My Journey to Becoming a 46er The Adirondack 46er High Peak Challenge, pushed me in ways I never anticipated. When I first started this challenge I had no intention of finishing it. It wasn’t until I hiked Gothics (my 8th high peak) that I knew I was going to finish this. I had always been an avid hiker for years before I decided to hike the 46ers. However, I thought the 46ers were reserved for all the extreme hikers only. But after completing all the 46ers, I’ve realized it’s not that impossible, but is a huge feat to accomplish. Adirondack 46ers The Adirondack 46er Challenge, consists of the 46 different high peaks throughout the entire Adirondack Park in New York State, hence the name, Adirondack 46ers. Most of the peaks are about 4.5-6 hours north of New York City and 2-3 hours north of Albany. Most of the mountains are located in Keene, Keene Valley, and Lake Placid, NY. There are some located in Newcomb and one range (Sewards) located near Tupper Lake, NY. All of the High Peaks are suppose to be above 4,000ft however, there are a few that are just under 4,000ft. Below are all the mountains apart of this challenge. The links will bring you to my articles (or AllTrails) explaining how to hike the specific peak and any other information I learned while hiking that peak. These mountains are written in the order I hiked them, but after completing this challenge, I think I would have done it a little differently. Thus, I created a revised order in which best to hike all these peaks, located further down. Adirondack 46ers List 2. Porter: Is the 38th tallest peak. Going to Porter, there is a really good view off one of the rock boulders but the actual summit does not have a great view. Again, I would hike this with Cascade. Together these peaks are about 6.5 miles total (round trip) with an elevation gain of about 2,286ft. 3. Giant: Like its name states, this mountain is GIANT. It has A LOT of elevation gain. It’s a shame because a lot of people hike this mountain, thinking it’s an easy 6 mile hike, but NO it is not. Please DO NOT hike this if you are a beginner hiker. I know 6 miles does not sound like a lot but since it’s ALL up hill and very STEEP, it seems MUCH longer than it seems. It has about a 1,000ft elevation gain per mile, which is STEEP. Anything with an elevation gain of 1,000ft per mile, you are SWEATING! Thus, please don’t let this be one of your first hikes, because you will quickly regret it. Most people pair this with Rocky Peak, which is smart to do, because they are pretty close to each other. Rocky Peak is about 1.5 miles away (one way), from Giant with lots of ups and downs. But the view on Rocky Peak is SOO worth it. Giant is the 12th highest peak in New York. 4. Rocky Peak: has a BEAUTIFUL view but it is a pain to get to. I prefer this view over Giant. Rocky Peak on its own is about 9 miles and if you pair it with Giant it is about 10.5 miles with an elevation gain of about 4,500ft. Rocky Peak is the 20th highest mountain. 5. Big Slide: is a great mountain to hike after Cascade and Porter. The beginning part of this mountain is pretty strenuous and uphill but then it levels out for a mile or two, until you get near the summit. This trail is about 8 miles round trip with an elevation gain of just over 3,000ft. Big Slide is New York’s 27th highest peak. 6. Whiteface: Whiteface and Ester are two great peaks to hike together, and to start hiking more than one peak in a day with. I would recommend doing Street and Nye first, however, these two can be difficult to follow, that’s why I suggest Whiteface and Ester first. Whiteface on its own is about 8.5 miles with an elevation gain of about 3,000ft. 7. Ester: Again, I would pair Ester with Whiteface for a total of 9.5 miles with an elevation gain of 3,684ft. Ester is the 28th tallest peak. And Whiteface is New York’s 5th highest peak. 8. Gothics: Oh, I LOVE this high peak! This was my 8th high peak and once I got to the summit, I said to myself, yep, I’m going to finish this challenge. Seriously, this is a beautiful mountain, I highly recommend, even just hiking it on its own. A lot of people hike the Lower Great Range, to hike Gothics. The Lower Great Range includes Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong, Upper, and Lower Wolfjaw (in that order), from the AMR/Ausable Club. Keep in mind, since 2021 if you park at the AMR/Ausable Club, you need a hiking reservation, that you can find here. You will need a permit/reservation anytime from May 1st through Halloween or October 31st. The Lower Great Range is an epic hike. It’s 17 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 5,475ft. When I hiked this, I did not know about the Lower Great Range loop, thus I hiked Gothics via Pyramid Peak and saw the cutoff for Sawteeth. So, after I summited Gothics, I came back down and hiked Sawteeth. However, after knowing more about the Adirondack 46 high peaks, I would advise hiking Sawteeth first then Gothics, and then possibly Lower & Upper Wolfjaws with Armstrong. Or just Sawteeth, Gothics, and Pyramid (not a high peak), then Lower & Upper Wolfjaw and Armstrong together. 