Saturday, May 23, I did go up to do Whiteface and Esther.  I started at Marble Mountain, which is an old ski mountain, and the trail literally goes up the old tow path for a lift.  It was steep and rocky.  Once at the top, great views though.  At that point I joined the Wilmington trail and it was a slightly less steep climb to the point the trail for Esther comes off.  At about 3500 feet though, about 0.6 miles from that point, it became mostly snow/ice instead of mostly mud/water.  Thankfully I had my spikes, and I wore the most of the rest of the hike up.  The views on the hike up were amazing... even if I didn't need to stop frequently for stamina reasons I would have as the views of the rest of the high peaks was amazingly beautiful.  I reached the top around noon, sat down and ate some snacks before heading back down.

When I reached the Esther turnoff, I took that herd path to the top.  This was a much easier trail than the last run to Whiteface, or going up Marble.  At about 1 miles, mostly gentle climbs, with some nice views of Whiteface.  When you got to the top you see a plaque in honor of the first ascent of the mountain, a young woman that got lost trying to go up Whiteface.  The decent down was much quicker than going up.  Overall it was a rather good hike and a good day with an official 10.2 miles.

One thing that was seen in the copious mud on the way up was a rather large dog, or more likely than not, bear cub print... it was about 3 to 4 inches across.  Thankfully it had claw marks in it, so not likely a big cat (which are "officially" recognized as being in the park).