Saturday will be the first of my winter 46.  I have all the gear and this will be my shakedown hike.  I didn't go up last weekend because of a major rain storm on Friday and unsure of the trails.  Trail reports after said some of the water crossings were bad, but overall the trails were fine throughout the high peaks.  This week, we've again got rain up there, but on Wednesday, and not as much or bad as we had last week.  That gives it a couple days to freeze back up and there's supposed to be another 9 or so inches of snow falling Friday.  So, with that all in

What's that?  I'm considering doing the 46ers again?  Why yes, I am.  I'm not going to do them all in 3 months like I did over the summer of 2020, but I am going to do them between Dec 21 and Mar 21 for this quest... yes, you read that right, I'm going for a winter 46, aka the winter rocker.

The winter 46 is climbing all of the 46ers between December 21 and March 21.  For me this is a multi-year challenge that I hope to finish in 2026.  At this point in time I have 5 peaks over 3 hikes left to do.

Friday, I went up to the Upper Elk Lake parking area and found that it was full, and a half dozen cars were already parked on the shoulder....

This is it, I'm down to the final 5 peaks of the 46'ers.  I started May 15, and I will be finishing up, if all goes to plan, September 5.... so just over 3.5 months, 255 miles, and 84.8K feet of elevation gain and loss.... if all goes to plan.

Saturday, I went and did Colvin (4057', #39) and Blake (3960', # 43).  These are by far not the tallest peaks in the park, but they are relatively remote in that the shortest in and out hike is 14.5 miles with nearly 4000' of elevation gain/loss.  So, they aren't easy by any means.  I arrived about 615 to find the Ausable Club parking lot full.  I had to go park again about 1/4 mile up hill from the lot....

This weekend will be Colvin(4057', #39), Blake (3960', #43), and back over Colivn.  I've heard that the trail between Colvin and Blake is a slog, and not fun...

Wow, what a trip...

My next trip will have a lot of hiking and hit 13 peaks over a week.  The first 3 nights I'm saying at ADK Loj, so I'll have a soft bed and shower available each night.  The next 3 nights, I'll be in the backcountry, hopefully at Lake Arnold, camping.

The current plan is this...

Saturday, I went up and did Gothics (4736', #10) and Sawteeth (4100', #35).  The day started off rather poorly.  When I got up there, I realized how tired I was, not having a great night's sleep along with getting up at 4.  On top of that, the AMR and Roaring Brook parking lots were full!  According to the ranger I talked to on my way out, they were full at 530...