"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

"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

"Tom, Peter and I joined the Hudson Valley Hikers doing a loop of Dial, Nippletop, Colvin and Blake. Before we got to Bears Den Peter and I found the hiking pace too fast for some reason so we detached ourselves from the group. We continued at our own pace over the three peaks then out to Lake road without doing the o/b of Colvin and Blake. We got our best views from Nippletop while eating our lunch. Got a clear view of Colvin and Blake in the foreground and Skylight and Marcy further back. Marcy looked like it had some fresh snow on top since our visit three days ago. To our right the ridge of Sawteeth to Gothics and the Wolf Jaws were in the clouds. I forgot how steep the drop is from the junction below Nippletop to the junction with the trail out to Blake. From there on the trail got more mellow. The whole day the trails were way more drier than the trails out of Marcy Dam/Lake Colden area." — Nimblefoot • Oct 26, 2019

"Returned to the AMR and the Lake Road to complete the Colvin Range. Went up Gill Brook again to jct. with Elk Pass. Up Elk Pass to ridge and over to Nippletop. Returned back and along the ridge over to Dial. Really enjoyed the stretch of trail between Nippletop and Dial." — JMindlin12463 • Aug 23, 2019

"Beautiful snowshoeing conditions. 3C on January 5th. Started early and only saw 5 people on the trail (3 Americans & 2 Canadians). Kind of regret not finding a path to Noonmark." — decentdiversions • Jan 5, 2019

"Dial was # 6 for us. It was a long hike, muddy, rain, foggy, with no views at the summit which was at 2:57 pm, but we still had an incredible day. I lost a set of hiking poles between Nippletop and Dial, I’m sure someone will find them. See post for Nippletop for more details about this hike. " — pacofive_o • Dec 7, 2018