9. Sawteeth: Again, I would pair this with Gothics and Pyramid or with the entire Lower Great Range. It is a nice hike to Sawteeth, but it does not have a real significant view. Gothics is New York’s 10th tallest peak and Sawteeth is the 35th tallest peak. 10. Dial: Oh boy, Dial and Nippletop, what special mountains. I only say that because I had to hike Dial twice, due to thunderstorms. Also, I took the Leech Trail from the AMR/Ausable Club to hike these peaks, and boy is it STEEP. Once you get on the Leech trail, the elevation literally does not stop until you get to Dial, and then Nippletop. Some people pair Blake and Colvin, with Dial and Nippletop too. I only hiked Dial and Nippletop together, which is about a 15 mile loop with an elevation gain of 4,081ft. Dial is New York’s 41st highest peak and Nippletop is New York’s 13th highest peak. They both have great views but small summit areas. 11. Nippletop: Again, I would at least hike this with Dial, but you can add on Colvin and Blake for an extra challenge. Doing all four of these peaks is about a 18.5 mile hike with an elevation gain of 6,122ft. 12. Upper Wolfjaw: Upper and Lower Wolfjaw I hiked in the rain, so I really don’t remember much from these two peaks. Again, I hiked them before knowing about the Lower Great Range traverse, otherwise I would have paired them with Armstrong and Gothics. Another option that people do is to hike Upper & Lower Wolfjaw with Armstrong, which is about a 15.5 mile hike with an elevation gain of 5,242ft, again from the AMR. I recommend hiking these three peaks together if you want to enjoy your journey. But if you live out of town or want a challenge, then I recommend doing the whole lower great range. 13. Lower Wolfjaw: Again, I recommend at least hiking this peak with Upper Wolfjaw. Upper Wolfjaw is New York’s 29th highest peak and Lower Wolfjaw is New York’s 30th highest peak. 14. Colvin: This mountain never disappoints! Once again I have hiked this peak and Blake twice, once in the late summer and another in late winter. Both times Colvin was amazing, however, Blake is rough. There is no real summit and there is no view, you really only hike this because it’s apart of the challenge, not because it’s fun. There is a SMALL wooded summit for Blake, after the sign for the Pinnacle (about 1.5 miles from Colvin). If you continue pass that sign, shortly you will see a little opening of trees, where if you turn to your left and go towards this opening of trees, you will see a B engraved LIGHTLY on one of the trees. I guess this is your indictor that you’ve reached the summit of Blake, but who really knows. As long as you hike to the Pinnacle sign, you’ve hiked Blake. Together Colvin and Blake are about 13.5 miles with an elevation gain of 4,035ft. 15. Blake: Again, hike this WITH Colvin or plus Dial and Nippletop for an added challenge. Blake is New York’s 43rd highest peak and Colvin is New York’s 39th tallest peak. 16. Wright: Unfortunately, when I hiked Wright, it was in the clouds, but I did pair it with Algonquin and Iroquois, and by the time I got to Algonquin, the clouds had cleared, and I had a gorgeous view on Algonquin and Iroquois. I have since re-hiked Wright, and it is undeniably gorgeous, please hike it to see it for yourself, if you can. Wright is New York’s 16th highest peak. 17. Algonquin: Again, I would hike this with Wright and Iroquois. Algonquin is New York’s 2nd tallest peak. When I hiked these three mountains I was surprised at how “easy” it was compared to the difficulty level I had read about. Now that being said, I would not go into this hike lightly, it is still difficult, but more doable than some of the other 46er ranges. Also, I was in really GOOD HIKING shape when I did these 3 peaks. Thus, that is definitely why I thought it was easier than what people said. This is definitely more doable than Giant and Rocky Peak, Redfield and Cliff, HaBaSa (Haystack, Basin & Saddleback), etc. 18. Iroquois: Again, please do all three of these peaks together, they are very manageable and very close to one another. Also, Iroquois can be tricky to get to, one of the signs is labeled wrong, but the article I have linked will explain how to get to Iroquois the right way. Together these three peaks are about 12 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 4,370ft. Iroquois is New York’s 8th highest peak. 19. Saddleback: Oh man, what a hike! Again, I have hiked this peak twice, along with Basin and Haystack. I did not do enough research when I first attempted this hike and completely messed up the range. I originally wanted to pair Saddleback and Armstrong together (I had missed Armstrong the first go-around). But I ended up only hiking Saddleback on its own due to the Gothic Cables freaking me out. So after hiking Saddleback on its own, I came back another day and hiked Haystack and Basin. I went to little Haystack by myself, then meet up with another group and we hiked to Basin and back down together, which was really fun. 20. Haystack: has an INCREDIBLE view! All three of these peaks have EPIC views and are some of my favorite of all the 46ers. Make sure when you hike Haystack, that you don’t confuse Little Haystack for actual Haystack. I did this, the first time I hiked this peak, and saw a group of people continuing on. Thus, I asked them where they were going and they said to Haystack, so I tagged along. There really wasn’t a view because it was in the clouds, but I have really good memories from Haystack because both times I hiked it with really cool people. 21. Basin: Okay, FINALLY over the summer, I completed this loop right. For my second time hiking all three of these peaks, I hiked it with my friends, arriving at the Garden Parking at 5am and hiked to Haystack, … Continue reading How to Hike all of the Adirondack 46ers, New York’s High Peaks