Ampersand Mountain

Ampersand Mountain is another popular hike in the Adirondacks, and is part of the Saranac Lake 6 challenge.

The trail-head is off Route 3 a little over 7 miles west of Saranac Lake, on the right is the parking area, across the road is the trail-head.

When we signed in, we were the only ones on the trail. We would not run into anyone until we were well down and on the way back out. We were able to bare boot the entire way, but added micro-spikes at around 2,750 feet when it started to get icy/slippery. The hike is fairly short at around 4.7 miles round trip.

At around 2.2 miles (3,000') it seems to level out and become more of a ridge walk, with a small section left to push up through.

We really enjoyed the hike, and even did a little butt sliding on the way back down.

Start Time: 9:20AM
End Time: 2:30PM
Duration: 5h10m
Distance: 5.27 mi

With Derek, Elanie, and Dingo. This was a rugged little peak.

Ausable Marsh

February 15, 2014

About 6 miles round trip from the first gate. Broke trail in snowshoes in about 6-10 inches of snow. It is well packed out now for anyone local interested in taking a nice hike. You will need four wheel drive to get to the first gate at the top of the hill. Dingo and I walked from there down through the marsh to the Ausable river and looped counter clockwise from the trestle. The only thing we saw was a rub and heard song birds. A nice little hike none the less with a 40lb pack, great conditioning.