The Jewish Outdoors Club

Welcome to the exciting Memorial Day (Sunday and Monday) trip to the Adirondacks in Upstate NY! (yee-haa) This trip will include a horse & wagon ride, history and culture exploration, hot gourmet food, a one night sleepover, and of course hiking. We will leave Sunday morning (May 27) and return on Monday night (May 28).

The Adirondack Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined. The boundary of the Park encompasses approximately 6 million acres.

Trip Outline:

Leaving Sunday morning (from NYC at about 8am) and heading to the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY (about 4.5 hours from NYC) where we’ll meet at 1pm. (See info below for details on Adirondack Museum experience)

Then we drive about a half hour north-east and settle at Aunt Pollys B&B in Newcomb, NY. (See info below for details on our lodging)

We’ll take a short Horse & Wagon ride at High Peaks Stables, which is on the same 70 acre property as the B&B. (same owners) (See info below for details on the horse ride adventure)

We’ll eat dinner, Noah’s Ark gourmet entrees, (can be warmed in the non-kosher kitchen of our B&B, similar to airplane meals.)

We’ll then prepare for Monday’s meals and snacks.

(See info below on food arrangements)

In the morning we’ll take a 10-15 minute drive to the Upper Works trailhead where we’ll spend most of the day hiking the High Peaks. (See info below on our hike)

After the hike we’ll have a quick cold deli picnic and head home (about 4.5 hours from NYC).

Click here to see this trip in the new Google MyMaps. The 3 dots you see are our 3 destinations. Click each for more information and for mapping and direction details.

Registration:

The price will be at about $150 depending on the number of participants. We will limit this trip to about 12 people.

To signup you’ll have to be ready to pay the amount in full on paypal within the next few days. Priority will be given to drivers and to those with best hiking skills. All expenses associated with driving will be divided among passengers.

Please email me the following information:

a)      Name

b)      Cell #

c)      Address (I’ll be mailing you a welcome kit)

d)      Where you’ll be leaving from

e)      Do you plan on driving and if so how many can you accommodate?

f)        Do you have a particular partner you would like to (or hate to) share a room with?

g)       List some tough hikes youve done in the past

Please do not email me half the information! I need all 6 pieces of info in order to register you! If I don’t get what I asked for, then me no speaka no english, and your email will end up in the same bin with the Prince of Nigeria email.

Adirondack Museum:

Six million acres of Adirondack Park surround this place and form the basis of the museum’s exhibits and programs telling the stories of how people have lived, worked, played and traveled in the Adirondack region since the early 1800s

Twenty buildings on 32 acres of grounds and gardens, house exhibits on logging, boats and boating, mining, outdoor recreation, transportation, rustic furniture…, and on-going programs and special events offer a variety of interesting activities.

On the Memorial Day weekend they will celebrate their 50th Anniversary with special events and activities. Explore the new rustic exhibits, meet costumed interpreters, watch blacksmithing and rustic furniture making demonstrations, build a lean-to, and take part in exciting activities.

Lodging:

Located in Newcomb, NY, Aunt Polly’s is in the center of the Adirondack wilderness and surrounded by pristine lakes and majestic views of the high peaks. Located on 70 acres of rolling trails, perfect for hiking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing & horse trail riders; or you can just relax and gaze into our beautiful beaver pond with Great Blue Herons nesting in the background.

Originally established in 1845 as an Inn, Doug & Maggie Alitz have renovated & reopened Aunt Polly’s as a Bed & Breakfast. Their historic farmhouse, which was featured in Adirondack Life, captures the hospitality and charm of the 18^th century.

We will sleep 2 per room. We will generally team up guys with guys and gals with gals. Married couples can get their own room. We will have our own kitchen.

Horse & Wagon Adventure:

Doug Alitz, welcomes you to Summer-Wagon Rides into Great Camp Santanoni and Moose Pond and Newcomb Lake.

This will be a nice way to unwind before (or after) dinner. Hopefully we’ll be able to catch the sunset on this old fashioned horse and carriage ride through the majestic greens of America’s largest park.

More information on this adventure to come.

Food arrangements:

You will receive 4 portions of food during this trip.

1. Sunday night dinner (hot gourmet food)
2. Monday morning breakfast (sandwiches)
3. Monday Lunch & Snack (sandwiches & snack)
4. Monday evening dinner (cold deli sandwiches)

More information on food will be sent to the registered participants.

Hike info:

Contrary to earlier indications, this hike will not be easy to moderate; in fact it will be quite gruesome and strenuous! The upside is that this is one is a classic Adirondack hike and rated one of the most magnificent hikes in the northeast and you don’t want to miss this one!

The Adirondack State Park is famed for its 46 "High Peaks" dominated by Mt. Marcy at 5,344 feet, New York’s highest point. Over 85% of the wilderness east of the Mississippi is located within the park. With over 3,000 lakes and ponds, 2,000 miles of hiking trails, and 4-seasons, this is a recreationalists paradise!

We’ll do the Indian Pass-Lake Colden Loop. The entire loop is a whopping 15.5 miles and will take all day (7am -5pm). Elev. Gain: 2040 feet; Trailhead Elev: 1800 feet; Top Elev: 3840 feet. This hike includes the ultimate rock scramble and infamous sheer cliffs. We’ll traverse over wood bridges and pass a 100-foot waterfall. We’ll have many picturesque views of the High Peaks mountains and chill-blue lakes.

This is how trails.com puts it:

The Indian Pass-Lake Colden Loop is definitely one of the more spectacular hikes the Adirondacks has to offer....but not without a price! The loop is intended for hikers of reasonably good health and those with good eye-foot coordination. The trail is rocky, muddy, undulating, wet, and filled with man-made ladders and boardwalks.....and its worth it! Spectacular views of rock slides, avalanche paths and beautiful mountain lakes await.

It is a place of wildness and beauty; a terrain choked with boulders the size of barns. As you scramble up ragged piles of rock and pull yourself up ledges by grabbing onto a root, you see the impregnable rise of Wallface Mountain to your right, where you can watch rock climbers the size of ants slowly inch their way to the top of the 3,700-foot cliff that is Wallface. Wallfaces huge cliffs is a sight not to be missed.