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1,000 hike ADK Loj, Cascade during Presidents weekend

Hikers walk alongside Route 73 in Keene Valley Monday morning, Noonmark Mountain in view. (Enterprise photo — Antonio Olivero)

LAKE PLACID — Sunny weather atop snowcapped High Peaks this Presidents Day weekend resulted in nearly 1,000 hikers and other backcountry recreationists signing into the area’s two most popular trailheads over a four-day stretch.

From Friday to Monday, 667 people signed in at New York state’s most popular trailhead, the Adirondak Loj and High Peaks Information Center, owned and run by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK). Over at the Cascade Mountain trailhead on state Route 73, halfway between Keene and Lake Placid, 300 more people signed in for those same four days.

The high traffic in the High Peaks followed a week of constant snowfall in the wilderness last week. That snow, combined with a sudden weekend thaw, prompted the state Department of Environmental Conservation to issue a warning of increased avalanche risk in the High Peaks last Friday.

ADK Executive Director Neil Woodworth said no major incidents occurred in the High Peaks to his knowledge, despite the high turnout and avalanche warning.

“Certainly we had lots of snow to play in, and the DEC and our own staff had done a good job letting people know what the interior conditions were like,” Woodworth said. “Anyone researching at least a little bit knew they needed skis, snowshoes, crampons and spikes. As the temperatures went up, it got more challenging because the tackiness of the snow would stick to the bottom of skis and snowshoes — made it more of a slog. But we certainly got a lot of hikers this weekend — it was beautiful weather.”

The Loj trailhead saw a high of 303 people sign its register Saturday, 178 Sunday, 109 Friday and 77 Monday.

At the Cascade trailhead, 148 people signed the register Saturday, 78 Sunday, 42 Monday and 32 Friday.

Brian Delaney, owner of High Peaks Cyclery in Lake Placid, said on Tuesday morning he was exhausted from a long weekend, though his outfitting, rental and guide business benefited big-time.

“The people arrived early on Friday, so all day Friday people were streaming in the store,” Delaney said. “And, of course, all of the last-minute people calling for guided trips, from backcountry skiing to ice climbing to snowshoeing to hiking to just cross-country skiing — it was insane. We had every rental out, almost every snowshoe out — it was like a cornucopia of things to do because of the awesome snow and conditions. It’s such a joy to see people wanting to do this stuff.

“And what’s the magic ingredient? Snow.”

The mix of snow and sun resulted in the nearly 1,000 hikers and other backcountry recreationists, but while high for winter, those numbers are no comparison to the hiking traffic the area sees in the summer and early fall.

This past Labor Day weekend, ADK summit stewards said they spoke to more than 1,500 hikers on Cascade alone over Labor Day weekend. Julia Goren, ADK’s summit steward coordinator, said six of them counted talking to more than 3,000 people while on duty Labor Day weekend atop Mount Marcy, Algonquin Peak, Wright Peak and Cascade.

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