#39 Mount Esther and #40 Whiteface Mountain, New York

On the second day of my February vacation, Matt and I scooted on over the Adirondacks.  I had been really looking forward to getting out into the mountains over break and this was a perfect day to do it.  It was warm, sunny, and gorgeous!  We parked at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and headed up the trail toward Whiteface Mountain.  After a quick, steep ascent of Marble Mountain in .9 miles, we headed along the ridge toward Whiteface.

About 1.5 miles from the summit we took a side trail on the right to Mt. Esther.  Esther was about a mile away and offered a view back toward Whiteface and some of the high peaks off in the distance, but otherwise it was not a very clear summit.  But again, another peaked bagged.

We backtracked down Esther to the trail and headed up toward Whiteface.  The trail briefly crosses a ski trail and the auto road and then continues up.  The trail spills out on the auto road near the top and instead of continuing up the icy trail to the summit, we elected to take the auto road around the other side of the mountain to the summit.  The auto road ends at a weird castle-like structure with steps and railings ascending the final 200ft.  It was covered in ice, and it was harrowing.  However, made it to the top, and the views were absolutely worth it!  10 miles, two 4,000 footers, and another killer day in the mountains!