"Hiked with Tom today. We left St.Huberts at 6:30 am @ 10° and partly cloudy skies. We took the Leach trail up over Noonmark Shoulder and then Bear Den to Dial , then Dial South Peak and then on to Nippletop. " — garyogden • Dec 27, 2025

"2 summit with Nancy on a bright and sunny day! A nice up and down ridge walk to the summit. Lots of bugs again! No markers or signs. Trail was a bit muddy at times with some blow down. A soft dirt and leafy trail. Longer down and knee started to twinge! Short Lake Road walk to the car!" — lfrancois • Jun 30, 2025

"From AMR lot to H G Leach Trail by moonlight, headlamp to Bear’s Den, up to Dial, over to Nippletop, down to Elk Pass, up over Colvin to Blake, back over Colvin, down to Fish Hawk Cliffs, Indian Head, Gothics Window and back out to the lot. Long day " — DHiker • Oct 23, 2024

"Arrived to an empty AMR parking lot at 5:45 AM Our plan was to be leaving the truck at 6:15 AM so we were ahead of schedule. The original forecast called for decreasing temps and clearing skies. It was in the low 40s when we started with a light misting rain requiring us to wear our rain shells. Surface times were cold enough that the road leading to the lodge was a slippery black ice mess. From the trail head Lake Road was hard packed ice and snow so we began to bare boot to the Leach trail intersection. It was becoming an icy slushy mess so we added micro spikes, but at about 200 yards in we were giving up so much energy we elected to switch to snow shoes to protect the trail surface despite they’re being barely <5” snow cover in the woods. The need for snow shoes and the use of heel lift increased as we ascended. The ceaseless misting rain switching back-and-forth between larger more prominent raindrops thoroughly saturated us by the time we reached Bear Den, making me thankful for the extra layers and weight I was carrying. Climbing to Dial the temperature never dropped below the high 30’s making layering and moisture management a challenge. The skies never did clear out ..." — davelaurenty • Feb 17, 2023

"Started from AMR parking lot, reservation system very useful! Straight up Lake Road, Gill Brook to Elk Pass to Nippletop. Cloudy to the south but great views of GR. Quick travel over to Dial, still decent views. Best views from Noonmark Shoulder past Bear Den!" — hunterjfrost • Oct 17, 2021

"18.3 miles in 12 hours. Sunny and clear skies, in the 20's with light wind. Started at 6:30 am from the St. Hubert's lot. Walked through Ausable Club and down Lake Road until the Gill Brook cutoff (put on snowshoes at the cutoff). Met up with Gill Brook Trail and continued towards Colvin then Blake. Great views of Lower Ausable Lake, the Great Range, and Giant/Rocky Peak from Colvin. Peaks of Nippletop and the Dix Range from Blake. Steep ascents and descents between these two peaks, switched to spike because it was easier. Doubled back through Colvin after hitting Blake until the Elk Pass junction and continued up towards Nippletop. Steep ascent, quick up and down to get to actual summit. Amazing views of the Great Range, and many more ranges to the South and West. Continued the loop with the Leach trail towards Dix Mountain, more views of the Great Range as the sun was starting to set in the background. A couple more ascents and descents to Bears Den and Noonmark Shoulder (timed perfectly with the sunset), then a very steep descent back down to Lake Road, where we needed headlamps right as we met up with it. Easy walk back to the lot to finish the day. Overall, t..." — gregoryskiba • Mar 13, 2021

"Hiked with Pat, Heather, Heather's brother and her brother's friend. It was a beautiful day with sunny skies, great views, and a deer spotting. It was long on the way out for sure. " — juliepike • Nov 7, 2020

"Came in through the Ausable Club for the loop. Went up Dial to Nippletop. Cold day, easier climb to both of these. More difficult climb down to trail for Colvin. Bushwhacked up to trail before Colvin then hit Blake and back out through Ausable Club. Long day, 12 hours and a very sore right ankle. 💁🏻‍♀️" — bbergman • Aug 30, 2020

"Started at the AMR with Kim around 7:30. Parking lot was already packed and there were very few spaces left. We decided to go up the Leach Trail thinking that most people would walk the road and head up from Elk Pass. We had a couple groups in front of us and one that we played leap frog with throughout the day. The weather was very good. We had to take some layers off and ended up in mid layers for the majority of the day. Snowshoes on everywhere except for the Lake Road. Decent views from Noonmark shoulder and Dial. Socked in on Nippletop. We used our sleds to make quick work of the descent. " — LGH-Tom • Feb 22, 2020

"Hiked with Tom. The weather was good, not too cold or windy. We saw a lot of groups during the hike. Snowshoes all day except for the Lake Road. We brought the sleds and used them a ton on the way down from Nippletop. " — Kim-Stilson • Feb 22, 2020