our trip to Greece?  Cancelled.  Frankie's 3rd grade Adirondacks trip?  Cancelled.  Camping at the Pinery?  Cancelled.  I was restless, craving something adventurous, something different from our same old haunts.  I thought I had a good idea, but sadly, this hike did not work out as planned.

FLT/NCT: West from Cheningo Day Use Area

 

Today Frankie and I returned to the Cheningo Day Use Area, from which we'd hiked east a few weeks ago, only this time we hiked west instead.  This section of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), from here to the next road crossing, was a bit long for us to complete given our available time today, but that didn't bother me.  I completed this section in May 2017, so didn't "need" to go all the way to Telephone Road today.  We planned we'd go 3 or 3.5 miles and then turn back.