"Had the day off today so I decided to do Hopkins and Spread Eagle Mts. in the High Peaks, knowing other trails would be crowded. Started by hiking up the Mossy Cascade Trail, a nice easy path with good foliage, then up the Ranney Trail to Hopkins. It gets steeper at the end, but a nice trail. Dropped down of Hopkins and went over to Spread Eagle, which I highly recommend. The trail has recently been cleared of all blowdown, and although it isn't marked, it is very easy to follow. It heads through some interesting coniferous forests before ascending over a ledgy bump and down into the col. The ascent up Spread Eagle itself is miniscule, and there is a nice view. Back up at Hopkins, the view is magnificent, as you can see Colvin, Dial, Noonmark, Round, Snow, Sawteeth, Marcy and the Great Range, as well as Giant Mt. above. Went down the Ranney Trail which was easy but the brook was dry so it wasn't that scenic." — elimihuta • Oct 2, 2025

"Hiked up Porter Mountain from Marcy Field today. The first portion of the trail up to Blueberry Mt. was surprisingly steep and somewhat of a slog, but there was a beautiful view of Giant, Pitchoff, and into Keene Valley from the 2nd peak past the summit of Blueberry. From there, the trail dips into a thick swamp where the trail is full of running water. I nicknamed this the "Quagmire" and I had to use trees to swing around the water. After that, the trail becomes challenging to follow as it steeply ascends East Porter. It became a never-ending muddy mess of roots and blowdowns. The mud I was expecting, but the blowdowns were quite bad. Since the trail is so lightly used, I was surprised to see that the trail was a streambed, much like the heavily eroded herd paths in the Seward and Santanoni ranges. After I reached the top of this, I was greeted by a nice forest path that led over the nondescript summit of East Porter, and along the wooded ridge. This trail had much nicer tread, and was mostly duff instead of mud. It continues like this for over a mile, before reaching an overlook that provides an interesting vantage point across Walton Basin to Cascade, with Porter rising on the l..." — elimihuta • May 26, 2025

"Really cool loop of Noonmark and Round today. Went up Noonmark first. Trails were really nice and not too muddy, although the Felix Adler Trail off Noonmark is very steep. The trail up Round from Old Dix is the nicest part, with nice rock slabs on the way. Noonmark has a better view than Round, but Round is nice also. Great views of the Great Range, Dix, and Giant from both peaks. Trail down Round to the trailhead was steeper than expected. Took 8 hours to do 7 miles and 3k elevation. Great hike." — elimihuta • May 11, 2025

"Really cool loop of Noonmark and Round today. Went up Noonmark first. Trails were really nice and not too muddy, although the Felix Adler Trail off Noonmark is very steep. The trail up Round from Old Dix is the nicest part, with nice rock slabs on the way. Noonmark has a better view than Round, but Round is nice also. Great views of the Great Range, Dix, and Giant from both peaks. Trail down Round to the trailhead was steeper than expected. Took 8 hours to do 7 miles and 3k elevation. Great hike." — elimihuta • May 11, 2025

"Out and back high to the rocky summit. Cloudy with some rain at the end. Almost no one else on the trail that day. Great play to sit and enjoy the views of surrounding mountains, including Whiteface in the distance." — tlannin • Apr 24, 2025