ampersand mountain

Dan and I took advantage of the long weekend and headed up to the Adirondacks to do some hiking. After a bit of a late start, we decided to do a slightly shorter hike than one of the 46 High Peaks and settled on Ampersand Mountain. If you’re thinking “less than 6 miles roundtrip, no big deal!” you’d be wrong. This was a steep ascent straight up the rocky mountainside, but the summit was absolutely amazing and worth the pain.

The top was rocky and open, offering almost 360° views of the Saranac Lakes area. We stayed up there for quite a while, nestled in a private little ledge and eating a late lunch.

Steep trail - like climbing 2 miles of rocky stairs:

Dan approaches the summit:

Enjoying the view:

View of the Saranac Lakes:

After a quick descent, we drove back into the town of Saranac Lake and did a quick loop hoping we’d find the Saranac brewery, but no luck. We ended up having dinner at a kitschy roadside BBQ joint called Tail O’ the Pup, where we sat at a red checkered tablecloth covered picnic table, drank Saranac and Magic Hat, and listened to a live band.

p.s. We met a few little toady friends, including Toad (that’s him staring at you on the new masthead!) and his buddy Little Toad, on the trail up Ampersand, and I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures.